Description
Tender beef meatballs dunked straight into a rich tomato and red wine sauce and left to do their thing in the slow cooker – a proper family favourite that practically makes itself.
Ingredients
Scale
- 500g (1lb 2oz) lean minced beef (5% fat)
- 1 teaspoon Italian-style mixed dried herbs
- ¼ teaspoon fennel seeds
- 1 large carrot (about 150g / 5½oz), grated
- For the sauce:
- 400g (14oz) can of chopped tomatoes
- 500g (1lb 2oz) tomato passata
- 2 tablespoons tomato purée
- 150ml (¼ pint) red wine
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 4 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and chopped
- 1 beef stock cube, crumbled
- 1 tablespoon Italian-style mixed dried herbs
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- To serve:
- Fresh parsley or basil leaves, to garnish
- Pasta or courgetti
Instructions
- Put all the sauce ingredients into the slow cooker bowl and mix together thoroughly.
- In a large bowl, mix together all the meatball ingredients and use your hands to form walnut-sized meatballs – you should get around 22, though feel free to make them smaller if you prefer. Gently submerge the meatballs into the sauce as you shape them.
- Cook on high for 4–5 hours, or on low for 6–8 hours.
- Serve garnished with fresh parsley or basil, over pasta or courgetti.
Notes
- Short on time? Lean ready-made meatballs from the supermarket work well as a shortcut – just drop them straight into the sauce.
- For fussy eaters: once cooked, fish out the meatballs, blitz the sauce smooth with a stick blender, then return the meatballs. Works brilliantly for kids who won’t eat chunky veg.
- Oven method: preheat to 180°C/160°C fan (350°F / Gas Mark 4), put everything into a casserole dish, cover with the lid, and cook for 1 hour.
- Slimming World: the meatballs and most sauce ingredients are Free. The red wine is approximately 1.5–2 syns per serving – swap for extra beef stock to make fully syn-free.
- GLP-1 tip: serve over courgetti instead of pasta for a lower-carb, lighter plateful that’s still very satisfying and high in protein.
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 5 hours
- Category: Comfort food, Dinner
- Method: oven, Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 4
- Calories: 313
- Sugar: 19
- Sodium: 2
- Fat: 5.8
- Saturated Fat: 2.5
- Carbohydrates: 21
- Fiber: 7.2
- Protein: 32