Canned crushed tomatoes are pretty liquid-y, so I wasn’t sure if the chopped tomatoes would release enough liquid. I checked it after an hour on high, and everything was still pretty chunky, so I added about a cup of red wine to loosen things up. After 4 hours, I immersion-blended, added about 3 teaspoons of salt and a bit of extra-virgin olive oil, and all was lovely. I’ll probably skip the sugar next time – like the butter, I think it’s less necessary with fresh tomatoes than canned. I’m very pleased, and I used up a bunch of garden tomatoes!

Apple cider vinegar would be fine!

Crushed tomatoes are just tomatoes and a little salt, whereas tomato sauce has added ingredients like red pepper, spices, etc. You could try it, but just know that the flavor of the final sauce will be a little different as well as the texture. The crushed tomatoes adds a nice texture and thickness to the sauce, so yours might be a little looser.

I think the instant pot slow cooker gets a bit hotter than a regular slow cooker, so I’d probably keep it low if you can, instead of medium or high. Otherwise you should be able to do everything the same. Keep in mind we’ve only used a basic slow cooker though, so it might not turn out exactly the same.