Easy Slow Cooked Spaghetti Sauce

November arriving and the pandemic fall settling into a second wave that everyone can see coming and that I can see from the floor with the particular clarity of someone who was there in March. The case counts are going up. The hospital is in preparation mode again—not panic, but preparation, which is how you tell the difference between people who have been through something and people who haven't. We've been through something. We prepare efficiently now.

Sean is working with a smaller crew again—voluntary reduction, the job site's COVID protocols—and there are evenings where I come home and he's been with the kids all day with the particular face of a man who has done a significant amount of work and knows the shift has changed. I take the shift. He eats and decompresses. We don't make it a conversation. It's the exchange that working parents do and we do it without accounting for it, which is the right way to do it.

Liam has a new thing he does at dinner: he sets the table. He asked if he could help and now he does it every night, carrying the plates one at a time to the table with both hands in the way his daycare teacher taught him. He puts Nora's spoon next to the high chair even though Nora doesn't use a placemat or a full setting. She's nine months. But he puts a spoon for her. He includes her. He has always included her.

Beef stew on Sunday, the four-hour one. While it cooked Liam and I made cornbread. He said "cooking with you is the best, Mama." I said "cooking with you is the best, Liam." We ate the stew and the cornbread at six o'clock with the dark outside and it was, without question, the best.

That Sunday stew reminded me that some recipes aren’t really about the food—they’re about the hours it takes to make it, the smell that builds through the afternoon, and whoever ends up standing beside you at the counter. This slow cooked spaghetti sauce is cut from the same cloth: you start it early, you let it go, and by the time the table is set—spoon for Nora included—the whole house has shifted into something warmer. It’s the kind of meal that does its work quietly while you do yours.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 4 hrs | Total Time: 4 hrs 20 min | Servings: 6

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs ground beef (85% lean)
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1 can (15 oz) tomato sauce
1 can (6 oz) tomato paste
1/2 cup beef broth
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (optional)
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 lb spaghetti, cooked, for serving
Freshly grated Parmesan, for serving

Instructions

Brown the beef. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef, breaking it up with a spoon, until no pink remains, about 7–8 minutes. Drain excess fat and transfer beef to a slow cooker.
Soften the aromatics. In the same skillet, reduce heat to medium. Add the diced onion and cook until softened, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more, stirring constantly. Transfer to the slow cooker.
Build the sauce. Add the crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, tomato paste, and beef broth to the slow cooker. Stir in the basil, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes (if using), sugar, salt, and black pepper until everything is well combined.
Slow cook. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 hours or HIGH for 2 hours, stirring once halfway through. The sauce will deepen in color and flavor as it cooks.
Adjust and serve. Taste the finished sauce and adjust salt and pepper as needed. Serve over cooked spaghetti and finish with freshly grated Parmesan.

Nutrition (per serving)

Easy Slow Cooked Spaghetti Sauce — The Sunday Recipe That Holds Everything Together