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This slow cooker Bolognese is a twist on a classic Italian Ragu sauce. A good bolognese sauce is cooked slowly, puttering away on the stove for hours as the deep meaty flavors develop but it’s so easy in the slow cooker!
This slow cooker bolognese recipe allows you to set it and forget it. Watch everyone’s eyes light up as their warm pasta bowls are filled with noodles, an irresistible meat sauce, and pummeled with cheese. Buy one of these hand-cranked Cheese Grater doodads and it will almost feellikedining out because lets face it, dinner is way more fun pretending you’re at an Italian restaurant (we have kids). This sauce freezes and reheats well so you’ll have leftovers ready for another meal.
Big thank you to our friends at Reynolds® who sponsored this bolognese recipe and made it way too easy to clean my slow cooker, actually I didn’t even have to (more on that below)!
Slow Cooker Bolognese Recipe
If you love traditional Bolognese Sauce, you’ll love the ease of making it in a slow cooker. The meat becomes incredibly tender and rich in flavor as it slow cooks in the crockpot.
Ingredients for Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce:
1/4 cupolive oil
1 medium onion, finely diced
2 celery sticks, finely diced
2 medium carrots, grated
2 lb ground beef (we prefer beef with 15% or 20% fat content)
Salt and black pepper
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 cup finely choppedparsley, plus more to serve
1Tbsp granulated sugar
1 cup dry white wine (Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay)
2 (28 oz each) cannedcrushed tomatoes (or canned whole tomatoes crushed by hand)*
1 cup whole milk
1 bay leaf, optional
Pasta and Parmesan (or your favorite Italian cheese) to serve
What You’ll Need:
Large skillet or dutch oven, slow cooker and Reynolds® Slow Cooker Liner
*I know many chefs esteem Imported Italian whole plum tomatoes, but if you can’t find them in your grocery store (as was the case with me), the best quality you can buy will do! 🙂
Hold the phone! Have you tried these Reynolds slow cooker liners?They are so handy. I’m particularly fond of them for slow cooker meat dishes because those are the ones that need the longestcooking times and you otherwise have to soak or scrub your slow cooker for awhile. You’ll see below when I removed the liner; it was clean clean!
How to MakeSlow Cooker Bolognese Sauce:
1. In a large deep pan or dutch oven, heat 1/4 cup olive oil.Add onion, celery and carrots and sauté until softened (8-10 mins). Add minced garlic and1/2 cup parsley and stir 30 seconds or until garlic is fragrant. Transfer to a slow cooker.
2. In the same pan (without washing it), add ground beef, season with 1 tspsalt, 1/4 tsp pepper and sauté until cooked through and no longer red (6-10 mins). For a leaner sauce, you canspoon off and discard excess oil at this point keeping3Tbsp oil in the pan. Add 1 cup white wine and sauté on med/high heat until wine hascompletely evaporated (8-10 mins) Transfer to slow cooker.
3. Add 1 cup milk, 1 bay leaf, 1 Tbsp sugar, and both cans of tomatoes with their juice. Stir to combine.
4. Cover and cook on low 8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. If it it seems too liquidy, let it cook with the lid off for the last 30 minutes. See how clean it is after I took out the bag? I just wiped the condensation with a paper towel. Easy peasy!
5. Season with more salt to taste (I added nearly 1 tsp more salt). Serve generous amounts of bolognese sauce over your favorite pasta, topped withcheese and a sprinkling of fresh parsley.
Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce (Pasta Meat Sauce)
4.98 from 107 votes
Author: Natasha of NatashasKitchen.com
A good bolognese sauce is cooked slowly, puttering away on the stove for hours as the deep meaty flavors develop but it's so easy in the slow cooker!
Prep Time: 25 minutes mins
Cook Time: 8 hours hrs
Total Time: 8 hours hrs 25 minutes mins
Ingredients
Servings: 8 -10 servings
For the Bolognese Sauce:
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 celery sticks, finely diced
- 2 medium carrots, grated
- 2 lb ground beef, we prefer beef with 15% or 20% fat content
- Salt and black pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup finely chopped parsley, plus more to serve
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 cup dry white wine, Pinot Grigio or Chardonnay
- 2 28 oz each canned crushed tomatoes (or canned whole tomatoes, crushed)*
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 bay leaf, optional
To Serve:
- Pasta, Parsley and Parmesan, or your favorite Italian cheese to serve
What You'll Need:
- Large skillet or dutch oven, slow cooker
Instructions
In a large deep pan, heat 1/4 cup olive oil. Add onion, celery and carrots and sauté until softened (8-10 mins). Add garlic and 1/2 cup parsley and stir 30 seconds or until garlic is fragrant. Transfer to slow cooker.
In the same pan (without washing it), add ground beef, season with 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper and sauté until cooked through and no longer red (6-10 mins). For leaner sauce, you can spoon off and discard excess oil at this point keeping 3 Tbsp oil in the pan. Add 1 cup white wine and sauté on med/high heat until wine has completely evaporated (8-10 mins). Transfer meat to slow cooker.
Add 1 cup milk, 1 bay leaf, 1 Tbsp sugar, and both cans of tomatoes with juice and stir to combine.
Cover and cook on low 8 hours or on high 3-4 hours. If it it seems too liquidy, let it cook with the lid off for the last 30 minutes.
Season with more salt to taste (I added nearly 1 tsp more salt). Serve generous amounts of bolognese sauce over your favorite pasta, topped with cheese and garnished with fresh parsley.
Notes
*I know many chefs esteem Imported Italian whole plum tomatoes, but if you can't find them in your grocery store (as was the case with me), the best quality you can buy will do!
- Full Nutrition Label
- Nutrition Disclosure
Course: Lunch, Main Course, Sauce
Cuisine: American, Italian
Keyword: crockpot bolognese, Slow cooker bolognese
Skill Level: Easy
Cost to Make: $$
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
???That my friends is the definition of Italian comfort food!