Oh yes! Two of my favourite things in one post: spaghetti and slow cookers. We eat spaghetti quite often, and I also cook with my slow cooker a lot, so I’m surprised I’ve never shared a recipe for slow cooker spaghetti sauce before now. What I love about this particular recipe from Cook with Campbells is that it has lots of vegetables and meat in it, so it’s a very substantial, hearty sauce.
With the hustle and bustle of Christmas time parties and events, I’m finding the slow cooker particularly handy. With this recipe, you can make it earlier in the day when you have a little time, and then all you need to do is cook the pasta when dinner comes around. In fact, you could even cook the pasta ahead of time if you wanted to, so you’d just need to reheat it when you’re ready to eat.
I absolutely loved this sauce. It was rich and flavourful, and best of all, it was really easy to make. As Campbell’s always says, their recipes are “simple to make, easy to love.”
Most of the family thought this meal was loveable, except for Bennett, who took a little convincing. He was very upset about the carrots in the sauce, telling me repeatedly that carrots did not belong in spaghetti sauce. Finally, after getting annoyed by all of his complaining, I went over to pick out the carrots from his sauce. Do you know how many pieces of carrot I found? ONE! All that whining over one tiny piece of carrot. He did eventually eat it when he saw there were no more carrots in it.
Ayla liked this meal so much that she actually attempted a thumbs-up for the first time ever! She got pretty close anyway. Bennett decided to help her out and used his thumb to show that she liked it, even though he didn’t agree with her.
Original recipe at Cook with Campbell’s:
Ingredients
- 1 lb (454 g) lean ground beef
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 rib celery, chopped
- 1 garlic cloves, chopped
- 1 can (284 mL) CAMPBELL’S® Condensed Tomato with Basil and Oregano soup
- ¼ cup (60 mL) tomato paste
- 1 can (796 mL) crushed tomatoes
- 1 cup (250 ml) CAMPBELL’S® Ready to Use 30% Less Sodium Beef Broth
- 1 tbsp (15 mL) dried oregano
- ¼ tsp (1 mL) ground black pepper
- 1 bay leaf
- parmesan cheese, grated, if desired
Instructions
- In a large skillet brown ground beef over medium-high heat until there is no visible pink. Add onions, carrots, celery and garlic and cook for a further 3 to 5 minutes or until vegetables are soft.
- Stir in soup and tomato paste until combined. Transfer contents of pan to slow cooker. Add remaining ingredients (crushed tomatoes, broth, oregano, black pepper and bay leaf) to slow cooker, cover, turn slow cooker to low setting and cook for 6 to 8 hours. Stir to combine, remove the bay leaf and serve with parmesan cheese, if desired.
https://foodwhine.com/2014/12/slow-cooker-spaghetti-sauce.html
If you want more easy recipes like this one, check out Cook with Campbell’s. And if you need some help with holiday cooking, you can also go to Campbell’s Holiday Secrets. They have clever “holiday hacks,” like make-ahead salad that doesn’t wilt, and funny confessions about holiday fails. Hey, we’ve all been there! Sometimes all you can do is laugh and take comfort in the fact that you’re not the only one who has fudged a holiday meal. So come on, let’s hear about your biggest holiday flops.
Disclosure: I am part of the Campbell Company of Canada Ambassador program with Mom Central Canada and I receive special perks as part of my affiliation with this group. The opinions on this blog are my own.
My kids like to whine, especially when it comes to the food they eat, but that doesn’t stop me from trying to make tasty and healthy meals for them. Follow along as I share family-friendly recipes and reviews from my picky family members, who I lovingly call “The Whine Critics.” 
