Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese

Indulge your pasta craving with this creamy, slow cooker spaghetti Bolognese. This rich and decadent sauce is cooked long and slow to bring out the best, melt-in-your-mouth meat pasta for a comforting and hearty home-cooked meal.

Today we’re making a comforting, creamy slow cooker spaghetti Bolognese that’s cooked long and slow to give this rich and meaty pasta sauce plenty of time to marry flavors. While traditionally served over a bed of spaghetti, you can also use pappardelle, linguine or fettuccine. The Bolognese sauce also pairs well with tube-type pastas if you prefer those.

This one is all about indulging and decadence, so prepare yourself for some seriously hearty comfort food perfect to combat those cold days or a romantic Italian meal for special nights. Serve it with garlic Parmesan knots, garlic bread or some French onion soup for a restaurant quality meal cooked in the comfort of your home! Let’s get started.

SLOW COOKER SPAGHETTI BOLOGNESE TIPS AND TRICKS:

Vegetables: The holy trinity base of diced onions, carrots and celery is the famous base for this sauce. You’ll want to sauté them to bring out the best flavors. While you can technically throw all the ingredients in the slow cooker and call it a day, this little extra step is worth it.

Ground beef: You’ll want to use extra lean ground beef for this. The leaner it is, the less you have to drain the fat. Also, with lean ground beef, you can skip the sautéing step on the stovetop and toss everything in the slow cooker (for those lazy, quick meal days).

White wine:  The wine is optional but adds a little more flavor. If you add this, you must cook it down completely over the stovetop so the sauce is nice and thick. If you decided to skip sautéing everything and want to dump everything in the slow cooker, try using 1/4 cup of wine instead.

Heavy cream: This is what makes the sauce super creamy. It’s a wonderful addition to the tomato-based sauce that takes it from hearty to rich. Add it in towards the end so there’s less chance of it curdling if cooked too long.

Nutmeg: Nutmeg is the secret ingredient that coaxes out the richness in a meat sauce. I use it for this sauce and other things like beef and cheese quiche. You only need a tiny bit to make a huge difference.

You could serve it two ways: dish out a plate of pasta and top it with the Bolognese sauce, or mix it all together so it’s evenly distributed and people won’t be fighting over getting more meat sauce (which happens in my house).

I tend to go with the latter since the eye will fool you into thinking you need more meat sauce to pasta ratio than you actually do. So the best way to not fall for this is to toss the bulk of it together. Problem solved. No more meat sauce hogging!

Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese

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5 from 6 reviews

• Author: The Cooking Jar
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 6 hours 20 mins
• Total Time: 6 hours 35 mins
• Yield: 6-8 1x

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Description

This rich and creamy, slow cooker spaghetti Bolognese brings out the best, melt-in-your-mouth meat pasta for a hearty home-cooked meal.

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 lb. pasta, cooked al dente
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced
• 2 medium carrots, diced
• 3 celery hearts, diced
• 2 lb. ground beef
• 1 cup white wine (optional)
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 beef bouillon cubes
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 cup heavy cream

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Instructions

1. Over medium high heat, brown the ground beef until cooked. Drain any excess fat, remove beef and set aside.
2. Melt butter, add in olive oil and sauté the onions, carrots and celery until soft, about 10 minutes.
3. Add meat and stir to combine.
4. Add wine and cook until it evaporates, about 10 minutes.
5. Add tomato paste, nutmeg, beef bouillon cubes and season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Transfer meat sauce to a slow cooker and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
7. 30 minutes before finishing, pour in the heavy cream and stir to mix. Cover and simmer for an additional 30 minutes.
8. Toss the sauce with the pasta, dish and serve warm with shaved Parmesan cheese.

Notes

Cook it over the stovetop: Follow steps 1-5. Reduce heat to medium and add in heavy cream. Simmer uncovered for 10 minutes or until cream has reduced and incorporated fully into the sauce. Toss with pasta and serve hot.