Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce

Another delightful dish from Iowa Girl. I'd apologize for recreating her recipes, but then I'd just be lying to you. I'm not sorry. In fact, isn't the greatest form of flattery copying reproducing another work? Well, that's just what I'm doing.

Secretly, I kind of want to be Iowa Girl. Or, just spend a week with her, in her kitchen, watching her whip up deliciousness and taking amazing photos as she goes.

Iowa Girl enjoys running, and I enjoy running. She likes to cook/bake, I like to cook/bake. She blogs about her food, so do I. She's from Iowa, I'm from Iowa. And she hates Lima beans as much as me! All this makes me think we should just go ahead and become BFFs!

Alright, I'll stop obsessing about Iowa Girl (but, seriously, if I'm ever in Iowa and see her I might run up to her, give her a huge hug and babble on about how much I love her and think we were destined to be best friends) and get on with the meal at hand.

It's been a hot minute since I've busted out the crock pot. The second I saw this I knew I'd be making it.   When it comes to spaghetti sauce I usually always take the easy route and grab my fav jar of Ragu Light, but something about this looked too amazing to skip over.

Crock Pot Spaghetti Sauce

1 lb ground turkey (yeah, yeah, use beef if you really must)
salt and pepper
1 medium onion, minced
28oz can crushed tomatoes
8oz can tomato sauce
6oz can tomato paste
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 bay leaf
3 garlic cloves, minced,
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp dried basil
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp red chili pepper flakes (optional)
2 Tbsp butter*

Season ground turkey/beef with salt and pepper.
Brown meat with minced onion in a large skillet over medium-high heat.
Drain, then add to large crock pot.
Add all ingredients except for the butter*, stir to combine, then cook on low for 5-6 hours.
Remove bay leaves, stir in butter*.
Serve over cooked pasta.

*I just could not find it in me to add 2 Tbsp of butter, and the sauce was outstanding without it. I'm sure the taste would be kicked up a notch with the butter, I mean, everything is better with butter - right?!

Oh goodness did we enjoy our pasta. I'm not sure I'll ever buy the store sauce ever again.

Nutrition Info for sauce only:
Serves approximately 6; nutrition info for one serving (about 3/4 cup sauce)
Calories - 116
Fat - 1.5g
Carbs - 19g
Fiber - 5g
Protein - 6.5g

Enjoy!!

Source: Iowa Girl Eats