Hey there! Today, I wanted to share a pretty simple marinara sauce that I recently made. You may have gotten the gist from some of my previous posts (like baked apples and bulk chicken prep) that I really love my crock pot. If I had to choose 1 kitchen appliance that I could not live without, the slow cooker would be it!
So naturally, when I got a bag full of garden tomatoes from my friend last weekend, I immediately began brainstorming ways to use them up…. in my crock pot. This was my first time making slow cooker marinara sauce. I looked at a handful of recipes using canned tomatoes and tweeked everything a little bit. It turned out great!
The meal prep was pretty simple- blend the tomatoes up, toss everything in the crock pot and let it simmer all day. Super easy. Here’s the recipe.
Slow Cooker Marinara Sauce:
Ingredients:
- 4 lb. tomatoes (~9 medium-sized tomatoes)
- 1 can tomato paste
- 1/4 C dry wine
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 Tbsp dried basil
- 1 Tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp salt
- pepper to taste
Instructions:
1. Cut off tops of tomatoes (which leaves ~3.5 lb) and blend them to preferred consistency for marinara sauce. I kept mine kind of chunky.
2. Remove 1/2 C liquid from pureed tomatoes. Save this for later in case you need it.
3. Combine all ingredients together in the slow cooker.
4. Cook on low for 8 hours. (I know slow cookers can be a little different. This recipe produced the perfect consistency in mine, but if you feel likes yours is getting a little dried out then add back in your 1/2 C juice from the tomatoes)
This makes a pretty large batch of sauce. We used half for dinner one night (served over meatballs) and froze the other half for later.
Enjoy!
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Hi there, I am a new reader and I’m happy I stumbled upon your blog because I will be a junior in my dietetics program this fall so I love reading about the work experience of RD’s in different areas. One area I have not learned too much about yet is food service and management so I will have to go back and read some of your older posts. I’m mostly interested in clinical right now but I’m open to anything. Congratulations and good luck with your new adventure!
Hi Laura! You will learn a lot about food service in your internship because it’s a large portion of the RD exam. One thing I actually learned and appreciated from my internship is how all areas are related. Even if you work in clinical counseling patients, they will more than likely ask you questions about things that go back to food service- products, preparation methods, etc. I find myself drawing on my food service knowledge every day in my new clinical job. Good luck to you in your program!!
Hi Sam! Just found your blog via Kath and so glad I did — I’m contemplating making a major career switch and becoming an RD, and when I read about jobs like yours, I feel even more encourage to tackle the (daunting) task! I’m looking forward to reading more :)
Hi Lauryn! I completely understand what you mean when you describe becoming an RD as daunting. I remember thinking the same thing! I actually have a post coming next week all about my journey to become an RD. It was a long road but well worth it. Also, the thought of completing the dietetic internship seemed the worst but it was really one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Hang in there and good luck to you!
Hi! I’m very excited to find this recipe, it looks like something I could actually make! Forgive me if this is a stupid question, but is this something I can can in a mason jar so that it would not need refrigeration? I think it would be awesome to make some jars to put in a pasta themed gift basket.
I’ve never tried storing the sauce in a jar before so I’m not sure!! You will have to let me know if you try it :)