Weekday Ragù with Veggies is packed with tons of vegetables and flavour! It’s perfect for busy days and picky-eaters! Make in either the slow cooker or in the Instant Pot for an easy weeknight dinner!
This is the meal that saves my bacon during the week. When we’re running from place to place or I just need a meal on the table where I’m not listening to why everyone dislikes it.
This Weekday Ragù with Veggies so many vegetables in it, you’ll feel like you’re winning at dinner.
Plus, noodles. And when you have a couple of four year olds and a toddler, noodles are a life line.
We love these telephone cord noodles; the kids always play a “who can find the longest noodle” game. One of those times when playing with your food counts.
This recipe is great in the slow cooker or the Instant Pot. Both methods get you to where you want to go. Which is flavour town, but loaded up with veggies.
I think I prefer the slow cooker method only because all the ingredients sit there longer and simmer, melding together more. Creating a more cohesive sauce to coat the noodles.
The IP was fantastic, and when you’re in a pinch and need dinner on the table in 30 minutes, then it’s the best call that day.
None of my kids realized how many vegetables are included in this meal, but I LOVED how many I packed in. I’m a bit cheeky and also serve a salad with this dish, but it’s not necessary.
If you wanted to cut down on the meat, you could definitely skip the ground beef and use a cup of green or brown lentils in lieu.
This weeknight dinner recipe makes a ton.
I usually freeze a ziplock (laying down flat) in the freezer with the leftovers and take it on trips so we’re not eating out at every meal.
Other pasta sauces we love include this vegetarian Cauliflower Alfredo with Peas, my summer-time favourite Tomato Pasta, and this Garlicky Peanut Soba Noodles.
Weeknight Ragù with Veggies packed with tons of vegetables and flavour! It’s perfect for busy days and picky-eaters! Make in either the slow cooker or in the Instant Pot!
- 1 lbs (454 gr) extra lean ground beef
- 4 links (around 454 gr) Italian Sausage, casings removed
- 2 large carrots, roughly chopped
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 small-medium zucchini, trimmed and roughly chopped
- 1 large bell pepper, roughly chopped
- 2 cups spinach leaves
- 2 28oz can (2 x 796 mL) crushed fire roasted tomatoes
- 1/4 cup red wine
- 1 cup beef or vegetable broth
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp dried basil
- 1/8-1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp fresh ground black pepper
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Place meat in a food processor and pulse until blended or mash up with a potato masher. Add to slow cooker.
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Add onion, carrots, garlic, zucchini, and bell pepper to food processor and pulse until finely chopped (or finely chop with a knife). Add to slow cooker.
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Blend spinach in food processor and set aside (do not place in slow cooker yet).
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Add crushed tomatoes, red wine, broth, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to slow cooker and stir until well blended.
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Turn slow cooker to slow for 8-10 hours or high for 3-4 hours. With 10-20 minutes left, add spinach.
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Serve over top of noodles, polenta, or other desired base.
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Heat IP to sauté. Place meat in a food processor and pulse until blended or mash up with a potato masher. Add to IP when IP says “hot” and cook until meat is browned, around 5-7 minutes.
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Add onion, carrots, garlic, zucchini, and bell pepper to food processor and pulse until finely chopped (or finely chop with a knife). Add to IP.
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Blend spinach in food processor and set aside (do not place in IP yet).
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Add crushed tomatoes, red wine, broth, basil, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper to IP and stir blended.
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Close IP and cook on high pressure for 15 minutes. Use the quick release valve for 5 minutes and carefully open lid. Add spinach and mix.
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Serve over top of noodles, polenta, or other desired base.
Enjoy! xo
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I love this fresh spin on a classic recipe! The addition of spinach and zucchini made this sauce so awesomely flavorful. My whole family loved it. Thank you for this beautiful recipe inspiration!
Pleasure! Thanks for the note 🙂
Love all the veggies you packed in this ragu! Great idea to freeze some of this sauce for a quick meal. I always need fast dishes during the week.
Totally agree with you on the fast meals. And I like just not really cooking a full meal every now and then as well.
I love those noodles!
This is my kind of meal!
This sounds amazing! So perfect for weekday dinners!
Do you not need to brown the meat first?
The IP calls for the the meat to be sautéed. I haven’t called for it in the slow cooker. You can do it in your slow cooker (if it has the ability to go stove top) or in a separate pot. I tested the recipe multiple times in both appliances (with and without the meat being browned) and it wasn’t obvious if it had been.
We love, love, love this recipe! The nutrition facts, what’s the serving size?
I would guess about 1/2 cup or so. I’ll make it again and measure it more accurately and get back to you on that if you need a specific measurement.
Where do you get these telephone noodles?!
Hi Natalie! I picked them up from the Italy section at our local Save-On Foods. They’re a long version of Fusilli … I can’t seem to find a link for them for Save-On, however if you search on Amazon you can find them under the “Garofalo” brand (“Garofalo Fusilli Lunghi Pasta”) although the price point appears to be a bit higher than that of which I paid. There are other options there 😉
Can the red wine be substituted? If so what would you suggest?
Yes, you could skip it or add a touch more beef broth or even 2 tbsp of tomato paste.
Fantastic dish right here! We absolutely loved it. Even my 19 month old baby chomped down on this deliciousness. We paired it with farfalle, but I’d love to get my hands on those noodles. Thanks a bunch for the new addition to our favorites!!
Love to hear this! The noodles are from the International Italian section at a large Save On Foods (if you’re local). And total props for getting all those veg into a toddler!
This recipe has so much flavor! I make extra when I food prep for the week and individual (take & go) bowls of it store beautifully in the fridge. Everyone that has tried it has loved it and I have shared your recipe multiple times. Thank you!
Thank you! I appreciate you sharing it and so glad it’s making it into meal prep.
How many servings would you say? Trying to enter this into MyFitnessPal. TIA
It makes quite a bit. I’d say 8-10 servings … not sure why it’s not listed. I’ll add it to the recipe card now.
Really excited about trying this. I saw the calories listed—is there a nutrition listing available?
There’s a chart of nutritional info at the bottom of the recipe card (more than just calories).
Thanks for this recipe! I am pregnant and vegetables are not appealing to me at all. This recipe sneaks them in to a yummy sauce! We added pancetta. Loved it !
Yay! I was the same when pregnant – so glad this recipe is helping you out 🙂 And now I need to go try it with pancetta (BRILLIANT idea!).
can this be prepped to freeze?
I make it and then freeze it, thawing overnight before reheating. I haven’t made it from frozen meat.
I would have never thought to make this in the slow cooker! What a great idea for a busy weeknight meal. Thanks for the recipe share!
SO good for busy weeknights!
Loving this Ragu dish recipe it looks so delicious! Plus it’s stuffed with vegetables and flavor! It has so many ways to cook this dish and we can never go wrong with pasta! Loved it!
Pasta is always the answer!
Such a delicious and easy dish to make for tonight’s dinner. I am sure everyone will love this!
I hope they do 🙂
Ohh this looks amazing! Look at those meat! Yummmyyyy!