Slow Cooker Bolognese cooks all day to perfection with very little effort. A vegetable blend of tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms and onion take this Italian meat sauce to the next level.

Pasta night is a family favorite that everyone loves, unless you have grain and gluten intolerances or allergies, then pasta night can be a nightmare. My husband loves pasta, my daughter hates pasta, my son and I can’t tolerate traditional pasta and the baby spits it out. We’re a fun bunch.

Thankfully, with all the options available, my whole family can enjoy this Bolognese sauce. The slow cooker does the bulk of the work and then before serving I make zucchini noodles for myself, traditional noodles for my husband and my son loves this gluten free pasta. My daughter and baby both just eat the meat sauce by the spoonful, no pasta…whatever works, right?! It may sound like a lot of extra work to make noodles (or zoodles) to please everyone, but really it’s just extra dishes and I don’t mind, it’s worth it.

How To Make The Best Bolognese

• You’ll start by dicing up your onion and mushroom. How small you dice them is up to you, but I had every intention (and it worked!!) of hiding the vegetables from my family, so I diced very small. If you’d like, you can also dice up the zucchini, but I prefer to shred it (after removing the skin) with a cheese grater.

• In a large stovetop pan, add diced/shredded veggies and ground beef and brown, until cooked through and no longer pink.
• Once beef is cooked through and veggies are tender, add mixture to slow cooker.
• Add in tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes, oregano, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper and mix well.

• Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours.
• 30 minutes before serving, add in mozzarella and parmesan cheese and stir well (if you need this to be dairy free, skip this step, it will still taste fantastic!).

• For healthier and low carb options, I recommend serving over spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles.
• I also love green bean pasta. It sounds strange, but it’s delicious! It has the consistency and texture of traditional pasta, but is grain and gluten free. I’ve found it at TJMaxx (in the specialty foods section) several different times, for a fraction of the original price!

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Slow Cooker Bolognese

Slow Cooker Bolognese cooks all day to perfection with very little effort. A vegetable blend of tomatoes, zucchini, mushrooms and onion take this Italian meat sauce to the next level. 

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Prep Time 15 minutes

Servings 6

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion diced
• 1 zucchini diced or shredded
• 1 cup mushroom diced
• 30 oz tomato sauce
• 1 can stewed tomatoes
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pepper
• 1 cup mozzarella
• 1/2 cup parmesan

Instructions

1. Brown beef with onion, zucchini and mushrooms. 

   Put beef/veggie mixture in slow cooker with tomato sauce, stewed tomatoes and seasonings. Mix well. 

   Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours. 

   30 minutes before serving, add in cheese, stir and continue cooking. 

   Serve over traditional pasta, zucchini noodles (zoodles) or spaghetti squash.