This easy slow cooker ground beef and pasta recipe makes a great meal any night of the week.

Ingredients

  • 1 pound 90% or higher lean ground beef
  • ¾ cup onion, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 (14.5 ounce) cans no-salt-added diced tomatoes, undrained
  • 1 (6 ounce) can no-salt-added tomato paste
  • 3 anchovy fillets, chopped
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano, crushed
  • ¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 8 ounces dried multigrain penne pasta (about 2 1/2 cups)
  • ¼ cup kalamata olives, chopped
  • ¼ cup snipped fresh parsley
  • 1 snipped fresh parsley

Directions

  1. In a large nonstick skillet cook ground beef, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat browns and onion is tender. Drain off fat and discard.
  2. In a 3 1/2- or 4-quart slow cooker combine beef mixture, tomatoes, tomato paste, anchovies, oregano and crushed red pepper. Cover and cook on low-heat setting for 4 to 6 hours or on high-heat setting for 2 to 3 hours. Meanwhile, cook pasta according to package directions; drain.
  3. Before serving, stir olives and 1/4 cup parsley into slow cooker. Serve beef mixture over hot cooked pasta. If desired, garnish with additional snipped fresh parsley.