This ultimate spaghetti Bolognese recipe is a true crowd-pleaser, perfect for feeding a family or stocking up the freezer. With its rich, slow-cooked tomato and meat sauce, it's bursting with comforting flavours that only get better over time.
Designed to make your life easier, it’s versatile enough to transform into other dishes like lasagne or chilli. Do future-you a favour and make a big batch of bolognese when you've got a little time. Portion it up and freeze in small batches, so you can have a delicious and nutritious homemade meal in minutes later on when time's more tight.
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Yields:
8 serving(s)
Prep Time:
20 mins
Cook Time:
55 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 15 mins
Cal/Serv:
720
Ingredients
3Tbsp.
olive oil
2
onions, finely chopped
3
garlic cloves, crushed
900g
extra-lean beef mince
2 level tbsp tomato purée
300ml
red wine
2
x 400 g cans chopped tomatoes
2
bay leaves
250g
mushrooms, sliced
2tsp.
Worcestershire sauce
900g
dried spaghetti
100g
Parmesan, finely grated
Directions
Step 1
Heat half the oil in a large pan and fry the onion for 4-5min until golden. Add the garlic and cook for a further 1min.
Step 2
Add the mince and stir-fry for 5-6min until browned all over. Stir in the tomato purée and the red wine, then cover and bring to the boil. Add the tomatoes, bay leaves, mushrooms and Worcestershire sauce, season well and simmer for 40min.
Step 3
Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti in boiling, salted water according to packet instructions. Drain, then return to the pan. Add the remaining oil, season and toss together.
Step 4
Check the seasoning in the bolognese sauce, and add to the pasta, toss well and grate over the Parmesan.
Freeze ahead
Prepare to end of step 2. Cool, transfer to a freezer-safe container or bag and freeze for up to 1 month. To serve, defrost in fridge, reheat in a pan until piping hot and complete recipe.
What can I do with this lovely pot of ragu other than serving it with pasta?
Layer it up in an oven-proof roasting dish with sheets of fresh pasta, then top with a white sauce and cheese for a speedy lasagne. Not got time to make a white sauce? Whisk an egg and plenty of seasoning into a pot of ricotta and use that instead, topped with plenty of Parmesan or mature Cheddar. To spin it into a lovely chilli con carne, add a tin of beans in chilli sauce, or regular kidney beans and a good shake of hot sauce. Serve with rice or soft tacos.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
