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Crockpot Meat Sauce And Zucchini Noodles

Crockpot meat sauce and zucchini noodles is a healthy slow cooker alternative to a classic recipe. A homemade meat sauce slow cooks with zucchini  noodles aka zoodles in the slow cooker or Instant Pot.  Ditch the pasta in this lightened up low-carb, paleo & whole30 compatible recipe. 

overhead shot of cooked zoodles & meat sauce on a white plate

Ingredients for Meat Sauce & Zucchini Noodles

  • Ground Meat: Use your preferred ground meat. I used ground beef but ground turkey, chicken, or pork sausage
  • Zucchini: How many zucchini noodles aka zoodles you use is up to you. I found the sweet spot to be 3-4 medium-size zucchinis. 
  • Onion & Garlic: If you choose to make your own meat sauce, you may find that you do not need to add the onion or garlic. 
  • Crushed or Diced Tomatoes: You do not have to make your own meat sauce. Feel free to substitute a 24 ounce jar of your favorite marinara or pasta sauce. 
  • Seasonings: I like to keep things simple and use Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. Italian seasonings can be substituted with another dried herb like parsley, basil, oregano, thyme, etc. 

How To Make Meat Sauce & Zoodles In The Crock-Pot

Slow Cooker

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground beef and onion. Cook 3-5 minutes until the meat is no longer pink, crumbling the meat as it cooks. Add the garlic & cook an additional minute. Drain the grease and add the beef, onion, and garlic to the slow cooker.
  2. Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
  3. Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.
  4. Stir in zucchini noodles. Cook 5 minutes on warm. 

collage of ingredients

Instant Pot

  1. Turn on the pressure cooker and select sauté. Once hot add the ground beef and onion to the pot. Cook 3-5 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink. Crumble the beef as it cooks. Add garlic & cook an additional minute. Drain excess grease from the pot.
  2. Turn off the pressure cooker. Add the broth (or water) and & deglaze the bottom of the pressure cooker by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon.
  3. Stir in the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper. 
  4. Close and seal vent. Select high pressure and set time for 8 minutes. When cooking time is complete, quick-release pressure.
  5. Stir in zucchini zoodles and cook on WARM until the zoodles are done to your soft to your liking.
overhead shot of meat sauce in a black slow cooker

before

close up, side shot of meat sauce with zucchini noodles stirred in in a black slow cooker

after

What Are Zoodles

Zoodles are zucchini noodles. They’re a great healthy alternative to pasta because they’re low-carb, paleo, and whole30. The zoodles are added the last few minutes of cook time. You can move the meatballs to one side of the pot and place the zoodles in the sauce OR you can just lay them on top. I usually just throw them on top. They’ll cook the same regardless of how you add them. I use The Inspiralizer to make my zoodles. If you don’t have a specific zoodle maker like The Inspiralizer, you can use a simple julienne peeler to make your zoodles.

overhead side shot of cooked zoodles & meat sauce on a white plate

Homemade Meat Sauce

The meat sauce is simple – ground meat, crushed tomatoes, onion, garlic, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper. If you want to add more to the meat sauce, by all means do so.  You can really make this your own…or use a store-bought sauce! 

overhead shot of cooked zoodles & meat sauce on a white plate

FAQs & Tips

  • Store leftover zoodles & meat sauce in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. I don’t recommend freezing leftover but you technically can. If you do, please note the zucchini noodles will be very soft when you reheat it. 
  • Skip adding the crushed tomatoes and use a store-bought marinara or pasta sauce. 
  • Don’t want to zoodle the zucchini? Don’t. Chop them up and make this a slow cooker zucchini meat sauce recipe! 
  • Make this recipe your own & add more vegetables. Suggestions include bell pepper, mushroom, artichokes, etc.

overhead side shot of cooked zoodles & meat sauce on a white plate

Meat Sauce Recipes

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overhead shot of cooked zoodles & meat sauce on a white plate

Crockpot Meat Sauce And Zucchini Noodles

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

5 from 1 review

Crockpot meat sauce and zucchini noodles is a healthy slow cooker alternative to a classic recipe. A homemade meat sauce slow cooks with zucchini  noodles aka zoodles in the slow cooker or Instant Pot.  Ditch the pasta in this lightened up low-carb, paleo & whole30 compatible recipe.

  • Total Time: 3 hours 10 mins
  • Yield: 4 servings 1x

Ingredients

Units Scale
  • 1 1/2 pounds zucchini (approximately 3-4 medium), cut into zoodles
  • 1 pound ground meat
  • 28 ounces crushed or diced tomatoes (or store-bought sauce)
  • 1 tablespoon Italian seasoning or another dried herb
  • 2 garlic cloves, minced
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt (or more)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 1/2 cup beef broth or water for Instant Pot only

Instructions

Slow Cooker

  1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the ground meat and onion. Cook 3-5 minutes until the meat is no longer pink, crumbling the meat as it cooks. Add the garlic & cook an additional minute. Drain the grease and add the meat, onion, and garlic to the slow cooker.
  2. Add the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt and pepper to the slow cooker. Stir to mix well.
  3. Cook HIGH 2-3 hours or LOW 4-6.
  4. Stir in zucchini noodles. Cook an additional 5 minutes on warm.

Instant Pot

  1. Turn on the pressure cooker and select sauté. Once hot add the ground meat and onion to the pot. Cook 3-5 minutes or until the meat is no longer pink, crumbling the meat as it cooks. Add garlic & cook an additional minute. Drain excess grease from the pot.
  2. Turn off the pressure cooker. Add the broth (or water) and & deglaze the bottom of the pot by scraping all the bits off with a wooden spoon.
  3. Stir in the tomatoes, Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper.
  4. Close and seal vent. Select high pressure and set time for 8 minutes. When cooking time is complete, quick-release pressure.
  5. Stir in zucchini zoodles and cook on WARM until the zoodles are done to your liking.
  • Author: Shannon Epstein
  • Prep Time: 10 mins
  • Cook Time: 3 hours

Nutrition

  • Serving Size:
  • Calories: 225
  • Sugar: 0 g
  • Sodium: 562.8 mg
  • Fat: 3.5 g
  • Saturated Fat: 1.7 g
  • Carbohydrates: 14.6 g
  • Fiber: 0.5 g
  • Protein: 25.2 g
  • Cholesterol: 67.8 mg

Why don’t the zoodles turn mushy when you slow cook them in this recipe? For one, they don’t cook that long. The most recent time I made this, the zoodles sat on the WARM setting for about 30 minutes after cooking completed and they were still nice & firm. I imagine if you let it cook all day, they would get mushy so this is not a true set-it-and-forget-it recipe in that sense. For the electric pressure cooker, you add them the last 30 minutes of cook time. Even then, they might cook to your liking before that. How soft you like your zoodles is up to you.

 

Need an Italian seasoning? Use my homemade blend:

 

 

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Crockpot Meat Sauce And Zucchini Noodles
Recipe rating 5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star

Tammy Whaley

Monday 10th of October 2022

Can I use frozen zucchini noodles/zoodles?

Shannon Epstein

Monday 10th of October 2022

You can. The texture will be different than from fresh; it won't be al dente. But it should still taste good:-)

Tracy

Sunday 5th of April 2020

When using the pressure cooker should you add water? Or is there enough liquid from the tomatoes?

Fit SlowCooker Queen

Sunday 5th of April 2020

No water just the 28 ounces of diced tomatoes:-)

Lens

Friday 22nd of March 2019

Wife made this and it was delicious and hearty, but not too heavy. This will be on regular rotation in our house! Thanks FSCQ

Annie

Sunday 10th of March 2019

Doing Whole30 and trying this recipe today! Looks great!

Anna

Tuesday 29th of May 2018

Can u give me the carb, fat & protein count? Tia ☺

Fit SlowCooker Queen

Wednesday 6th of June 2018

Recipe updated:-) Enjoy!