Sneaky Broccoli Bolognese (Paleo, GF)
Looking for a way to sneak broccoli into your or your loved one’s diet? I may have a solution for you. A scrumptious Italian solution. In the form of bolognese! I call it Sneaky Broccoli Bolognese.
It’s sneaky because you wouldn’t know that a full head of broccoli is in your meat sauce. But it’s in there!
The sauce is made with a mixture of ground turkey, ground beef, and ground buffalo… which is such a great flavor combo!
And it is completely non-processed and Paleo.
The broccoli adds a bit of earthy sweetness to the sauce, which I love, but all in all this Sneaky Broccoli Bolognese just tastes like a delicious meat sauce!
The broccoli fits well into this recipe, which is great because broccoli is just soo good for you!
Broccoli, like other cruciferous vegetables, have lots of vitamins, minerals, fiber, and antioxidants.
They have also been shown to have cancer fighting properties, especially if eaten regularly.
I recently went to the doctor, and she told me that I should make sure to eat one cruciferous vegetable a day so that my body can reap the most benefits from them.
She explained that they help protect your cells and are anti-inflammatory.
After hearing that, I knew that I had to add more cruciferous veggies into my life, because inflammation seems to be the cause of so many people’s health issues.
So, I’ve been making an effort to eat at least one cruciferous vegetable a day… and I’ve been getting creative with it (if you can’t tell haha).
I was able to enjoy this Sneaky Broccoli Bolognese for a few days… with zoodles, quinoa pasta, and with sweet potatoes.
I also added a bit of parmesan one night (shhh).
And, this sauce tasted even better the next day!
Sneaky Broccoli Bolognese (Paleo, GF)
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup minced yellow onion (this was 1/2 of an onion for me)
- 2 Tbs minced garlic (this was 6 small cloves of garlic for me)
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- 1 pound ground buffalo
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 1/2 tsp salt , divided
- 1 tsp ground black pepper , divided
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp basil
- 4 Tbs tomato paste (make sure the only ingredient is tomato, like in Cento)
- 3 1/3 cups strained tomatoes (I used Pomi)
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup chopped tomatoes (I love Pomi!)
- 1 tsp Italian seasoning
- 3 cups minced broccoli (this was one head of broccoli for me, using only the florets)(I used a food processor to mince the broccoli florets until they turned into “crumbles”)
- 2 Tbs honey
Instructions
- Put 1/2 cup of minced onion and 2 Tbs of minced garlic into a large pot. Top with 1 Tbs of olive oil and mix the onion and garlic around so it all gets coated in the oil. Set the stove top to medium heat and let the onion and garlic cook for 4 minutes.
- Add the ground buffalo, turkey and beef to the pan. Top the meat with 1 tsp of salt, 1/2 tsp of pepper, 1 tsp of oregano and 2 tsp of basil. Using a rubber spatula, cut the meat into small pieces and mix.
- Cook the meat for 10-12 minutes, or until there is no more pink color left.
- Add 4 Tbs of the tomato paste to the meat and mix. Let the meat cook for 2 more minutes.
- Add the strained tomatoes, 1 cup of water, 1 cup of chopped tomatoes and 1 tsp of italian spices to the pot. Reduce the heat to low-medium and let the sauce simmer for 5 minutes.
- Then add the minced broccoli, 2 tbs of honey, 1/2 tsp of pepper, and 1/2 tsp of salt to the pot, mix and let the whole thing cook for 15- 25 minutes, until you have the desired consistency.
Nutrition
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3 Comments on “Sneaky Broccoli Bolognese (Paleo, GF)”
tips on mincing broccoli? Did u only use the floret part & no stems?
Sorry! I used a food processor to mince the broccoli florets (I used it to mince the onion and garlic too). I didn’t use the stems. I’ll add this to the recipe now.
This is a great way to add on some of the calcium we are missing … Thank you .