Homemade Bolognese: The Ground Meat Sauce Recipe

A successful homemade bolognese sauce relies on three key steps: a base of very finely chopped onion, carrot, and celery, gently softened, then small batches of meat browned thoroughly, and finally a long simmer over very low heat, for 1.5 to 2 hours, with tomatoes and broth. It is this cooking time, much more than the list of ingredients, that creates a thick and tender sauce.

Here is the recipe for 6 people, the choice of meat and its texture, storage, and answers to the most frequently asked questions about this sauce. For a medium-textured bolognese, chop a shoulder cut yourself with one of our meat choppers.

Homemade bolognese recipe

Here is the complete recipe for homemade bolognese, starting with the list of ingredients for six people, followed by the cooking steps in order, from chopping the vegetables to simmering.

Ingredients for 6 people

• 600 g ground beef, or 400 g beef and 200 g veal
• 1 onion, 1 carrot, 1 stalk of celery
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 800 g crushed tomatoes or tomato pulp
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 20 cl beef broth
• 10 cl whole milk
• Olive oil, salt, pepper, 1 bay leaf

Steps

1. Very finely chop the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic. Cook them for 10 minutes over low heat in olive oil, without browning.
2. Increase the heat and add the meat in two batches. Let it brown without stirring for 2 minutes, then break it up until golden.
3. Pour in the milk and let it almost completely evaporate: it tenderizes the meat and mellows the acidity of the tomatoes.
4. Add the tomato paste, tomatoes, broth, and bay leaf. Bring to a simmer.
5. Cover three-quarters of the way and simmer for 1.5 to 2 hours over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper at the end of cooking.

The sauce is ready when it coats the back of a spoon and the fat rises slightly to the surface. If it thickens too quickly, add a little broth. Serve with tagliatelle or spaghetti. To chop the aromatic base in a few seconds instead of fifteen minutes by hand, browse our vegetable chopper collection.

What ground meat to use for bolognese

Bolognese can handle, and even requires, meat with a little fat: simmering makes it tender, while very lean meat becomes grainy.

For the texture, a medium 6 to 8 mm grid produces pieces that remain noticeable after simmering, whereas a fine grid creates a smoother sauce. Details on diameters are explained in our guide which grid to choose for a meat chopper.

How much ground meat per person for bolognese?

The amount of meat depends mainly on the dish the sauce accompanies.

Allow about 100 g of raw ground meat per person for a pasta dish. For other dishes, see how much ground meat per person to allow. Use slightly less if the sauce is a base for lasagna with ground meat, where the layers of pasta and béchamel complement the dish.

Why chop the meat for your bolognese yourself

Chopping the meat yourself allows you to choose three elements that the package decides for you:

• the cut, such as shoulder or top round;
• the fat content;
• the texture, more or less noticeable in the sauce.

Meat chopped just before cooking is also exposed to the air for less time. An electric meat chopper from our collection processes the 600 g required for this recipe in just a few minutes.

Chopping the aromatic base is just as important: the onion, carrot, and celery must be cut very finely to melt into the sauce. This takes just a few seconds with a vegetable chopper, compared to fifteen minutes with a knife.

Can you make bolognese without celery or carrot?

Sometimes you may be missing one of the vegetables in the aromatic base when it is time to cook.

It is possible, but the sauce loses some of its sweetness and depth. If you lack celery, double the carrot. If you lack carrot, a pinch of sugar corrects the acidity of the tomatoes. In any case, keep the gently softened onion, which remains the aromatic base of the sauce.

How to cook and store the sauce properly