Best Ever Rich Spaghetti Bolognese - Enjoy a delicious bowl of this homemade Rich Spaghetti bolognese - a firm family favourite.
Bolognese Meat Sauce
Spaghetti Bolognese was one of the first dishes I ever cooked for myself and it is a dish that we as a family never get bored of.
Whenever I make it, I often make double the amount and then turn it into a Chilli the next day just for variation. Saves on time and it makes a great base to a chilli.
You just can add in the spices for the chilli, some peppers, fresh jalapeno and kidney beans and you have a perfect rich chilli that can be ready in less than 20 mins. Perfect!!
Rich Bolognese Sauce
I hate spaghetti meat sauce where the sauce is watery and tasteless. It has to have a rich flavoursome tomato sauce and this is everything that it should be. If you have the time to use some fresh tomatoes in the sauce, it's a total game changer, as it gives this spaghetti bolognese the most amazing fresh flavour that you just can't achieve with canned tomatoes.
Hate peeling fresh tomatoes?. Invest in a handy Serrated Peeler, they are so inexpensive and are perfect for peeling soft vegetables and fruit. They look like a traditional potato peeler but instead have little-serrated teeth that grip the skin, allowing you to peel effortlessly.
Of course you have use the traditional method for peeling fresh tomatoes too, but scoring them and blanching in hot water, just until the skin becomes soft enough to easily remove.
Red Wine in Bolognese
The red wine just gives that little more flavour. I have made it both ways in the past, as I don't always have red wine on hand. Weirdly I hate it to drink (I am more a white wine person) but love it in cooking.
There are some red wine stock pots available too, we don't have those here in Canada, so can't comment on if the add the same kind of taste, but I know other's love to use them, so they are worth a try if you can get them where you are.
As I don't really drink wine often, any leftovers I fresh in handy little cubes, as then I can just drop into recipes as I need it.
Vegetables in Bolognese
I always pack my bolognese out with lots of vegetables, you can make a healthier rich bolognese by using a little less meat and increasing the vegetables without compromising the taste.
Also if you dice those vegetables really small, it's a great way to get fussy eaters to eat some vegetables too.
The basic vegetables I always add to my bolognese is the standard Mirepoix (onions, celery and carrots) as well as garlic and then some mushrooms. I love mushrooms in bolognese, they add a delicious flavour.
Sides for Spaghetti Bolognese
Occasionally if I am having a really healthy day, I will serve the meat sauce with some zucchini (courgette) noodles instead of pasta. Zucchini noodles, is just spiralized zucchini with I very lightly saute in a pan with salt and black pepper and by lightly I mean no more than two minutes, you want the zucchini to still have a bite to it.
If I am having it traditional style with spaghetti pasta then I pretty much always go for a side salad. I just make up a big bowl of mixed salad and serve it in the middle of the table with a light dressing.
My favourite basic salad ingredients are:
- Crisp Lettuce (Romaine or Iceberg)
- Cherry Tomatoes
- Cucumber
- and then some julienned Carrot
More Ground Beef (Beef Mince) Recipes
Look for more ground beef recipes? Check out the following:
- BBQ BACON CHEESEBURGER PASTA BAKE
- CHEESY TOPPED STUFFED PEPPERS
- SAUCY ASIAN HIDDEN VEGETABLE BEEF MEATBALLS
- ONE POT TACO BEEF PASTA
- EASY ASIAN GROUND BEEF BOWL
- ONE POT CHEESEBURGER PASTA
or head on over to my Full Recipe Index with over 900 delicious Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers friendly recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients, value and smart points etc
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Recipe Card
Best Ever Rich Spaghetti Bolognese
Best Ever Rich Spaghetti Bolognese - Enjoy a delicious bowl of this homemade Rich Spaghetti bolognese - a firm family favourite.
Ingredients
- 400g/14oz extra lean minced beef
- 3 slices of lean back bacon, trimmed of visible fat
- 100g (3.5oz) of onion, diced
- 100g (3.5oz) of celery, diced
- 100g (3.5oz) of carrots, diced
- 200g (7oz) of mushrooms chopped
- 200g (7oz) of fresh tomatoes, peeled and diced
- 4 cloves of garlic, crushed
- 1.5 cups (360ml) of passata
- 1 cup (240ml) of beef stock
- 0.5 cups (120ml) of red wine
- 3 tablespoons of tomato paste (puree)
- fresh thyme, oregano and rosemary, couple of sprigs of each
- cooking oil spray (I used olive oil)
- salt and black pepper
To Serve
- 300g/10.5oz of spaghetti (or other pasta of choice) - or use zucchini (courgette noodles for a low carb alternative)
- Salt and Black Pepper
- fresh basil and parsley, to serve
- optional: parmesan cheese as part of your diet
Instructions
- Spray a frying pan over a medium high heat with cooking oil spray.
- Add the bacon cook for approx 5 mins until golden.
- Add the ground beef, onion, garlic, carrot, celery , and cook until browned, breaking up any large lumps of meat with the back of the spoon.
- Add the stock, wine, fresh tomatoes, passata, tomato paste, fresh herbs and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.
- Bring to the boil, reduce heat and allow to simmer covered for approx 50 mins, if liquid reduces down too much (you can add a little more stock/passata).
- When the meat mixture is almost ready, add the pasta to a large saucepan of salted boiling hot water and cook to al dente. Reserve approx 80ml (⅓ cup) of the pasta water, then drain.
- Taste the meat sauce and season as needed with salt and black pepper.
- Add meat mixture to the spaghetti along with the reserved pasta water and mix thoroughly until all combined and the sauce coats all the pasta. Divide among 4 plates and top with some fresh chopped basil and parsley.
- You can top with some parmesan cheese.
Notes
Please see below for full nutritional info and additional details about recipe:
- Calories - scroll down to nutritional info box
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Nutrition Information
Yield
4Serving Size
1 SERVING WITH SPAGHETTI (NO CHEESE)Amount Per Serving Calories 533Total Fat 5.7gSaturated Fat 1.8gCholesterol 58mgSodium 584mgCarbohydrates 75.7gFiber 6.5gSugar 9.5gProtein 36.8g
Lynne says
if you are feeling v SynStingy I make spag bol without any wine, and it works fine. I would not leave out the tomato paste, though you can, and just simmer it down a bit more.
So you can easily get to a smidgeon of a syn or none at all if you prefer
admin says
yeah I normally cook my bolognese without, but had some leftover red wine from the weekend to use up (we had visitors over). It definately gave it a nice flavour.
silvermaneuk says
My nan is italian and I have always used her ecipe for making bolognese and must admit it tastes yummier when you use wine, but obviously for SW I never use it.
Pre SW I used to use panchetta bacon, but lean bacon is just as nice IMO
The herbs I use are oregano, basil and marjoram with a bay leaf (obviously salt and pepper and garlic). She would shout at me for using Worcestershire sauce but I have to say I ALWAYS use it lol
I agree about the puree it just doesn't taste 'right' without it 🙂
admin says
oh yes, I used to cook it pre slimming world days, with a bit of pancetta cooked in a little cinnamon, before add the onions, garlic, mince and herbs etc. I also used to leave it simmer on the hob for hours for the flavours to really come out, but I didnt have hours when I made this one, as I started it a bit later in the day lol.
I love thyme in it, mind you I love thyme in a lot of beef and chicken dishes, I think it has a lovely flavouring.
silvermaneuk says
I have to say, doesn't fresh thyme taste devine??!! I have been using it a lot recently and I LOVE it. I have a pot growing on the windowsill lol
Janette Birch says
this is lovely - you can use passata instead of puree -syn free - and just simmer it a bit longer.
Caz Williams says
hi, do you have to use the wine?? is there an alternative
Anonymous says
you can omit the wine if you would prefer 🙂
Jenny Robinson says
used meatballs omitted the bacon and used tinned chopped toms instead of passata oh and no wine everyone cleared their plates and declared it delicious x
Helena says
Just made this, always made my own which was awful. low and behold, ive found a recipe to follow and even used wine in it! I NEVER use wine in cooking.. im converted! THANK YOU!
Elaine says
My husband and son just made this for dinner. Lovely. They used the wine in it and I had a glass with it! (Been one of those weekends!) Naughty but nice! 😉
Amy says
Made this for dinner on Thursday and left overs for today's lunch and I thought it was amazing!!!! Would definitely recommend
Sandra Webster says
This recipe is delicious, I love how rich the meat sauce is.
Jen Rees says
Absolutely delicious
sarah says
I use the wine cooking sachets instead of a glass of wine gives it the same taste but no calories or fat
Charlotte says
Hey, making this at the moment, I am assuming that I just chuck in a dash of Worcestershire sauce with the stock and wine? Cheers x
Gill says
Hi added a red wine stock pot in place of red wine, lovely
Claire says
Really enjoyed this. Made it exactly as per recipe and wasn’t disappointed. Lovely, rich, tasty meat sauce. So many great recipes on this site and now I’ve discovered you I’m going to try them all!!
Vivienne says
Make mine in the Ninja. 7 minutes and it’s cooked. Over night to mature and you have one of the best Bolognese recipe ever. Thank you
Helen says
I made this the other week and I can honestly say it was the best I have ever made or tasted loved every mouth ful
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
Thank you Helen. I am so glad you think so.
Fiona says
Yes, well worthy of the "Best Ever" label - and that's from my (non-dieting) husband!
Siobhan (Slimming Eats) says
ahh thank you so much
Dory Merriman says
Fantastic recipe! I used tinned tomatoes and left out the wine and it was still delicious. Best I’ve ever made.
Carol says
Omg that was the best spaghetti bolognaise I’ve ever had had you so much
Nerissa says
This turned out really good even though I didn’t use red wine or fresh herbs. I can imagine it being even better with it. I just don’t normally use red wine so I didn’t want to get it. I have white cooking wine and I thought about subbing for the red but decided to just do without. I also added more tomato paste in place of passata, because I didn’t have that either. Next time I’ll totally put that in and fresh herbs. Thanks for such a great spaghetti sauce!