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Spaghetti bolognese in a white plate.

Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce

Harriet
An easy to make and healthy slow cooker Bolognese sauce. This recipe makes a large batch. Great to feed a small crowd or freeze for convenience.
5 from 3 votes
Print Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 6 hours 10 minutes
Total Time 6 hours 40 minutes
Course Mains
Servings 16 x ½ cup servings
Calories 153 kcal

Equipment

  • 6 litre slow cooker

Ingredients
  

  • 2 x 800 grams canned whole tomatoes
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 4 garlic cloves crushed (or 1 tablespoon garlic paste)
  • 450 grams onions diced (2 large onions)
  • 100 grams stalks of celery finely chopped (2 stalks)
  • 240 grams carrot finely diced (1 medium carrot)
  • 900 grams lean ground beef
  • 4 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 1 cup of full cream milk
  • 1 cup red wine or chicken stock or beef stock
  • 3 beef stock cubes crushed (or 3 teaspoons beef stock powder)
  • 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
  • 2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • 3 teaspoons dried basil leaves
  • 1 dried bay leaves
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
  • 2 large red chillies or 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes optional
  • 1 teaspoon salt + extra for seasoning after cooking
  • ½ teaspoon pepper

Instructions
 

  • Open the cans of tomatoes and a pour into a sieve that has been placed over a large bowl and drain away most of the juice. Keep the drained juices for later.
  • Place the drained tomatoes into the slow cooker, and mash them until they break into tiny pieces.
  • Next, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a large frypan over medium heat. Add onion, celery and carrot. Fry and stir constantly for about 5 minutes or until all the vegetables have softened. Add the garlic and cook for about 30 seconds. Transfer to the slow cooker.
  • Heat the remaining oil in the same fry pan over a high heat. Add the ground beef and cook until brown, use a wooden spoon or spatula to break it into smaller pieces as it cooks. Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute more.
  • Add the milk, bring to a boil and cook over a medium/high heat until the milk has reduced and there is very little liquid left. This will take about 10 minutes.
  • Add the wine, bring back to the boil and cook until most of the wine has evaporated, this will take about 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and transfer to the slow cooker.
  • Add the stock cubes, Worcestershire sauce, oregano, basil, bay leaves, sugar, nutmeg, red chilli (if using), salt and pepper into the slow cooker. Stir well. The mixture should not look dry, it should look like a thick with just a little bit of liquid.
    If it looks dry add some of the reserved tomato juice. If the sauce looks soupy don’t worry, it can be fixed toward the end of cooking.
    Note: Keep the remaining tomato juice until after you have finished cooking the bolognese sauce, you may need it.
  • Put the lid on and cook on low for 6- 7 hours or high for 3 – 4 hours. In the last 1 hour of cooking, check the sauce. If it looks soupy, continue to cook with the lid off to allow the excess liquid to evaporate. If the sauce looks too dry add some more of the reserved tomato juice and cook for the remaining time.
    The finished sauce should be thick and slightly moist. Taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary. Serve with pasta,

Notes

This recipe makes about 2 kg of bolognese sauce. Any left over bolognese sauce can be frozen, or used to make lasagna. 

Nutrition

Serving: 1x ½ cup servingCalories: 153kcalCarbohydrates: 10gProtein: 14gFat: 5gSaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 36mgSodium: 499mgPotassium: 514mgFiber: 2gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 2738IUVitamin C: 17mgCalcium: 66mgIron: 3mg
Keyword beef bolognese, bolognese sauce recipe, bolognese with milk, ground beef bolognese, slow cooked bolognese
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