A healthy sauce that will transport you to Italy!
Spaghetti with a tomato-based meat sauce is a popular favorite. This recipe is prepared similarly to the way Italians make it, but with less fat. A typical Italian ragù or Bolognese has half ground pork and half ground beef. Since we want to keep the sauce lean, we replaced the pork with chicken (or turkey if you prefer). Cooking time of ragù in a saucepan takes about two hours, which we do in the slow cooker for seven hours. The result? A very tasty tomato meat sauce the Italian way. Buon appetito!
Slow Cooker Italian Spaghetti Meat Sauce
Ingredients
- 9 ounces lean ground beef optional - use only ground chicken or turkey instead of a beef/poultry combination
- 9 ounces lean ground chicken or turkey
- 1 garlic clove diced
- 1 onion medium, diced
- 1 carrot medium, peeled and diced
- 5 ounces tomato paste can
- 5 ounces water
- 30 ounces whole peeled tomatoes cans, or diced tomatoes, with liquid
- 1 teaspoon kosher or sea salt
- 1/3 teaspoon ground black pepper
- Italian parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Over medium-high heat, in a skillet add the ground meat and cook while breaking up with a fork. Cook just until it's no longer pink. Drain off any fat and add to the slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients. Cover and cook on low 6 - 8 hours or high 3 - 4. If desired, garnish with fresh Italian parsley.
- Use the meat sauce for spaghetti or other pasta dishes. Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to three days.
Nutrition Information
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Here are more amazing slow cooker recipes to choose from:
Slow Cooker Cheesy Spinach Lasagna
Slow Cooker Sizzling Chicken Fajitas
Slow Cooker Stuffed Cabbage Rolls
Slow Cooker Chicken Chili Verde
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