Slimming World's spaghetti Bolognese recipe

Slimming World's spaghetti Bolognese is the ultimate comfort food when for when you're trying to be healthy: warm, familiar and very tasty.

This delicious spag bol is one of our most popular Slimming World recipes (opens in new tab), and an essential staple if you're following this healthy eating plan. It's packed with flavour, so it definitely doesn't feel like 'diet' food, but it also has a good portion of vegetables mixed into the sauce. Not only does that make it healthier, it also keeps the costs down. In fact, if you want to get more portions out of this, you can add in extra veggies to make it go further and reduce the cost per portion at the same time. Use a fresh bay leaf rather than a dried one if you can - it adds a wonderful aroma to the dish.

Ingredients

• 500g lean beef mince (5% fat or less)
• 1 onion, very finely chopped
• 8 rashers of back bacon (all visible fat removed), finely chopped
• 4 celery stalks, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, very finely diced
• 4 garlic cloves, crushed
• 200g button mushrooms, finely diced
• 500ml beef stock 
• 400g can chopped plum tomatoes
• 6 tbsp tomato purée
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 375g dried spaghetti
• A handful of fresh oregano, to garnish

Method

1. Place the mince in a large heavy-based pan with the onion, bacon, celery, carrots and garlic. Dry-fry over a medium heat, stirring from time to time, for 8-10 minutes to brown the mince and lightly colour the veg.
2. Add the mushrooms and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add the stock, tomatoes, tomato purée, bay leaf and dried oregano. Season well, stir and bring to the boil, then simmer very gently for 30-40 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.
3. Increase the heat to medium and let the sauce bubble for a further 10 minutes, or until rich and thick. Stir regularly so it doesn’t stick.
4. Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti according to the pack instructions. Drain well and divide between warmed bowls. Top with the Bolognese (removing the bay leaf), garnish with the oregano and serve.  

Top tips for making Slimming World's spaghetti Bolognese

Any leftovers can be frozen until needed. Leave to defrost in the fridge overnight before reheating thoroughly.

If you don’t have spaghetti, you could opt for other pasta instead. Choose brown or wholewheat pasta over white as it's a much healthier option.

For more information on the Slimming World plan, visit slimmingworld.co.uk (opens in new tab)

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