Everyone needs a great everyday Spaghetti Bolognese recipe, and this is mine! The Bolognese Sauce is rich, thick and has beautiful depth of flavour. It’s perfect for a quick midweek meal but even better if you can simmer it for a couple of hours! Serve it over pasta, stuff into jacket potatoes, make an epic Lasagna or Baked Spaghetti Pie!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Spaghetti Bolognese
We Aussies have a thing about shortening words. Good day is g’day. Pavlova is Pav, afternoon is arvo, mosquitos are mozzies. Sharon is Shazz, Nagisa is Nagi (that’s yours truly).
So it is thoroughly Aussie to shorten Spaghetti Bolognese to Spag Bol!
And here she is – my Spag Bol. Rich, thick, incredible flavour in the sauce even if you only have time for a quick 20 minute simmer. Though if you can slow cook for a couple of hours, it really takes it to another level!
What goes in Spaghetti Bolognese
I’ve been loyal to this Meat Sauce recipe since I first learned to cook when I was a teenager. There are 3 little things in this recipe that might be a bit different to Bolognese recipes you’ve seen around:
1. Worcestershire sauce: it just adds that little extra something-something. I get antsy if I get caught in a situation where I have to do without;
2. Beef bouillon cubes (beef stock cubes) for extra depth of flavour in the sauce, to compensate for this being an everyday midweek version rather than a traditional slow cooked Bolognese Ragu which starts with a soffrito (onion, celery, carrot slowly sautéed) as well as pancetta.
3. Sugar, if needed: just a little bit goes a long way to transform the sauce if you happen not to be using high quality, sweet Italian canned tomatoes. Supermarket canned tomatoes here in Australia are notoriously sour. Especially the Australian ones – it pains me so much to say that, but it’s true.
How to make Bolognese Sauce
The making part is straightforward and quite quick too:
Saute garlic and onion – about 3 minutes;
Brown the beef – about 2 minutes;
Add everything else, give it a good stir then simmer for 20 minutes minimum (midweek), up to 3 hours (weekend indulgence!). Slow cooking makes the beef incredibly tender and the sauce develops extra flavour.
Difference between Bolognese and Meat Sauce?
Different name for the same thing! You’ll find Bolognese made all sorts of ways all across Italy and all around the world, but essentially mince meat (usually beef, sometimes combined with pork or veal) in a tomato based sauce flavoured with herbs.
The “proper” way to serve pasta: toss with the sauce
As with all my pasta recipes, I include a step to toss the pasta IN the sauce, rather than just placing pasta in bowls and spooning over sauce.
This makes the Bolognese sauce emulsify, so it thickens, becomes glossy and clings to the spaghetti. No more watery sauce at the bottom of your pasta bowl! This is how chefs and Italians make pasta. Try it once, you will be converted!
But it is an optional step. Sometimes, you just don’t have the energy to clean yet another pan. I hear ya. 🙂
What to serve with Spaghetti Bolognese
For a classic Italian feast, serve this with:
Garlic Bread – or even more indulgent, with Cheesy Garlic Bread (or go over-the-top with Crack Bread). Or, for a more traditional start, real-deal Italian Focaccia.
Garden Salad with Italian Dressing (hit of crisp fresh salad essential!)
Tiramisu to finish with an Espresso Martini on the side
For a super quick side salad option, make this Rocket Parmesan Salad with Balsamic Dressing. Probably my most made side salad because it’s literally a 2 minute effortless-no-chop salad!
This recipe is the way I have been making Spaghetti Bolognese for decades (gosh it’s scary saying that!!). I really love it, and I think the sauce is rich and loaded with flavour, especially for a 30 minute Bolognese recipe.
Though if you have the time, slow cook it for a couple of hours. The flavour develops and the meat becomes so luxuriously tender.
Either way, I hope you love it as much as I do! – Nagi xx
Watch how to make it
This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner. The book is mostly new recipes, but this is a reader favourite included by popular demand!
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Spaghetti Bolognese
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 1 onion , finely chopped (brown, yellow or white)
- 1 lb / 500g beef mince (ground beef) OR half pork, half beef (Note 1)
- 1/2 cup (125 ml) dry red wine (sub water or beef broth/stock)
- 2 beef bouillon cubes , crumbled OR granulated beef bouillon (Note 2)
- 800g / 28 oz can crushed tomato (or tomato passata)
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 tsp white sugar , if needed (Note 3)
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 dried bay leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried thyme or oregano)
- 3/4 tsp cooking salt (kosher salt)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
To Serve
- 400 g / 13 oz spaghetti , dried
- Parmesan cheese and finely chopped parsley (optional)
Instructions
- Sauté – Heat oil in a large pot or deep skillet over medium high heat. Add onion and garlic, cook for 3 minutes or until light golden and softened.
- Cook beef – Turn heat up to high and add beef. Cook, breaking it up as your go, until browned.
- Reduce wine – Add red wine. Bring to simmer and cook for 1 minute, scraping the bottom of the pot, until the alcohol smell is gone.
- Simmer – Add the remaining ingredients. Stir, bring to a simmer then turn down to medium so it bubbles gently. Cook for 20 – 30 minutes (no lid), adding water if the sauce gets too thick for your taste. Stir occasionally.
- Slow simmer option: really takes this to another level, if you have the time! Add 3/4 cup of water, cover with lid and simmer on very low for 2 – 2.5 hours, stirring every 30 minutes or so. (Note 5) Uncover, simmer 20 minutes to thicken sauce. (Note 6 for slow cooker)
- Taste and add more salt it desired. Serve over spaghetti – though if you have the time, I recommend tossing the sauce and pasta per steps below.
Tossing Sauce and Spaghetti (optional, Note 4)
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Add pasta and cook per packet directions MINUS 1 minute.
- Scoop out a mug of pasta cooking water and set aside, then drain the pasta.
- Add pasta into the bolognese sauce with about 1/2 cup (125 ml) of reserved pasta water over medium heat. Toss gently for 1 1/2 – 2 minutes, or until the spaghetti turns red and the sauce thickens.
- Divide between bowls. Garnish with parmesan and parsley if desired.
Recipe Notes:
* Scaling recipe up (use auto recipe scaler) – If you double the recipe (or more!), then brown the beef in batches. If you try to cook it in one batch, you will end up stewing it rather than browning!
* Slow cooker: This is really fantastic made in a slow cooker! The meat becomes so tender and the sauce has incredible flavour. At step 3, cook until the wine liquid disappears completely, then transfer it into the slow cooker at step 4 and cook for low for 6 hours.
* Variations: Here are some ideas for ways to take this up a notch, if you are so inclined!
– Finely chop 1 carrot + celery and saute that with the onion to make a softrito. Cook on medium low heat for 10 minutes for extra amazingness!
– Add finely chopped bacon (smokey is the ultimate!) or pancetta, cook with the onion
– 1 tbsp soy sauce (my mother did this, I sometimes do! I’ve seen it in some chef recipes)
– Fresh or dried red chilli
– Bolognese gets better the longer it is cooked, and it’s even better the next day! 7. Nutrition per serving, assuming 5 servings, including pasta.
Nutrition Information:
Originally published August 2016. Updated with new commentary, new photos and most importantly, recipe video! No change to recipe – I wouldn’t dare! Too many readers love it as it is. 🙂
More family favourites we’ll love forever
Meatloaf – so much more than just a hunk of meat in loaf form!
Life of Dozer
You know those muddy looking ponds on golf courses? He loves ’em 😖
I do a long cooked version & like some of the other commenters, I use a little milk too. The big difference for me is adding extra carrots to the mire poix or soffrito for sweetness. Then you don’t need the sugar. A combo of beef & pork adds richness to the flavor as well.
I’m new to your blog & am really enjoying it! Thanks for the inspiration.
Also, Dozer is adorable.
Totally agree Fiona! For a full blown version, I use a soffrito with carrots and celery that takes me about 10 minutes to cook and it becomes so sweet! I love it!! Thanks for reading – and glad you think Dozer is adorable because you’ll see plenty of him on my site! Have a great weekend Fiona – N x
I will definitely be trying your Spag Bol and will report back. What you obviously don’t realise and Dozer does is that mud baths are a beauty treatment. It will save him having plastic surgery in later life. Bless his cotton socks, go on take him to the golf course.
BA HA HA!!! So you think I should jump in there with him? 😉 N x
Want a secret weapon to make your weekday sauce absolutely memorable? I discovered this by mistake when I was about 14 and have used it ever since to step-up my weekday sauces. After all the spices are in and have simmered for five minutes, add a couple of pinches of cinnamon. Yes, cinnamon. Two pinches isn’t enough to alter the taste of the sauce, but it is an aromatic that makes the subconscious sit up and take notice. Your taste buds will enjoy the dish, while your brain concentrates more than usual on eating, because it is trying to figure out what that “hint-of-something” is that is different from everything else in the dish. Greater concentration turns into greater appreciation — brain says, “I wouldn’t concentrate this much on something unless it was really good” — and you will find that guests will become huge fans of this simple, weekday sauce without any idea why.
On a side note, I have a stinky pond here, too. Abby not only takes the plunge in it every day, but so does about half of the local bear population (a mom with two cubs who don’t swim, a small yearling, and a rather enormous four-year-old). When they get out, they have an unfortunate tendency to mark the territory or post the news. Abby rolls in the news. Every. Single. Time. Arrgghhhh!
Oooh! I love that secret tip Shalryn! I get it, I can imagine that it adds that little “something something” that no one can quite put their finger on!! OK, so I am no longer complaining about Dozer going in the stinky pond. You get a double whammy with Abby – stinky pond AND bear droppings???? EWWWWWWW!!!!!
Gosh, my mouth is watering here! I make spag bol with the vegetables, wine, sometimes Worcestershire sauce (if I have it on hand) and ground pork mostly but last time I made it I was thinking on changing the recipe so I might give yours a try.
So no beef in yours? 🙂 I must say I’ve never tried it with just pork!
I don’t remember the last time I made it with beef 🙂 I normally have ground beef on hand (see freezer) so I don’t bother going to shop for ground beef when I feel like making this dish :).
The only change I made was I used a heaping tablespoon of Better than Bouillon Beef Base rather than the Herb Oxo Beef Cubes – which are loaded with MSG and will put me in the hospital. You do not have to mix the Beef Base with any liquid if you do not want to nor need to. Other than that change due to health reasons – I love your recipe. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Kathi! You made this already???? PS Your change is perfect. 🙂 N x
Yes I did – I love Spaghetti Bolognese and used to get it every time I had dinner at the Rusty Pelican in Alameda, CA. Now that I no longer line in Alameda, I can make my own. Your recipe is so very close to theirs and I totally love it. Thanks again.
P.S. I have made a lot of your recipes and love them all.
Thanks so much Kathi! So glad you are enjoying my recipes! 🙂 N x
Nice recipe! I use a little baking soda rather than the sugar. This mellows the acid without adding sweetness.
Baking soda???? I never heard of that trick! Karen – you ROCK!
You’re in my head Nagi! I just made these and they are my family’s favourite! My secret power ingredient is green chilli bullets, they add a flavour that is so yummy! I also agree with you on using seasoning cubes, I use the same to get mine delicious!
WOAH!!! Green chilli bullets?? YESSSSSSSS!
My sauce never turns out the same way twice, but I always use lean-ish ground beef, Worcestershire Sauce (can never pronounce it properly so it’s always been W sauce in our house) canned diced tomatoes, everything else that’s in yours AND a piece of Parmesan rind. If I have leftover shredded zucchini in the freezer, that might go in too (just sneaky that way)
Oooh – YES to the parmesan rind! I save all mine for soups – never thought about using it in bolognese! PS I can never spell W sauce. Spell check ALWAYS corrects it for me 🙂
While your sauce looks ridiculously luscious… that baby picture of Doz is EVERYTHING!
Those were the days….when I could pick him up! 🙂
Bolognese is one of my favorite comfort dishes. My mom made it for me and I make it for myself (my husband is a vegetarian, but I never feel guilty and just eat it quite happily for a week!). This is a nice version and makes me hungry! I laughed at the photos of Dozer, reminding me that this week my border collie, Roscoe, rolled in something unspeakable while on a walk in the fields near our house. Unspeakable. Had to wash him immediately (and the new puppy who is all over him all the time). May have to wash him again. Yuck!
OMG – when they roll in unspeakable things….. at least you were on a walk near your house, try dealing with it when you have to put the naughty stinker in the CAR to get home. I was wretching all the way home!! Cow or horse or worse? 😉
Well, our Bolognese sauce is more traditional. It cooks for a VERY long time, has no tomato sauce, but it does have milk. The milk tenderizes the meat until it is almost creamy!!! And for shortening words? The Italian communities in the Eastern US do have a tendency to shorten their Italian words like: prosciut, or spaghet and much more. Our sauce is called Bolognese Antica. The way it was made the old way. Your sauce certainly looks very tasty. Great recipe, Nagi!
Woah – wait – what? No tomato in your bolognese at all??? I am so curious!!
At my house we eat my husband’s very simple spaghetti sauce (ground beef, canned tomato sauce, tomato paste, a touch of sugar, and Italian seasoning). So I won’t be making this, though it sounds very good. I will save the recipe, though, in case of emergency… 🙂
Simple is great Susan! 🙂 I’m ALL for simple!! N x
Hi Nagi! My bolognese takes about two and a half hours to cook, but the chopping of the vegs for the soffrito adds time to that! I use Worcestershire, bacon, tomato paste and a lower sodium beef base. I serve it with bucatini instead of spaghetti. Mine also has whole milk in it. I love your weeknight version and will be making it! Bolognese is such a comfort food to me! PS If there is something nasty around (like a dead animal) Cam goes right for it and rolls in it-YUCK!
Sounds like you make yours the REAL Italian way Dorothy!! I’m looking forward to sharing my full blown version…. 🙂 Nxx
Hi Nagi,
This spag bol looks AMAZING! It’s one of my fav comfort food since I was a kid. We love ours rich and thick with Worcestershire sauce too! During weeknights (or when I’m lazy…hehe~), we just enjoy making our one pot meal version in our pressure cookers and love how the umami sauce is soaked into the spaghetti. 😀
Amy
Oooh Amy! I am so glad to hear you use Worcestershire Sauce too! 🙂 N x