Slow Cooker Turkey Sausage Bolognese Sauce slowly simmers in the crockpot creating a rich, hearty and flavorful sauce that pairs great with your favorite pasta. Ground turkey, sausage, vegetables and chopped mushrooms are cooked to create a lighter, but just as flavorful sauce! 

Slow Cooker Turkey Sausage Bolognese Sauce

I am back with another Italian inspired recipe. Something about this pregnancy has me craving Italian food. I don’t know if it is the carbs or the rich, bold flavors, but I just can’t get enough. Slow Cooker Turkey Sausage Bolognese Sauce is rich, hearty and flavorful. I lightened up a lot of the traditional bolognese sauces you see by using ground turkey and chicken sausage in my recipe.

I also used lots of vegetables and chopped portobello mushrooms to add texture, flavor and of course the health benefits that come with them. I don’t know about you but I love mushrooms in soups and sauces. I would take a bowl of Creamy Mushroom Soup or a big bowl of pasta with mushrooms any day. This sauce is great over pappardelle pasta because the thick noodles pair nicely with a hearty sauce, but it also goes great with any of your favorite pastas.

A lot of traditional bolognese sauces you see will want you to simmer the sauce for a few hours on the stove. During the week in my house I am constantly on the move, whether I am picking up Will from school, or heading to the gym, or playing outside, I have minimal time to simmer something on the stove. This Slow Cooker Turkey Sausage Bolognese Sauce simmers for 6 hours in a crockpot while you go about your day. I love that it doesn’t heat up your house, so if the weather outside heats up your house doesn’t have to.

With this recipe I browned the turkey and sausage and then added the vegetables, including the mushrooms, in to cook them and release their flavors before adding them to the slow cooker.

With the mushrooms it works best if you chop up your portobellos {or your favorite mushroom variety} to match the consistency of the ground meat, blend the chopped mushrooms with the ground meat and then cook your mushrooms-meat blend to complete the recipe. The Blend helps you do better for flavor: when cooked properly, mushrooms can easily mimic meat. For the best blend results, mushrooms should be chopped to match the consistency of the meat they’re paired with.

The nice thing about adding mushrooms is that they are fat free, cholesterol free, low in calories, and provide important nutrients like vitamin D, B vitamins, antioxidants and potassium (9%).  And an added bonus–blending mushrooms with meat adds an easy serving of vegetables to the plate!  To learn more about The Blend head over to this link .

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Slow Cooker Turkey Sausage Bolognese Sauce

Yield: 8

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes

Slow Cooker Turkey Sausage Bolognese Sauce slowly simmers in the crockpot creating a rich, hearty and flavorful sauce that pairs great with your favorite pasta. Ground turkey, sausage, vegetables and chopped mushrooms are cooked to create a lighter, but just as flavorful sauce!

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Ingredients

• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lb. ground turkey
• 6 oz. chicken sausage {or sausage of your choice}
• 2 large carrots, peeled and chopped {about 1 cup}
• 1 celery stalk, chopped {about 1/2 cup}
• 1 small sweet onion, chopped {about 1 1/2 cups}
• 1 large portobello mushroom, gills and stem removed, chopped {about 1 1/2 cups chopped}
• 4 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper {optional for spice}
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper {optional for spice}
• 1 - 15 oz. can of tomato sauce
• 1 - 28 oz. can of Marzano peeled tomatoes
• 3 Tablespoons tomato paste
• Salt and pepper to taste

Garnish:

• Fresh parsley and basil, chopped {for garnish}
• Parmesan cheese for garnish

Instructions

1. In a large skillet heat 2 Tablespoons olive oil over medium high heat. Add the ground turkey and sausage and cook for 3-4 minutes. Add the carrots, celery, onion, portobello mushroom, garlic, basil, oregano, crushed red pepper and cayenne pepper and continue to sauté for another 4-5 minutes, or until the turkey is browned.
2. Put the turkey mixture in the slow cooker along with the tomato sauce, peeled tomatoes and tomato paste. If you like your sauce to have less chunks, use the back of a wooden spoon to crushed the peeled tomatoes a bit. Cook on low for 6 hours or on low for 3-4 hours.
3. Serve the bolognese over pasta with freshly chopped parsley, basil and freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Notes

This sauce works great with other meats as well, especially ground beef.

I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.