Weeknight Bolognese - from scratch bolognese sauce made in under 30 minutes! Ground beef, garlic, oregano, onion, sugar, salt, pepper, red pepper flakes, tomatoes, tomato paste, red wine, heavy cream, and parmesan cheese. Tastes like it has simmered on the stove all day. This has quickly become one of our favorite meals! Serve the sauce with a salad and some crusty garlic bread for a meal better than any restaurant!
In a Dutch Oven over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef. Drain fat. Add garlic to pan and cook for one minute. Add tomato paste. Stir into the beef and cook for an additional 30 seconds.
Add red wine and scrape up any browned bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
Add oregano, onion powder, red pepper flakes, crushed tomatoes, sugar, salt, and black pepper.
Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.
Add heavy cream and parmesan cheese. Cook additional 10 minutes. Toss with pasta.
Serve with additional parmesan cheese, if desired.
Notes:
You can substitute ground turkey, Italian sauce, or ground pork for ground beef.
We used linguine for the pasta. You can use any pasta shape. Dried pasta or fresh pasta both work great. Linguine, fettuccine, rigatoni, penne, or small shells are all delicious with this sauce.
Toss the cooked pasta in some olive oil to prevent it from sticking together.
I used dried oregano. Feel free to use fresh herbs in this sauce. You will need 3 tablespoons of fresh oregano for this recipe.
I used a small bottle of cabernet sauvignon for the wine in the dish. You can use any red wine that you enjoy.
You can substitute beef broth for the wine.
Can I make Weeknight Bolognese Sauce in the slow cooker? Yes! Brown the ground beef in a 12-inch skillet and drain the fat. Add all of the ingredients except the heavy cream and parmesan sauce. Cook on LOW for 6 hours. Add the cream and parmesan cheese to the crockpot. Stir and cook until the cheese has melted and the sauce has a nice pink color.
Can Bolognese Sauce be frozen? Yes! Make the sauce and let it cool completely. Transfer the sauce to freezer bags and freeze. To reheat, thaw and warm on the stovetop or in the microwave.
Store any leftover sauce in an airtight container in the refrigerator. It will keep 3 to 4 days in the fridge.