Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce Recipe (2024)

Easy, tasty and absolutely comforting, this Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce Recipe is one of our favorite family recipes which is also super easy to whip up!

I love pasta, well our whole family loves pasta. It is just one of those dishes that we absolutely adore and we like to experiment with sauces.

This Bolognese Sauce Recipe is absolutely delicious and one of of our all time favorites ever, besides our Homemade Spaghetti Sauce!

Bolognese Sauce is a really easy recipe to throw together and we love to make ours in the slow cooker because we are a busy family so when we can do it we do.

The smell that comes off of this recipe is just so delicious that it fills your house with the aroma and you just can’t wait to dig in at all, everyone always asks for this recipe!

Some of our other favorite pasta/sauce dishes we have on our site include Homemade Alfredo Sauce, Ground Beef Carbonara and Sausage Pesto Pasta.

Pasta is our love language and this Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce really speaks highly to that! It is one of the most made sauces in our house because it really is simple.

I know that there are some people get the misconception that this is a hard recipe but trust me it is not! It’s no harder than making your own homemade spaghetti sauce.

WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:

• With easy to find ingredients this recipe whips up in a breeze.
• The red win/brandy gives this sauce a nice rich flavor.
• You can halve this recipe or double it to serve larger crowds.

HOW TO MAKE THIS SLOW COOKER BOLOGNESE SAUCE RECIPE, STEP BY STEP:

1. In large pan over medium high heat add your oil and the vegetables. Cook while stirring for about 5 minutes until the onions get soft.
2. Add in the ground beef and cook over high heat until the meat is no longer pink, breaking up as you cook, drain off grease.
3. Next pour in the red wine/brandy and let it reduce for about 2-3 minutes.
4. Place the meat and vegetable mixture into your slow cooker.
5. Add remaining ingredients.
6. Stir to combine and cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.

See how easy that was to throw together? There really is nothing to it, sauté, simmer, dump and slow cook. That is just how I like it!

We like to serve this over spaghetti, but you can use any type of pasta that you would like, there is no right or wrong when it comes to your pasta!

WHAT IS BOLOGNESE SAUCE?

Bolognese is a meat bases sauce that is typically made in Italy mainly around Bologna. The ingredients usually include a soffrito (which is your vegetable mixture).

And depending on the region different types of meats from ground beef, pork and Italian sausage. We used just ground beef for this particular recipe.

It also contains wine or brandy along with spices and is slow cooked over a period of hours, you can do it on the stovetop but we like to do it in our slow cooker.

The good thing about slow cooking this Bolognese Sauce Recipe is that the tomatoes break down really well and almost melt into the sauce.

You see large tomatoes when you put it in before cooking but then over time those tomatoes breakdown and become the base of the sauce and give it extra texture.

We like to add basil, rosemary, bay and cloves in this sauce because it helps intensify that flavor and really give it an authentic delicious flavor that you can absolutely taste.

I’m a sucker for anything that has fresh herbs in it and this Bolognese Sauces is absolutely one of them. Just delicious!

CAN I MAKE THIS AHEAD OF TIME?

Absolutely, this can be made a day or so ahead of time. Personally this sauce tastes better the next day because it gives time for those flavors to marry.

When you let something sit long enough the flavors will infuse through everything, that is why people marinate meat because it infuses the meat with those flavors.

The same goes with this Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce. It is perfectly fine to serve the same day, but the day after is when I really really like it.

CAN I MAKE MORE OF THIS?

Absolutely, we do this regularly. For the recipe that we have provided below we use a 6 quart slow cooker. So if you want to make more then just use an 8 quart.

We normally do this when we have family dinner parties or friends coming around, we actually do a pasta each Christmas and rotate which ones we do and this one we usually double when we make it.

So yes you can absolutely make more, just double all your ingredients and you can still cook at the same time and temperatures.

HOW TO STORE:

This can be stored in an airtight container or ziptop bag for up to 5 days.

You can also freeze this recipe. To do so cook per directions and then let cool down. Place in freezer bags, we like to portion our ours into 3-4 bags so we don’t have to pull out and defrost one.

This should keep in the freezer for up to 6 months. To defrost you can place in the refrigerator and let come to temperature (you can leave it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days) then heat up on a pot on the stove.

You can also microwave it, but if you microwave it it is better to be eaten right away and I would recommend storing after it has been reheated.

This Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce is seriously the best. I love that it has meat, vegetables and spices in there. It really makes the whole world of difference on taste.

I had gotten this recipe from my friend who’s husband is from Italy and ever since we have just been in love so some of the tips from her husband are included below.

TIPS AND TRICKS:

• In Italy they often use half ground beef and half ground pork or 1 part beef, 1 part pork and ½ part Italian sausage, you can use this ratio if you’d like.
• Cherry tomatoes are very aromatic and sweet. But since they are sometimes hard to get, you can also just use peeled or diced tomatoes.
• Cloves are used in some Italian families but if you don’t like the taste, you can omit them completely.
• The sugar helps to balance and intensify the flavors of the tomatoes. You can leave it out if you want.
• Italian mamas don’t use tomato paste in their Ragú (at least the ones he knows), but if you like your sauce a bit thicker you can use it.
• This recipe is very forgiving and it is no problem to cook it even longer!
• You can easily freeze this recipe, see my notes above.

If you are looking for that perfect easy sauce recipe then you’ve come to the right place this Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce is simple, tasty and addictive.

If you like this recipe you might also like:

• Baked Meatballs
• Garlic Parmesan Tortellini Salad
• Saucy Sausage and Peppers Pasta

If you’ve tried thisSLOW COOKER BOLOGNESE SAUCE RECIPEor any other recipe on my site, let me know in the comment section how it turned out, we love hearing from our readers! You can also follow along with me on PINTEREST, FACEBOOK and INSTAGRAM to see more amazing recipes and what shenanigans I’m getting into!