Bolognese Sauce Recipe
Home-cooked Bolognese Sauce
I love bolognese sauce (ragù alla bolognese), a meat-based pasta sauce originating in Bologna, Italy. I love my instant sauces and quick fixes in the kitchen, but when it comes to bolognese sauce, home-made wins hands-down in taste to me. Luckily, making bolognese sauce is not difficult at all. To make my effort worthwhile, I prepared a huge pot of sauce (enough for six) over the weekend and freeze the excess sauce in individual serving bags for quick weekday night dinner solutions. Thaw and warm the sauce in the microwave or saucepan and you have a quick pasta meal in under 15 minutes. The sauce can be used to cook pasta in more ways than one – such as the classic spaghetti bolognese or baked pasta in cheesy bolognese sauce.
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Bolognese Sauce Recipe
- Serves: 6
- Prep: 15 mins
- Cook: 60 mins
Bolognese sauce is a meat-based pasta sauce originating in Bologna, Italy. Cook a big pot of sauce and freeze the excess sauce in individual serving bags for quick meal solutions. Thaw and warm the sauce in the microwave or saucepan and you have a quick pasta meal in under 15 minutes.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 100 grams streaky bacon chopped
- 2 stalks celery sliced thinly
- 1 large onion peeled and diced
- 2 carrots peeled and diced
- 300 grams minced beef
- 200 grams minced pork
- 1 glass dry red wine
- 2 x 400g canned chopped or diced tomatoes
- 80 grams tomato paste
- 400 ml water
- 300 ml milk
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp dried oregano double amount if using fresh herbs
- 1 tbsp dried basil double amount if using fresh herbs
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a pan, add oil and chopped bacon. Lightly brown the bacon for a few minutes.
- Add chopped celery, onion and carrots. Fry for about 6 minutes on gentle heat until the vegetables are softened.
- Add minced meat, red wine and fry for a brief moment, browning and distributing the meat evenly.
- Add chopped tomatoes, tomato paste, water, milk, bay leaf and dried herbs. Simmer for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper.
(Get step-by-step photos, cooking notes and ingredient list on page 2)
Pages: 1 2
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{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
How interesting this bolognese sauce with milk…looks delicious, and I like it when beef and pork are mixed together.
Thanks for this recipe and have a great week Wiffy :)
I love how you added some milk.. and use two kind of meats. ;) classic and versatile-and every kitchen need more meals that are freezer friendly.
Lovely! Lots of meat, I like! :)
Chunky sauce you have…and I bet the homemade real natural taste beats the high-sodium taste of store-bought. :)
This is the similar way I love making bolognese sauce, adding a decent amount of onions, carrots, tomatoes … yet I’m so interested by your adding of milk into the red wine sauce : ).
I saw the Italian recipes all added milk, and it makes the taste richer :)~
Yummy and delicious! Love every slurp of spaghetti with the chunky sauce.
i always think it is so adventurous to mix meats in one sauce :P but this looks like it is going to work really well
combination of beef and pork makes the sauce more flavourful than just beef alone ;)
Love the fact that streaky bacon is in the mix! Actually, it’s the first time I’ve noted the addition of milk too. Looks yummy!
Dear wiffy,
A very tasty looking recipe you have there!
Can I omit the pork and replace it beef?
I’m Muslim and cant take pork.
Pls advice! Thank you!
yes, you can use 500g beef instead, and can omit the red wine also :)
This looks good! I didn’t know need to add milk and dry red wine. I believe it makes the sauce more flavourful. Thanks for sharing!
Note by admin: Comment deleted due to poster’s rudeness. There is a difference between constructive feedback and trolling.
One of my favorite sauces.
Note by admin: Comment deleted due to poster’s rudeness. There is a difference between constructive feedback and trolling.
Wow, chill out?
Most people come to this website because the recipes are simple and tasty. Sorry if it is not “authentic” enough for you… The bottled Ontario wine I used must bring you shame since I didn’t make it myself. I love this one because you can easily find the ingredients you need and they’re common, so I can use it again.
And cooking is about creativity, having fun and experimenting! That means if there is a ton of bacon or the author didn’t brown the meat then that is the author’s choice – this is her blog! You’re more than free to (1) tweak the recipes or add or omit things or change quantities, or better yet, (2) not be so nit picky and/or (3) make a blog where you can preach about your cooking philosophies and ruin the fun for people. I think it is extremely rude you post comments on her cooking site that tries to invalidate her “fast” and usable recipes. If anything she has made cooking a lot less scary for “noobs” such as myself which is more than you ever did. I’ll get more cooking experience with time, but I’ve learned a ton of basics here.
Anyway, I just came by to say, this is maybe the fourth recipe I’ve tried from this website. Actually, my boyfriend made it for me the past week and it was soo tasty. I brought the leftovers for lunch and we also made it and invited a friend last night who loved it. We were not worried about the meat at all; actually we added an extra bacon strip. Thank you and keep the good stuff coming wiffi.
Thanks Mary for your kind words :) I have deleted the troll’s comments.
Just wondering – tomato paste = ketchup? or issit those canned pastes?
nope, not ketchup. Check out this pic http://www.noobcook.com/wp-content/uploads/thumbnails//ingredients8.jpg – there is a photo of the tomato paste, it’s a smaller tin can than the regular diced tomatoes.
hmmm looks good, must try :)
Love this recipe! I want to ask how long can I keep this sauce in the freezer. My main concern is that I tend to keep frozen food for about a week and this recipe contains milk. Will it go bad fast? Thank you!
Hi, how long can the pasta sauce be kept in the freezer?
I just made this sauce last weekend and my hubby said it was very good! Almost like what we have in restaurants!
However, not sure if its cos I added 3 fresh tomatoes in replacement of 1 can of the diced tomatoes, my sauce was rather watery.
Oh yes, I would like to know what’s the longest duration that you have kept the sauce in the freezer as I still have 2 servings left. Thanks!
Hi I usually use canned tomatoes as they are sweeter. If too watery, you can always reduce the sauce by simmering to the ideal consistency. The longest I have kept is 2 weeks, but I believe it can keep a little longer.
hey! wow i have been at your site for a long time now, just moved to scotland for studies and was wondering about easy recipes. even amazing that it’s a site by a singaporean! love your site! seems easy enough to follow but yet being able to produce amazing dishes! am bookmarking so many of it now to try! anyway i wanted to ask, is the red wine necessary? what will happen if i omit it?
Hiya! red wine adds additional depth & flavour, but don’t worry if you wish to omit it, the difference will be subtle.
hey! thanks for your reply hehe. i tried the beef stew yesterday. it was yummy! thanks for sharing on thsi amazing site!
Can I know what sort of milk do I need to use?
just regular milk
Hello ! I’m going to try out this receipe but just wondering, if I skip the milk, should I just replace with water ? Both my hubby and I are lactose intolerant. Thanks ! And btw I’m a follower of your blog, I love your easy to follow receipes ! :)
I have always love bolognese! Thanks for the recipe!
How long do you recommend we keep our bolognese? It would be a great help if you include this in the cooking notes too!
Thanks!
In theory, if you freeze it immediately, it should keep well for a good one or two months in the freezer. But personally, I try to finish within 2 weeks. Hope this helps. Will include in the cooking note. Thanks for your suggestion.
Wiffy,
May I know how much in ml is a glass of wine?
Hi, it’s roughly 150ml.
Hi Wiffy!
This is an interesting recipe, especially with the mixture of meats and addition of milk! I’m going to try this weekend!
But I’ll be using the traditional sauce from Prego (bought too much, trying to finish up! :P) so can you advice me if it can replace the diced tomato and tomato paste?
Thank you!!!
I’m sorry for my late reply. Yes you definitely can, though I recommend that you add the diced tomatoes to it.