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My rich and savory Homemade Bolognese Sauce is the most comforting Italian pasta sauce recipe to have in your kitchen! It's great for keeping on hand when you need a stick-to-your-ribs type of meal. Slow-cooked and bursting with flavor, this is the perfect meat sauce for pasta.
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- Best Bolognese Recipe
- Easy Bolognese Sauce Recipe Ingredients
- How to Make Bolognese Sauce
- Bolognese Recipe Tips
- Make-Ahead Bolognese Sauce
- Bolognese Recipes FAQs
- What kind of meat goes in bolognese?
- How to reheat Bolognese Sauce
- Can you freeze meat sauce bolognese?
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Best Bolognese Recipe
My Bolognese meat sauce recipe starts with a rich tomato sauce where I add plenty of fresh herbs, garlic, and white wine. Savory beef, pork, and pancetta give this sauce its authentic taste and texture.
It is important to give Bolognese meat sauce plenty of time to simmer; you want all the flavors to slowly work together to create this Italian classic!
Once the sauce is ready, the possibilities are endless. Bolognese is a truly versatile recipe! I like to make a big batch of Bolognese sauce to keep on hand for nights when I just don't have the time I need in the kitchen, or for when I'm wanting a comfort food meal.
This recipe is perfect for feeding a larger crowd, a hungry family at the dinner table, or just yourself on a night when a craving for Italian food must be met.
My new favorite meat sauce. I love whipping this up quickly. It is easy and so delicious.
Emma on Pinterest
Easy Bolognese Sauce Recipe Ingredients
- unsalted butter
- white onion
- carrots
- celery
- garlic
- tomato paste
- pancetta, diced ham, or bacon
- ground beef
- ground pork
- white wine
- milk
- beef stock
- whole peeled tomatoes in a can
- fresh parsley
- bay leaves
- salt and pepper
How to Make Bolognese Sauce
- Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch Oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato paste, and salt. Saute, stirring often, for 5 minutes or so. If the garlic or onion starts to brown, lower the heat.
- Add pancetta and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are fairly soft. Then, mix in the beef and pork about ⅓ at a time, letting most of the liquid evaporate before adding more.
- Cook, stirring frequently until all meat is incorporated and no longer pink. All the liquid should be evaporated, and brown bits should begin to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- At this point, add white wine to deglaze the pot. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, then lower the heat to prevent them from sticking again. Mix in milk, broth, tomatoes, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to as low as possible to maintain a lazy simmer. Add bay leaves and parsley. Simmer on low, half-covered, for 4 hours, occasionally stirring.
- If preparing pasta to go with the meat sauce, begin cooking pasta 10-12 minutes before your sauce is complete, according to package directions, in order to give yourself enough time for both to be ready at the same time.
- When ready, remove bay leaves. If the sauce has not thickened to your liking yet, increase the heat slightly and simmer for another 15-30 minutes uncovered.
- Serve bolognese meat sauce with pasta and plenty of freshly grated cheese! Enjoy!
Bolognese Recipe Tips
- Pot for Bolognese Sauce: Use a big enough pot that the various liquids will be able to almost entirely evaporate. In the end, the sauce should be mostly meat with a little bit of very thick tomato sauce holding it together. I love using the Perfect Pot or a Dutch Oven for making bolognese.
- Dicing the veggies: Do your best to dice the onion, carrots, and celery as evenly as you possibly can. Aim for ¼-inch dice. This is pretty much the only “work” involved in this recipe and the more exact you are, the better it will be!
- Add the Parmigiano: There’s no Parmigiano Reggiano in the actual sauce but if you don’t grate some on top before digging in you’re senselessly depriving yourself. This is comfort food, after all!
Make-Ahead Bolognese Sauce
My bolognese meat sauce is a fantastic recipe to make ahead, especially in batches if you want to have it ready whenever you like. Simply make the sauce according to the recipe instructions, allow it to cool completely, and transfer it to an airtight or covered container. Keep the Bolognese sauce in the fridge for up to 5 days, or freeze it as instructed below.
Bolognese Recipes FAQs
In the U.S. we commonly think of spaghetti sauce as a tomato-based sauce, simmered with ground beef or sausage and served over spaghetti. Bolognese sauce is a meat sauce that may or may not have tomato in it. It's a thicker, heartier sauce and includes milk, which adds richness and tenderizes the meat.
My recipe for Bolognese meat sauce is completely gluten-free; just be sure to serve it with another gluten-free grain or vegetable.
For a vegetarian bolognese sauce recipe, substitute the chicken stock for vegetable stock and omit all meat products from the sauce. Instead of using meat, use diced eggplant, mushrooms, or a combination of both.
What kind of meat goes in bolognese?
Traditionally, Bolognese sauce is made using a combination of beef and pork. My recipe for homemade Bolognese meat sauce uses a secret ingredient: pancetta. Also known as Italian bacon, pancetta is found in the deli section of the supermarket and adds the perfect salty and slightly sweet flavor to the sauce!
The best thing about making bolognese sauce is you can play around and find the combination you love the most. I love the flavor element ground pork brings to the dish, so my Bolognese always has both beef and pork.
But, if you don’t eat pork, by all means, use just ground beef. I’ve seen a few recipes that add veal, lamb, and even chicken liver to the mix!
How to reheat Bolognese Sauce
To reheat, simply place it in the microwave and reheat on high in 1-minute increments, or heat it on the stove. I recommend reheating Bolognese in a small sauce pan over the stove on medium heat, stirring occasionally, usually 10-15 minutes or until heated through. This preserves some of the delicacies of the sauce.
Can you freeze meat sauce bolognese?
After trying my Bolognese meat sauce, you are going to want to keep plenty of it around! Freezing the Bolognese sauce is simple and convenient, giving you the perfect Italian comfort food whenever you want it.
Simply make the Bolognese according to recipe instructions. Allow to cool completely before transferring to an airtight, sealed container or freezer bag. Label the outside of the container and freeze for up to 5 months.
To reheat after freezing, allow the sauce to thaw overnight in the fridge. Gently reheat over a saucepan on the stove, generally on medium heat and for 10-15 minutes or until heated through.
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Best Bolognese Recipe
Equipment
- or Dutch oven
Ingredients
- ¼ cup unsalted butter ½ stick
- 1 white onion finely diced
- 3 carrots peeled and finely diced
- 3 celery stalks finely diced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 2 Tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 ounces pancetta diced; ham or bacon can also be used
- 1 pound ground beef
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 cup white wine
- 2 cups milk
- 1 cup beef stock
- 28 ounce whole tomatoes peeled San Marzano tomatoes and their liquid. Tomatoes can be crushed by hand or cut up.
- 2 tablespoons fresh parsley finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- kosher salt
- black pepper freshly ground
- 1 pound pasta of your choice cooked according to package instructions
Instructions
- Melt butter in a large pot or Dutch Oven over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, garlic, tomato paste, and salt. Saute, stirring often, for 5 minutes or so. If the garlic or onion start to brown, lower the heat.
- Add pancetta and continue to cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are fairly soft. Then, mix in the beef and pork about ⅓ at a time, letting most of the liquid evaporate before adding more.
- Cook, stirring frequently, until all meat is incorporated and no longer pink. All the liquid should be evaporated, and brown bits should begin to stick to the bottom of the pot.
- At this point, add in white wine to deglaze the pot. Scrape up the brown bits from the bottom of the pan, then lower the heat to prevent them from sticking again. Mix in milk, broth, tomatoes, salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, reduce heat to as low as possible to maintain a lazy simmer. Add bay leaves and parsley. Simmer on low, half-covered, for 4 hours, occasionally stirring.
- If preparing pasta to go with the meat sauce, begin cooking pasta 10-12 minutes before your sauce is complete, according to package directions, in order to give yourself enough time for both to be ready at the same time.
- When ready, remove bay leaves. If the sauce has not thickened to your liking yet, increase the heat slightly and simmer for another 15-30 minutes uncovered.
- Serve bolognese meat sauce with pasta and plenty of freshly grated cheese! Enjoy!
Notes
- Pot for Bolognese Sauce: Use a big enough pot that the various liquids will be able to almost entirely evaporate. In the end, the sauce should be mostly meat with a little bit of very thick tomato sauce holding it together.
- Dicing the veggies: Do your best to dice the onion, carrots, and celery as evenly as you possibly can. Aim for ¼-inch dice. This is pretty much the only “work” involved in this recipe and the more exact you are, the better it will be!
- Add the Parmigiano: There’s no Parmigiano Reggiano in the actual sauce but if you don’t grate some on top before digging in you’re senselessly depriving yourself. This is comfort food, after all!
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