Slow Cooker Beef Bolognese

This easy but incredibly delicious slow cooker beef Bolognese checks all the boxes! Beef Bolognese is a meat-based sauce that is loaded with flavor and goodness. After cooking low and slow all day, add this sauce over some of your favorite noodles to make an amazing, yet simple delicious dinner!

Beef Bolognese Recipe

I love this recipe. Like so much. It took me quite a few tries to get it right, but I finally created the perfect Beef Bolognese. My family loves this recipe each and every time I make it. And I love it because it’s an easy and healthy dinner.

Beef Bolognese is a recipe that I absolutely love. We love a good meat sauce, and this one is no exception. I also sneak in some veggies into the sauce and my kids have no idea! (win, win!) My recipe calls for simple ingredients yet packs a HUGE flavor.

This is not your typical red sauce and noodles recipe. It feels gourmet but it is seriously so simple to make! It’s also a slow cooker recipe which is always a win in my opinion! You just do a little prep in the morning and throw this in the slow cooker. Then when you get home after a busy day, you have an amazing sauce to go with some noodles and viola! Dinner is served.

The Cowboys’ Rating: 9/10

Every time I make a new recipe, I have my family rate the recipe out of 10. By the time, these recipes make the blog, they’ve been tried and tested by some of my hardest tiny critics!

What Ingredients Are in Beef Bolognese?

• Ground Beef – As always, we use our own homegrown ground beef that is grass-finished and regeneratively raised. It’s delicious, lean and so good. Our ground beef is 90/10 and I never have to drain off a bunch of fat.
• Minced Garlic – Because this is a meat-based sauce, I really wanted to bring in some rich flavors here. I love to add minced garlic to the ground beef bring some rich, tangy flavor.
• Onion Powder – Adding in onion powder also really helps to bring in some depth to the ground beef.
• Italian Seasoning – Italian seasoning is a blend of dried herbs. Trust me when I tell you that I tried all different versions of seasonings and I feel like Italian seasoning complemented this recipe so well. With the variety of seasonings, it brought in different flavors without making one single spice overpower the rest.
• Carrots – Stay with me here… the carrots add a subtle sweetness to this sauce.
• Celery – The fact that I added celery to this sauce without my kids hating it is a miracle. I chop the celery up in teenie-tiny pieces so that they don’t even know they’re eating celery. The celery gives some extra flavor without your picky eaters even knowing it’s in there!
• Crushed Tomatoes – The meat is the base of your sauce, but crushed tomatoes add moisture to your sauce and also complements all the other ingredients.
• Heavy Whipping Cream – I feel like I could say, “this is my secret ingredient” because it kinda is. Adding heavy whipping cream makes the sauce more decadent and less acidic if you will.
• Parmesan Cheese – Last but not least, adding in some parmesan cheese adds a little richness to this sauce. It’s such a good addition.
• Linguini Noodles – For this slow cooker beef Bolognese recipe, I used linguini noodles because honestly, it was what I had in my pantry. You really could use any noodles that you wanted for this. The sauce is the star here, not the noodles.
• Salt & Pepper

Tools You’ll Need

• Frying Pan
• Spatula
• Measuring Cups & Spoons
• Liquid Measuring Cup
• Slow Cooker
• Cheese Grater

Recipe for Beef Bolognese

1. In a frying pan, combine ground beef and seasonings.
2. Mix well and cook until beef is completely cooked through.
3. While ground beef is cooking, cut and dice celery and carrots into very small pieces.
4. When beef is fully cooked, add in diced celery and carrots. Cook for another 3-5 minutes until celery and carrots are soft.
5. Transfer beef and vegetables to a slow cooker.
6. Add in crushed tomatoes and mix well.
7. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
8. 30 minutes before serving, add in heavy whipping cream and parmesan cheese. Mix well. Continue to cook on low for 30 minutes.
9. While sauce finishes cooking, cook linguini noodles according to package directions. When noodles are soft, drain.
10. Assemble beef Bolognese. Layer noodles on bottom with the beef Bolognese sauce over top of the noodles.
11. Garnish with parmesan cheese.
12. Enjoy!

How to Store Beef Bolognese

• Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Leftovers can easily be reheated in the microwave!

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