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Bolognese Sauce

Author:

Vincenzo Prosperi

Updated:

13th May, 2025

28 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

Print Recipe
5 from 5 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
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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




28 responses

  1. Paraskevi Koutouba
    October 27, 2025

    5 stars
    What about adding a bay leaf, garlic, allspice and a pinch of cinnamon? (Here in Greece the mince pasta sauce “leads” us to the “stifado” recipe….:)

    Many thanks my cooking guru!! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Vincenzo’s Plate
      October 28, 2025

      Ciao Paraskevi! That sounds delicious. I love how every region adds its own twist! A bay leaf and a little garlic work beautifully in a Bolognese. The allspice and cinnamon, though, give more of a Greek flavor like in stifado, so they’ll change the traditional Italian taste. If you like those warm spices, add just a tiny pinch to experiment. Let me know how it goes!

      Reply
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