Crock Pot Spaghetti

Yesterday I promised a recipe for spaghetti in the crock pot. Today I make good on that promise! This recipe is from my mom's Mega Book of Recipes, which I'm sure means that she found it online somewhere. Nevertheless, it is easy, tasty, and pretty easily customizable.

Supplies (L to R): Frozen meatballs, dried Italian seasoning, red sauce, diced tomatoes, slow cooker liners, spaghetti, onion, garlic.

If you're like me and hate clean up, start with a crock pot liner. These things make cleanup a freaking breeze. Then pour in your red sauce and diced tomatoes.

Dice the onion and ready your garlic to be minced. I peel mine before putting in the garlic press. Some brave souls pop a whole clove in, skin and all. Alternatively, mince garlic with a knife. As an aside, I apparently purchased the most potent onions ever harvested. I never cry from onions and these made me WEEP.

Toss the onions, garlic, and Italian seasoning in the crockpot and stir it up good.

Put your meatballs in, fully frozen. (Does that sound dirty to anyone else?)

Stir everything up to make sure that the sauce fully covers the meatballs. 

Pop the lid on that sucker, turn it on low, walk away, and come back in 7 to 8 hours to a delicious spaghetti sauce with melt in your mouth meatballs. (Ok. That last part definitely sounds dirty.)

Make the pasta according to its instructions. I made mine while I was dumping everything into the crockpot. After I cooked and drained the pasta, I tossed it with a little bit of olive oil and put it back in the warm pot. You can cook it right before serving if that suits your style better.

Like I promised, this recipe is pretty damned easy. I think I didn't dice my onions as small as I needed to, but it's still happily simmering away right now. Oh, I have no plated pictures of this deliciousness because it's tonight's dinner and I wanted to get this post up before I leave to pick up my family at the airport.

Crock Pot Spaghetti
1- 26oz jar red spaghetti sauce
1- 14.5oz can diced tomatoes
1 large onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
24 frozen meatballs (approximately 3/4 lb)
12oz spaghetti
parmesan cheese (optional)
olive oil (optional

1. Pour spaghetti sauce and tomatoes with juice into a slow cooker
2. Add chopped onion, garlic, and Italian seasonings; mix well.
3. Add still-frozen meatballs, stirring to mix well. Make sure sauce covers the meatballs.
4. Cover the slow cooker and turn to LOW heat. Cook 7-8 hours.
5. Just before serving, cook spaghetti according to package directions. Alternatively, cook spaghetti ahead of time, drain, and toss with olive oil. Reheat pasta before serving.
6. Eat all the delicious spaghetti and meatballs and top with parmesan if you'd like.