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Bolognese Sauce

Author:

Vincenzo Prosperi

Updated:

13th May, 2025

20 Comments

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HOW TO MAKE BOLOGNESE SAUCE

Bolognese sauce smothered over your favourite pasta is known to warm the heart and perfect for any day of the week. Moreover, this pork and beef mince based sauce has a special, often forgotten ingredient that makes all the difference…moist, juicy pancetta! Additionally, the key to keeping Bolognese sauce moist and flavoursome, is slow cooking it keeping all the meat luscious and tender.

We recommend making an extra-large batch and storing extra in the fridge or freezer for a mid-week meal that will take you right back to Italy.

Watch Bolognese Sauce video recipe:

How to make Bolognese Sauce

bolognese pasta sauce

Vincenzo’s Top Tips To Make Bolognese Sauce

KEEP it moist!

Firstyly, if there is not a lot of moisture in the pan, add one more glass of water to your mixture and  bring the cooking temperature down slightly as you want the sauce to remain nice and moist.

Stir every so often

It is very important to keep the Bolognese sauce simmer and stir it every so often. 

MIX MIX

The key to keep the sauce completely lathered to your pasta is to mix it through and again.

How to serve Bolognese Sauce

Bolognese sauce pasta can be served on a plate or in a bowl – either way, you’ll likely add some extra sauce! You can also add a sprinkle of parmigiano or pecorino cheese to the top for some added salty goodness.

bolognese sauce

Bolognese Sauce

5 from 4 votes
Prep Time: 10 minutes mins
Cook Time: 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins
Total Time: 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins
Servings: 4

Equipment

  • Sharp knife
  • Chopping-board
  • Hand blender
  • 2 pot Medium – large size
  • wooden spoon
  • Tongs
  • Large serving spoon

Ingredients

  • 1 Brown onion
  • 1 stalk Celery
  • 1 Carrot
  • 150 grams Pancetta, 5.03oz
  • 500 grams Beef, 17.06oz mince
  • 200 7.05oz Pork , 7.05oz mince
  • 500 ml Tomato, 16.8oz Basil sugo or Tomato passata
  • Extra virgin olive oil, EVOO
  • 1 glass White wine
  • 1 – 2 glass Water
  • Salt and pepper
  • Dried oregano, optional

Instructions

  • Bolognese sauce starts with a delicious foundation – soffrito with a twist! Start by roughly chopping the carrot, onion and celery, and cutting the pancetta into strips.
  • Mix all chopped up ingredients together and combine well using a hand blender.
  • Place medium-large size pot on the stove at a low-medium heat.
  • Once the pot has started to warm, add 4-5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO).
  • When the oil has warmed up, add the soffrito and combine with the oil using a wooden spoon.
  • Leave the soffrito to simmer for around 10 minutes.
  • Add the beef and pork mince to your Bolognese sauce mix, breaking down the chunks of meat using a wooden spoon as you cook it.
  • Next you can sprinkle a generous amount of salt along with dried oregano (or an alternate herb of your choice), along with a glass of white wine.
  • Leave the Bolognese sauce to simmer for approx. minutes, stirring every so often. This should start to bubble as the wine evaporates.
  • Now it’s time to add the bottle of passata/tomato sauce and a sprinkle of pepper before continuing to mix once again.
  • The final ingredient is 1 x glass of water. Add this to your Bolognese sauce, mix through and cover, leaving it to cook for 30 minutes.
  • Stir the sauce every 10 minutes so the meat cooks evenly and nothing sticks to the pan.
  • Once 30 minutes have passed, uncover and mix well using a wooden spoon.
  • At this point if there are any thick chunks of meat, break them down again using your wooden spoon before leaving the sauce to simmer once more for 30 minutes, stirring every ten and leaving the lid off.
  • In the meantime, boil 5L water in a second pot and add a tablespoon of rock salt, leaving it to dissolve.
  • Once the sauce has finished cooking and your water has boiled, add your choice of pasta to the water and cook according to the packet instructions.
  • While the pasta is boiling, prepare a large fry pan for mixing!
  • Place a frypan on the stove at a low heat, and add a generous spoonful (or two!) of Bolognese sauce, covering the base.
  • Next, add the strained pasta into the pan along with 2 x spoonful’s of pasta water.
  • Mix this through until the pasta is completely lathered before adding another generous amount of Bolognese sauce and mixing again.
  • E ora si mangia, Vincenzo’s Plate….Enjoy!

Video

Author: Vincenzo’s Plate

 

E ora si mangia, Vincenzo’s Plate… Enjoy!

 

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Recipe Rating




20 responses

  1. Fernando L
    May 16, 2023

    5 stars
    Made it yesterday…. the audience cheered loud!!! 😀
    Thank you! tante grazie!

    Reply
    1. Vincenzo’s Plate
      May 16, 2023

      That’s fantastic to hear! I’m thrilled that your bolognese sauce was a hit and received such an enthusiastic response from your audience. It’s always a pleasure to bring joy through delicious recipes.

      Reply
  2. BrianBrian
    August 2, 2023

    5 stars
    Perfect

    Reply
    1. Vincenzo’s Plate
      August 2, 2023

      Glad you like it, what other recipes do you want to try out next?

      Reply
  3. John
    January 27, 2024

    Hello and thank you for your recipe and information around the dish. I’m Just curious why you have to quite different recipes for the same dish online. Its the same for the Carbonara. I’m a little confused.

    Reply
    1. Vincenzo’s Plate
      January 29, 2024

      Grazie for checking out the recipe. I believe in exploring variations to suit different tastes and preferences. It’s like having different ways to enjoy a classic dish.

      Reply
  4. Zorana Pivovarova
    April 20, 2024

    5 stars
    Beautiful recipe, and yet extraordinary taste! Simple things are always the best!! Thank you 🤗

    Reply
    1. Vincenzo’s Plate
      April 22, 2024

      Ciao Zorana! I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe and loved the taste! I completely agree with you—sometimes the simplest things really are the best. Grazie mille, and keep enjoying the wonderful Italian flavors!

      Reply
  5. Iain R
    July 8, 2024

    Use this recipe to feed a group of 70 hungry Kids at a recent cub camp. They absolutely loved it!

    Reply
    1. Vincenzo’s Plate
      July 9, 2024

      I’m so glad the kids enjoyed the Bolognese recipe! It must have been quite the adventure cooking for such a large group. Thank you for sharing your experience and happy cooking! 😊

      Reply
  6. John
    December 14, 2024

    Did this tonight. Discovered I don’t own a food processor or blender! So it had veggie chunks. All cut to < 1/4 inch. Onion and celery disappeared into the sauce. Bits of carrot remained. I used a medium Italian sausage for the pork. Rigatoni because the widest long pasta I had was fettucini. A shake of red pepper flakes and an herb blend from the Caribbean. Thyne, oregano, and bayleaf. Canned crushed tomatoes.

    Very meaty and good flavor.

    Reply
    1. Vincenzo’s Plate
      December 16, 2024

      Ciao John! Sounds like you got creative and made it work beautifully! So glad you enjoyed the sauce!

      Reply
  7. Nicole
    January 9, 2025

    Thank you for sharing! Turned out Amazing!!!!

    Reply
    1. Vincenzo’s Plate
      January 9, 2025

      Ciao Nicole! You’re so welcome, I’m thrilled to hear it turned out amazing! Nothing beats a delicious Bolognese… so glad you enjoyed it! 😊

      Reply
      1. Nicole
        January 10, 2025

        Ciao Vincenzo! Question, maybe a stupid question, can I use this same sauce for your beef lasagna recipe?

        Reply
        1. Vincenzo’s Plate
          January 10, 2025

          Not a stupid question at all! 😊 Yes, you can absolutely use the same sauce for the beef lasagna and it’ll be delicious. Let me know how it turns out! Buon appetito!

          Reply
          1. Nicole
            January 11, 2025

            5 stars
            Ciao Vincenzo! It was a hit! I ended up using the lasagna recipe, but with the sofrito from this recipe. Just because I loved the pancetta combo. Made this for 8 people, including 4 teenagers, so I doubled the recipe. One of the comments: “restaurant quality lasagna” there were no leftovers 🤭 Thanx again for sharing your amazing recipes! Can’t wait to try your other recipes. Grazie mille!

          2. Vincenzo’s Plate
            January 14, 2025

            Ciao Nicole! Wow, that sounds amazing, bravo! 👏 Thank you so much for sharing your experience, and I’m thrilled to hear there were no leftovers (always a good sign)! Can’t wait for you to try more recipes and grazie mille for your support.

  8. Judith Lawenda
    May 24, 2025

    Your recipe is delicious!

    Reply
    1. Vincenzo’s Plate
      May 27, 2025

      Grazie Judith!

      Reply

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