An easy slow cooker bolognese sauce recipe perfect for everyday, richly flavoured, packed with vegetables too!

One of the family favourites I make over and over is my slow cooker bolognese sauce.
It might vary slightly depending on what vegetables I have to use up in the fridge, but the basic elements are always the same.
Beef mince (ground beef), vegetables and tomatoes at the base. Serve with spaghetti or other pasta shape and garnish with fresh basil and parmesan!
My recipe makes a tasty thick sauce that my family will polish off with ease!
Now there are cold winds and the evenings are much darker, I am valuing my slow cookers even more. Coming home to a hot meal is a massive plus point for me.
When my children come home from school or go to after school activities, I love the fact I don’t have to start cooking then as I have already prepared the food earlier in the day.
This is another in my arsenal of slow cooker beef mince recipes, you may also like to try my easy slow cooker cottage pie recipe and my tasty slow cooker chilli con carne.
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Background
Traditional Italian bolognese sauce originates from Bologna and is known in Italy as ragù alla bolognese.
In Italy it would be served with tagliatelle or penne or other similar pasta shapes.
It is simmered over a long period to produce a delicious thick sauce. This makes it perfect to make in a slow cooker!
Spaghetti bolognese as we enjoy it is not an authentic Italian dish though, but is believed to have evolved in either the USA or Britain through the influences of immigration.
My recipe is not claiming to be authentic but is my take on it to suit my family adapted to cooking in the slow cooker.
Why make this recipe?
✔️ Easy to prepare
✔️ Nice thick sauce, naturally
✔️ Family favourite
✔️ Easy to adapt
Ingredients
Here are the ingredients you will need for this recipe. For the quantities please see the recipe card at the end of the post. Use this list to get your ingredients together.
- garlic – traditionally adds flavour to Italian dishes.
- onion – makes the perfect base for your sauce. Red or brown onions can be used.
- carrots – diced carrots are typically used in sauce bases, together with celery and onion they form the soffrito.
- celery – one of the base ingredients for the soffrito.
- pepper – red or yellow – adding in some peppers is a great way of getting in some extra vegetables
- cherry tomatoes – another great way to add additional veggies
- beef mince (ground beef) – I tend to always have a pack of minced beef in the fridge, we normally buy steak mince which has a slightly lower fat content.
- tin of chopped tomatoes – cheap and ideal for the base of the sauce
- tomato puree – thickens your sauce and adds more tomato flavour
- beef stock cube or stock melt/pot – enriches the meat sauce with added flavour.
- dried oregano – enhances the flavour of the sauce.
- dried thyme – another herb which adds a touch of earthy flavour.
- salt and pepper, to season (not pictured)
- olive oil – to fry the ingredients (not pictured)
Feel free to vary the vegetables according to your preferences and what you have available.
Instructions
Before you start, read my step-by-step instructions, with photos, hints and tips so you can make this slow cooker bolognese sauce recipe perfectly every time.
Scroll down for the recipe card with quantities and more tips at the bottom of the page.
Step 1. Heat a frying pan, add a little olive oil or mist with cooking spray, and brown off the beef mince.
Step 2. Add the chopped garlic and cook for one further minute.
Step 3. Chop the onions, peppers, carrots, celery and cherry tomatoes and put them in the slow cooker pot.
Step 4. Add the browned minced beef and garlic into the slow cooker pot, then add the chopped tomatoes, tomato puree, stock cube/pot and herbs, then season well. Stir to combine. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
Once cooked, garnish with some fresh basil if you like and sprinkle with some grated parmesan. Serve with spaghetti or other pasta shapes like penne.
Cooking time
If I’m busy and going to be out all day, then I’ll pop this in my slow cooker in the morning and cook for 7-8 hours on low.
Or if I am busy in the morning I’ll start it going at lunch time and cook for 4-5 hours on high.
Both work well!
Substitutions
To make this dish vegetarian or vegan, you could replace the minced beef with 2 tins of green lentils. Or use your preferred alternative to the mince such as Quorn or textured vegetable/soy protein.
To make it gluten-free, use a gluten-free stock cube and serve with gluten-free pasta.
Variations
Here are a few ways you can adapt the recipe. You could use one or more of these ingredients to vary the recipe and enhance the flavour:
- a splash of Worcestershire sauce
- a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- a few chopped anchovies
- diced mushrooms/aubergine (eggplant)/sweet potato/butternut squash
- a splash of milk
- use a mixture of minced beef and minced pork instead of all minced beef
Storage
Allow the bolognese sauce to cool then store in the fridge for 3 days in a covered container.
Freeze in a tub for up to 6 months.
Recipe tips
Vary the vegetables according to what you have to hand in the fridge.
Fresh herbs add flavour – add these on top just before serving. Basil works well.
Grate over some parmesan before serving.
Freezing – bolognese sauce freezes well and is perfect for batch cooking for the freezer. On busy days you can defrost a portion of sauce or as many portions as you need for a quick meal of spag bol along with some freshly boiled pasta.
Allow to cool after cooking and then transfer the sauce to Tupperware pots or freezer bags in the portions you will need.
Sides
When you get home or finish work, cooking a pan of pasta only takes ten to fifteen minutes and you are all set for a great family meal with this slow cooker spaghetti bolognese.
You can serve the bolognese sauce with spaghetti or any other pasta shape depending on what you have in the store cupboard.
I find it is best to cook your pasta separately in a pan rather than adding it in the slow cooker.
You’d have to add plenty of water to ensure the pasta would cook, which could result in making your sauce watery.
Add some garlic bread and green vegetables on the side and you’re done!
I also like to make a double batch of my slow cooker bolognese sauce and freeze a few portions for another day for an easy meal.
Thick sauce
If you think the slow cooker can only produce thin watery sauces, think again.
My rich flavourful slow cooker bolognese recipe isn’t artificially thickened with cornflour at the end of cooking. No need for that!
Instead, remember to keep an eye on the amount of liquid you use (all done for you in this recipe).
Don’t forget either that you can’t reduce a sauce in the slow cooker, in fact you will gain liquid during cooking as the steam does not escape.
In my recipe I’ve taken all that into account so this recipe produces a lovely thick result instead of a thin watery sauce.
FAQ
You could but the texture of the cooked dish is a lot better if you brown mince in a pan first before making up the sauce, as in the instructions for this recipe.
If you follow this recipe then you should end up with a nice thick bolognese sauce from your slow cooker. Causes of watery sauce could be using too much liquid, adding too much water, not following a slow cooker recipe (which will have reduced liquid amounts), using frozen vegetables.
Cook for 4-5 hours on the high setting or 7-8 hours on the low setting.
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
You’ll probably also like my post on family slow cooker recipes that kids love which has 20 recipes to look through, and my slow cooker main meals section.
Recipe
Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 2 medium onions red or brown
- 200 g carrots
- 100 g celery
- 1 yellow pepper
- 200 g cherry tomatoes
- 500 g lean beef steak mince
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tin of chopped tomatoes
- 4 tbsp tomato purée
- 1 beef stock pot or your preferred stock cube
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- salt and pepper to season
Equipment
Instructions
- Brown the mince in a pan misted with cooking spray or oil.500 g lean beef steak mince, 1 tsp olive oil
- Add the garlic for the last minute.2 cloves garlic
- Place the onions, pepper, carrots and tomatoes in the slow cooker pot.2 medium onions, 200 g carrots, 1 yellow pepper, 200 g cherry tomatoes, 100 g celery
- Add the browned mince and garlic, then add the chopped tomatoes, tomato purée, stock pot, and herbs. Season well.1 tin of chopped tomatoes, 4 tbsp tomato purée, 1 beef stock pot or your preferred stock cube, 1 tsp oregano, 1 tsp dried thyme, salt and pepper
- Cook on low for 7-8 hours on or high for 4-5 hours.
Notes
- a splash of Worcestershire sauce
- a few chopped sun-dried tomatoes
- a few chopped anchovies
- diced mushrooms/aubergine (eggplant)/sweet potato/butternut squash
- a splash of milk
- use a mixture of minced beef and minced pork instead of all minced beef
Sharon says
Hi, can I use vegan mince frozen for the Chilli or bolognese?
Thanks
Sharon.
bakingqueen74 says
Hi, I have never used vegan mince so cannot be absolutely sure. If you can normally cook vegan mince from frozen then I think you could use it. However this could make the dish go watery since water will come out of it. If you can defrost it first then I think that would have best results.
Sarah James @ Tales From The Kitchen Shed says
What a tasty recipe Lucy, the slow cooker does a great job with a bolognese sauce. I like how you’ve added a beef stock pot.
bakingqueen74 says
Thank you Sarah 🙂
Corina says
It sounds like a lovely bolognese. I used to find that some of my slow cooker meals were too liquidy in the past but I do agree that it’s possible to avoid that by not adding as much liquid, although sometimes it’s a little counter-intuitive when putting everything in.
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Corina. Yes lots of people get a bit confused by the liquid at first I think but once you get used to it it seems quite natural to use less stock etc doesn’t it!
Elle Bloggs (@ElleBloggs) says
This looks delicious – perfect dinner now we’re getting into the colder weather!
Lauren x
Elle Bloggs
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Lauren, it was a great winter warmer!
Janice @FarmersgirlCook says
Delicious looking bolognese, Lucy. Need to get my slow cooking head on and get a recipe blogged!
bakingqueen74 says
Thanks Janice, I am using my slow cookers all the time now it has got cold again!
chef mimi says
This is a great idea. I need to pull my slow cooker out of storage!
Susan says
Hi this looks delicious. Just wondering though do you add any water with the stock pot or stock cube – or do you just add the pot or cumble the cube over the dish? Hope you can help as look forward to making this.
bakingqueen74 says
Hi Susan, great glad you like it. No I just popped the stock pot in on top, you can see it in the photo inside the slow cooker on the page just about I think. If you add water it will get very watery which I avoid. Later in the liquid increases during cooking and I give it a quick stir.