Slow Cooker Bolognese with Hidden Vegetables
This easy slow cooker bolognese is stuffed full of hidden vegetables for a healthy kid-friendly meal the whole family will love!
Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 kg lean minced beef
- 2 red or yellow peppers or one of each.
- 1 courgette
- 1 carrot
- 250 g mushrooms
- 3 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- 2 beef stock cubes
- 3 Tbsp tomato purée
- 2 Tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1 Tbsp dried mixed Italian herbs
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Peel and chop the onions. Peel and finely chop the garlic.
- In a large frying pan, heat the oil then fry the onions until soft, adding the garlic for the last minute of cooking. Tip onions and garlic into the slow cooker.
- In the same frying pan, fry the beef mince in the remaining oil until browned all over. You may need to do this in 2 or 3 batches, depending on the size of your frying pan.
- As soon each batch of meat is browned, tip it into the slow cooker.
- Prepare the rest of the fresh vegetables; de-seed and chop the peppers, grate the courgette, grate the carrot, chop the mushrooms (the finer the better for picky children!). Once prepped, add each vegetable to the slow cooker.
- Pour in the 3 tins of tomatoes, crumble in the stock cubes and add the tomato purée, Worcestershire sauce and herbs to the slow cooker.
- Mix well until all of the bolognese ingredients are well combined in the slow cooker.
- Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook for 8 hours on low or 3 hours on high.
- Once cooked, give the bolognese a good stir and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve with cooked spaghetti, a sprinkling of cheese and fresh basil to garnish (optional).
Video
Notes
Note: You won't need to add any liquid other than the tinned tomatoes as the vegetables will release a lot of their own liquid. You may even need to drain off a little excess liquid at the end. To do this, just scoop it up from where it has pooled at the edges with a large spoon before stirring the bolognese.