Slow Cooker Savoury Mince

Unbelievably easy savoury mince in the slow cooker. Whether you call it savoury mince, beef mince, or cottage pie filling, you will love how easy and delicious it is when cooked in the slow cooker.

Go Aussie and cook savoury mince or toast, go American and make sloppy joe’s or go British and make minced beef filled Yorkshire puddings.  

Savoury Mince

If there is a food from childhood that I could eat forever, then it would be savoury mince.

It is so versatile, so ridiculously easy to cook with (even for beginner cooks) and its very easy to fill out with other veggies such as carrots, peas, and celery to make into a much bigger hearty meal to serve on a budget.

I always remember my grandma’s savoury mince. It was always full of peas for a filler, loaded with Bisto gravy granules, included a beef OXO cube, and often had plenty of diced carrots too.

Though of course today’s generation is all about cutting as much salt as possible from your dinner plate, as well as quick prepping meals and today’s recipe for savoury mince ticks all the boxes.

It is fast prep with the slow cooker doing the hard work and features homemade stock instead of gravy granules and stock cubes.

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Can You Put Frozen Mince In Slow Cooker?

No, you can’t. When you cook mince in the slow cooker like with frozen chicken in the slow cooker, it must be defrosted first.

I always get my mince out of the freezer the night before and then its ready for slow cooking the following morning.

Can You Put Raw Mince In A Slow Cooker?

Yes, you can cook raw mince in the slow cooker. I much prefer to brown my mince a little first as it adds extra flavour, but you can skip this step if you need to.

For our recipe today for slow cooker savoury mince we have browned a little first and then its also fantastic to use the slow cooker to soften the onions first too.

Cooking Mince In Slow Cooker

I cook mince a lot in the slow cooker, and I often get asked what mince in the slow cooker is like and why I do it so much.

After all, quickly cooking some mince in a pan is also very fast to do, so why slow cook?

Well, I love that you can start the slow cooker at lunch time (when you still have energy) and then it is ready in the slow cooker at dinner table.

I love that with family members being late home that you can keep the mince warm in the slow cooker and then its ready for late arrivals.

But best of all, I love it for leftovers. You can place the slow cooker on high for an hour and it will then reheat your mince without you having to do anything.

What Can I Add To Mince For Flavour?

This is when I give my Aussie readers a pat on the back and thank them for showing me how amazing Worcester sauce and tomato puree can be for adding flavour to mince and lots of other recipes.

The Worcester sauce gives wonderful flavour and then the tomato puree (also called paste) thickens up your mince naturally.

You can also add in your favourite seasonings such as salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, basil etc.

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Beef Mince Slow Cooker Ingredients

Mince – I recommend using 5% lean beef mince as it carries less fat and there is nothing worse than your savoury mince swimming in fat. I also recommend a 750g pack of mince and this will easily feed a family plus leftovers.

Veggies – You can mix and match root vegetables and go with what you already have in. For our savoury mince slow cooker recipe, we used carrots, celery, parsnips, and onion.

Peas – I also recommend adding in frozen peas once the minced beef is cooked as it really makes the mince feed more people and gives it some colour. I usually stir in a cup of frozen peas from the freezer.

Potatoes – For the secret ingredient I recommend a big spoonful of mashed potatoes and to stir it into your mince. This will thicken up your savoury mince and give it the wow factor. Plus, I always serve my mince with mash anyway, so I have it to hand.

Extras – I also recommend adding red wine, tomato puree, vegetable stock, Worcester sauce and some garlic as it adds such a delicious rich flavour to your savoury mince recipe.

Seasoning – To compliment your slow cooker mince I recommend salt, pepper, parsley. And thyme.

Then for the kitchen gadgets that we have used in this savoury mince slow cooker recipe it has just been our Crockpot Slow Cooker. We have this one and its wonderful for many types of cheap mince dinners.

Plus, we recommend you head over to our slow cooker recipes category as we have more than 100 tried and tested slow cooker recipes and have been using slow cookers for 18 years.

How Do You Make Savoury Mince?

• Sauté. Peel and dice your onion and sauté in your slow cooker with a little extra virgin olive oil. Then add in mince and brown on all sides.   
• Prep. Next peel and dice and clean your vegetables. Load them into the slow cooker and mix in the seasonings and the garlic puree, Worcester sauce, red wine, and tomato puree.
• Place. Make a hole in the centre and add your frozen vegetable stock cube.
• Cook. Place the lid on the slow cooker and cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours.
• Next. After 2 hours on high, stir the slow cooker and this will stir the defrosted stock into the mince.
• Potatoes. When the slow cooker has half an hour left, stir in a big spoon of mashed potatoes as well as frozen peas.
• Serve. Serve in burger buns for sloppy joe’s, onto toast for Aussie savoury mash, or like us Yorkshire folk into a giant Yorkshire pudding.

And I am sure you can see why this slow cooker savoury beef mince recipe is a true favourite of mine.

How Long To Cook Mince In Slow Cooker?

To cook mince in the slow cooker, it will often be done within 2 hours. It depends if you have browned the mince first, with the onions like we have done, as this will speed up the process.

But for everything to be cooked including fork tender sliced carrots I would recommend either 4 hours on high or 7 hours on low.

Minced Beef Filled Yorkshire Pudding

I mentioned that for us Brits its all about the Yorkshire pudding and I am sure many will be wondering what one is and how this fits in with savoury mince.

Well, as a Yorkshire girl you always had a giant Yorkshire pudding that was filled with minced beef and usually some mashed potatoes too. It was the dream Sunday comfort food and something I missed out on when we lived in Portugal.

You see, we could never get giant Yorkshire puddings and it was one of the first things we made when we arrived back in England.

Here is our minced beef filled yorkies I made when we first arrived and was staying in a Yorkshire cottage:

You simply take a frozen Yorkshire pudding, air fry it for 2 minutes (from frozen) and then serve your mince over it.

Then it’s the same as savoury mince on toast but swapping the toast for a Yorkshire pudding.

Cheap Meals With Mince

This unbelievably easy savoury mince is my Plan B for another slow cooker mince recipe I love to make and that is my minced beef hotpot.

The cooking of the mince in the slow cooker remains the same, you are just swapping the Yorkshire pudding or toast for air fryer sliced potatoes for that hotpot topping.

You can also use the slow cooker to make a lasagne, cottage pie, spaghetti Bolognese and so many others.

Savoury Mince Slow Cooker Tips & Tricks

• If you can, do brown the mince first. It will make the mince more flavoursome. I recommend a slow cooker with a pot that can be used on the stovetop (if you can).

• Tomato puree (also known as tomato paste) as well as Worcester sauce and red wine, give a wonderful rich flavour to your slow cooker mince.

• I recommend making frozen veggie cubes. I make them using our instant pot veggie stock recipe and then freeze them in giant ice cube trays. I can then cook it with the mince, and it adds the best flavour.

• I also add a tablespoon of leftover mashed potatoes and mix it in. It creates a natural thickener of your mince without the need for gravy granules.

Slow Cooker Trick – Always buy a slow cooker like this Crockpot one that we own. It can go on the stovetop to brown meat and go in the oven.

Listen To Savoury Mince

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More Slow Cooker Classics

• Slow Cooker Corned Beef Stew
• Slow Cooker Lamb Stew & Dumplings
• Slow Cooker Gammon Shank
• Slow Cooker Brisket & Gravy
• Slow Cooker Porridge

All the above are amazing slow cooker recipes. Though if I could choose just one, the slow cooker brisket and gravy is hands down the absolute BEST.

Your savoury mince slow cooker recipe is below, note you can print it out with or without photos, adjust servings, or click between metric and imperial depending on where you are in the world.

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