Slow Cooker Lentil Bolognese

This Lentil Bolognese is so full of flavor that your family will be well into their second helpings before realizing this dish is nutritious, meatless, and clean! Delicious lentils, slow-cooked with seasonings and spices, fresh vegetables, and sunny Italian tomato sauce. Enjoy it over your favorite pasta, with nice hunk of rustic bread. 

Bolognese style cuisine means slow-simmered ingredients, bold seasonings, and off-the-charts flavor. If you’ve ever had Pasta Bolognese or Bolognese Style Lasagna, you know how great it tastes! 

Bolognese is a tomato sauce traditionally made with crumbled bits of meat such as beef or pork. But this vegan Bolognese gives you all the same wonderful Italian flavors, using lentils instead of meat.

As the weather warms up, I try to keep the house cooler by cooking oven-less dinners. This vegan Bolognese is prepared in a slow cooker, using just a fraction of the energy. Start your crock pot the morning, and everything is perfectly cooked in time for dinner.

INGREDIENTS

This easy and delicious Lentil Bolognese is made with oil, onions, dried green lentils, Italian style tomatoes, fire-roasted tomatoes, tomato paste, carrots, mushrooms, red pepper flakes, Italian seasoning, red wine (or water), and salt & pepper.

HOW TO MAKE SLOW COOKER LENTIL BOLOGNESE

Heat 1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. 

When the pan is hot, add the diced onion and carrots. Cook for 3 minutes. 

Add Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.

Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. 

Add the onion mixture to your crockpot.

Add lentils, 1 can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning, 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes, 1 can of tomato paste (if using), mushrooms, red pepper flakes, and water (or red wine).

Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.

Cook pasta 15 minutes before you’re ready to eat. Serve with crusty bread.

Note: You can skip the first 2 steps and add everything to your crockpot from the beginning. I like the extra depth of flavor that it adds to the Bolognese. 

CAN YOU FREEZE THIS SAUCE?

Yes! Pour the fully cooked and cooled lentils & sauce into a pre-labeled freezer bag. Squeeze out the air as you seal the bag. Freeze up to 4 months.

To thaw and reheat, squeeze the frozen contents into a skillet and cooked covered on low for 15 minutes until heated through.

CAN I USE CANNED LENTILS INSTEAD OF DRY? 

If you use canned lentils instead of dry lentils, double the quantity of lentils and cut the amount of water in half. Why? Because dry lentils absorb liquid and expand. Without dry lentils, you’ll have unabsorbed liquid and a watery sauce. Be sure to rinse the canned lentils in a strainer to remove the excess salt.

CAN I MAKE THIS AHEAD OF TIME?

There are 3 ways to make this dish ahead of time.

1. Follow the recipe as written, which calls for 8 hours in a slow cooker.
2. Freeze your fully cooked (and fully cooled) sauce in a freezer bag. To heat, squeeze the frozen lentils and sauce into a skillet and cook on low 15 minutes until it’s thawed and heated.
3. Make the recipe, then let everything cool for 15 minutes. Store in Tupperware in the fridge for up to 4 days. Heat and serve.

PRO TIPS/RECIPE NOTES

• When freezing this or any food in a freezer bag, label the bag with a sharpie before you put the food inside. It’s way easier to write on a flat bag.
• As an alternative to pasta, try it over boiled or baked potatoes with some melted mozzarella on top.
• This dish is also wonderful served over rice, couscous, or quinoa. Because these foods are somewhat dry, add an extra half-cup of water to the lentil Bolognese recipe so your sauce is more brothy and saucy.
• If you like your food spicy, add a half-teaspoon of cayenne pepper while cooking.
• When it comes to temperature and cooking time on your crock pot, slow and low is the way to go. If you have the time, your food will cook more gently on a lower temperature.

WHAT OTHER MEATLESS RECIPES CAN YOU MAKE?

• Make these delicious Stuffed Shells
• Bake this Easy Spinach Artichoke Dip
• Prepare this Simple and Easy Tex Mex Dip
• Make these Freezer Friendly Cauliflower Tater Tots 
• Prepare this Vegetable Lasagna

The next time you make this Lentil Bolognese, I would love to see it! Snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #happymoneysaver and tagging me @happymoneysaver!

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Slow Cooker Lentil Bolognese

Published By Karrie

Course Dinner

Cuisine Italian, Vegan

Keyword Lentil Bolognese, Vegan Italian Recipe

Servings 8

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Lentil Bolognese is slow-cooked with garden fresh vegetables, aromatic herbs, and savory seasonings. The rich and hearty tomato sauce has traditional Bolognese flavor without the meat. Healthy, clean eating that tastes like your Nonna prepared it in her Italian kitchen. Serve over pasta or with some crispy, crusty bread.

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Equipment

• slow cooker

Ingredients

 

• ▢ 1 tbsp olive or avocado oil
• ▢ 1 sweet onion diced
• ▢ 1 large carrot peeled and diced
• ▢ 1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
• ▢ Salt and pepper to taste
• ▢ 3 garlic cloves minced
• ▢ 1 1/2 cups dry green lentils rinsed
• ▢ 1 cup white mushrooms diced
• ▢ ½ tsp red pepper flakes
• ▢ 1 tbsp Italian seasonings
• ▢ 14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes Italian style
• ▢ 14.5 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• ▢ 6 oz can tomato paste optional for thickness
• ▢ ¾ cup water or red wine
• ▢ 1 lb pasta I used rigatoni
• ▢ crusty bread for serving

Instructions

• Heat 1 tablespoon olive or avocado oil in a skillet over medium-high heat.
• When the pan is hot, add the diced onion and carrot. Cook for 3 minutes.
• Add Italian seasoning and salt and pepper to taste.
• Add minced garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute.
• Add the onion mixture to your crockpot.
• Add lentils, 1 can of diced tomatoes with Italian seasoning, 1 can of fire roasted tomatoes, 1 can of tomato paste (if using), mushrooms, red pepper flakes, and water (or red wine).
• Cook on high for 4 hours or on low for 8 hours.
• Cook pasta 15 minutes before you’re ready to eat.
• Serve with crusty bread.

MAKE IT A FREEZER MEAL

• Pour the fully cooked and cooled lentils & sauce into a pre-labeled freezer bag. Squeeze out the air as you seal the bag. Freeze up to 4 months.

THAW AND COOK

• Squeeze the frozen contents into a skillet and cooked covered on low for 15 minutes until heated through.

Notes

• You can skip the first 2 steps and add everything to your crockpot from the beginning.
• Add an extra half-cup of water to the lentil Bolognese recipe so your sauce is more brothy and saucy.
• If you like your food spicy, add a half-teaspoon of cayenne pepper while cooking.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g | Calories: 218kcal | Carbohydrates: 38g | Protein: 13g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Sodium: 633mg | Potassium: 974mg | Fiber: 15g | Sugar: 11g | Vitamin A: 2177IU | Vitamin C: 19mg | Calcium: 96mg | Iron: 5mg

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About Karrie

Food is my love language. But so is saving money. So I like to combine the two a lot and make thrifty make ahead and freeze meals to save time. Because life is busy, and freezer meals can come to the rescue for all of us. And yes, they actually CAN taste good. Read more...