This Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese will make Italian Mamas proud. It’s rich, luscious, the sauce is silky and the meat is so tender it melts in your mouth. And the slow cooker does all the hard work!!
Long and slow is how real Italian Mamas make proper Spaghetti Bolognese. It’s when the magic happens, the sauce thickens and infuses with incredible flavour that you simply can’t achieve in 30 minutes on the stove. The meat becomes so tender and soft, it literally melts in your mouth. The sauce is silky and rich, and clings lovingly to the pasta, staining the long strands a deep red.
So basically, slow cookers were made for Bolognese sauce. Or maybe Spaghetti Bolognese was made for slow cookers. Doesn’t really matter. They’re a match made in heaven! :-)
Now I have to tell you, this is a real proper authentic Bolognese recipe. So it’s not a “chuck it all in the slow cooker” recipe. Softening the onion and browning the beef before transferring it to the slow cooker is a key step, it can’t be skipped!
It just so happens that my slow cooker has a sauté setting – very handy for browning before slow cooking. However, when I make Bolognese Sauce in the slow cooker, I always make a double batch using 2 lb of ground beef. So if I were to brown the beef in the slow cooker, I’d have to do it in batches anyway because otherwise it would be (very!) overcrowded and the beef would end up stewing instead.
So I just brown the beef in a large skillet then transfer to the slow cooker. Well actually, I brown the onion first then transfer that into the slow cooker, then I brown the beef. Simply because of sheer volume – I don’t have a skillet large enough!
I am very particular about recipes I make in a slow cooker. I strongly believe that things should only be made in a slow cooker if it either enhances the recipe or the sheer convenience far outweighs a small compromise in the food.
As for Spaghetti Bolognese? It absolutely enhances it. Slow cookers on low cook maintain an even temperature lower than most stoves can manage. I truly believe to my very core that Bolognese Sauce made in the slow cooker is better.
This recipe makes a double batch but you could even triple it if you want! Because not only is Bolognese made for making in a slow cooker, it’s also made for freezing!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 yellow onions diced
- 2 pounds lean ground beef
- 1 cup red wine or chicken or beef broth
- 2 (28 ounce each) can crushed tomatoes
- 4 tablespoons tomato paste
- 3 beef bouillon cubes crushed
- 2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
- 3 teaspoons dried oregano
- 2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
- 3 bay leaves
- 2 teaspoons red pepper flakes optional
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Pasta
- 8 ounces spaghetti
Instructions
- Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, and cook until translucent and sweet - around 7 minutes. Transfer to slow cooker.
- Heat 1 tbsp oil in the same skillet and increase heat to high. Add beef and cook, breaking it up as you go, until browned. Cook in 2 batches if your skillet is not large enough. Transfer to slow cooker.
- Return skillet to the stove, turn the stove down to medium and add red wine. Bring to simmer and scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the skillet into the wine, then pour the mixture into the slow cooker.
- Add remaining ingredients into the slow cooker. Cook on Low for 6 hours.
Spaghetti
- Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook the spaghetti until just before al dente (still slightly firm). Remove 1 mug of the water from the pot, then drain the pasta.
- Return the pasta to the pot and add 2 ½ - 3 cups of Bolognese Sauce, plus ½ cup of reserved pasta water. Toss gently over medium-high heat for 2 minutes, or until the Sauce has thickened and coats the spaghetti. (Note 3)
- Serve immediately with freshly grated parmesan cheese if desired.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Dinner
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i would love to have some vegetables in this would carrots work?
Yes, that should work fine. You’d want to chop them small and add them in with the onion.
You are so correct about using the starchy water from cooking the pasta, that’s liquid gold, people! Makes all the difference in pasta dishes
I’m making this today since it’s supposed to be over 100 degrees here today and I don’t wanna heat up the house. Only half of the recipe since I only have a pound of meat… and tomato sauce since I’m outta tomatoes and tomato paste but I’m sure it’ll be amazing anyway!!! Thanks for the recipe and the tips to go with it.
Enjoy Shanna!!
Can’t wait to try this….love my slow cooker!
Me too! Enjoy Nance!
Now I wanna find one with a saute feature!!! Didn’t know they made them.
Cuisinart now makes a slow cooker that sautees. Love it!
When you say it freezes well, do you mean even after the spaghetti is added, or should you freeze jus the meat mixture?
I would freeze just the meat mixture.
it doesn’t. Say to drain the ground beef before transferring it to the crockpot. I am assuming you need to drain the beef. What’s the best kind of ground beef really lean or some with more fat?
Hi Kelly! The beef I use is fairly lean so there isn’t much to drain so I don’t bother. I don’t get really lean, I get “normal” but not one that is super fatty i.e. pink colour which = lots of fat. Hope that helps!
I have 2 questions. When making the Bolognese sauce, you are draining the beef after browning and before adding to the slow cooker, right? And secondly, what slow cooker do you have that also sautes?? Would love to look into one! Thanks!
Hi Donna! The beef used in this recipe fairly lean (not extra lean) so no need to drain. There are several options for slow cookers that saute on Amazon. I personally have the Breville Fast Slow Cooker which can saute, slow cook and pressure cook all in one.
that Breville fast slow cooker is $130-$300, I think I can saute on the side in a skillet.
It’s pricey for sure… it’s a slow cooker and pressure cooker all in one and definitely not required for this recipe. :)
A discovery I made while doing something very similar to this; add about 1/2 pound of browned bulk Italian sausage to each pound of ground beef. Obviously it will be a bit thicker but it will make possible an awesome “Sloppy Giuseppe” sandwich.
Oh man, those would be SO delicious!! I just might have to give that a try!
So do I.
This is cooking twice. Why not just stove top in a big sauce pan
I use the slow cooker frequently when I’m not going to be home (either at work or at soccer practice etc). I love coming home to a ready meal! :)
I use it so it won’t heat the house up. I live in West Texas and it frequently gets above 100 degrees here. ☺
For the safety and convenience that you can leave the house and return to a cooked meal at the end of the day. You don’t have to worry about stirring, over cooking burning your meal.
Some of the many reasons we love a slow cooker Emma!
I made this Monday night. Everyone loved it. My son asked me, “Why has your food been so good this week?”
LOL! Kids just have a way with words! So glad your family loved this recipe!
Can you recommend a good red wine for this recipe?
Yes, you’re going to want a full bodied wine such as a cabernet sauvignon or merlot (skip the pinot noir & shiraz in this recipe).
If you wish to avoid pasta, try this with spaghetti squash. Spaghetti squash is very versatile and is a favorite of mine.
Great tip, thank you!
Wow! It sure does sound delicious! I will be making this over the weekend!
Enjoy Gayatri!
Sounds delicious! I will definitely make this. I have not cooked with red wine before and wondering if you could suggest one that you like to use? Thanks!
Yes, you’re going to want a full bodied wine such as a cabernet sauvignon or merlot (skip the pinot noir & shiraz in this recipe).
Do you have a recommendation for the type of red wine to use?
Yes, you’re going to want a full bodied wine such as a cabernet sauvignon or merlot (skip the pinot noir & shiraz in this recipe).
I do love a good slowly cooked ragu and agree that a slow cooker is such a useful tool for making them. It is also nigh on impossible to over cook a sauce like this in the slow cooker.
My slow cooker is one of my favorite kitchen tools! It definitely keeps this recipe perfect, and not over cooked in the slightest! Thanks for stopping by Helen!
Do you drain the tomatoes??? Sounds so good”
Because the tomatoes are crushed you shouldn’t need to drain them.
Hi Micki! Actually you WANT the tomato juice! It forms part of the sauce!!
Oh. . .spaghetti bolognese. . .you are such a favorite of the hubby’s. When we lived in Africa of all places. . .the Mr. developed a slight (okay maybe it was intense) addiction to spaghetti bolognese. It always seemed to magically appear on the table no matter the restaurant. I must admit that I rarely cook it (does that make me a bad wife?) because I try to avoid pasta in our house; however, the Mr. has been on assignment in Shanghai. . .so I think this would be a welcome surprise (he’s sick of the gobs of Chinese food he has been eating at every meal) during his visits home.
No, that doesn’t make you a bad wife Lynn! Pasta is one of those foods that if you don’t have the willpower to avoid it, you almost can’t make it {that is the case here! HA!}
Sometimes I put sauce over cooked shredded cabbage….no pasta here either.
Spaghetti squash or cauliflower are good alternatives too. I just got a spiralizer that is supposed to turn zucchini into ‘pasta’ – haven’t tried it yet. Lots of alternatives.
There are gluten free flours or grain pastas which are much healthier and lighter. Such as spelt pasta. Quinoa pasta. Spaghetti squash is a great alternative also.
How rich and gorgeous does this sauce recipe look! Perfection! Pinning to try later.
Would this work in a rice cooker? I have setting for slow cooking, I will try and see because that looks soooooooo good!!!
I haven’t tried it that way so I am not quite sure, but if you try it would you please come back and let us know how it turned out in a rice cooker?
Hi Khadija! Yes it works in a rice cooker with a slow cooking setting :)
Yes it does! and its amazing!
Thank you! I was wondering the same thing. My rice cooker can also be used as a 4qt slow cooker. I thought this might be the best recipe to try as my first slow cooker recipe in it.
I really need to purchase a slow cooker. My sis made hers in her slow cook too and it came out sooooo good!