{"id":32800,"date":"2025-06-01T08:00:05","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T07:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.janespatisserie.com\/?p=32800"},"modified":"2025-05-27T13:40:19","modified_gmt":"2025-05-27T12:40:19","slug":"easy-bolognese-recipe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.janespatisserie.com\/2025\/06\/01\/easy-bolognese-recipe\/","title":{"rendered":"Easy Bolognese Recipe"},"content":{"rendered":"

A classic weeknight dinner idea of an easy bolognese recipe – one of my favourite go to dinner ideas for something delicious<\/h2>\n

This is a recipe that has been, surprisingly, very highly requested. A recipe that has been made for generations already and we all have out lovely ways of making it. This is the simple easy bolognese recipe that I make weekly for something delicious <\/p>\n

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Weeknight dinner ideas <\/h3>\n

So, I love bolognese. Yes, it’s quite the famous staple recipe for thousands and thousands of families out there, probably weekly like me, but I do genuinely adore it. It’s a recipe that doesn’t take a tonne of time to make, it’s fresh and packed full of flavour, and is usually a crowd pleaser for basically everyone. <\/p>\n

Along with my macaroni cheese<\/a>, my lasagne<\/a>, or even my sausage pasta bake, <\/a>this bolognese recipe can show how much I adore anything related to pasta. I just love pasta, and I think it’s my favourite carb. I would say I eat a variety of food during the weeknights, but I just don’t get bored of a pasta based meal. <\/p>\n

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Base of the sauce <\/h3>\n

As it hasn’t been long since I posted my lasagne<\/a> recipe, I purposely wanted to post a slightly different base to the ‘sauce’ of this easy bolognese recipe. I want to make it as accessible as possible, and keeping it different to the other sauce means you have two different versions you can follow. <\/p>\n

I start off my easy bolognese recipe with onions, rather than a soffritto (onions, celery and carrots). I wanted to purposely just use onion as it’s easier, and I know a lot of people who don’t like using carrots or celery. Adding in garlic, I like a lot but you can add as much or as little as you want. <\/p>\n

I use red wine (you can substitute for more beef stock), beef stock, and chopped tomatoes for the main sauce part of this delicious rich bolognese sauce. A little tomato puree, and a dash of Worcestershire sauce – an easy and throw together sauce that I just whack into the pan and stir. <\/p>\n

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Meat and flavours <\/h3>\n

For the meat part of this recipe, I nearly always use beef mince. I prefer to use beef mince, but I know a lot of people like to use a mix of a few such as pork and beef, or even lamb, or even turkey if you want a lower fat one. It’s entirely up to you on which mince you use – but I generally use the lower fat beef mince from the supermarket. <\/p>\n

I also add in pancetta, because I adore it in this recipe – but this can be swapped for lardons, or you can leave it out entirely. It adds an extra and deeper flavour that is lovely and salty and I adore it. <\/p>\n

I add Italians herbs, and dried thyme – but you can switch the herbs to mixed herbs, oregano, basil, or anything that you prefer – or increase the volume, or add none at all. A sprinkling of salt and pepper as you should always add for seasoning.<\/p>\n

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Freeze & prep <\/h3>\n

When it comes to a dish like this, it serves a healthy few portions of probably about 6-8 people, maybe even more. Serving sizes on something like a bolognese recipe can really vary so I say a guide of the 6-8 myself. I tend to make a batch of this delicious easy bolognese and then freeze into the portions I am going to use in the future as I don’t have eight people in the house. <\/p>\n

I usually make a batch and eat one portion on the day when it’s freshly made – and then the rest I will portion into freezer proof containers. I let the bolognese cool fully into the containers and then freeze (named and dated) and it freezes for 3+ months. I love a weeknight dinner idea that portions and preps super easy like this one. <\/p>\n

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How to serve <\/h3>\n

There are LOTS of opinions on how you should serve bolognese even just amongst the people that I know. I am not judging anyones methods, I am simply going to say how I have mine – with lots of pasta. I typically have spaghetti, as I like to stir the bolognese sauce through the freshly cooked pasta, and then add a layer of cheddar cheese and parmesan.<\/p>\n

Of course, you can use any pasta you like – not stir it through and serve it on the side, not add any cheese, add even more cheese, etc. I also love a chunk of garlic bread because why not, but again that is up to you. <\/p>\n

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Tips & Tricks <\/h3>\n