The Best Bolognese Sauce Recipe

Once you finish simmering this best Bolognese sauce, all you will think about is sprinkling some fresh Parmesan cheese on top of it and dipping some crusty bread to soak in all of its goodness. This recipe offers step-by-step instructions, with simple ingredients, to create the most delicious authentic Bolognese sauce, and you will travel to Italy with every single bite!

Bolognese sauce is one of my favorite Italian dishes; I just love the intense flavor of the meat and crushed tomatoes, especially when left to simmer on a slow heat, stirring occasionally, so that the ground beef absorbs all of the flavors .

This is the recipe my Mom prepares and there are many variations out there, but this is home for me.

You can skip to the recipe card straightaway, however, along with the post you will find some helpful tips and tricks, as well as variations to make it your own, along with some very common (and less), FAQs answered.

Get ready to get your nose slapped with a delicious spaghetti Bolognese!

Best Bolognese Sauce Ingredients

• Extra Virgin Olive Oil: The perfect way to start a Bolognese sauce, but ensure you do not overheat it. You can swap it for vegetable oil if you don't have it.
• Carrots, Onions, Celery Stick, Fresh Garlic: The classic soffritto base, plus garlic, but this last ingredient is not traditional, but optional.
• Ground Beef: I use lean ground beef, preferably under 5% fat, however, any ground beef will do. Should you like to give it a go, you can add some ground pork to the mix too!
• Tomato Paste and Canned Tomato: The perfect ingredients for a rich sauce.
• Parsley, salt, and pepper: Seasoning, because in Italy there's no such thing as Italian seasoning.
• Sugar: This is needed only if the tomato sauce is too acidic.
• Red Wine: Perfect for adding that richness to the sauce, while removing the 'gamey' taste some meat sauce can have.
• Bay Leaf: Optional, but it can be added while the sauce simmers.
• Spaghetti: The pasta chosen for this recipe, but feel free to opt for any shape you like, such as tagliatelle or penne.
• Parmesan Cheese: A light sprinkle on top is all you need, but absolutely optional.

How To Make Bolognese Sauce

1. Start by sautéing and lightly browning some onion, garlic, carrots, celery, salt, and black pepper.
2. Next, add the ground meat (mix with some ground pork if liked), and brown it all around, keeping the pan on medium heat.
3. Once the meat has browned, add the red wine (if going for 100% ground pork, white wine is a better choice) and allow it to evaporate, while stirring occasionally.

4. Once the red wine (or white wine) has evaporated, add the tomato paste to the bolognese sauce and mix well, allowing it to lightly fry.
5. Next, add the canned tomatoes to the sauce and mix again.
6. Once the crushed tomato sauce is well mixed, add some water (or beef broth or chicken broth, although not needed) and bring it to a boil.
7. Reduce the heat and allow the meat sauce to simmer until ready. This is the stage where you can add more flavorings to personalize the bolognese sauce; good options are a bay leaf, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes.
8. Simmer the Italian Bolognese sauce until ready, ideally on low heat for at least one hour, stirring occasionally.

Best Bolognese Sauce Recipe | Video

People also ask [FAQs]

Tips & tricks for the best Bolognese sauce

• Pasta Bolognese: If preparing this meat sauce for the lunch box, it may be better to opt for short pasta shapes, such as penne or rigatoni, as they warm up better in a microwave than spaghetti.
• Meat Sauce: Make this recipe your own by choosing your preferred cut or type of meat. The most common options are ground beef or ground pork, however, ground veal or ground chuck will make this extra special. For great flavor, you can add some finely chopped pancetta or bacon to the sauce.
• Lasagna or Lasagne: This is one of the most common ways Bolognese sauce is used (known as Pasticcio in Northern Italy).
• Bay Leaf: If adding a bay leaf (or laurel) remember to discard it once the sauce has cooked.
• Passata: Should you not like chunky tomato sauce, you can use passata instead; simply add your crushed tomatoes to a food processor and blend if you do not have it at home.

You will LOVE this Bolognese sauce recipe as it is delicious! A-MA-ZING!

Give it a go if you are looking for a great meal idea that is: 

• Easy
• Traditional
• Has Step-by-Step instructions
• Delicious
• Includes Italian Pasta

Get chopping your soffritto, browning your meat, and simmering the sauce... this perfect dinner is calling your name!

• If you liked this recipe, you must check out our great collection of healthy meals, such as:
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  • Green Bean Pasta
  • Hibachi Fried Rice Recipe
  • Eggplant Parmesan
  • Feta and Lemon Zucchini Pasta Sauce

Recipe

The Best Bolognese Sauce Recipe

Elle

Serve this delicious meat sauce with any pasta to enjoy!

5 from 26 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins

Total Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine Italian

Servings 6 portions

Calories 439 kcal

Ingredients

 

MetricUS Customary

 

1x2x3x

• 1 tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 Small Carrot
• 1 Onion any colour
• 1 Celery Stick
• 10 g Garlic
• 500 g Ground Beef 5% Fat Minced Beef
• ½ teaspoon Dry Parsley
• 15 g Tomato Paste Tomato Puree
• 1 Canned Tomato Tinned Chopped Tomato in Juice
• ¼ teaspoon sugar (Optional: Needed if tomatoes are very acidic)
• Black Pepper and Salt to Taste
• 420 g Dry Spaghetti
• 100 ml Red Wine (Optional: I used Cabernet Sauvignon) 3.5 oz

Instructions

 

• Peel the carrot and chop it in cubes of about ¼ inch (5mm in size; wash and slice the celery stick, the onion, and crush or mince the garlic, as preferred.
• In a large pan, which has a lid, put the olive oil and, once warm, add the chopped garlic, onion, carrots, and celery; mix well and keep on a low-medium flame for a couple of minutes, then add salt and pepper to taste, mix again and put the lid on the pan. Allow the soffritto (or sofrito) to cook for about 5 minutes on a low flame, or until the onions and celery turn golden, the carrots start to soften and the rawness of the garlic has gone.
• Once the soffritto is ready, put the flame to medium-high and, without the lid start adding the ground beef; try and break it down as much as possible, so you’ll be able to brown it properly and fry it in the olive oil and its own fat. Once all the meat is added, mix the beef well and keep on stirring gently until all of it has browned.
• OPTIONAL: Once all the minced beef has browned, add the red wine and mix well; keeping the sauce on a medium-low flame, allow the wine to evaporate.
• Once the wine has evaporated (or all the ground beef has browned if skipping that step), add the tomato paste and mix well. Allow the tomato paste to gently fry for a couple of minutes before proceeding to the next step.
• At this point add the tin of canned tomato plus 400ml of water, bring to the boil, then bring the flame down to low.
• OPTIONAL: Add the sugar, stir well once more, and put the lid back on the pan. This step is necessary only if the tomato sauce or puree are acidic.
• Ideally, you will be simmering this for at least one hour on a low flame, during which time you will occasionally stir to ensure the sauce doesn’t dry up or stick (depending on how low your low-flame is).
• Remove the lid from the saucepan and allow to continue simmering to bring to the desired consistency. At this stage you can also adjust the levels of salt and add some chopped herbs, if wanted. I, personally, add a bit of parsley sometimes.
• Once you are about 20 minutes away from the sauce being ready, put a large pan of water to boil and once the water boils, add the salt and spaghetti and mix well straight away.
• Cook the spaghetti for as long as it says on the package (this will mainly depend on the size of the spaghetti – more of this in notes).
• Once the spaghetti are al dente, drain them quickly, without over-draining them, and add them to the saucepot.
• Mix well the spaghetti and the sauce, divide into six plates and enjoy!

Video

Notes

• Meat: if mixing different types of ground meat, add it and brown it all at the same time. 
• Water or broth: water will be perfect for cooking the sauce, but should you prefer to use stock or broth, chose one that works with the ground meat chosen. 
• Wine: for this recipe I used Cabernet Sauvignon, however other red wines, such as Rioja or Shiraz, will work well too. Feel free to use red cooking wine instead if you have it. 
• Herbs: Make this recipe your own by using your favorite herbs and spices; good options are thyme, rosemary, red pepper flakes, or basil. 
• Storage: you can store this Bolognese sauce in the fridge for up to three days in an airtight container. 

Nutrition

Calories: 439kcalCarbohydrates: 59gProtein: 23gFat: 10gSaturated Fat: 3gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 43mgSodium: 156mgPotassium: 599mgFiber: 4gSugar: 5gVitamin A: 1795IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 57mgIron: 3mg

Keyword beef bolognese, healthy spaghetti, spaghetti, traditional spaghetti bolognese recipe, weight loss recipe

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