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A recipe belonging to a family gran, we’ve adapted it for the modern day cook. You can prepare this slow cooker bolognese in the morning and serve up whenever you’re ready in the evening.
No slow cooker? No problem. You can cook it low and slow in a saucepan, or on high and quickly for a speedy supper.
So, without further ado, Gran’s bolognese.
Ingredients (with prices)
- 1 onion (diced) – £0.12 Tesco
- 500g beef mince – £3.29 Tesco
- A splodge of tomato puree – £1.20 Tesco
- 2 beef stock cubes – £1.00 Tesco
- 1 teaspoon garlic granules (or 2 cloves) – £0.40 bulb Tesco
- 400g tin of tomatoes – £0.49 Tesco
- Salt and pepper
Total: £6.50
Serves: 4 adults
To increase the quantity of veg in your bolognese to help you hit your 5-a-Day, you can add in some diced carrot, celery, pepper, courgette, or green beans. It’s not traditional, but a bolognese can be a great way to use up leftover veg. You can see by our chicken lasagne that we are happy to adapt recipes to suit what we’ve got in the fridge.
If tradition is what you want, try out The Italian Foodie’s bolognese on TikTok, or the recipe by the Two Greedy Italians.
If not, continue reading.
This slow cooked recipe produces a bolognese with soft beef mince, a thick, rich sauce, and a strong beefy flavour. If you’ve got a collection of different meats you need to use up, then never fear, adapt the sauce slightly and make a meaty pasta instead.
Method
There’s two ways of making this slow cooker bolognese. You can dice the onions, make up your stock, and chuck all of the ingredients in the list above in the slow cooker all together.
Or, you can follow the steps below. We recommend the version with a few extra steps, as it’ll give your bolognese a far deeper flavour.
Step 1
Set your saucepan over a high heat with a drizzle of oil. Scrape in your diced onion and fry until soft. Once the onion is translucent, turn the heat down to prevent it from sticking and burning.
Step 2
Add the beef mince to the pan and break it into small chunks with a wooden spoon.
Once all big lumps have gone, turn the heat up slightly and fry until the meat has browned.
In the meantime, boil the kettle.
Step 3
Turn the heat down to low/medium, number 3 on the stove, and add in the garlic, seasoning, tomato puree, and stock cubes.
Step 4
Once the kettle has boiled, measure 500ml into a jug, then pour into the pan. Stir it in, making sure the stock cubes begin to dissolve.
Step 5
Add in the tinned tomatoes. Rinse the round with some water and pour into the pan.
Step 6
Leave to simmer until the sauce has reduced. Transfer the bolognese to your slow cooker and set to Low, or High, depending on how far in advance you’re preparing it.
All day? Go low.
Making it at lunch? Go high.
Step 7
To thicken the sauce, add some gravy granules, cornstarch, or leave on high with the slow cooker lid removed for the final hour.
Once the sauce is thick, it’s ready to serve. Dish it up with pasta, garlic bread, vegetables, salad, or on top of a jacket potato.
If you have any leftovers, store in an airtight container in the fridge, or freeze for a later date.
