Delicious Bolognese Sauce The Italian Way

And if I told you we make bolognese sauce in Italy with only nine ingredients? This includes salt, pepper, and other staples you probably already have at home! With most of the work taking place during the first 20 minutes, this decadent sauce is so easy to prepare and store that you may want to double up the recipe. Serve with any shape of pasta, gnocchi, or plain boiled potatoes. But most of all, clear your plate up with a nice piece of crusty bread!

While I am fully aware of the romanticized vision out there of Italy, with women slaving away at the stove for multiple hours a day for the love of family, that is hardly the reality.

Like every country living in the 21st century, we batch cook what we can. This Bolognese sauce recipe is perfect for preparing on a Sunday night and using throughout the week!

Starting with what we call the holy trinity of Italian cooking, soffritto [double f and double t] is made of finely chopped onions, celery, and carrot.

Once sauteed, add the ground beef to the pot, and, once browned, season it. Cook the beef in red wine and then drown it in tomato passata.

Simmer this for a few hours on your lowest heat setting [remember to stir every 20-30 minutes], and ta-da!

Add your sauce to any shape of perfectly al dente cooked pasta [traditionally served with tagliatelle or pappardelle], or use it to make beef cannelloni. The best bolognese sauce you ever tried right on your table!

Keep in mind that, just like German Goulash, this tastes delicious with gnocchi or on top of leek mashed potatoes too!

🛒Ingredients

• Ground Beef [Minced Beef]: This constitutes the meat part of the sauce, and you can choose the fat percentage based on your preference. I personally like to use 5% fat.
• Tomato Passata: Ensure it is the plain one, without added seasoning or flavors.
• Onion, Carrot, and Celery: This starts the bolognese sauce, and it is called soffritto. Choose any color of onions you have or prefer.
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil [Olio EVO], Salt, and Pepper: Essential to the recipe, although regular olive oil will work well too.
• Vegetable Broth: As the beef will simmer for a couple of hours on the stove, the sauce will need some liquid, and a broth is much preferable to plain water, as it doesn't dilute the seasoning.
• Red Wine: This OPTIONAL ingredient is used to flavor the sauce further and to help with the meat's fatty part. If you skip it, it doesn't need replacing. While I always use Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot is an excellent alternative.

📑 Substitutions And Variations

• Pork and Beef Meat: Ground beef can be mixed with some ground pork too, and it is actually very common. In Italy, in grocery shops, you can purchase 'macinata mista', which simply means mixed ground meat.
• Sausage and Pancetta: You can also thinly chop some pancetta or crumble the meat of your favorite sausage to cook this sauce.
• Garlic: This is not used in bolognese sauce traditionally, however, it is often added. As many say, everything tastes better with garlic! Simply add a finely chopped clove or two at the same time as the soffritto.
• Beef Stock: Although the best option, as not overpowering, is the vegetable one, you can use beef broth instead. If using this, ensure you don't overseason the sauce.
• Milk: Back in the olden days, milk used to be added to help with the strong taste of wild meat. However, this is not required these days. A cup of whole milk or 2% [semi-skimmed] can be added about 20 minutes before the sauce is ready to remove the acidity of the tomato, but this can be fixed with the next ingredient in this list too. Please note that hardly anyone uses milk in bolognese sauce in Italy these days.
• Sugar: Many times, tomatoes can be too acidic, so you may need to add one teaspoon of white sugar to the sauce about 20 minutes before it is ready.
• Tomato: If you can't find passata, the best substitute is tomato puree. Passata is typically made by cold pureeing tomatoes. In contrast, tomato puree involves heating, skinning, and deacidifying the tomatoes to release their final flavor, meaning you most likely won't need any sugar or milk.
• Chopped Canned Tomatoes and Tomato Paste: If using chunky or whole canned tomatoes, then you may need to use some tomato paste, too, as these tend to be more liquid than tomato passata. Adjust quantities based on thickness and preference. Diced tomatoes and canned peeled tomatoes may make the sauce more watery, so you may need to cook it a little longer for a thicker consistency.
• Herbs: Feel free to add any herbs and spices you like to the meat sauce. I occasionally add a laurel bay leaf or a sprig of rosemary. Depending on how you plan to serve it, other good options are thyme, fresh basil, parsley, or marjoram.

👩🏻‍🍳 How To Make [Step-By-Step]

1. Heat up the olive oil in a saucepan or large Dutch oven on low to medium heat.
2. Once warm, add the thinly chopped onions, carrot, and celery. [Picture 1]. Mix well, and cook until they soften and the onion turns golden. This will take approximately 5 minutes.
3. Next, add the ground beef. [Picture 2] Using a wooden spoon, break it up while ensuring it all browns.

4. Add the salt and pepper seasoning once all the beef is brown. [Picture 3] Mix well once more.
5. OPTIONAL: Once seasoned, add the red wine. [Picture 4] Mix well again. Increasing to medium-high heat, keep on cooking and mixing until all the liquid has evaporated. This will take about 10 minutes.

6. Once the wine evaporated, [Picture 5] reduce the flame again and add the passata. [Picture 6] Mix well.

7. Straight away, add the vegetable broth too, and again, mix. [Picture 7]
8. Allow the sauce to reach a simmering point, then cover the saucepan with a lid. Reduce the heat to the lowest setting on your hob. Make sure you are using the lowest flame available, as the bolognese sauce will need to simmer for at least two hours. Slow-cooked bolognese will allow every meat piece to flavor from the inside while keeping it moist and tender.
9. Keeping the lid on, keep on simmering the sauce for at least two hours, stirring occasionally [every 20-30 minutes].
10. Once ready, check for seasoning again. [Picture 8] Serve with pasta, gnocchi, or potatoes.

🙋 People Also Ask [FAQs]

🥡 Storing & Reheating

• In the fridge: Store homemade bolognese sauce in the fridge in an airtight container for up to four days.
• In the freezer: Freeze it for up to three months in freezer bags or an airtight container.
• To reheat: If frozen, fully thaw the sauce overnight in the fridge. Add a few splashes of water to reheat in a saucepan, or move to a microwave-safe container and heat until thoroughly hot.
• Top Tip: Clear plastic or glass containers tend to stain less [or at all] compared to white or colored ones. Try storing your tomato-based sauces and your curries in those!

🍴 More Delicious Recipes To Try

🍽️ Recipe

Delicious Bolognese Sauce The Italian Way

Elle John

A rich meat sauce prepared with simple staple ingredients, then slowly simmered for the perfect Italian meal.

5 from 26 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs 20 minutes mins

Total Time 2 hours hrs 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course, Sauces

Cuisine Italian

Servings 6 portions

Calories 253 kcal

Ingredients

 

US CustomaryMetric

 

1x2x3x

• ▢ 2 tablespoon Olive Oil
• ▢ 1 Medium Onion finely chopped
• ▢ 1 Medium Carrot peeled and finely chopped
• ▢ 1 Celery Stick finely chopped
• ▢ 1.1 lbs Ground Beef
• ▢ 1.1 lbs Tomato Passata
• ▢ 1.5 cups Vegetable Broth
• ▢ ½ cup Red Wine
• ▢ Salt and Pepper to taste

Instructions

 

• In a saucepan or large dutch oven, heat up the oil on a low to medium heat.
• Once warm, add the thinly chopped onions, carrot, and celery. Mix well, and cook until they all soften, and the onion start turning golden. This will take approximately 5 minutes.
• Next, add ground beef. Using a wooden spoon, break it up well, while ensuring it brownall around.
• Once the beef is brown, add the salt and pepper, and mix well once more.
• OPTIONAL: Once seasoned, add the red wine and mix well once more. Increasing to medium high heat, keep on cooking and mixing until all the liquid has evaporated. This will take about 10 minutes.
• Once the wine has evaporated, reduce the flame again and add the passata. Mix well.
• Straight away, add the vegetable broth too, and again, mix.
• Allow the sauce to reach simmering point, then add the lid to the saucepan and reduce the heat to the lowest setting on your hob. It is essential that the lowest flame is used as the bolognese sauce will need to simmer for at least two hours. Slow cooked bolognese will allow every meat piece to flavor from the inside, while keeping it moist and tender.
• Keeping the lid on, keep on simmering the sauce for at least two hours, stirring occasionally [every 20-30 minutes].
• Once ready, check for seasoning once more, then serve with pasta, gnocchi, or potatoes.

Video

Notes

Pork and Beef Meat: Ground beef can be mixed with some ground pork too, and it is actually very common. You can also thinly chop some pancetta or crumble the meat of your favorite sausage to cook this sauce. If you are preparing your homemade bolognese sauce by mixing beef and pork, or Italian sausage, then you can choose either red or white wine for cooking.

 

Garlic: This is not used in bolognese sauce traditionally, however, it is often added. Simply add a finely chopped clove or two at the same time as the soffritto.

 

Beef Stock: This can be used instead of the vegetable one, however, ensure you don't overseason the sauce.

 

Milk or Sugar: A cup of whole milk or 2% [semi-skimmed] can be added about 20 minutes before the sauce is ready to remove the acidity of the tomato. One teaspoon of sugar can be used for the same purpose, so pick the ingredient you prefer.

 

Tomato Passata: If you can't find passata, the best substitute is tomato puree. 

Chopped Canned Tomatoes and Tomato Paste: If using chunky or whole canned tomatoes, then you may need to use some tomato paste, too, as these tend to be more liquid than tomato passata. Adjust quantities based on thickness and preference. Diced tomatoes and canned peeled tomatoes may make the sauce more watery, so you may need to cook it a little longer for a thicker consistency.

 

Herbs: Feel free to add herbs and spices to the meat sauce. I occasionally add a laurel bay leaf or a sprig of rosemary. Depending on how you are planning to serve it, other good options are thyme, fresh basil, parsley, or marjoram.

 

Water: If, while simmering, the sauce dries out, add some water. This should not happen, as I cook mine with these exact proportions for even longer, so if your flame is too high, you may need a diffuser to help.

 

Storing & Reheating

• In the fridge: A fresh homemade bolognese sauce can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for up to four days.
• In the freezer: It can also be frozen for up to three months in freezer bags or an airtight container.
• To reheat: If frozen, fully thaw the sauce overnight in the fridge. Add a few splashes of water to reheat in a saucepan, or move to a microwave-safe container and heat until thoroughly hot.

Nutrition

Calories: 253kcalCarbohydrates: 12gProtein: 18gFat: 13gSaturated Fat: 4gPolyunsaturated Fat: 1gMonounsaturated Fat: 7gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 54mgSodium: 323mgPotassium: 726mgFiber: 2gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 2252IUVitamin C: 11mgCalcium: 36mgIron: 4mg

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