Jeremy’s Best Bolognese Sauce
October 10, 2020 | By Jeremy Scheck | 18 Comments
Bolognese, meat sauce, ragù — here is my favorite based on the traditional sauce from Bologna (hence “bolognese”).
Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
- 3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1-2 yellow onions, diced
- 2-4 carrots, diced
- 2-4 ribs of celery, diced
- Large pinch of kosher salt
- 2-5 cloves of garlic, sliced
- Red pepper flakes, to taste
- Dried oregano, to taste
- Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 oz tomato paste (about half a tube)
- 1.5 lbs ground beef (but you could use turkey or pork)
- 14 oz San Marzano whole peeled tomatoes (about half a large can)
- 1 cup dry wine, white or red works
- 2 cups of water, divided (we will use one cup at a time)
- 1 cup of milk (I know it's weird but it's traditional)
- A drizzle of good balsamic (optional, not traditional)
- Fresh or dry pasta, parmigiano reggiano, and fresh parsley for serving.
Instructions
- Heat up the olive oil in a large pot or dutch oven. Add the diced onion, carrots, and celery. Add the pinch of salt and sauté on medium heat for about 10 minutes until they soften and turn lightly golden.
- Add in the sliced garlic, red pepper flakes, oregano, and black pepper. Sauté 2-3 more minutes so the flavor can develop. Add in the tomato paste and cook over medium heat 1-2 more minutes.
- Push the veggies to the side and add in the ground beef. Let it get brown on the bottom before you mash it up with a wooden spoon. Add in the tomatoes (traditionally, they add very little to no tomato, but I much prefer the addition) and break them up with the spoon.
- Add in the wine and simmer for 10 minutes, until it seems to have reduced.
- Add in one cup of water and simmer on the lowest flame for an hour, until it mostly cooks off.
- Add in the second cup of water and simmer a second hour (stirring occasionally).
- Add in the milk and simmer a third hour. Milk may seem like a weird ingredient but it adds a bit of sweetness and tang when it is cooked like this and helps tenderize the meat.
- Skim the excess fat off the top if desired. Taste for salt. Add the balsamic vinegar if desired.
- Cook your pasta a bit under al dente so you can finish cooking it in the sauce with some pasta water and parmigiano reggiano. Enjoy with a loved one.
Jeremy Scheck spent high school perfecting his signature cupcakes, making quiches and coffee cake by the dozen at a local bakery, and teaching cooking demonstrations at Williams-Sonoma. As a 10th grader in 2016, he began documenting his favorite recipes on a blog called The After School Bakery. In college, Jeremy learned to make 50 gallons of ice cream in the food science lab, how to prune grape vines in the teaching vineyard, the best way to milk a cow in Northern Italy, and why film photography is an art worth saving. As a sophomore in 2020, he traded blog photos for video and became a TikTok culinary sensation. Jeremy has been featured on the Today show, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, BBC Radio, People, and Access Hollywood, among others. Jeremy is a graduate of Cornell University with a double major in Spanish and Italian, and significant coursework in food science. He lives in Brooklyn, NY. Learn more about Jeremy.
OMG i must make this it looks phenomenal!
Making this right now and it smells amazing! Can’t wait to eat!
I’m making this tomorrow night! Can’t wait!
I have NEVER made bolognese before, but I made your recipe tonight and it was SO good. Thank you for the recipe.
Came out great! Thank you for the recipe Jeremy!
Currently on hour 1 of the simmer and I can’t wait…smells and looks so good already!
This was amazing! Worth the time! Honestly best bolognese I’ve ever made! Love the addition of the balsamic at the end!
Delicious. Everyone enjoyed it. I used pork and white wine. I might use a tad less wine the next time or burn it off longer…
Would it be better to use a non-dairy milk or leave the milk out altogether if we can’t eat dairy?
I think just leave it out, but maybe use water to let it cook down the same amount of time.
I used oat milk and it still tasted good!
Hi! Would it still work if i leave out the wine and carrots?
What meat substituted could I use for this? And would I cook for the same amount of time?
This takes a long time, but it’s worth the wait. Delicious!
I LOVE the recipe, made it twice already with your egg pasta Tagliatelle and it was amazing!
would love to try this but is there a way to get the recipe in metric measurements? I always mess up when i try to convert everything myself
My roommates and I make this recipe with Impossible meat instead of beef all the time, it’s delicious 🙂
Yummy