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A meaty, flavorful, Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce made in the crockpot! This sauce is the perfect balance of salty, creamy, rich, and delicious. It will be love at first bite.
I don’t have a lot of time today because, well, LIFE.
Kids, work, deadlines, errands, dirty house, laundry, exhaustion, etc. etc…..ya know. Just same old same old in the life of single parent Lauren’s Latest.
I told my husband over the phone very positively that “he only had 74 days left! WAHOO!”
And he was like “WHAT? 74 days still?” As in….that sucks.
I’m not sure at what point we switched to me being the positive one and him being the negative one, but I’m thoroughly enjoying this happy-go-lucky Lauren.
Why yes, I think my sink full of dishes is FANTASTIC.
My son spreading yogurt all over the oven door is ADORABLE.
My sassy 6 year old who refuses to put her laundry away is PERFECT.
Like, I literally think like that now.
Who am I and what have I become? THE HORROR.
Just kidding, Mom.
Anyways, we’re almost to the end of the month so I thought I’d share a few more slow cooker recipes with you before March is here. So so excited for spring!!
Enter bolognese.
If you like pasta, then this is the sauce you need to make pronto. It’s so creamy, salty, meaty and delicious. And because you cook it in the crockpot, the flavors just keep getting better 🙂
Yes, puh-lease.
This recipe starts on the stove because that’s where the flavor start coming together, but beyond that the majority of the cook time is spent in your lovely slow cooker. It’s super convenient because it means less babysitting the sauce and even steven temperatures for the whole 4 hours this sauce cooks.
If you’re looking for a new way to kick up your bolognese sauce, this is the recipe for you! Enjoy, friends!
Slow Cooker Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion diced
- 4 large cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup carrot finely diced
- salt & pepper to taste
- 1.25 lbs ground sirloin in the lowest fat ratio
- 1 lb ground pork
- 3/4 cup red wine
- 42 ounces plain marinara sauce 1 1/2 jars
- 14.5 oz fire-roasted diced tomatoes* 1 can
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme leaves not ground thyme!
- 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
- 2 bay leaves
- 2/3 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- Preheat crockpot to high.
- Heat olive oil in large pot over medium heat. Saute onion, garlic and carrot 5 minutes or until they start to get tender and get a little color. Add in meat, salt & pepper.
- As the meat cooks, break apart into smaller pieces. Deglaze pan with red wine and cook down 5 minutes. Transfer meat mixture to crock pot. Add in remaining ingredients and stir well. Cover and cook 4 hours on high heat, stirring occasionally.
- Serve over pasta.
Notes
Nutrition
Follow laurens_latest on Instagram and show me what recipes you are making from this blog! Use the hashtag #laurenslatest! I want to see what you’re making 
Excited to try this sauce soon now that the weather is getting colder.
I’ve made this so many times! It’s delicious, easy, and freezes well. My favorite spaghetti recipe ever!
I am making this tomorrow. Happily, I can get it started, go to my meeting and come home to a delicious meal. Can I substitute Greek yogurt for the sour cream? Please keep adding more slow cooker recipes. I love them!
[…] Butter Alfredo Pasta. And if you’re more of a tomato sauce kind of person, try my Lasagna, my Crockpot Bolognese or my Crockpot Italian Chicken Pasta. All […]
” It’s so creamy, salty, meaty and delicious. “…..Seriously? Followed the directions to the ladder and there was so much water within this sauce I thought I was eating Prego!! Where is the creamy texture?
[…] used my Crock-Pot Bolognese recipe for the sauce for obvious reasons {see 100 degree comment above} and then got these stuffed shells […]
I am making this tomorrow !
Was just looking for something quick, that the kids will like 🙂
Thank you for the inspiration 🙂
I love pasta so much. I could eat every day and never grow tired of it. But I do appreciate some variety in the sauces. So I’ve had this tab open try this sauce for a while! I should get around to it, finally! I’ll put the ingredients on my list right now!
[…] tomato sauce you’d prefer than this one I used, feel free to use that instead. This or this are great options. Also, just using straight up jarred marinara with a few veggies would work too. […]
[…] lasagna was made with the oven ready pasta sheets, cottage cheese, fresh mozzarella and this bolognese sauce. (I didn’t use a crockpot though; did it straight through on the stove-top.) […]
This is hands down one of our favorite family recipies…I often double it and freeze some of it!
[…] This bolognese recipe – inspired, of course, by mine and London’s recent trip to Cucina 24 in Asheville. […]
On the menu for this week! A really tasty dinner favorite
For one cup of wine, I use i cup of grape juice and one TB of red wine vinegar.
I am kind of confused on the thyme ingredient??? Are there two different kinds of bottled thyme?
Did you drain the grease from the meat before deglazing?
What can you substitute for the red wine? This looks delicious.
I am impressed with your recipe. Surprised however that you don’t include celery or oregano.
Warm Regards,
Melanie Kramar
Hi! This looks so yummy and will be making for dinner on Saturday!! Just curious if I double the sauce recipe if I could freeze some for next time?? Thank you!!
I have this sauce in the slow cooker right now and I made you’re no-knead bread to go with it! I’ve pinned them as wins but I’m going to share on FB as well.Thanks for the great recipes!
Oops, the bread is from a different site.
Trying this out tomorrow for a yet another rainy weekend up here in Ontario. Can’t wait to see how this turns out!
Hi Lauren
I made this tonight for supper for company. I cooked it on low for about 7 hours in the crockpot. It was awesome. thank you for posting this recipe
hi there,
which jarred marinara did you use for this sauce? i always struggle staring at all the choices! thanks 🙂
I used hunts brand i think? From the can, so maybe I should change the recipe to say canned instead of jarred. But they’re all generally the same.
This was the best sauce ever, made it for company and they loved it. Thanks for all your delicious recipes
I don’t ever have wine in the house as I am allergic so what would be a good substitute? Also what brand marinara do you use. I bought a brand name for a dish that sounded good and everyone was disappointed In the taste.
Do you recommend a substitute for the red wine? I don’t drink so I wouldn’t know how to pick one and I don’t want to waste the rest of it either. 🙂 thanks
I don’t drink either but I’ve found single serving cartons for sale at the grocery store which is what I use.
From your comments in the past, I am guessing that you are L.D.S.? If so, do you rally use red wine?
Also, my husband served in the Navy and was at sea some of the time. How do you get your children to eat those wonderful dishes you prepare? Mine would only eat mac and cheese. I felt my efforts to feed them were nil.
Keep up the great work!!
Janice
Yes, I cook with wine on occasion. I got this recipe and tweaked it from Kelsey Nixon on the Cooking Channel {who is also LDS!}
I only make one dinner for my kids. If they don’t like what I make, then they don’t eat until breakfast the next morning. It’s the only way I can get them to be less picky. That sounds harsh, but I always have 1 or 2 items I know they will eat on their plates as well. {Like cucumbers, clementines, yogurt, cottage cheese, smoothies etc.}
Good job on the positive attitude (and this sauce). It makes a big difference. Not speaking from much experience. I do try to pray before I get out of bed that I would handle the day in His strength and not my own. On my own, I yell. Not helpful.
Spring will help. Send those kids in the back yard to play and enjoy some inside quiet time.
YES! I cannot wait for warmer weather 🙂
This sounds delicious — I am curious about adding the cream though. I am going to try it for supper tonight. Thanks for sharing!
Looks yummy…. what brand of marinara sauce do you use? Some are sweeter than others. Thanks! 🙂