Easy Pasta Bolognese
This pasta Bolognese is a classic Italian dinner, ready in 15 minutes and the whole family will love it! I have added in a few secret ingredients to make this classic Italian dish with hearty ground beef cooked in a tomato sauce with onions, garlic, and tomatoes extra rich and delicious. Add this into your weekly dinner rotation!
Growing up in an Italian household we always had pasta Wednesdays (I know, not Sunday’s, but Wednesday, as it was mid week and my mom needed a break from cooking so we would all gather together at my grandparents house). My grandparents would make the most delicious pasta in a homemade tomato sauce and it was always the highlight of our week to bring home any leftovers. Over the years, I have adapted their family recipe to make it into my own. When I need something quick to make for dinner, that is high protein, flavorful, will keep everyone full and have lots of leftovers (its arguably even better the day after) - THIS is what I make. My husband (my biggest critic and always the taste tester) says its restaurant worthy- so try it out and let me know what you think! I promise you will love making this for a weeknight dinner and your kids will love eating it too.
Ingredients for Pasta Bolognese
The great thing about making pasta Bolognese is that it doesn’t require many ingredients. It is really easy to whip up in just 15 minutes and enjoy with the entire family for an easy dinner.
You will find a few ingredients below that are optional to add into your pasta Bolognese- these won’t change the flavor of the dish but rather are add ins that I have adopted into my recipe to make it more rich and flavorful! Feel free to add them in or try without.
Onion
Shallot
Minced garlic
Pasta of choice
Ground beef
Olive oil
Italian seasoning
Salt & pepper
Chili Flakes
Worcestershire sauce (optional)
Fresh basil (optional)
Mozzarella cheese (optional)
Parmesan cheese
Tomato sauce of choice
My favorite cookware is from Caraway in black and gold - great quality, easy to clean and my food never sticks. I highly recommend getting these if you are looking for a new cookware set.
Worcestershire sauce- now you might be wondering why is this in here but trust me, this is my SECRET INGREDIENT to make this bolognese flavorful, rich and complex. THIS is the ingredient that makes this dish restaurant worthy.
If you are looking to make your own tomato sauce you easily can for this recipe. I use jarred tomato sauce when in a pinch because its easy, you can buy it was $2 at Trader Joe’s and it saves me time on a weeknight.
If you want to add in a freshly made tomato sauce, will need the following:
1 jar of strained crushed tomatoes
1 can of crushed tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
Instead of adding in the jarred sauce add all three of these to the meat and mix it all together and you have yourself homemade tomato sauce! I would add in a little extra seasonings to it like salt, pepper and garlic powder.
My favorite protein pasta is Banza and I love the shape Cavatappi for this recipe as it holds the sauce well- this pasta brand only has a few ingredients, is easy to digest and you don’t feel bloated after eating it. You can use any shape or brand pasta that you’d like for this recipe!
SHOP THE REICPE
This is the base to any flavorful pasta dish- onion, shallot and garlic!
Easy Pasta Bolognese
This pasta Bolognese is a classic Italian dinner, ready in 15 minutes and the whole family will love it! I have added in a few secret ingredients to make this classic Italian dish with hearty ground beef cooked in a tomato sauce with onions, garlic, and tomatoes extra rich and delicious. Add this into your weekly dinner rotation!
Ingredients
- 2 lb lean ground beef
- 8-10 oz box of pasta of choice (I use a protein pasta- Banza)
- 1 24 oz jar of tomato sauce of choice (see notes below if you'd like to easily make your own)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 yellow or Spanish onion
- 3-4 cloves of garlic
- 1 shallot
- 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1-2 tsp chili flakes (optional if you'd like it to be a bit spicy)
- 1/2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
- 1 tbsp fresh basil (optional)
Instructions
- In a pot, fill half with water and add in some salt to season the pasta water. Boil and add in your pasta to cook. You can do other steps while this boils + cooks. Once pasta is cooked, strain and set aside until we are ready to add in the pasta noodles.
- Cut and dice your onion and shallots and mince your garlic cloves.
- In a pan on medium heat, add in your olive oil and then add in your chopped up onion, shallots and minced garlic. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes until fragrant and onions are becoming translucent.
- Add in your ground beef
- Add in your spices: italian seasoning, salt, pepper, chili flakes, garlic powder and mix well into the ground beef
- Add in my secret ingredient: Worcestershire sauce and mix into ground beef
- Cook for about 5 minutes on medium/high heat, until ground beef is brown
- If there is any water accumulated in the cooked beef-pour this out now (I usually use a spoon and spoon out any water in the pot among the beef)
- Add in your tomato sauce and mix well into ground beef
- Add in your parmesan cheese, fresh basil and mozzarella cheese
- Once everything is mixed in allow to cook for an additional 5 minutes to really soak up all that flavor!
- Add your strained pasta into the bolognese sauce pan and mix well (this is a really important step to really allow your pasta to soak up all that sauce)
- Serve pasta right away and top with some parmesan cheese! This would pair beautifully with my brie cheese garlic bread recipe as well!
Notes
Homemade Tomato Sauce:
If you want to add in a freshly made tomato sauce, will need the following:
- 1 jar of strained crushed tomatoes
- 1 can of crushed tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
Instead of adding in the jarred sauce add all three of these to the meat and mix it all together and you have yourself homemade tomato sauce! I would let the tomato sauce cook and soak up all those flavors for an extra 10 minutes if you make your own sauce like this. & I would add in a little extra seasonings to it like salt, pepper and garlic powder.
When I am in a pinch for a quick weeknight meal, I love using this Trager Joe’s tomato sauce it is under $2 for one jar!
FRESHLY grated parmesan cheese always! Makes a big difference in flavor.
Mix your strained pasta into your meat sauce and mix well vs adding sauce onto the individual pasta servings. This is the way the Italians do it!
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