Slow Cooker Sunday Gravy
The Italian-American Sunday sauce — meatballs, hot sausage, and pork ribs slow-simmered 6 hours in tomatoes and red wine into a sauce so thick it coats a spoon standing up.
slow-cooker Timer
Set for 360 mins @ Low 6 hours (200°F / 93°C)
Ingredients
Base recipe calibrated for 10 adults.
Get to the Point
Roll 1 lb 80/20 beef+pork meatballs; brown all sides 6 min in a skillet.
Sear 1 lb Italian sausage and 1 lb country ribs in same skillet; deglaze with red wine.
Layer meats in cooker, cover with 56 oz crushed tomatoes, herbs, and 1/4 cup tomato paste.
Cook LOW 6 hours; break sausages into chunks, serve over rigatoni with parmesan.
Step-by-Step Guided Instructions
In a large bowl, gently mix 1 lb 80/20 ground beef with 1/2 lb ground pork, 1/2 cup breadcrumbs, 1/4 cup whole milk, 1 large egg, 1/2 cup grated parmesan, 3 minced garlic cloves, 2 tbsp chopped parsley, 1.5 tsp kosher salt, and 1 tsp black pepper. Roll into 12 golf-ball-sized meatballs.
Don't overmix — a light hand keeps meatballs tender. Squeezing the mix by hand for more than 30 seconds turns them into tight little rocks.
Heat 2 tbsp olive oil in a 12-inch skillet over medium-high. Brown meatballs on all sides for 6 minutes total (they will finish in sauce). Transfer to the slow cooker. Add 1 lb hot Italian sausage links to the same pan; brown 5 minutes, turning. Transfer to cooker.
Browning is for flavor, not doneness. The meats finish under sauce — a hard sear now creates fond that becomes the sauce's backbone.
In the same skillet, brown 1 lb country-style pork ribs 3 minutes per side. These break down over the long cook into shreddable pork gold. Transfer to the cooker.
Country-style ribs are the shortcut to slow-cooked pork flavor without a whole shoulder — same collagen, one-third the cook time.
Pour 1 cup dry red wine into the empty skillet and scrape up every browned bit. Simmer 3 minutes to reduce by half. Pour into the slow cooker.
Chianti is the classic wine here. Any dry red that costs under $15 works — save the expensive bottle for the glass in your hand.
Pour 56 oz crushed tomatoes (two 28-oz cans) into the slow cooker over the meats. Stir in 1/4 cup tomato paste, 2 tbsp Italian seasoning, 4 minced garlic cloves, and 1 tsp red pepper flakes. Rinse each can with 1/4 cup water and pour in.
Rinsing the cans with water is not a shortcut — it's a technique. You're capturing every drop of tomato flavor and adjusting the sauce viscosity in one move.
Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours. Meats should be fork-tender. Break sausages into 1-inch chunks with a wooden spoon. Skim excess fat from the surface. Serve over rigatoni or pappardelle with plenty of grated pecorino.
Cut a sausage open at the 6-hour mark — if it slides apart with fork pressure, everything else is ready too. Sausages are the doneness canary in Sunday gravy.
Serve two courses like every good Italian Sunday: the sauced pasta first, then a platter of the meats with crusty bread and salad after. It's the difference between a weeknight dinner and a real Sunday meal.
Serve kids the pasta with sauce and one meatball, no sausage or ribs. Sausage heat scares young palates; ribs on the bone are a choke hazard for under-5s.
- Rigatoni or pappardelle
- Garlic bread or focaccia
- Simple green salad with red wine vinaigrette
Warm covered in a Dutch oven over medium-low for 12 minutes, stirring every 4 minutes to break up meat and prevent scorching on the bottom. Gets better on day two — this is the whole point of Sunday gravy.