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I’ve shared a few bolognese sauce recipes on the blog before, but this is seriously the Best Bolognese Sauce. It’s the one I make for special occasions and weekend meals. I make a big batch of this on the stovetop and allow it to cook all day long. The smell brings me straight back to my childhood and watching my family enjoy it too brings me so much joy.
But first: what is bolognese sauce anyway and how is it different than “meat sauce?” A traditional American “meat sauce” is a combination of ground beef tossed in a marinara sauce. Bolognese is a much creamier, thicker sauce. There is a lot of debate about what makes a bolognese sauce truly authentic. Many say that bolognese should just have a touch of tomato and that garlic doesn’t belong in the sauce; however, my mom taught me differently.
I know that recipes get passed down, adjusted, and lost in translation over years. This is, more or less, how my mom taught me to make bolognese (you know I always give things a little spin of my own). I can honestly say that I don’t think I have ever seen my Mom cook a dish in her life that didn’t have garlic in it. She is so proud of her Italian heritage (my grandfather was 100% Italian). Secondly, the woman loves a tomato-based sauce and she definitely loves putting tomatoes in bolognese—as sacrilegious as it may be. She also taught me that a trio of meats is key to making a good bolognese, which is why I opted to use a combination of ground beef, pork, and veal. I also added pancetta for a little extra salty flavor.
The end result is just phenomenal and is one that my family loves. I typically like my bolognese served with pappardelle or linguine pasta, but my daughter Winnie prefers it with rigatoni pasta—and honestly, she may have converted me.
So whether you call this a bolognese or a meat sauce, you can trust that it will be totally delicious.
ingredients:
- Pancetta
- Flat Fillet Anchovies
- Yellow Onions
- Carrots
- Celery
- Garlic Cloves
- Ground Beef
- Ground Pork
- Ground Veal
- Kosher Salt
- Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- Dry White Wine
- Canned Whole Peeled San Marzano Tomatoes
- Canned Tomato Sauce
- Tomato Paste
- Parmesan Cheese Rind
- Bay Leaves
- Fresh Thyme
- Whole Milk
- Pasta, For Serving
- Freshly Grated Parmesan Cheese, For Serving
step-by-step:
step one: cook the pancetta until crispy
Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the pancetta is just crisp, 4 to 5 minutes.
step two: add the anchovies and veggies
Add the anchovies, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook, mashing up the anchovies so that they break into a paste-like consistency. Continue to cook, stirring, until the veggies are tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
step three: cook the meat
Add the ground beef, pork, veal, salt, and pepper. Cook, breaking up the meat with the back of a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink, about 7 minutes. Drain off most of the excess fat, if necessary.
step four: stir in the wine and tomatoes
Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the wine is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the San Marzano tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste and stir until well combined. Bring to a boil.
step five: let it simmer
Once the sauce is boiling, reduce to a light simmer over low heat. Add the Parmesan cheese rind, bay leaves, and thyme. Cook, covered and stirring occasionally, until the flavors have melded and the meat is extremely tender and flavorful, at least 4 hours.
step six: add the milk
About 30 minutes prior to serving, stir in the milk and continue to cook, uncovered and slightly simmering, until ready to serve. Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
step seven: discard the aromatics
Remove and discard the cheese rind, bay leaves, and thyme bundle.
step eight: toss with paste and serve
To serve, toss the sauce with cooked pasta. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh thyme leaves.
recipe faqs:
You can just do an extra 50/50 blend of ground beef and pork—so 2 pounds of beef and 1½ pounds of pork total.
I would just leave them out! The sauce will still be delicious without anchovies.
To freeze, let the sauce cool completely, then transfer it to airtight containers or freezer bags, leaving some space for expansion. Label and date the containers before placing them in the freezer.
To thaw, transfer the sauce to the refrigerator and let it defrost overnight. Reheat in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring occasionally until it’s heated through. You can add a splash of water or broth if the mixture has thickened too much during freezing.
Alternatively, you can reheat this in the microwave in short intervals, stirring in between to ensure even heating.
If you’re craving a classic Italian-American dinner, you need to try my Best Bolognese Sauce. Leave a comment below and let me know what you think!
want even more cozy Italian-style recipes? try these!
Creamy Sausage Rigatoni with Saffron
One-Pot Spaghetti-O’s with Mini Meatballs
Meatballs with Basil and Burst Tomatoes
Baked Beef and Ricotta Stuffed Shells
Best Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 4 ounces diced pancetta
- 2 flat filet anchovies (packed in oil)
- 2 cups finely diced yellow onion (from about 1 large onion)
- 1 cup finely diced carrot (from about 1 large onion)
- 3/4 cup finely chopped celery (from about 1 large stalk)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1½ pounds ground beef (80/20)
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1 pound ground veal
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup dry white wine
- 1 (28-ounce) can whole peeled San Marzano tomatoes, crushed by hand (*see notes below)
- 1 (15-ounce) can tomato sauce
- 1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
- Parmesan cheese rind
- 2 bay leaves
- 10 thyme sprigs
- 1 cup whole milk
For serving:
- cooked pasta
- freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
- Heat a large pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the pancetta and cook, stirring occasionally, until the fat is rendered and the pancetta is just crisp, 4 to 5 minutes.
- Add the anchovies, onions, carrots, celery, and garlic and cook, mashing up the anchovies so that they break into a paste-like consistency. Continue to cook, stirring, until the veggies are tender, 5 to 7 minutes.
- Add the ground beef, pork, veal, salt, and pepper. Cook, breaking up the meat with the back of a spoon, until the meat is no longer pink, about 7 minutes. Drain off most of the excess fat, if necessary.
- Add the wine and cook, stirring, until the wine is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Add the San Marzano tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste and stir until well combined. Bring to a boil.
- Once the sauce is boiling, reduce to a light simmer over low heat. Add the Parmesan cheese rind, bay leaves, and thyme. Cook, covered and stirring occasionally, until the flavors have melded and the meat is extremely tender and flavorful, at least 4 hours.
- About 30 minutes prior to serving, stir in the milk and continue to cook, uncovered and slightly simmering, until ready to serve. Taste and add more salt and pepper to taste, if desired.
- Remove and discard the cheese rind, bay leaves, and thyme bundle.
- To serve, toss the sauce with cooked pasta. Garnish with freshly grated Parmesan cheese and fresh thyme leaves.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I married an Italian man who lives and dies by his mother’s homemade spaghetti recipe. After one taste of this bolognese, he jumped ship and said it was the best pasta he’s had in his life! I’d say that’s a huge win! I had all 9 of my siblings over for “Italian Night” and I barely had any leftovers. Thank you for sharing with us Alex!!!
Yay! What a compliment! Glad you all enjoyed it.
Hey Alex! I’m wanting to half this recipe, would the all day cook time stay the same?
Yes, all would stay the same!
Do you chop the anchovy? Or add it while? Looks so amazing, can’t wait to try! 😍
When you add the whole anchovies to the pot, they’ll start to dissolve and you mash them so they end up turning into a paste-like consistency.
Hi! Huge fan of your recipes 😍 Is the pasta shown gluten free? I have celiac and I would love to find those noodles!
In this photo, they are not GF. I haven’t had a good GF Rigatoni or know of one.
The best sauce I’ve ever had! Tastes as good as my Sicilian grandfathers. It’s so savory, hearty, and FLAVORFUL and the added cheese rind is genius. Thanks Alex! 😍
wow thank you so much, Jenalie!
Cooking it for the first time and I already tasted it! however; is it a huge difference if I only cook it for 90 minutes? otherwise I will let it cook 4 hrs or overnight and eat for tomorrow. it was so easy!
You can cook it for only 90, but the longer the better 🙂
Hi! Can’t wait to make this! What are your thoughts on using evaporated milk? I saw this used in another recipe and wanted to get your feedback. Thank you!!!
Evaporated milk is very sweet, I wouldn’t use it here, personally– I think it’d end up tasting like a jar of ragu (and not in a good way, in my opinion)! haha. I’d do regular milk or heavy cream.
Making this right now and have been eating it with a spoon out of the pot while it simmers all day! It is so good and I hope to not eat it all before I can serve it 😀
I can’t find a parmesan rind anywhere, do you think it will be okay if I just add the cheese afterward?
If you buy a piece of parmesan cheese, you can just trim off the rind and use that. You can definitely omit the parmesan rind if you don’t have it and just top with some grated cheese when serving. I wouldn’t put the cheese directly in the sauce and stir it up, though.
I just made this bolognese for my birthday too 🙂 So delicious!!
For anyone curious, I did sub nutpods for the milks and it worked out great.
you are most welcome!! enjoy! xo
Do you ever freeze this sauce? I am curious if that would work since there in milk in it.
while I typically don’t prefer to freeze items with dairy in it, this freezes very well!
is it two anchovies or two cans or anchovies? can’t wait to cook this!
Two anchovies… but if you know you love anchovies id do 6… 🙂
This truly is THE BEST BOLOGNESE SAUCE!! I’ve made it twice now and it’s so good, my family love it! I freeze half for a future meal and found it freezes and reheats perfectly. I’m keen to try it in a pressure cooker next time to see if the time saving impacts the flavour of the slow stove top cook. Thank you so much for sharing x
I am so glad you love it!!! let us know if you try the Pressure Cooker and how it turns out!! 🙂
Can I ask why the milk and a sub it?
Traditional bolognese sauces have heavy creamer or milk in it. If you need a DF option, i’d go for nutpods original dairy-free creamer.
Do you think this could be made in an instant pot?
Absolutely! Just be sure to brown the meat first on the saute function. Then I would do 30-45 mins on manual High Pressure cook. Then I would stir in the milk and let it reduce a bit after (on the saute function) for 10 more mins 🙂