My husband and I are sticklers for a good tomato sauce, especially on homemade sourdough crust pizza. Nothing makes or breaks a dish made with tomato sauce more than, well, the tomato sauce. It needs to be slightly sweet, but have a robust, savory tomato flavor; and boy do I have a recipe for you!
After much trial and tribulation, I was finally able to make the perfect sauce. Best thing, I can set it and forget it because I make it in the slow-cooker! In the evening before bed or in the morning before work – I throw everything into the slow-cooker and am able to finish up the process in the morning or the next evening (depending on when I start it). You can really control the ingredients too, no surprises in here!
Here’s the how-to on this super, simple, and delicious sauce!
Slow-Cooker Tomato Sauce
The Players
- 6 pounds of tomatoes, with the seeds scooped out
- 2 medium onions, roughly chopped
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 – 8oz jar of organic tomato paste (where to buy organic, BPA-free tomato paste)
- 1 and 1/2 tablespoons organic dried Italian seasoning
- 1/2 tablespoon organic dried basil
- 1 teaspoon organic dried tarragon
- 1/2 teaspoon organic dried rosemary
- 1/2 teaspoon organic dried thyme
- 2 – 3 tablespoons coconut sugar, or to taste (where to buy)
- 1/2 cup organic white wine or water
- salt & pepper to taste
The How-To
1. In a slow-cooker, combine all ingredients and mix until everything is well-distributed (Tip: removing the seeds from the tomatoes will prevent the sauce from turning bitter). Turn the slow-cooker on low and allow to cook for 8 to 12 hours, mixing occasionally.
2. Once the sauce has cooked for 8 to 12 hours, use an immersion blender to smooth out the sauce to your desired consistency. The longer you blend, the smoother it gets; the shorter, the chunkier the sauce. Add more salt and pepper if needed.
3. Store in the freezer for several months, or in the fridge for a week. Enjoy on pizza, pasta, or anything you’d desire!
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Do you peel the tomatoes? Or do you just blend the peels up with the rest of the sauce?
Hi Deb, I normally do not peel the tomatoes, but if I am feeling ambitious I do. I generally do not notice too much of a difference in flavor depending on if I peel or do not peel the tomatoes. 🙂
Hope you enjoy it!
Katie
Thank you for sharing your recipe… I might have missed it, but how many Mason jars does this recipe makes?
Thank you again. My husband and I LOVE your website…
Yum, perfect timing! I just discovered the wonders of a slow-cooker. I look forward to making this. Thanks!
Just roast them. I wash them, cut them in 1/2, Use a pretty-good sized onion, a whole clove of garlic, minced real good, salt and pepper the (I use Real Salt). Put in a 300. degree oven for up to 2-3 hours. Just blend (I use a Vitamix) them up and you have tomato sauce…….You can freeze it………
I notice the picture has a jar. Do you freeze it in jars?
Hi Jenelle,
I usually freeze it in a BPA-free plastic container.
Hope this helps!
Katie
Would you be able to “can” this sauce using a hot water bath method? Approx how many pints does this recipe make?
I have never tried canning this, but I would love to hear if it worked for you! I usually just stick it in the freezer and it lasts us for a couple months.
It make approximately 4 to 5 pints, depending on the size of the tomatoes.
Hope this helps!
i read somewhere that if you add other veggies to your tomatoes and plan on canning them then you should pressure cook them not just a water bath
Could you give us the nutrition info?
This sounds really yummy! I make a lot of pizza and a lot of everything, really, since we do not eat out and this sauce seems to fit the bill. I do not own a slow cooker for I honestly do not have room in my cabinets for one, but I’d like to know if I can make this sauce cooking it very slow on my electric range burner, on low, for as many hours as required in your recipe. Would the end result be the same?
Yes, if you could make it in a good enamel pot on the stove – you should get the same result! 🙂
I had never heard that the seeds can make the sauce bitter! Have you tried it both ways? Is that how you learned that? I typically don’t remove the seeds because i find it is too much work. I assumed the reason was more asthetic than taste, but perhaps i have been producing an inferior sauce and just didn’t know it?? Do you have any tips for quick seed removal and how to minimize loosing all the good juice and pulp when you do remove them?
Yes, I learned from experience – it was always so bitter until I removed the seeds! Who knew that was what was making it bitter? If you make a big pot of it at once and get all those seeds out of there, it will make a difference. I mostly just use a spoon a scoop it out as best I can, I don’t have a great method but it gets the job done. 🙂
Good luck!
Katie
On an Italian cooking show I saw a quick trick for removing the seeds. Cut the tomato in half, not lengthwise. Point the cut side toward a bowl and squeeze. Most of the seeds will come right out. If you want to eliminate some of the mess, submerge the tomato half in a bowl of water while squeezing. The water will contain the mess.
I am on the hunt for the perfect tomato sauce! I can’t wait to try this! I love my slow cooker! I was wondering if you have ever made this using canned tomatoes? What do you recommend?
I haven’t made this with canned tomatoes – since you are cooking down the sauce, if you did use canned, I do not believe you would need to cook it for as long. Hope this helps! 🙂
Do you leave the skins on?
I do, but I don’t take them off sometimes either. It really depends on the amount of time I have. 🙂
Two thumbs up for this recipe!
I usually just can my abundance of garden tomatoes whole and then make sauce out of them as I use each can. But after seeing this recipe, I picked the tomatoes yesterday, threw them in the slow cooker last night, and canned some fabulous sauce this afternoon in just minutes!
Put it on pizza for the kids’ dinner and made bolognese sauce over spaghetti squash for the grown ups. Plus plenty in the pantry. I am hooked on this method!
Just as an fyi, this is either pasta sauce or pizza sauce, not tomato sauce. Tomato sauce consists of tomatoes, with or without salt cooked down.
Do you peel the tomatoes?
Do you really NEED the sugar? Trying really hard to reduce my sugar intake … the sugar in this recipe seems unnecessary. Have you made it without?
Hi Karin,
I have made it without and found the end product very bitter. If you want to try making it without the sugar, I would recommend using a sweeter tomato – such as grape or cherry.
I just made this! We had it on homemade pizza this week! I put the rest in the freezer.
Fredi Walker-Browne
Making this as we speak…Thanks as it is smelling like sauce I used to make…so excited.
This is so great!!! I am making it for the 2nd time in a week with our Roma tomatoes! Thank you for sharing.
Delicious! I came across this recipe just after a friend gave me a big box of her home-grown tomatoes. I decided to try this recipe rather than just putting up plain tomatoes, and so glad I did. Yummy!
What about the quality or type of tomatoes? Winter tomatoes in the grocery store are usually pretty bad. They have a LOT less flavor than in the summer. Does that not matter when cooking them (as to the flavor of the sauce) Also, what type do you recommend? Roma? I have always heard that they are good for cooking.
thanks
buffy
Making spaghetti, I use Tomato Paste (of course, w/ water added) & sometimes add canned crushed tomatoes, w/ onion, garlic, Italian Seasoning, salt & pepper. Most times, I brown beef first with the onion & don’t use EVOO. I drain alot of the beef fat, but I like it in there, too. Haven’t made my own marinara or sauce completely from scratch yet..
Do you know approximately how much this makes? Say, if I want to can it in quart size jars?
I make this one (although I used only 2 Tbsp oil and doubled the garlic; I recommend halving the salt as it was very salty) and pressure-can it as tomato sauce can be tricky to boiling-water-bath can safely if you’re using an untested recipe: http://afoodcentriclife.com/roasted-tomato-marinara-sauce-with-garlic-and-oregano/