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bolognese meat sauce on pappardelle pasta in a white dish

Best Bolognese Recipe

Isabel Laessig
Learn how to make bolognese meat sauce to use with pasta, over rice, lasagna, and more! This is the best Italian meat sauce for a comfort food dinner!
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 4 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 4 hours 50 minutes
Course Sauce
Cuisine American, Italian
Servings 8
Calories 652 kcal

Equipment

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!

Nutrition

Calories: 652kcalCarbohydrates: 53gProtein: 28gFat: 33gSaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 139mgSodium: 380mgPotassium: 876mgFiber: 4gSugar: 8gVitamin A: 3725IUVitamin C: 15.5mgCalcium: 166mgIron: 3.9mg
Keyword Best Bolognese Sauce, bolognese sauce recipe, Bolognese Sauce Recipes, Homemade Bolognese Sauce
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