Imagine your favorite spaghetti bolognese sauce, simmered and seasoned to perfection, rich and flavorful… and all done conveniently in the slow cooker!
Your new favorite way to enjoy a bolognese-style pasta sauce… made easily in the slow cooker! Â Rich, flavorful, and perfect for an easy weeknight dinner!
Spaghetti is such a classic meal. Â Is there anything better than a big plate full of perfectly cooked pasta, topped with a rich and meaty sauce, some grated Parmesan cheese and fresh minced basil? Â Not in my book! Â
Except maybe some cheesy semi-homemade garlic bread to go with it! Now picture this… you can have that fantastic-tasting, lip-smackingly good, slow-simmered tasting sauce, with hardly any effort? Â How, you say? Â In your slow cooker!
That’s right, your slow cooker comes to the rescue once again!
For me, my favorite spaghetti sauces all have meat in them.  What can I say, I like meat 🙂  What about you?  Do you prefer meat-free spaghetti sauce?  A meat sauce?  Meatballs?
Usually, to get a great tasting sauce, you have to let it simmer and let those flavors meld together for a while… like several hours, or more. Â Well I don’t know about you, but I just don’t have that kind of time most nights.
Now you can walk in the door and smell a FANTASTIC sauce simmering away in your slow cooker!
This recipe uses both ground beef and mild Italian sausage, but feel free to change it up to fit your family’s tastes. Â It could be all Italian sausage, all beef, or you could go for a hot Italian sausage if you want to get spicy.
All you need to do is brown your meats with the onion and garlic… making sure you crumble up the meat pretty well.  For me, my best tool for that is my potato masher. I start with my wooden spoon to break it up into large chunks, then go to town mashing away with my potato masher.  It crumbles up meat like a pro!
Once the meat is browned, drain it, then add it to the bottom of your slow cooker. Â Next, add in the remaining ingredients, pop the lid on, set it to low, and you’re done!
This sauce cooks for 8 hours, so you’re free to go about your day. Â Then come dinner time, all you have to do is boil your pasta! Â Simple enough right?
You deserve this sauce… treat yourself!
LOOKING FOR MORE ITALIAN DINNER IDEAS?
- Semi-homemade garlic bread
- Cheesy garlic crescent rolls
- Slow Cooker Shredded Italian Beef
- Meatball Parmesan Bake
- 20 Minute Tortellini Carbonara
Did you make this? Be sure to leave a review below and tag me @the_chunky_chef on Facebook and Instagram!
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground Italian sausage
- 1 onion minced
- 2 carrots, very finely chopped
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 3 - 14 ounce cans crushed tomatoes
- 1 - 24 ounce jar of your favorite marinara sauce (I use Newman's Own)
- 1 cup water
- 3 bay leaves
- 3 tsp better than chicken bouillon
- 3 tsp dried basil
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp sugar (to taste)
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp dried parsley
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 - 1 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium high heat. Add ground beef and Italian sausage, cooking until browned, about 5-6 minutes, making sure to crumble the beef and sausage as it cooks. The last 2-3 minutes, add onion, carrot and garlic to beef and cook. Drain in a colander to remove excess grease.
- Place meat mixture into bottom of slow cooker. Add remaining sauce ingredients and stir to combine. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.
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Chef Tips
Nutrition Disclaimer
The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.
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Regina Buckley says
This is the only sauce I make. The only thing I have changed is I use ground hot sausage in place of the Italian ground sauce for just that little bit of extra kick. This sauce is amazing. Thank you so much.
Danielle says
His many people would this feed?
The Chunky Chef says
I’ve estimated this recipe will make 8 servings, however the servings sizes and number of servings are up to you. For future reference, the amount of servings in each recipe is always in a light green colored bar in the recipe card, right underneath the recipe name, cook time, etc 🙂
Pam says
So far I have never been disappointed with one of your recipes – just made the spaghetti sauce – so good!
You say that you cook for 2 weeks at a time – do you have any suggestions on this and how to store food so it stays fresh tasting?
Amanda says
So happy to hear how much you’re enjoying the site! I don’t cook for 2 weeks at a time, just plan out our meals for 2 weeks. I plan the meals based on what’s on sale at the store, and stock up on all the non-perishable items we’ll need for that 2 week time frame. Then we only need any fresh produce here and there to supplement 🙂
Jen says
When do you add the spaghettiÂ
The Chunky Chef says
This is just the recipe for the sauce, so you boil your pasta and add the sauce on top.
Sherrie says
Delicious and flavorful! This recipe is a keeper. I used Bertolli Merlot marinara sauce in mine. Thanks for sharing
Myrna says
How long would you cook this sauce on top of the stove instead of using the slow cooker?
The Chunky Chef says
I would simmer it for about 45 minutes 🙂
Leanne says
Would cooking 4 hours on high work instead of 8 hours on low? Or even 2 on high and 4 on low?
The Chunky Chef says
Yes, either of those would work… it’s a very forgiving recipe 🙂
Emily Bottjen says
Hi! How many does this serve? Could I double the recipe and have it turn out still?
Thanks!
EmilyÂ
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Emily 🙂 As written it serves about 8, but yes, you could definitely double it with no problems. Just make sure you’re using a larger crockpot (6qt or more).
Riz says
Hi there, UK reader here. When you say italian sausage, you mean a pork based sausage? And by marinara, is that a pasta sauce I.e the stuff in jar that’s ready made and can be used on it’s own to make a quick pasta dish?
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Riz 🙂 Yes, here in the US, Italian sausage is a pork sausage that has been made with Italian spices and seasonings. Marinara is a jarred pasta sauce.
Riz says
So i made this and it was indeed the best bolognese I have ever managed to make so thank you for putting this together.
Having said this, I try to stick to using as much non ready made ingredients as possible so i will try substituting the marinara sauce with tomato paste. I feel the rest of the ingredients should still provide a good seasoning base. I might add some basil and olive oil to make up for what the jar would provide over and above what you already list. let’s see how that turns out!
Tracy says
What happened to the old recipe. This is different with the jar sauce and sugar. Missing the other version.
The Chunky Chef says
Hi Tracy, over time, I frequently continue to test recipes, and this version is the one my family and I like best. As stated in the recipe, the sugar is to taste… and you can feel free to swap out the marinara sauce with tomato sauce. The original recipe was from this website, http://damndelicious.net/2013/11/08/slow-cooker-spaghetti-sauce/.
Des @ Life's Ambrosia says
My all time favorite comfort food! I could eat spaghetti any day of the week!
Catalina @ Peas & Peonies says
Slow cooker is a life saver! 🙂 And we love bolognese sauce sooo much!
Dee says
I’m trying to use my slow cooker more, so this is perfect! Can’t wait to try it!
Patricia @ Grab a Plate says
This looks absolutely amazing! I’ve been craving spaghetti and meatballs for DAYS, but this is my dream! Wonderful!
Kimberly @ The Daring Gourmet says
That looks so good, I want this for dinner right now!
Michelle Goth says
That is one long cook time but I have no doubt the flavor is worth it. YUM!
Jen says
With school back in session and the boys playing sports, having this ready in the slow cooker is like a dream come true! Thank you!!
Supriya Kuttty says
This looks so amazing & delicious. I can’t wait to try this recipe at my home. Bookmarked this recipe. I love easy to make yeast bread recipes…this one sounds easy and looks delicious really. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe with us. Looking forward to more recipes. Best wishes and Regards.
David says
How do you take such good food pics? (Besides having great food to photo 🙂
The Chunky Chef says
Hi David! Aww well thank you so much! It’s funny, because I was just thinking how I wanted to go back and re-shoot this dish, as I took these so long ago… but I’m glad you like the pictures 😀 I love photography, and practice a LOT… but I also use a lot of the tricks and tips I wrote about here: http://www.thechunkychef.com/food-photography-tips/
Ashleigh says
Thank you so much for hosting! Have a great long weekend!!