Leicester ran in four tries to beat a depleted Sale and extend their unbeaten home run at Welford Road to 24 games.
The Tigers dominated in difficult conditions but only secured a narrow half-time lead when Johne Murphy surged over after good work from Jordan Crane.
Crane set up Ben Kay to score a second try after the break.
Lewis Moody went over from a driving maul and deep into stoppage time Crane secured the bonus point with the fourth try following a series of scrums.
Sale made 11 changes to the side that started last week's Heineken Cup win over Harlequins but made the Tigers graft for victory.
The visitors, who included rookie centre Jonny Kennedy, the son of club owner Brian, defended tenaciously but could not convert their own attacking opportunities and had to rely on two Charlie Hodgson penalties for their points.
Leicester, with head coach Richard Cockerill back on the sidelines for the first time following the end of a month-long ban, led from the eighth minute when Toby Flood kicked a penalty after Sale went in at the side of a ruck.
Murphy's try and another Flood penalty gave the Tigers an 11-3 half-time lead, but it could have been much closer had Ben Cohen not seen a try disallowed for a knock-on earlier in the move.
Leicester pulled away in the second half but only secured their bonus point when replacement prop Rob O'Donnell was sin-binned in the last minute and Crane powered over.
The biggest cheers from the 24,000 sell-out crowd were reserved for Harry Ellis and Sam Vesty, two England backs returning from long-term injuries, when they came on as second-half replacements for Leicester.
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