A couple of weeks ago, I made a turkey and mushroom bolognese sauce on the stove top that Ryan and I both absolutely loved. I had a feeling the sauce would work well in the crock pot, and perhaps taste even better since it would have more time for the flavors to develop as it slowly cooked all day long, so I decided to give it a shot.
The first time I attempted to make this recipe in the crock pot, it was a bit of a disaster. I tried to really shortcut it and basically dumped all the ingredients into the slow cooker, stirred them up every so often and hoped for the best. Though we still ate the end result, the texture wasn’t my favorite and tasted almost mealy. Something had to change and I had a feeling it was going to take a little more work.
Call me suuuuper lazy, but I hate it when crock pot recipes make you brown meat ahead of time or cook something before you put it in the crock pot. Isn’t the whole point of the crock pot to cook things for you and feed into our laziness!?
So, I went against everything I believe a slow cooker should be and actually browned the darn turkey before putting it in the crock pot and – wouldn’t you know – it made all the difference in the world. Our weird mealy bolognese sauce was transformed into the most delicious sauce and I now realize that taking an extra step and washing an extra pan or two might really be worth it for a delicious crock pot dinner.
I’ve made the sauce three times since our initial blunder and we’ve enjoyed it on top of whole wheat spaghetti, four-cheese ravioli and zucchini noodles.
To make the zucchini noodles, I cut the ends off the zucchini before spiralizing them. I then quickly sautéed the zucchini noodles in a little bit of olive oil and seasoned them with salt and pepper.
(FYI, I bought this super-cheap $7 spiralizer off Amazon because I wasn’t sure I’d be totally into the whole veggie “noodles” thing and didn’t want to spend a ton of money. It works well enough and we actually love zucchini and squash “noodles” in our house now!)
The sauce can also be made with ground chicken or lean ground beef – we love the ground beef version – and truly makes the whole house smell wonderful. It’s the perfect sauce to make for dinner on a chilly winter night!
Crock Pot Turkey and Mushroom Bolognese Sauce
Crock Pot Turkey and Mushroom Bolognese Sauce
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Total Time: 5 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: dinner, recipes
Description
This crock pot turkey and mushroom bolognese sauce is a healthy, filling and flavorful sauce, perfect for a hectic weeknight dinner. Serve it on top of pasta, zucchini noodles or your favorite ravioli for a deliciously easy meal!
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 cups chopped portobello mushrooms
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 15-ounce can tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1 tablespoon dried basil
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- pinch red pepper flakes
Instructions
- Heat olive oil in a large pan over medium heat and add mushrooms, celery, garlic cloves and onion. Sauté until onions become translucent, approximately 3-4 minutes.
- Add ground turkey and cook until meat is no longer pink, breaking up and large pieces.
- Transfer ground turkey into crock pot and add remaining ingredients. Stir everything together, cover and allow to cook 4 – 6 hours on low.
- Spoon over pasta, zucchini noodles, ravioli, etc.
- Enjoy!
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Next time you are in the market for a new slow cooker, may I suggest this one: http://amzn.to/1Lt8R8f. You can brown in the slow cooker, so no extra dishes!
Wow, thanks for the great tip! I HATE browning things before using a crockpot!!
Hah! I’m with you — browning meat before the slow cooker often makes me skip the recipe altogether! 🙂 Sounds like this one might actually be worth the effort! I love that it’s healthy, but it’s also something my boys would love to see for dinner. Can’t wait to try it!
Exactly!! Also, if you’re making this one to share with little ones, if they’re sensitive to spice, you may want to omit the cayenne pepper and red pepper flakes. We LOVE the tiny bit of spice (and flavor!) they bring to the sauce, but if your boys are funny about spicy foods, it might be best to skip it. Just wanted to give you a head’s up just in case!! 🙂
Looks awesome! Crockpot meals are the best – even if you have to brown the meat first haha
I love the crockpot and totally agree with you about browning the meat. But it does seal in the juices and make the dish much better!
Love crockpot dishes!!
Yum! I think ill make this next week–looks so good! I havent tried the “zoodles” yet but i was thinking of buying an inexpensive one from bed bath and beyond to try it.
I bet this would be great with spaghetti squash too!
I’m with ya, I make pork tenderloin in the crockpot and you totally have to brown it ahead of time, it makes the difference but it does seem a little like it defeats the purpose!
Just a heads up – they make crock pots where the insert can be used on the stovetop. I switched to one of those because I also hated having to brown meats and clean extra pans. With the new crockpot, it’s easy to sear, and then just dump the rest of the ingredients in. We love ours so far!
How did I not know about this!?
I love spiraled noodles! I make them all the time for easy lunches and dinners. I usually just use canned tomato sauce and add a lean protein, but I might just have to try this. I wonder if it would be good frozen for future dinners?!
Definitely freezer friendly!
Looks like a great healthy option. Could be re used for lunches too!
http://www.ablondeinanairport.com
I want this right now. It’s 9:25 am! LOL
How do you cook your zuchinni noodles without them getting watery? Mine always end up with water on the plate
This sounds delicious! Homemade pasta sauce is the best, and the fact that it’s done in the crockpot makes it even better!
Julie, I have that same spiralizer! I love it because it makes it easy enough to make the zucchini noodles but it is a pain to clean! What do you use to really clean yours?
I’ve been using an OXO brush I bought at Target. I also think cleaning it immediately after I use it makes a BIG difference so no food has time to harden, etc.
I haven’t tried any slow cooker dishes yet since I don’t have a crockpot, but this recipe looks like a must do when I finally invest. I love turkey/ham based warming dishes since I don’t eat red meat and many sauce-based dishes are beef!
Julie— Did you know today is National Peanut Butter Lover’s Day? 🙂
NO!! But don’t worry… I’ve been celebrating. 😉
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve complained about a crock pot recipe that called for browned meat. I use the slow cooker to save time in the morning and have dinner ready when I get home! This does look delicious though.
We recently bought a spiralizer too and my husband made our first bath of zucchini noodles “zoodles” the other night! SOOOO much healthier than regular pasta! I’ll have to show him this post, looks like a great and fairly simple dinner idea!
I feel the same way about cooking things before I put them in the crock pot! Like what the heck is the point!? But it DOES make all of the difference — not just for meat but also onions and garlic.
This recipe looks so delish – just pinned it!
I love crockpot recipes because they save me so much time! The bolognese sauce looks delicious! I think I have all of the ingredients to make it. 🙂
My boss, who had a baby the EXACT same day as Chase, uses the crockpot every day for dinner! I babysit in the morning, and all I do is put her bag of already prepped ingredients into the crockpot and set it for 8 hours. Just like that, and it is DONE! When I am in this phase of my life, I know I’m going to be scouring your blog for all of your crockpot recipes! They are some of the most delicious looking ones I’ve seen. I’m going to send my boss your way too 🙂
Crockpots just make everything taste so much more delicious!! This looks divine…and I don’t even like mushrooms!
This sounds delicious! Can’t wait to make some today or tomorrow and put it over some zoodles!
Oh my goodness, this just stimulated my appetite to an embarrassing level!
Thanks for sharing! It will definitely be making an appearance in my life sooner than later 🙂
Just wondering if you did anything differently when you originally cooked it on the stove top as opposed to also using the crock pot?
Nope! I basically did everything the same, but after browning the meat, added the spices and tomato sauce on the stovetop to let it simmer for a bit. It definitely can be made on the stovetop, too!
I’ve never tried zucchini noodles, but this recipe sounds perfect for them! So good!!! 🙂
Ohhhh this sounds delicious!
I have been wanting to try “zoodles”. This dish (and cheap spiralizer) may finally make me do it!
I love any healthy version of Italian food! This recipe sounds delicious. I have the same spiralizer and it definitely does the job and has gotten me hooked on zucchini noodles. However, I have learned NOT to attempt to spiral after an arm workout, it’s not very fun. lol
You can actually brown the meat in your crockpot first however it would be hard to drain. Put the uncooked meat in the crockpot and set on high. 30 minutes to an hour later the meat will be done then add the rest in. I never drain the meat so we get very juicy dinners that may not be all that healthy but delicious. It’s your call. Yes I am that lazy. Lol
Yum!!
Oh my goodness, my husband and I try to limit our meat intake to once or twice a week, but I am DEFINITELY going to have to try this this weekend!! It looks and sounds delicious!! Thanks so much for sharing, Julie!
If I learned anything from my Italian Grandmother it is to brown your meat and cook your sauce no less than 4 hours! And waiting is totally worth it!
I’m 100% with you on feeling annoyed when I have to go through extra steps like searing or browning meat before using my crockpot! Preachin’ to the choir, sister! I made a pot roast that turned out great because I browned it first, but I HATED having to brown it first! Ugh! It always does turn out better, but man, at what cost? lol It reminds me of the Amy Schumer bit on her show, called “Sleep Gym”. Basically, while you sleep, other trainers come and work out your body for you. lol I want that version with cooking! Why can’t our crockpots be more like this? lol
Thanks for the great recipe, as always.
Ooohhhhh be careful, I just might creep into your house and shovel the rest of this down my face! LOL! XD In all seriousness this looks delicious. I LOVE turkey in bolognese sauce!
His looks great! Never made it with mushrooms. What i do add is a littlebit of balsamic vinegar. Gives it extra taste!
Hi, Does this need to be made with full fat ground turkey, or can i use a lower fat version.. i think i have 93% or 99%. Just want to make sure it doesnt get too dried out!
Lean turkey works well, too!
I made this tonight with zucchini noodles (my first time for those as well) and it was so good!! Thanks!
I am super lazy about washing dishes, so while this won’t fix the having to brown the meat in a separate pan it will save you a dish to clean. Get those crock-pot cooking bags (in the Ziploc aisle). Pop it in, put food in, then through the whole thing away when done.
Love this idea. I guess I could brown meat for this 😉
Now tell me, can I hide the mushrooms in this? Should I chop them finer? My husband will eat them, as he likes the flavor, but he can’t see them or it’ll be all over lol.
This was SUPER yummy! We let it cook for 6 hours on low, but weren’t ready to eat so we let it sit for probably another 2 hours on the “warm” setting, and kept adding water as it would get dry. Really delicious and simple though! Thanks Julie 🙂
Very good with fettuccine noodles. Have made it twice!