Best Ever Rich Spaghetti Bolognese | Slimming Eats Recipes (2024)

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 myFull Recipe Indexwith over 900 delicious Slimming Eats and Weight Watchers friendly recipes all fully searchable by meal type, ingredients, value and smart points etc

LET’S CONNECT!

Find meONFACEBOOK|INSTAGRAM|PINTEREST|TWITTER|andYOUTUBE,comeand follow meTO MAKE SURE YOU KEEP UP TO DATE ON ALL NEW RECIPES.

Recipe Card

Best Ever Rich Spaghetti Bolognese

Yield: SERVES 4

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour 5 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes

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

1. Spray a frying pan over a medium high heat with cooking oil spray.
2. Add the bacon cook for approx 5 mins until golden.
3. 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.
4. Add the stock, wine, fresh tomatoes, passata, tomato paste, fresh herbs and mushrooms and season with salt and pepper.
5. 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).
6. 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.
7. Taste the meat sauce and season as needed with salt and black pepper.
8. 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.
9. 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
• WW Points and other Slimming or Weight Loss programs - due to plans regularly changing and updating, we recommend calculating with the official tools you get as a member to those plans to ensure accuracy of values.

If you wish to share this recipe, then please do so by using the share buttons provided at top of this post.

DO NOT COPY AND/OR PASTE FULL RECIPES OR SCREENSHOTS OF ANY CONTENT FROM SLIMMING EATS TO ANY SOCIAL MEDIA OR WEBSITE, IT IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.

ALL IMAGES AND CONTENT ON SLIMMING EATS ARE COPYRIGHT PROTECTED

Nutritional information etc are an estimate and are to be used for informational purposes only. Ingredients can vary in values from brand to brand and therefore it would be impossible to give accurate information. It is always advised that you calculate values yourself by the ingredients you use and the tools provided to you as a member of the programme you are following.

It is the responsibility of the Reader to assure the products or ingredients they use in any recipes from Slimming Eats are allergen-free (gluten-free, egg-free, soy-free and/or dairy-free, for example). Slimming Eats assumes no liability for inaccuracies or misstatement about products, opinions or comments on this site.

Check Legal section, for Full Disclaimer, Disclosure and Privacy Policy.

Recommended Products

As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.

• 

  Santoku Knife-MAD SHARK Pro Kitchen Knife 7 Inch Santoku Knife,Best Quality German High Carbon Stainless Steel Knife with Ergonomic Handle,Ultra Sharp,Best Choice for Home Kitchen and Restaurant

• 

  TOMORAL Measuring Cups and Spoons

• 

  Staub 28cm Cast Iron Chistera

• 

  Vegetable Chopper

Nutrition Information

Yield 4Serving Size 1 SERVING WITH SPAGHETTI (NO CHEESE)
Amount Per ServingCalories 533Total Fat 5.7gSaturated Fat 1.8gCholesterol 58mgSodium 584mgCarbohydrates 75.7gFiber 6.5gSugar 9.5gProtein 36.8g

Did you make this recipe?

Please leave a comment on the blog or share a photo on Instagram and tag me @slimmingeats