This recipe for traditional spaghetti bolognese is a tasty and economical way to feed your family! Ground beef slowly braised in aromatic tomato sauce with onions, garlic, carrots and celery is what you want to serve with your pasta!
Do you ever feel overwhelmed at the realisation you’ve got a large party coming over for dinner and you are completely unprepared? That’s where I found myself yesterday with friends coming over for dinner.
What could I make to feed 10 people that will satisfy and please both adults and some little picky eaters?
Spaghetti Bolognese of course! Who doesn’t love pasta drenched in a meaty tomato sauce! Another option and a family favourite is Spaghetti Carbonara, which I also make often!
Spaghetti Bolognese
Spaghetti Bolognese is a classic everywhere in the world except for Italy where it doesn’t exist. Don’t get me wrong the Bolognese sauce is as traditional as they get. It does comes from the city of Bologna.
However, it is served with thicker pasta like tagliatelle, fettuccine or pappardelle. Italians claim that flat and wider pasta is able to carry off this rich and meaty sauce far better than spaghetti.
So if you want to experience this delicious sauce in a true Italian way, don’t forget this little tip and your dish will look like this!
Whatever pasta you choose in the end, the Bolognese sauce is where the flavour is at. The homemade version is truly incredible. It’s made from scratch, with no preservatives, so you can feel good about feeding it to your family.
The main ingredients are inexpensive canned tomatoes, loads of healthy veggies, herbs and a pound of lean ground beef. Or you can use a combination of ground beef and pork.
It doesn’t take a chef to master this delicious recipe. The technique is very simple. All you need is time. The best bolognese sauce is simmered over low heat for 2.5-3 hours. That’s how long it takes for the flavours to blend.
How to make this pasta sauce
The recipe uses 1 tablespoons of olive oil, canned diced tomatoes and tomato passata along with 1 lbs of lean beef. Very wholesome ingredients. The base for this sauce is made from a combination of diced onion, carrot and celery cooked in olive oil. It is called “soffritto” in Italian, and is used as a foundation for many sauces, soups and stews.
I’ve been making Bolognese sauce for many years and my recipe has been changed multiple times in pursuit of that perfect taste. The version I am sharing today is definitely my best one and final.
After years of travel to Italy and a cooking lesson that I took on the most recent trip I’ve picked up the necessary knowledge to recreate this authentic recipe at home. By the way, if you are looking for an authentic Italian white pasta sauce, take a look at my pasta cream sauce recipe.
Making this traditional Italian sauce is very easy and requires no special skills only time and patience. The end result is stunning and miles aways from store bought. But if you want it quick and meatless, check out my tomato and basil pasta sauce, which is done in 20 minutes!
Can I make spaghetti sauce in a slow cooker?
Yes, you can! This sauce is actually absolutely perfect for your crock pot since it needs longer time to be delicious. I have developed a slow cooker beef bolognese sauce recipe specifically for you.
What can you add to bolognese?
Serve it with a favourite chopped salad or an easy Caprese Salad and a quick no knead crusty bread, which could be dipped in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Take a break from garlic bread smothered in butter and choose the heart healthy olive oil. My kids absolutely love it.
My time saving tips
Use food processor for chopping up all vegetables to save time! Processing your vegetables this way also makes for a smoother sauce.
When I have some time to spare or I just want to zone out in the kitchen without anyone bugging me I dice all vegetables by hand. Onions, carrots, celery. The lot.
But last night time was short, so I simply threw everything in the food processor and gave it a whirl.
Same flavour, less effort plus if you have picky eaters they will have no idea how many vitamins are hidden in that spaghetti sauce.
The recipe was originally published in 01/2014. Updated with new photos, recipe and text in 03/2020
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp Olive oil
- 1 Onion diced
- 2 Carrots diced
- 2 Celery stalks diced
- 2-3 cloves Garlic
- 5-6 leaves Fresh Basil or 2 tsp dried basil
- 400g/14oz Canned Diced Tomatoes
- 500g/17oz Tomato Passata/Crushed Tomatoes
- 250ml/1 cup water
- 2 tsp Dried Oregano
- 1 lbs Ground Beef extra lean
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 lbs Spaghetti
Instructions
- In a large and deep frying pan or a Dutch Oven heat 1 tbsp of olive oil, then add diced onions, carrots, celery, minced garlic and cook on low heat for 10 minutes without colouring the vegetables. Then add ground beef and brown it until the beef is no longer pink inside while stirring the whole time and making sure to break up the beef. Pour in both types of canned tomatoes and water with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Sprinkle in some dried oregano and torn basil leaves (reserve a few small ones), bring everything to a boil. Then turn the heat down and let it simmer with a lid ajar for for 2.5-3 hours stirring it once in a while.
- When your Bolognese is nearly done boil a large pot of water and cook spaghetti according to package directions. (I usually cook 2 min less than the package recommends, your pasta continues cooking when you combine it with sauce and you really don't want it overcooked!)
- Drain your spaghetti and add your pasta to the sauce, stir gently and take off the heat. Top with reserved basil leaves. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan cheese.
Hi, can you confirm the recipe for the older version? I have written down 2 x 14 Oz diced tomatoes and equal water…is that correct? I love the older recipe and have all the ingredients for it already.
Hi Kristy, yes that is the right amount for the old version. You should really try the new one though! 🙂
Magnificent! This is amazing!
Thank you so much, Deb!
I’m a bot bit confused. Have you know changed the recipe to browm the meat? I’m sure before ir was stayed to put the meat in raw. Also, it says 250mls of water but I’m sure before it was equal paers water to tomatoe. Have I got this wrong?
Hi Angela, yes I have changed the recipe and wrote all about it in the post. You can still use the old recipe if you prefer ( I do sometimes as well) but the most recent version is what I believe is the best one. Apart from browning the meat, I also got rid of pancetta and that is why I recommend browning the beef as it adds more flavour that pancetta used to do. I also introduced the tomato passata for a richer sauce.
Thanks so much for your reply. I must have missed your post when you changed the recipe. Will absolutely try the new one although all my family (including my taste conscious French/Italian husband love the old one. Sorry for all the typos in my last post, that’s what happens when you try and type without your reading glasses!! Many thanks for your gorgeous recipes.
No problem, Angela! I can read your comment perfectly well. 🙂 I hope you love the new version as much as the old one. I figured it never hurts to have more than one recipe for the bolognese!
Unfortunately, I always pull up the recipe to make this so I cannot make it from the last incarnation. Quite nervous about fixing something that wasn’t broken…we shall see 😶
You might be pleasantly surprised how much you like this version, Letitia. I wouldn’t have changed the recipe if I didn’t think it was an improvement.
Update, made it today, excellent!
I am so happy to hear that, Letitia. Thank you for letting me know!
I’m making this for my family today along with your lovely bread recipie! The dough is resting… it seems very wet (as others have commented) but I’m going to go with it. I can’t wait!
Enjoy your lovely dinner, Donna! Don’t worry about the wet bread dough. It’s supposed to be like that. It will still turn out great!
Hi I’m thinking of making this As it looks delicious and has fab reviews but wouldn’t need so much, if I use 500g of beef should I just half all the other ingredients?
Yes, you can definitely half the recipe, Lisa.
No 500 grams of mince is 50g more than 1 lb (pound) so do not halve the other ingredients for that amount of mince!
The recipe calls for 1 pound of beef which is almost 500 g of beef so you don’t need to half the recipe
AMAZING just delicious, it reminds me of a fantastic dish I had in Australia years ago. Definitely going to be a favourite!!
Thank you for such a wonderful review, Leanne!!
I am 64 and am considered a decent cook. I rarely follow recipes and always tweak to taste. Since this sauce is so new and unusual for me, I followed the recipe. Have always browned the meat and never added equal parts water to tomatoes. Was bland to start so I doctored gently. Simmered per recipe without tasting along the way as I went out and left my husband to stir every 10 to 15 minutes. Came home to find an amazing sauce, very foreign to me but great! Thinking it would have great great without tweaking it! Thank you for introducing me to this new experience!
Tried out recipe last night and followed the it exactly….was delicious!….have made Bolognese sauce so many different ways but this is by far the best!…am going to try out your Shrimp creamy pasta next…..thank you Julia!
Excellent! Thank you for sharing with me, Maz!
I made this was a great dish I just added a little cream it makes it a little richer.
So great to hear, Kevin!
Great recipe beautiful design love it served my mother recently
Truly authentic Spag Bol doesn’t need ANY herbs adding at all – in fact, as one famous Italian Chef said, “foreigners have bastardised this beautiful authentic dish by adding herbs”.
I lived in Italy for10 years, all the chefs added basil. I am a chef and I worked with many Italian chefs when I was there, I also spent many happy hours my dining with friends, ate bolognese cooked from recipes handed down for generations. As one be y old lady told me, a bolognese sauce can be added to or taken away from, it is all personal choice.
I couldn’t agree more, Margaret. We go to Italy several times a year and have many Italian friends, who are outstanding in the kitchen. There are as many recipes as there are cooks. I’ve made bolognese without any herbs according to one old lady’s recipe and expected magic. It was okay, quite plain actually.
Omg thank you so much, think I have died and gone to heaven. So yummy and Moorish, I added bit more garlic and wow never had a spaghetti Bolognese this good not even when eating out. Thanks again.
It’s definitely a win when food tastes better at home than in a restaurant. So happy to hear that, Tracey!
Amazing recipe! Dinner went down a treat with the kids and husband,everyone enjoyed and my youngest asked for a second helping which is very rare!Highly reccomend this recipe would work for everyone, thanks!
Isn’t it lovely when everyone in the family enjoys the meal, especially children!
Thanks! Made this last night so quick, easy and tasty!
I love this recipe! The best I’ve ever made. I would recommend that you add a few sprigs of fresh Basil if you have – just takes it to another level!
Beautiful spaghetti! This is one of my faves and this one is just so amazing!
Thank you so much, Olga! It’s such a comfort food dish!
This was a great recipe I made for my mother when I paid her a visit recently. Instead of salt, I used Mrs. Dash and a teaspoon of Cayenne pepper.
Thank you for your review, John
thank you for this yummy looking recipe. this maybe a silly question but do you fry/cook the ground beef before adding to the sauce?
thank you.x.
Hi Chris, it’s not a silly question at all as in most recipes you would fry the beef first but not in this one. This way the mince is evenly dispersed in the sauce instead of it being a tomato sauce with beef chunks in it.
Great traditional recipe and was a big hit with visitors. I’ve cooked it a few times now.
I also tried adding a small tin of anchovies plus a bit of the oil from the anchovies instead of adding salt .. and also added a small glass of white wine. Delicious.
Thanks for the recipe!
Excellent stuff, Phil. Thanks so much for sharing with me! This recipe is on regular rotation in our house. It also works really well in Instant Pot if you’ve got one.
Amazing and authentic. Thank you very much x
So happy to hear that!
Thank you Julia for the recipe. It is just like the meal I had in Bologna Italy.
Oh I love hearing that, Colin! Thank you for your review.
Hello! I’ve been looking for recipes to replicate the spaghetti I once had in Italy and this one feels like the one! I do need a little help however.
Is it alright to substitute bacon with turkey? And if so then would the quantity remain the same?
How many leaves does a bunch of basil have?
Also, can I use fresh tomatoes instead of the canned ones and in what quantity?
I know my questions are stupid but I have absolutely no experience with cooking and I don’t want to mess it up!
Hi Mahjabeen, I wouldn’t recommend using fresh tomatoes for this sauce since there won’t be any difference in taste and you would end up with tomato skins unless you blanch the tomatoes first. 8-10 leaves of basil would do the trick and you can skip the bacon since adding turkey to the sauce won’t deliver the same taste. I hope this helps!
How do I prevent the sauce from being too watery? I followed directions and its very watery. I used petite diced tomatoes. Should I only use one can of water?
Luanna, the simplest answer is to cook it longer, even if it means much longer than the recipe states. There are many variables when making the Bolognese sauce, but ultimately its success rests in the quality of the tomatoes. If they were not ripe when they were canned, they will not fall apart and form the sauce. It happened to me once when I was making this sauce while visiting my in-laws in Canada. I had to dump in tomato paste and tomato juice in and double the cooking time. If you live in the States or Canada, I would recommend buying the best quality tomatoes you can afford or using crushed tomatoes instead of diced. You can reduce the water but it’s not the main reason since water always evaporates, it’s the tomatoes. Also, the sauce thickens significantly on the following day. I hope this helps.
I actually made this and It was great! I ran out of the German Knorr bolognese packs so Tjis was my alternative. ….so the outcome was actually awesome but I do highly recommend 1 to 2 strips bacon not more. Thanks! Was awesome
Hello — I was in search of an authentic bolognese sauce that wasn’t swimming in tomato sauce, and somehow came across your site.. or I found the recipe on Pinterest, not sure.. Anyhow — this is EXACTLY what I was looking for! Mine came out looking just your pics, and its probably the best I’ve made. I have it pinned now and will use this exclusively from now on.. I think its important for people to realize this is a meat sauce – not a marinara sauce with meat.. Big distinction.
Thanks so much.. I should check out your other recipes, , you’ve got great taste..
I am so pleased you found the recipe helpful, Steve, thank you for stopping by and your lovely comment!
Can you put this in the slow cooker? If so how long? Will it hurt to cook the meat first even though you cook it for that long!! This looks amazing!!
Thank you,
Misty
I haven’t tried the slow cooker method but it will probably be fine. I have another meat sauce recipe that is for slow cooker. You might want to try this one instead, Misty. https://vikalinka.com/2014/02/25/crock-pot-rustic-italian-beef-ragu/
Question: I’m making this as I write this comment. I diced the bacon and fried it up. Did not remove the grease from the pan. Added the veggies and cooked for the 5-7 minutes. No extra oil as the bacon was fatty enough. Added 800grams of canned tomatoes and the beef and water filling the 800gram can. Covered slightly and let cook on low for 1 1/2 hours stirring once in awhile. Now, I’ve noticed it is extremely greasy and watery. Did I go wrong not cleaning off the grease after cooking the bacon or did I use to much water (the exact tin of tomatoes)? I have two coffee cups filled with the “water/greasy stuff” right now beside the frying pan. The sauce doesn’t look a red enough colour to me. (Sorry I am knew to cooking so I don’t have much to compare to other than the picture and what I am served by others!) Suggestions or ideas of where I have gone wrong? Also my carrots are still very chunky (diced into small pieces) so it looks more like tomatoes, beef and carrots in a liquid.
Melissa, this reply will probably come a bit late but here it goes anyway. First of all, the greasiness of your sauce will depend on how fatty your bacon and beef were. I usually use pancetta which is mostly meat and extra-lean beef and I have no grease issue. The colour of your sauce will also depend on the quality of your tomatoes. I live in England and our canned tomatoes come from Italy, so the sauce is very red and tomatoes fall apart from long and slow cooking process and turn into thick paste. Maybe buy crushed tomatoes next time if what you used didn’t work. I am sorry you had such a dreadful experience as it should be a very easy recipe. Hope this doesn’t discourage you from cooking in the future.
this is my second time making this and both times I added a 15oz can of tomato sauce. I could tell it wasn’t going to have a very red color from the start. I just simmered the sauce about 15 minutes longer and it turned out perfect. I also used pancheta, so not sure about the grease factor.
Love these recipes.
Looks amazing!
One silly question, do you add the beef raw with the tomatoes? or is it pre cooked?
It’s raw, Nicole, and it’s not a silly question. Many people brown the beef first but if you add it raw into the sauce it sort of disintegrates into it without being chunky.
In glad someone asked that question because the directions don’t specify cooked or raw. Thank you for asking. 🙂
I’ve now made this twice, and it is so fantastic! I accidentally used Prosciutto instead of Pancetta, but still really delicious. I also added some tomato paste to make it a bit more tomato-y. This is my new go
-to recipe!
Your bolognese looks incredible, very similar to what I enjoyed in Bologna last year! 🙂
This is such an easy and quick dinner idea! I love to make it with lean turkey for a healthy-ish dinner))
I have to second what Natalya said above about the bread))
Mmm turkey sounds good! It also tastes amazing with duck.:-)
wow, you have the best presentation ever!!!! I felt like I tasted that piece of bread dipped in oil 🙂
Hahaha thank you Natasha! 🙂
Very good and simple instructions, everyone here likes this style the best. I do need to find a good gluten free noodle for this dish. Thanks !
My pleasure, David!