Crockpot Tomato Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
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This simple crockpot tomato sauce takes little effort. It is easy to fill the crockpot up with fresh tomatoes, onions, and garlic and let it simmer all day.
This crockpot tomato sauce is something that I rely on often during the peak of the tomato harvest. While the majority of the tomatoes from the garden are preserved in large batches for winter food storage. The crockpot is perfect for making smaller batch for fresh eating.
It takes little effort to fill the crockpot up with all the ingredients and let it simmer all day. You can even break up the process over a few days if you are crunched for time by cooling and refrigerating the sauce part way through and start cooking again the next day.
Tips for Making Crockpot Tomato Sauce
Select meaty, plumb or paste tomatoes for a thick and flavorful sauce. My favorites are Roma, San Marzano, Amish Paste, and Juliet. Paste tomatoes have very little water content. You can still use other types of tomatoes, but it will take longer for the sauce to thicken.
Cooking the tomatoes with the skins and seeds helps to thicken the sauce with the fruit’s natural pectin.
Run the cooked sauce through a food strainer to remove seeds and skins. After the sauce has simmered for a while and the ingredients have softened, run though a through a food strainer or food mill to remove skins, seeds, and to smooth out the sauce. If you don’t mind the seeds and skins, you can use an immersion hand blender to smooth out your sauce.
Using fresh herbs: I like using fresh herbs because they are readily available from the garden during the summer, but dried herbs are better for slow cooking because the flavor doesn’t diminish from cooking. If you are using fresh herbs, add extra at the end of the cooking time.
This homemade crockpot tomato sauce pairs perfectly with Ricotta Gnocchi, Homemade Egg Noodles, Zucchini Lasagna, spiralized veggies, spaghetti squash, and as a pizza topping. Since you are not canning this tomato sauce, feel free to add other ingredients such as precooked mushrooms, green peppers, sausage, or meatballs.
Crockpot Tomato Sauce with Fresh Tomatoes
Ingredients
- 5-6 pounds paste tomatoes
- 1/4 cup red cooking wine optional
- 3 cloves garlic crushed
- 1 medium onion roughly chopped
- 1 medium carrot roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 dried bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley or 3 tablespoons fresh, chopped
- 1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- 1/4 teaspoon dried rosemary or 1 teaspoon fresh, chopped
- 1 pinch red pepper flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- honey to sweeten if needed
Instructions
- Prepare your tomatoes by washing in plain water. Cut them in half or quarters and add to the crockpot. Add the garlic, onion, carrot, and herbs. Drizzle the wine and olive oil. Cover and turn crockpot to low and cook for 2-4 hours stirring occasionally.
- After the sauce has simmered for a while and tomatoes have released their juices and the vegetables are soft, turn off crockpot and allow the sauce to cool.
- Run the cooled tomato sauce through a Food Strainer or Food Mill to remove skins, seeds, and to smooth out the sauce. If you are crunched for time, you can pop the cooled sauce into the refrigerator and begin again the following day.
- Return the strained tomato sauce to the crockpot to cook down further to thicken the sauce. Turn the crockpot to low and vent the cover so excess moisture evaporates. Cook until your desired thickness, 4-6 hours or longer, stirring occasionally.
- Once the tomato sauce is nice and thick, taste it. Add salt and pepper and stir to mix in. Taste again. Adjust seasoning if needed. If the flavor is sharp and acidic, add a little honey and taste again.
- If you are including additional ingredients such as mushrooms, green peppers, sausage, or meatballs, precook these and add to the crockpot and cook on low for an additional 1-2 hours.
Nutrition
Depending on the water content of your tomatoes and how long you cook down the tomato sauce, this will yield around 4 cups. Store extra in the fridge for leftovers for 2-3 days or freeze for a later meal.
This is not a safe canning recipe: If you have a lot of tomatoes and want to can them for food storage, check out this safe canning recipe: Seasoned Tomato Sauce Recipe for Home Canning
You May Also Like:
- Zucchini Garlic Bites
- Garden Fresh Zucchini Lasagna
- Auntie’s Ricotta Gnocchi
- Mason Jar Italian Salad Dressing
- Fresh Summer Tomato Sauce
- How to Can Diced or Crushed Tomatoes
This recipe is a lifesaver. Thanks you! I’m making it for the third time this season because my tomatoes just keep coming. It’s super easy and tastes great. The crushed red pepper makes it! Yum!
Heidi, I’m thrilled to hear that you’re enjoying the recipe and that it’s been helpful during this abundant tomato season! Crushed red pepper does add a nice kick to the sauce.
I made this recipe because I have so many ripe garden tomatoes and I like the fact that I could cook them in the crockpot with skins and seeds. I was extremely pleased that it came out great. I didn’t have paste tomatoes but have loads of red (early girl) and black krim (heirloom). Because they are more watery I added tomato paste to the recipe. The only thing that I did change is that I used fresh basil and flat leaf parsley from my garden and left out the rosemary and thyme as I don’t care much for these herbs (only use in stuffing recipes). I used merlot wine (not cooking wine) as I find it is salty and the real thing is much better. Instead of straining I used my immersion blender, it pulverized the seeds and skins that the sauce was very smooth. The skin just disappeared into the sauce and because of the natural pectin it slightly thickened the sauce.
I just grew black krim… oh my word so nice a BLT… just trying sauce first time still reducing .. exciting!
Whole family loved it. Also, we just put the sauce in the food processor at the end and it turned out great! Highly recommended! Thanks for this great easy recipe!
Mary, Thanks for your comment. I am so happy you and your family enjoyed the recipe. 🙂
Thanks so much for this recipe. I am making it now but was wondering since I used fresh herbs can this be canned using a hot pack method or does it need to be done in a pressure cooker. I imagine the acidity of the tomates will protect the fresh vegetable. was not sure. Thanks!
Pam, This is not a recipe that is safe for home canning. However, you can preserve this tomato sauce by freezing it. If you are looking for a safe recipe for water bath canning, use this Seasoned Tomato Sauce recipe instead.
did you use a 6 quart crockpot or 3.5 quart crockpot for this recipe?
Lisa, You’ll need the 6 quart size. Tomatoes take up a lot of room before they are cooked down.
This recipe has been a hit for a couple years in our house. Now that tomato season is over and our stash of sauce is running out, do you have a recipe or alterations for using canned tomatoes?
Amanda, You can substitute fresh tomatoes with canned whole or crushed tomatoes.
It smells amazing. I didn’t strain anything. I removed the bay leaf and used my immersion blender. I don’t mind having seeds so straining wasn’t an issue. Mine is also orange, but that doesn’t matter to me. I will bag it up and freeze after it cools. First time my sauce came out so thick. Thank you!
Mary, Thanks for your comment! I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe.
This recipe turned out great! I followed the recipe almost completely except I didn’t add wine and I am out of rosemary, it seems. I started this at 8 this morning and it’s done already. I started out on the low setting for 2 hours but I could tell that it needed a boost so I turned the heat to high for 2 hours and then I used an immersion blender after cooling slightly. I don’t mind my sauce a little chunky so I knew I wasn’t going to strain it when I read the recipe anyway. I had it back on the low heat setting with the lid slightly vented and it’s what I would consider ready now and it’s 3 PM. I’ll get a second opinion before adding honey. I’m not convinced it needs it. For reference, I used mostly romas and margueritas. My sauce did come out a little more orange than a jarred pasta sauce but I’m sure there is a scienc-y reason for that like oxidization or something.
Oh, and my house smells amazing! This is a fantastic way to use up the rest of the harvest without canning.
Sandy, I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. This recipe is so easy, especially if you like a chunky sauce.
Have you ever frozen this?
Tulip, Yes, I often freeze this sauce.
I haven’t made this yet, but plan to. It seems it would be better to strain the softened tomatoes of skins and seeds before adding the herbs, onions, etc. or they will be removed along with skin and seeds.
You can use the water displacement method to seal your sauce with a vacuum-like seal but no vacuum needed. Put the desired amount in a freezer safe bag, seal all but about 1/4 inch and then dip the bag into water until you are almost to the zipper. Seal it up and you’ll have a vacuum seal without the vacuum. I do this with leftovers all the time and we get “freezer meals” to use later when we are in a hurry.
Sandy, This is a brilliant tip! Thanks for sharing.
This smelled AMAZING while simmering! After straining, I had only juice and it never thickened into sauce. I don’t want to waste my 9 lbs of garden tomatoes. If I resimmer with tomato paste over the stove will it thicken into sauce? Any idea how much and for how long?
Natalie, Yes, you could simmer on the stove with paste until it thickens to your liking. The amount of moisture in your sauce will vary depending on your tomatoes.
I had the same issue, but I solved it by cooking on high another 5 hours with the lid vented with a wooden spoon. Came out nice and thick and I used a stick blender, just strain it.