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Bolognese Meat Sauce

A rich meat sauce made with butter, olive oil, onion, bacon, carrot, celery, garlic, ground beef, wine, milk, tomatoes, and herbs.

From the Recipes Wiki (Fandom) · 15 ingredients
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Why it works: Carrot and celery match in chemistry and in kitchens. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 10,173 recipes. Both carry myristicin, which smells spice, warm. The science ↓

Bolognese Meat Sauce

6 servings
Time1 1/2-2 hours

Ingredients

Directions

Prepare the base

  1. Heat the butter and olive oil in a heavy saucepan.

  2. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat for 3-4 minutes.

  3. Add the bacon and cook until the onion is translucent.

  4. Stir in the carrot, celery, and garlic and cook 3-4 minutes more.

  5. Add the beef and crumble it into the vegetables with a fork, stirring until the meat loses its red color.

  6. Season with salt and pepper.

Build the sauce

  1. Pour in the wine, raise the heat slightly, and cook until the liquid evaporates, 3-4 minutes.

  2. Add the milk and cook until it evaporates.

  3. Stir in the tomatoes with their juice and the herbs.

  4. Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to low.

Simmer and serve

  1. Simmer uncovered for 1 1/2-2 hours, stirring occasionally.

  2. Serve over pasta.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

1051Calories
49 gProtein
54 gFat
89 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 17 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Beef100g cooked250
Pasta1 cup cooked (140g)220
Milk1 cup (244ml) whole149
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Butter1 tbsp (14g)102
Onion1 medium (110g)44
Bacon1 slice cooked (8g)43
Plum1 medium (66g)30
Carrot1 medium (61g)25
Wine2 tbsp cooking wine (30ml)25
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Celery1 stalk (40g)6
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Thyme1 tsp dried (1.4g)4
Bay Leaf1 leaf (0.6g)2
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Recipes Wiki (Fandom).

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Carrot + celerytop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together10,173 recipes

    Shared aroma: myristicin (spice, warm).

  2. Onion + garlictop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together29,058 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  3. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  4. Carrot + clovetop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together5,873 recipes

    Shared aroma: cuminaldehyde (Spicy, cumin).

  5. Onion + carrottop 6% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together21,601 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Lean ground beef
Provides the main savoury body and meaty texture of the sauce.
Red wine
Adds acidity and depth as it reduces into the sauce.
Plum tomatoes
Supply the liquid and acidity that become the body of the sauce during simmering.
Milk
Softens the acidity of the tomatoes and gives the sauce a smoother, rounder texture.
Onion
Sweetens as it cooks slowly, building a flavour base for the sauce.
Bacon
Adds fat and smoky, savoury flavour to the base.

The step that matters

Cooking off the wine and milk. Letting each liquid fully evaporate before adding the next concentrates flavour and prevents a watery sauce. Adding liquid too early dilutes the browned base and slows reduction.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (butter, olive, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, beef):

  1. Parsleyfits better
  2. Thymefits better
  3. Cuminfits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against butter, olive, onion, carrot, celery, garlic, beef. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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