Best Spaghetti Bolognese Recipe, Tested by Home Cooks

crowdsource Community Insights

This recipe generally turns out well, but people who made it noticed three things that really change the result. First, brown the meat until it’s a deep brown before you add liquids, combining while the meat is still watery or steaming leaves the sauce weak. Second, using a homemade stock or broth instead of plain boiling water gives the sauce noticeably more body. And third, don’t skip seasoning while it cooks: people who omitted salt early found the finished dish flat, and many found seasoning earlier (rather than only at the end) preserved more aroma and flavor.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 1 onion (or brown onion)
• Red onion (or brown onion)
• 3 stick celery
• 3 carrot
• Salt, to taste
• Black pepper
• 150g tomato paste
• 400g peeled tomato
• 1l Italian passata
• Extra virgin olive oil
• 1 glass red wine (or white wine)
• 1 mug full cream milk
• 500g pork mince
• 300g beef mince
• 200g veal mince
• Pappardelle, fresh, handmade (or penne, tagliatelle)
• 1l water
• Rock salt, to taste
• Parmigiano Reggiano

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Place a large pot on the stove and add a good amount of extra virgin olive oil; heat for a few minutes until the oil comes to temperature.
2. Add the onion and cook for a couple of minutes until it is a little bit golden.
3. Add the carrot and celery and cook for about 4 or 5 minutes to make the soffritto.
4. Add half a glass of red wine (you can use white wine instead) and let it cook off for a few minutes so the alcohol evaporates.
5. Add the pork (500 g), beef (300 g), and veal (200 g) mince; add a little bit of salt and a little bit of pepper, separate the meat pieces while cooking, and continue until the meat turns the classic gray color.
6. When the meat releases liquid and that liquid has mostly evaporated, add the second half of the glass of wine and let it cook off.
7. Add the tomato paste (150 g), the peeled tomato (400 g), and the Italian passata (1 L). Use a little water from the passata bottle to rinse the bottle into the pot and avoid waste, then crush the peeled tomato and mix everything together.
8. Bring the sauce to a simmer, then maintain on very low heat with small bubbles (do not run the fire too strong). Do not cover (optional to cover), allow some evaporation, and let the ragu00f9 cook for about 4 to 5 hours total, checking it periodically and adding hot water as needed to keep the meat moist.
9. Check and taste the ragu00f9 after about 1 hour; adjust with a little more salt or pepper as needed. If the ragu00f9 becomes too dry (as around 2 hours in), add hot water u2014 the cook suggests adding about 0.5 L and then checking again in about an hour u2014 and continue to simmer.
10. About half an hour before serving (when the sauce is nice and thick), add the full cream milk (add the stated milk amount) and return the ragu00f9 to the stove; stir and heat for another 4 or 5 minutes to smooth the milk into the sauce.
11. Meanwhile, boil 1 L of water for the pasta; when the water boils add a generous handful of rock salt, then add the fresh pappardelle and cook until done. Reserve some pasta cooking water, then strain the pasta.
12. Add some ragu00f9 to a frying pan, add the drained pasta to the pan with the sauce in the bottom, add a little reserved pasta cooking water to help combine, toss over heat so the pasta absorbs the sauce, and add more ragu00f9 on top as desired.
13. Serve the pasta with extra Parmigiano Reggiano grated on top if desired.

crowdsource Community Insights

The sauce turns out reliably tasty, but people who made it noticed a few small things that change the result. People who left out garlic and parsley were happier with the final flavor, so many simply left them out. People who salted at every stage, seasoning as they went, found the sauce more balanced. The cooks who cooked the ground meat first, browning it gently, draining excess oil and keeping the heat moderate, ended up with a cleaner, more consistent sauce. Those three tweaks are what most people found made the difference.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.
• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• Carrot, quartered
• Celery, halved and sliced
• 1 onion, chopped
• 6 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 lb (680g) ground beef (or ground turkey, ground pork, mushrooms, tofu)
• 1 cup dry white wine (or red wine, beef broth)
• 28 oz (794g) whole peeled tomatoes, canned, whole peeled
• 6 oz (170g) tomato paste, canned
• 1-2 bay leaf
• 1 cup whole milk (or half and half, heavy cream)
• 1 lb (454g) pappardelle or tagliatelle (or any other pasta)
• 1 tbsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• Chili powder
• Parmesan
• Parsley

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Chop the carrot, celery, and onion into smaller uniform pieces (carrot quartered; celery halved and sliced; onion chopped).
2. Place a large pot over medium-high heat and add 2 tablespoons olive oil; heat until the oil shimmers.
3. Add the chopped onion, celery, and carrot and cook over medium-high, stirring occasionally, for about 7 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften.
4. Add the minced garlic and cook about 1 minute, stirring; if the pot is extremely hot, briefly remove it from the heat before adding garlic to avoid burning.
5. Add 1.5 pounds ground beef, break it up, and brown over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
6. Add 1 cup dry white wine (or 1 cup red wine or 1 cup beef broth), scrape the bottom of the pot to deglaze, and let the liquid cook briefly to burn off the alcohol.
7. Stir in a 28 ounce can of whole peeled tomatoes (break them up by hand or with a spoon), add a 6 ounce can of tomato paste, and stir to combine.
8. Add 1u20132 bay leaves.
9. Reduce heat to low, partially cover the pot, and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
10. Uncover and simmer an additional hour or until the sauce is thickened, checking consistency and giving more time if needed.
11. Remove and discard the bay leaf.
12. While finishing the sauce, bring a large pot of water to a boil, salt liberally (the recipe suggests at least 1 tablespoon), and cook 1 pound of pasta (pappardelle or tagliatelle) until al dente; you may undercook slightly because it will finish cooking in the sauce.
13. Stir 1 cup whole milk into the sauce and warm on the lowest heat so the milk heats through.
14. Taste the sauce and stir in 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon black pepper; optionally add chili powder to taste.
15. Drain the pasta, add it to the sauce, and gently stir to coat the pasta with the sauce.
16. Garnish with Parmesan and parsley before serving.
17. Store the Bolognese sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days (recommended to store separate from pasta); freeze the sauce (without pasta) for up to 3 months.

crowdsource Community Insights

People who made this usually ended up with a straightforward, satisfying sauce, but a few choices kept tripping people up. The cooks who added rosemary found it overpowered the dish, so most avoided it. Adding stock was another thing that tended to dilute the result, people who skipped stock liked the cleaner flavor. And a practical finishing move lots of people used was not rinsing the pasta and saving a cup of the cooking water; those who did that found the sauce clings and comes together much better. In short, keep it simple and save the pasta water.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.
• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• Tagliatelle
• Minced veal, very finely minced
• Minced pork, coarsely minced
• 100g pancetta, sofrito, softened
• 1 carrot, sofrito, softened
• 1 onion, sofrito, softened
• 1 stalk celery, sofrito, softened
• Red wine
• Tomato concentrate, diluted with stock
• Stock (or chicken stock, vegetable stock)
• Pasta water
• Parmesan, grated

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Prepare a sofrito of celery, carrot, onion and pancetta and soften it slightly in a pan.
2. Add the minced veal and minced pork to the sofrito and break up the meat in the pan.
3. Seal the meat over heat so that excess water is driven off and the meat browns rather than boils.
4. Add a bit of red wine and stir after adding it.
5. Add tomato concentrate diluted with a little water or stock, and add the rest of the stock.
6. Cover the pan, turn the heat down, and simmer slowly for about an hour, stirring occasionally.
7. Cook the tagliatelle until ready and reserve some pasta cooking water.
8. Warm a small pan, add a little pasta water, then add the cooked tagliatelle to the pan with the ragu.
9. Toss the pasta and sauce together in the pan so the pasta grabs the flavors and the sauce sticks to the pasta.
10. Turn off the heat, add a little more pasta water if needed, grate Parmesan over the pasta, and serve.

crowdsource Community Insights

This sauce benefits from a couple of small timing choices that people who made this swore by. Most people who made it added a splash of milk at the end, just off the heat, because it softens and rounds the sauce without watering it down. Folks who picked their pasta carefully liked tagliatelle or pappardelle; the rougher surface grabs the sauce better than smoother noodles. And a heads-up: people who threw in a bay leaf (or any herbs) usually found it muddied the flavor, so skipping herbs is the common fix.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.
• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

Sofrito

• Carrots, chopped
• Celery, chopped
• Onion, chopped

Herbs & Oil

• Rosemary, chopped
• Olive oil

Meat & Dairy

• Beef
• Lamb
• Full fat milk

Liquids & Canned

• Wine
• Beef stock
• Tomato paste
• Tinned tomatoes

Pasta & Finish

• Fettuccine (or fresh fettuccine, dry fettuccine)
• Salt, to taste
• Parmigiano-Reggiano (or Pecorino)

book_ribbon Instructions

Sauce

1. Chop the carrots, celery, and onion to make the sofrito.
2. Chop the rosemary.
3. Heat a pan over the heat, add olive oil, then add the chopped rosemary to the oil and let it start to sizzle.
4. Add the sofrito to the pan and soften the vegetables gently; do not let them brown or burn.
5. Add the beef and lamb to the pan and break the meat up with a wooden spoon.
6. When the meat starts to color, pour in the full fat milk.
7. Cook the milk with the meat until the milk is completely evaporated.
8. Add the wine and bubble it for about 2 or 3 minutes.
9. Add beef stock, tomato paste, and tinned (canned) tomatoes to the pan.
10. Let the sauce simmer for 2 hours.

Pasta and Finish

1. Bring salted boiling water and place the fettuccine into it; cook the pasta for about 3 minutes.
2. Do not drain the pasta; transfer the cooked fettuccine directly into the sauce and toss so each strand is coated.
3. Serve a generous portion of pasta on a plate and top with Parmigiano-Reggiano (you can use Pecorino instead).

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Easy To Customize: Home cooks often adapt it to what they have without issue.
• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.

grocery Ingredients

• Celery, finely chopped
• Carrots, finely chopped
• Onion, finely chopped
• Garlic
• Olive oil
• Ground beef
• Oregano
• Salt, to taste
• Basil, fresh (or dried basil)
• Chopped tomatoes
• Crushed tomatoes
• 1 cup water
• Sugar, to taste

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Chop the celery, carrots, and onion finely (you can use a food processor; this takes about two minutes).
2. Heat the olive oil in a pot over medium heat.
3. Add the chopped celery, carrots, onion, and a little garlic; sauté over medium heat until the vegetables are tender and slightly caramelized, about 7 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4. Add the ground beef and break it up with a spoon, then add oregano, salt, and fresh basil (use dried basil if you don't have fresh).
5. Add the chopped tomatoes and the crushed tomatoes and stir. Pour one cup of water (used to rinse the can) into the pot and stir.
6. Bring the sauce to a boil, then lower the heat to low, cover with a lid, and simmer for 2 to 2.5 hours, stirring about every 30 minutes.
7. When the sauce is deeply red and thick and the tomatoes have broken down, taste and adjust seasoning; add salt or a pinch of sugar if needed.
8. Serve by mixing the sauce with pasta. The sauce can also be used in pasta bakes or lasagna, or frozen for later.

grocery Ingredients

Bolognese sauce

• Beef mince, about 10% fat
• Italian sausages
• Pancetta, diced (or smoked pancetta, unsmoked pancetta)
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• White wine (or red wine)
• Whole milk, full fat
• Carrot, finely chopped
• Onion, finely chopped
• Celery, finely chopped
• Parmesan rind
• Garlic, chopped
• 1 sprig fresh thyme
• Bay leaves
• 1 tbsp dried oregano
• Dried porcini mushrooms, dried, crumbled (or sliced mushrooms, finely chopped mushrooms)
• Tomato purée
• Sugar, to taste
• Red wine vinegar
• Thai fish sauce (or anchovies, omit)
• 4 tin canned tomatoes
• Salt, a little pinch

Pasta and finishing

• 400g spaghetti
• Parmesan
• Basil, fresh

book_ribbon Instructions

Bolognese sauce

1. Preheat the oven to 140C (120C fan).
2. Warm a frying pan over medium heat and add about 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil.
3. Crumble the beef mince into the pan and cook over a gentle sizzle, letting released liquid reduce; stir occasionally and continue until the mince is deeply browned and speckled, about 25 minutes.
4. Split the Italian sausages, remove the casings, crumble them into the pan, and cook until browned and toasted in the pan fat.
5. Warm an ovenproof pan and add about 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil, then add the diced pancetta and cook gently until the fat renders and the pancetta is crispy, about 5 minutes.
6. Add the finely chopped carrot, onion, and celery all at once to the pancetta and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are very soft and just starting to brown, about 10 minutes.
7. Add the bay leaves, the small sprig of fresh thyme, and a good tablespoon of dried oregano, then add the chopped garlic and the crumbled dried porcini mushrooms (optional).
8. Cook the vegetables and herbs together until super soft, about 10 minutes.
9. Add sugar and stir until dissolved into the vegetables.
10. Add the tomato purée and toast it in the pan for a minute or two to remove the raw tomato taste.
11. Add the red wine vinegar and the fish sauce and let them sizzle down for about a minute.
12. Return the browned meats to the pan with the vegetables.
13. Rinse each tin of canned tomatoes with some white wine: pour wine into the first tin, loosen the tomato residue and pour into the second tin, repeat through all tins, then add the tins and all tomato and wine juices to the sauce.
14. Stir in the whole milk, a little pinch of salt, the Parmesan rind and the basil stalks (or loose basil); bring the sauce up to a simmer, cover with a lid, and place in the preheated oven.
15. Braise in the oven at 140C (120C fan) for about 3 hours, checking every hour to ensure the sauce is not catching on the bottom or reducing too quickly.
16. After about 3 hours, remove the bay leaves, thyme sprig, and Parmesan rind and give the sauce a final stir; the sauce can be chilled for 3–4 days or frozen.

Pasta and finishing

1. Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil; do not add oil to the water.
2. Add the spaghetti (about 400 gram) and stir frequently for the first 2–3 minutes; cook for 9 minutes total, then taste to check it has some bite.
3. Reserve half of the finished ragu for freezing or chilling and leave the rest in the pan.
4. Transfer the drained spaghetti directly into the ragu using tongs and finish cooking over low heat, tossing and cooking for 2–3 minutes so the pasta absorbs the sauce and the starchy water integrates.
5. With the heat off, add Parmesan and a splash of extra virgin olive oil, stir to combine, then add the fresh basil and give a final stir before serving.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.
• Repeat Worthy: People who make this tend to come back and make it again.

grocery Ingredients

• 3 carrots, peeled and diced
• 1 lb (454g) Roma tomatoes, peeled and diced
• 3 garlic cloves, diced
• 1 brown onion, large, diced
• 6 fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 2 lb (907g) ground beef
• 1 tsp sugar
• Salt, to taste
• Pepper
• Spaghetti
• Water

book_ribbon Instructions

Preparation

1. Peel and dice three carrots; place the diced carrots into a bowl and set aside.
2. Peel the skins from one pound of Roma tomatoes, thoroughly dice them, place into a bowl and set aside.
3. Dice three garlic cloves; place into a bowl and set aside.
4. Dice one large brown onion; place into a bowl and set aside.
5. Pick six fresh basil leaves and roll-and-chop them; place into a bowl and set aside.

Make the bolognese sauce

1. Place a large skillet on the cooktop and turn the heat to medium.
2. Add one teaspoon of olive oil to the pan and wait a couple minutes for it to heat.
3. Add the diced carrots and diced garlic to the pan and sauté for 5 minutes.
4. Add two pounds of ground beef to the pan and stir.
5. Cook until the meat is browned and the onions are soft.
6. Add the diced tomatoes and thoroughly stir; cook for approximately 5 minutes until the tomatoes begin to soften and release their juices and are adequately broken down.
7. Add the chopped fresh basil, 1 teaspoon of sugar, salt, and pepper; thoroughly mix and bring to a simmer.
8. Simmer for at least three hours, stirring occasionally.

Cook the pasta

1. When the sauce is almost finished simmering, place a large pot on the stovetop, fill it with water, and turn the heat to high.
2. Bring the water to a boil, then carefully place the spaghetti into the boiling water and salt the water.
3. Cook the spaghetti until al dente, usually around 10 minutes.
4. After 10 minutes, drain the pasta immediately.

To serve

1. Place the cooked spaghetti on a plate.
2. Spoon several generous scoops of the bolognese sauce over the spaghetti.
3. Garnish with the fresh basil.
4. Remove from heat, serve, and enjoy.

military_tech Why This Recipe Stands Out

• Reliable Results: It turns out well consistently, with few reported problems.

grocery Ingredients

• Vegetable oil (or any oil)
• 500g beef mince
• Onion, diced
• 400g tomato
• 2 tbsp dehydrated beef stock (or dehydrated chicken stock powder)
• Water
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper, chopped (or green chili, red chili, other spicy chilies)
• Spaghetti
• Cheese
• Sweet corn
• Plantain
• Poutine

book_ribbon Instructions

1. Heat a bit of vegetable oil in a pan until hot.
2. Add 500 gram beef mince and cook, breaking it apart, until the meat changes color and is browned.
3. Remove the browned mince from the pan and set it aside, leaving the oil in the pan.
4. Add diced onions to the same pan and cook until the onions are soft.
5. Add the tomato (quantities mentioned: 400 gram and 300 milliliter) and a little oil; stir, reduce the heat to medium, and cook until the tomatoes are cooked.
6. Dissolve 2 tablespoons dehydrated beef stock in some boiling water (not too much) and mix until combined.
7. Add the dissolved beef stock mixture to the tomato sauce gradually, stirring to incorporate and adding only as much as needed to reach the desired consistency.
8. Chop scotch bonnet pepper (the creator refers to adding one and also mentions chopping two) and add the chopped pepper to the sauce for heat.
9. Stir the sauce occasionally to prevent burning.
10. Cover the pan and cook on medium heat for ten to fifteen minutes, or until cooked properly.
11. Meanwhile, heat/cook the spaghetti in a separate pot until hot.
12. Taste the sauce and adjust seasoning as needed.
13. Serve the bolognese with spaghetti; optionally top with cheese and serve with accompaniments such as plantain and sweet corn or poutine if desired.