This recipe for traditional spaghetti bolognese is a tasty and economical way to feed your family!
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.
College friends of ours were flying through London for one night only and because I was so excited and occupied with sorting out where 10 people are going to sleep in our tiny house I completely overlooked dinner plans until the morning of.
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 meaty tomato sauce!
Why Spaghetti Bolognese is a cheap option to feed a crowd
This Bolognese sauce is incredible, and since it’s made from scratch there are no preservatives. The main ingredients are inexpensive canned tomatoes, loads of healthy veggies, herbs and a pound of ground beef.
Can you believe I fed 10 people with 1 lbs of beef and had plenty of leftovers that were demolished for tonight’s dinner?!
Making this very authentic Italian sauce is very easy and required no special skills. The end result is stunning and miles aways from that awful tomato sauce from a jar.
This traditional spaghetti bolognese is a real winner. Your family will thank you for it!
What can I serve with spaghetti bolognese?
Serve it with a favourite chopped salad and nice crusty bread that could be dipped in extra virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
Take a break from garlic bread smothered in butter and choose heart-healthy olive oil. My kids absolutely love it. 🙂
My time saving tips for making this Traditional Spaghetti Bolognese
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. 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. 😉
Ingredients
- Pancetta or bacon optional, diced- 50 gr/ 2-3 strips
- Olive oil- 2 tbsp.
- Onions diced-1
- Carrots diced-2
- Celery stalks diced-2
- Garlic-2-3 cloves
- Fresh Basil- a bunch or dried basil- 2 tsp.
- Diced Tomatoes canned- 2 X 400gr/14 oz cans
- Dried Oregano- 2 tsp.
- Ground Beef extra lean- 1 lbs.
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Spaghetti- 1 lbs.
Instructions
- In a large and deep frying pan or wide dutch oven fry diced bacon.
- To the same pan add diced onions, carrots, celery, minced garlic and chopped basil stalks (they add so much flavour!). If you are using lean bacon or pancetta add a splash of olive oil and cook on low heat for about 5-7 minutes.
- Pour in canned tomatoes and ground beef, fill both empty cans with water and add it to the sauce with a pinch of salt and pepper
- Sprinkle in some dried oregano and torn basil leaves (reserve a few small ones), bring it 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.
Olga says
Beautiful spaghetti! This is one of my faves and this one is just so amazing!
vikalinka says
Thank you so much, Olga! It’s such a comfort food dish!
John A in Knoxville, Tennessee, U.S.A. says
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.
vikalinka says
Thank you for your review, John
chris says
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.
vikalinka says
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.
Phil says
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!
vikalinka says
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.
Ricky Yap says
Amazing and authentic. Thank you very much x
vikalinka says
So happy to hear that!
Colin Henson says
Thank you Julia for the recipe. It is just like the meal I had in Bologna Italy.
vikalinka says
Oh I love hearing that, Colin! Thank you for your review.
Mahjabeen says
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!
vikalinka says
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!
Luanna says
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?
vikalinka says
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.
nini says
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
Steve says
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..
vikalinka says
I am so pleased you found the recipe helpful, Steve, thank you for stopping by and your lovely comment!
Misty says
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
vikalinka says
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/
Melissa says
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.
vikalinka says
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.
Renee says
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.
Debbie Jones says
Love these recipes.
Nicole says
Looks amazing!
One silly question, do you add the beef raw with the tomatoes? or is it pre cooked?
vikalinka says
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.
Cynthia says
In glad someone asked that question because the directions don’t specify cooked or raw. Thank you for asking. 🙂
Catherine says
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!
Laura (Tutti Dolci) says
Your bolognese looks incredible, very similar to what I enjoyed in Bologna last year! 🙂
Marina | Let the Baking Begin! says
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))
vikalinka says
Mmm turkey sounds good! It also tastes amazing with duck.:-)
Mom's Dish says
wow, you have the best presentation ever!!!! I felt like I tasted that piece of bread dipped in oil 🙂
vikalinka says
Hahaha thank you Natasha! 🙂