This homemade bolognese sauce is the perfect make-ahead meal. Make a double batch – eat half tonight and freeze half for another day. Serve over a bowl of spaghetti or linguine for a meal the whole family will enjoy.
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Bolognese Sauce with linguine
This bolognese sauce is such a simple recipe with so few ingredients, yet it has an amazing flavour. The rich meaty sauce is flavoured with herbs and garlic and tastes as though it came straight out of an Italian restaurant. And with very little effort, you can replicate this dish at home in the comfort of your own kitchen.
The bolognese sauce is one of those recipes that you can just throw together and then leave to simmer until you are ready for it. The longer it simmers, the more the flavour develops. Perfect for when you don’t have much time to spend standing over the stove.
I think everyone loves a good Italian meal, and this is one of the quickest and easiest recipes I know. It only takes 15 minutes to prep and get it simmering on the stove. The rest of the time it just simmers away gently until you are ready to use it.
This is a versatile recipe. I like to serve it on a bed of linguine or spaghetti with a fresh green salad, but there’s absolutely no reason why you can’t serve this dish over rice instead.
You can also turn it into a delicious lasagne, by layering the sauce between lasagne sheets, covering it with bechamel sauce and grated cheese, and baking it in the oven until the cheese is melted and golden.
Let me show you how easy it is to prepare this bolognese sauce.
What you will need
Equipment
This is quite a chunky sauce, so you can get away with chopping the vegetables into small pieces with a sharp knife and a chopping board. Of course, if you prefer a smoother bolognese sauce you can chop the vegetables in a food processor instead.
For cooking the sauce, I like to use a large flat-bottomed saute pan with a lid, which is much easier for browning the meat than using a saucepan. If you don’t have a saute pan, a saucepan will be fine.
Ingredients
The quantities in this recipe are sufficient for at least 6 people. Even though we are only 2 people at home, I always make a large batch and freeze any leftovers for another meal. If you want to make a smaller batch you can just halve the ingredients.
**You can get the complete list of ingredients and full instructions for making bolognese sauce on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
- Minced Beef – (or ground beef). Use lean beef mince with a low fat content. I find if you use beef mince with a high fat content you have to pour a lot of fat away when you fry the meat. If you prefer you could use half beef mince and half pork mince instead.
- Onions – chopped very finely.
- Mushrooms finely chopped. If your family doesn’t like mushrooms you can leave them out.
- Celery – finely chopped
- Tomatoes finely chopped. There’s no need to remove the skin first.
- Carrot finely grated – use the smallest hole on your grater for this. The idea is for the carrot to cook away in the sauce and add flavor, not dominate the dish.
- Canned Chopped Tomatoes – this is in addition to the fresh tomatoes. It helps to form a nice rich gravy
- Sugar (not pictured) – optional. I always add a small amount of sugar when cooking with tomatoes. It brings out the flavour of the tomato and cuts through any tartness.
- Garlic – finely minced
- Olive Oil – for sauteing the onions and mince
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper (not pictured) – used for seasoning and to your own taste
- Mixed herbs – you can use mixed herbs or a mixture of oregano, marjoram and basil. Don’t overdo the herbs though – you want them to complement the dish, not overpower it.
What to do
Preparation
I always like to prepare the vegetables first so they are ready when I need them.
- Peel the onion and carrot. Rinse the tomatoes and celery and wipe the mushrooms with a damp cloth.
- Chop the onion, celery, tomatoes and mushrooms into a fine dice (or whizz them around in a food processor). Grate the carrot and mince the garlic.
Make the bolognese sauce
Heat the olive oil in a saute pan and fry the meat until it is brown and crumbly and no longer pink. Break up the meat with a spatula as it fries, and keep stirring.
Transfer the meat to a bowl while you fry the vegetables.
Add another tablespoon of oil to the same pan and fry the onions, garlic celery and mushrooms until the mushrooms turn translucent.
I like to turn down the heat as low as it can go, cover the lid with a pan and leave them to sweat for about 5 minutes.
Keep your eye on them and don’t let them brown.
Add the chopped tomatoes and carrots and continue to stir over a low heat until the tomatoes start to soften.
Return the meat to the pan and stir in the canned tomatoes plus half a can of water (use the can the tomatoes came in).
Add the mixed herbs, season with salt and black pepper.
Make sure the heat is on a low simmer, then cover the sauce with a lid.
Leave to simmer for at least 90 minutes.
The longer this sauce cooks, the better the flavour becomes.
Check that it does not boil dry
- Check occasionally to make sure it is not boiling dry.
- You should not need to add any additional liquid. There should be sufficient moisture from the vegetables and tinned tomatoes and water to form a nice rich gravy. If you find it IS boiling dry, make sure the heat is set as low as possible, dissolve a beef stock cube in 1 cup of boiling water and add to the pan as needed. Don’t just add water as this will dilute the flavour of the sauce.
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Bolognese sauce FAQ
Serve the sauce over pasta or rice.
You can garnish the bolognese with either chopped parsley or grated parmesan cheese.
There are a lot of vegetables in the sauce so the only other sides you may need would be a fresh green salad and perhaps a slice of garlic bread.
Yes, absolutely. I sometimes fry a chopped chilli with the onions, or stir a spoonful of chilli paste in with the tomatoes. Use your own judgement on how much chilli to add.
This sauce freezes beautifully. I always made a double batch and freeze the leftovers for another day. You can keep this in the freezer for up to 4 months.
And it is so versatile. If you have a batch of this in the freezer you will never be wondering ‘what can I have for supper?‘ Here are some other meals you can make with it:
– Ladle it over a bowl of fluffy white rice and serve with a side helping of peas.
– Use it as a filling for curried dough balls. Perfect for a Friday night supper with a difference.
– Turn it into real homemade sausage rolls, and serve as a quick lunch or a party snack.
– Use it as the base for making this lasagne.
The sauce can be made ahead and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
If like me, you are interested in the origins of food, you may like to take a look at this article that gives a little insight into where bolognese sauce originated.
Save for later
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Other recipes
You may also like to try some of these other easy supper recipes:
- One pan pasta with spicy tomato flavour – The little pasta shells are perfect for holding the sauce, and the addition of a handful of grated cheese stirred through at the last minute adds extra goodness and taste.
- Crepe cannelloni with meat sauce and cheese – homemade pancakes stuffed with a rich meaty sauce, covered with cheese and baked in the oven.
- Chicken and leek pie with cream and mushrooms – a deliciously creamy pie topped with crispy puff pastry.
- Garlic chicken stirfry – for a meal with a difference, I like to serve this chicken stirfry in a toasted breadroll
- Steak roulade with mushroom stuffing – thinly sliced steak rolled around a delicious mushroom stuffing and pan-fried.
The recipe
Homemade bolognese sauce
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Ingredients
- 1 pound / 450 grams minced beef
- 2 medium onions finely chopped
- 4 ounces / 120 gram mushrooms finely chopped
- 1 stick celery finely chopped
- 2 large tomatoes finely chopped
- 1 medium carrot finely grated
- 2 cloves garlic finely minced
- 14 ounce / 390 gram can chopped tomatoes
- ½ can water use the can the tomatoes were in
- 1 teaspoon sugar optional
- 1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Instructions
- Stir fry the beef mince in 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large saute pan until the meat is browned and crumbly. Set aside.1 pound / 450 grams minced beef, 1 – 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Add another tablespoon of oil to the same pan and fry the onions, garlic celery and mushrooms until the mushrooms turn translucent.I like to turn down the heat as low as it can go, cover the lid with a pan and leave them to sweat for about 5 minutes.Keep your eye on them and don't let them brown.2 medium onions, 4 ounces / 120 gram mushrooms, 1 stick celery, 2 cloves garlic
- Add the fresh tomatoes and carrots and stir fry until the tomatoes start to soften2 large tomatoes, 1 medium carrot
- Add the meat and the rest of the ingredients to the pan, stir through, and bring to the boil.14 ounce / 390 gram can chopped tomatoes, 1 teaspoon sugar, 2 teaspoons dried mixed herbs, Salt and freshly ground black pepper, ½ can water
- Reduce the heat to a very low simmer, put the lid on the pan and leave for one hour and 30 minutes.
- Serve on a bed of spaghetti or linquine and optionally garnish with chopped parsley or grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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This recipe is delicious, it’s easy and quick to make , real comfort food for the winter months ahead !!
I will certainly be making it again and again
Highly recommended !!
Glad you enjoyed it Mel. I always make a big batch and freeze enough for a couple of meals. It’s a great standby for when you don’t feel like cooking 🙂