Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese is the easy way to cook an all time classic family favourite. This recipe is simple, tasty and a results in a rich spaghetti bolognese that will blow your socks off!
Ground Beef Casserole, Creamy Garlic Chicken Thighs, Moroccan Lamb Couscous and Turkey Chilli Con Carne, are all delicious dinner recipes the whole family will love.
Why not make life easy and use our Slow Cooker for the occasional dinner recipe that we can quite literally 'set and forget'.
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese is quite literally a simple crockpot recipe.
These recipes are great on their own or serve with a side dish like our skin on roast potatoes or horseradish mashed potatoes for a complete meal!
Check out all of the dinner recipes on the blog right here!
Or if you want a fast pasta, try our Instant Pot Penne Pasta or a lighter pasta the Smoked Salmon Spaghetti or Bacon Spaghetti. A classic meatballs in sauce, the Oven Baked Meatballs in Sauce recipe.
Can you put raw mince in the Slow Cooker?
You can absolutely put raw ground mince meat into your Slow Cooker. It will cook evenly throughout. That is one of the reasons why this recipe is so easy!!
When I do this, I spray the crockpot with cooking oil replacing oil in a fry pan which does reduce the total oil used in the dish.
Do you need to brown mince before putting in Slow Cooker?
You do not need to brown your mince before adding it to the Slow Cooker.
Spray the base of your Slow Cooker bowl with olive oil, then add the ingredients.
The mince will cook over the length of the cook time, changing colour as it goes. You will notice that is is less oily than stove top cooked beef mince as we only need the oil that we spray in the beginning to ensure the ingredients don't stick to the bowl along the way.
Spraying the bowl with cooking oil is just one small step to ensure less clean up at the end of our cook time!
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Slow Cooker Bolognese with vegetables
One of the best things about this dish is that you can add your favourite vegetables to the dish. This helps to bulk up the 500 grams mince we use for the recipe.
I like to use sliced mushrooms and diced carrot, along with the crushed tomatoes that helps make our rich sauce.
Beef mince Spaghetti Bolognese Ingredients
Our ingredients are simple and basic. They are set out in the photo below and labelled so you can see exactly what you need:
As you can see, we need:
- beef mince
- passata
- crushed tomatoes
- sliced mushrooms
- diced carrots
- dried onion
- garlic
- Italian herbs
- salt
- pepper
For the pasta, we use spaghetti and cook it according to the packet instructions. It will take about 10 mins.
Grab everything you need and let's look at the process we follow to make this delicious dish.
Step by step to make Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
We can break down our recipe into 12 eay steps. These are shown in the photo below:
As you can see we need to:
-
- add beef mince, carrots, mushrooms, passata, crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic, onion and Italian herbs to our slow cooker (shown in photos 1 - 10)
- use a wooden spoon to stir all of these ingredients together (shown in photo 11)
Then you can literally 'set and forget'. It is funny that the thing that will remind you that this is cooking is the amazing smell wafting through the house!
Important steps:
Of the steps above, 4 of them are the ones to focus on allowing for the best ever Slow Cooker Bolognese. Let's look at the next photo for these steps:
- the passata adds a thick, rich tomato flavour to the finished recipe
- Italian Herbs are the perfect addition to flavour our ingredients with authentic 'Italian style'
- the ingredients need to be seasoned well, stirring the ingredients together is essential.
- a minimum of 4 hrs on low and 2 hrs on high will do the job, longer is fine also
For this recipe, I like to cook the spaghetti separately on the stove top. One of the main reasons is that it allows us to have leftover bolognese to freeze that is separate from the cooked pasta.
Use zip lock bags to portion out and freeze the bolognese sauce or cook the batch, allow it to cool and freeze for an entire meal that is ready with just a little reheating!
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Slow Cooker Bologese questions answered:
About the recipe:
- we use 500 grams beef mince
- purchase sliced mushrooms if you like (easy and saves time)
- dice your carrots in your food processor or slice with a knife
- tomato passata is often sold in a 700 gram bottle (we use all of this)
Your quick questions answered:
- the fastest cook time for this recipe is 2 hrs on high
- spray the slow cooker bowl with cooking oil
- these recipe is freezer friendly
- add fresh parsley, parmesan and cracked pepper for serving
- this is a family friendly recipe with no (hot) spice
- This is an EASY recipe
It will take as little as 2 hrs to cook mince in the slow cooker on high. The results are juicy, Italian flavoured and fork worthy!
If a quick pasta is more your thing, try the Sausage Spaghetti!
Slow Cooker dinner recipes
This recipe might (hopefully) inspire you to make more Crockpot Dinner recipes. Here are some ideas to get you started:
and of course, not to forget, slow cooker chicken wings:
Each of the above recipes are delicious on their own or with a delicious side dish.
This Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese is suitable for and loved by the whole family. Freezer friendly, easy and delicious, you will want to make it every week!
Or try a mid week pasta like the Artichoke Spaghetti or Anchovy Spaghetti recipes.
Spaghetti recipes
It doesn't have to be spaghetti, you can use you favourite pasta, or be inspired by one of these dishes!
- Smoked Salmon Spaghetti
- Artichoke Spaghetti
- Instant Pot Penne Pasta
- Blue Cheese Mac and Cheese
- Ground Beef Casserole
- Tuna Pasta Bake
- Sausage Spaghetti
- Rocket Pesto Pasta
- Burst Cherry Tomato Pasta
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Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
- Wooden spoon
- Saucepan
- Colander
Ingredients
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
- 500 grams beef mince
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms Note 1
- 2 cups diced carrot Note 2
- 400 grams crushed tomatoes Note 3
- 700 grams passata
- 1 tbs dried onion Note 4
- 1 tbs garlic, minced Note 5
- 1 tbsp italian herbs Note 6
- salt and pepper Note 5, to taste
Instructions
Slow Cooker Spaghetti Bolognese
- Turn your Slow Cooker on to a warm setting.
- Spray the Slow Cooker (Crockpot) bowl with olive oil Note 6
- Add beef mince, sliced mushrooms, diced carrot, passata, crushed tomatoes, salt, pepper, garlic, dried onion and Italian herbs to the oiled bowl.
- Use a wooden spoon to stir these ingredients together so the herbs and sauces and mixed in well to the vegetables and sauces.
- Turn Slow Cooker to low, cook for 4 hrs (or 2 hrs on high)
- Cook spaghetti according to packet instructions, then drain. Note 7
- Plate cooked spaghetti and spoon Slow Cooker Bolognese over the top
- Garnish with cracked pepper, parmesan cheese and freshly chopped parsley. Note 8
Video
Notes
- Note 1 To make this recipe as easy as it can be, I use store bought sliced mushrooms. By all means you can buy whole mushrooms and slice your own but it will take longer.
- Note 2 2 cups diced carrots is 3-4 carrots. I cut the tip and end of and use my food processor to chop.
- Note 3 I prefer the crushed tomatoes which are plain. We are adding our own herbs which allows us to know exactly what goes into the dish. So no need to buy tomatoes with additional herbs.
- Note 3 Dried onion will be found in the spices aisle at the store. It is one of my all time favourite ingredients to cook with. Saving both time and tears but still giving great flavour. This is a must try ingredients if you haven't come across it before.
- Note 4 Crushed garlic, minced garlic or fresh garlic are all fine. I prefer crushed or minced for a recipe like this as you literally scoop it from the jar with your measuring spoon, tip it into your Slow Cooker and then you are done. No chopping or peeling (saves a chunk of time!)
- Note 5 If you don't have Italian herbs, you can use Oregano, but use ½ the quantity, so the oregano doesn't overpower the dish
- Note 6 We use the salt and pepper to season the mince and vegetables when we put the ingredients into the Slow Cooker at the start. We use additional cracked pepper for garnish when serving our dish.
- Note 7 I have both canola spray and olive oil spray in the cupboard. For a recipe like this where we are using the Slow Cooker then I recommend the olive oil spray. You can use either and they will both be fine, but the reason I do this is that we are not adding additional oil to the ingredients so I like to use the spray which is the closet to oil. Of the 2, the olive oil one achieves this.
- Note 8 You can cook your spaghetti about 10 mins before the end of the bolognese cook time in the Slow Cooker. Or you can turn the SC temperature to 'warm' and cook the spaghetti if the sauce is already done.
- Note 9 This is the fun part of the dish. The cracked pepper, parmesan and parsley add pops of colour to the spaghetti bolognese. If feeding a crowd at a big table, have small bowls of each nearby so people can garnish their own spaghetti as they please.
Nutrition
Published Jan 2020, updated June 2020
Slow Cooker recipes
This is one of the easiest recipes on the blog. For the days, nights and or weeks where you just don't have the energy but you want home cooked, then this spag bowl can be your go to!
Think about all of the productive things you can achieve knowing dinner is sorted or sit back with a glass of wine and let the slow cooker do the job for you.
Easy Slow Cooker recipes, I've got you, best ever spag bowl, I've got you. Set and forget, you've are all over it!
I would love to hear your feedback in the comments below.
Adrianne xx
This is such a great recipe for bolognese! And I love all your tips for using the slow cooker to make this. My mother in law uses a slow cooker all the time, I'm going to send her this, she will love it!
That is great to hear! Thanks for your feedback Miichelle and I hope your mother in law enjoys the recipe, cheers!
This is a great recipe. I love slow cooker bolognese, so tasty and so easy to make!
Thanks Romina! Got to love Slow Cooker recipes. Cheers
What a delicious recipe! The sauce looks so easy to make, literally just dump and go. My family will love every bite. Will definitely make soon.
Sounds great Angela, I hope the whole family loves it, cheers!
That Looks So Delicious. Every Since I’ve Gotten Pregnant I Am Definitely A Big Fan Of Spaghetti So This Is Definitely Something That I know I Have To Try.
Congrats Neli!! Hope you try it and love it, enjoy, thanks!
Love the idea of the slow cooker option to making this delicious dish. Yummy food and Happy family.
Thanks Veena!! Appreciate your feedback, cheers.