Bolognese

This bolognese sauce is packed with simple ingredients like ground beef, crushed tomatoes, and a touch of white wine, simmered to perfection for rich, comforting flavor. Easy to make and perfect for both family dinners and meal prep, this hearty sauce delivers great results every time.

Prep Time15

Cook Time3 15

Total Time3 30

Course: Sauce

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: Beef Bolognese, Best Bolognese Recipe, Best Bolognese Sauce, Best Recipe for Spaghetti Bolognese, Bolognese, Bolognese Pasta Sauce, Bolognese Recipe, Bolognese Sauce, Bolognese Sauces, Pasta Bolognese, Recipe for Bolognese

Servings:

Calories: 310kcal

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
½ cup small diced sweet yellow onion, ¼ inch sized pieces
½ cup small diced carrots, ¼ inch sized pieces
½ cup small diced celery, ¼ inch sized pieces
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 ½ pounds lean ground beef
1 teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
4 tablespoons tomato paste
¾ cup dry white wine, Pinot Grigio
28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
1 cup whole milk
1 dry bay leaf

Garnish

Grated parmesan cheese
Chopped fresh parsley

Instructions

To a large stock pot, over medium-high heat, add the olive oil. Once the olive oil is hot, add the sweet yellow onion, carrots, celery and garlic. Cook the vegetables for 3-4 minutes or until tender and the onions are translucent.
Add the lean ground beef, salt, and black pepper to the cooked vegetables. Cook the lean ground beef for 5-6 minutes or until no pink remains, breaking up the beef as it cooks.
Stir in the tomato paste and dry white wine. Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes or until the alcohol has cooked off and the tomato paste is fully incorporated.
Add the crushed tomatoes, whole milk and bay leaf to the pot. Stir to combine.
Bring the bolognese sauce to a boil, reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 2-3 hours or until reduced by about half. Be sure to stir the bolognese sauce often to keep the sauce from burning.
Once the bolognese sauce has reduced and thickened, turn off the heat to the pot and remove the bay leaf and discard before serving.

Notes

You can freeze 1 cup portions of this bolognese sauce to use for individual servings as needed for quick and easy weeknight meals.
You can substitute chicken broth for the dry white wine if desired. You will want to note that the final flavor of the bolognese sauce will be slightly different as the dry wine will add a slightly sweet and fruity flavor and the chicken broth will add more of a savory flavor profile. The wine is the traditional option when making bolognese sauce.
Be sure to choose a good quality dry white wine to use in this recipe as the flavor of the wine will concentrate as the sauce cooks and thickens. Pinot Grigio, Sauvignon Blanc and Pinot Gris are all good choices to use for cooking. Pinot Grigio was used for developing this recipe.
We highly recommend using whole milk for this recipe as the sugars, and fat, from the milk add a wonderful balance of flavor to the acid of the crushed tomatoes.
When dicing your sweet yellow onion, carrots and celery, be sure to dice them pretty small and as uniformly as possible. You do not want large pieces of vegetables in your bolognese sauce.
If using lean ground beef (93%-7% or 96%-4% ratios) you should not have too much rendered fat in the pot once the ground beef is cooked. If you are using a higher fat to meat ratio such as ground chuck, ground round or standard ground beef (80%-20%) then you may want to drain off some excess rendered fat from the pot before adding the tomato paste and dry white wine. This will help to ensure that your final bolognese sauce is not too greasy when served.

Nutrition