An easy Cheat Bolognese sauce with flavor-building hacks that make it taste as though the sauce has been cooking for hours—not under an hour.
Easy Cheat Bolognese sauce: not authentic...but packed with flavor
I have to come clean about something.
This easy Bolognese sauce is not your Italian grandmother's sauce, made lovingly (and laboriously) with an all-day slow cook.
THIS is Flipped-Out Food, where you need to make really good food really fast. So, I've sleuthed out a way to make a sauce that is every bit as flavorful as a slow-cooked Bolognese sauce—in a fraction of the time. You'll need some flavor-building hacks.
Fish sauce: yes, really.
My magic bullet for building flavor into a sauce in short order is Asian fish sauce.
That's really, really not Italian—I know. Let me explain.
Italian recipes call for anchovies, which cook down slowly in olive oil, frequently with garlic, until they melt down completely. In the final sauce, you won't detect the "anchovy" flavor per se, but you DO get a ton of umami flavor, which is what we're after.
I'll let you guess what the primary ingredient in fish sauce is.
Go ahead. I'll wait.
Did you guess fish? You're almost completely right! More specifically, it's anchovy extract. That's right: the work of coaxing all of that wonderful umami flavor out of the anchovies has already been done for us. I add this "awesome sauce" to a LOT of things that aren't even close to Asian cuisine.
Phil wrinkled his nose the first time he sniffed the air after I added fish sauce to a dish. But he LOVED the end result, so now he checks to be sure I've added it.
If you just can't wrap your brain around using Asian fish sauce in an Italian dish, you could use anchovy paste or even liquid aminos as fast alternatives to actual anchovy fillets.
Easy Bolognese Sauce: another quick flavor-building hack
My other magic bullet for quickly building fantastic flavor into tomato-based sauces is tomato paste. Add a couple of tablespoons of this stuff and let it caramelize slightly. Then, add in the wine to deglaze. This packs in even more complex flavors so your sauce tastes as though it was cooked all day.
Chunky or non-chunky?
I've learned that our kids do not like chunks of ANYTHING in their sauce, including tomato, onion, or even sausage.
So, to avoid the spectacle of children industriously picking out every SINGLE chunk on their plate, I buzz an immersion blender through my sauce before serving it to the kids. The resulting texture is actually quite nice. I save chunkier sauces for those nights when Phil and I are dining alone.
Leftovers
You definitely want leftovers of this easy Bolognese sauce because you will want to use it in Lasagna Bolognese or my Baked Lasagna Bowls.
If you don't have time to do it right away, simply freeze your sauce.
Then, pull it out on a weekend or other time when you can spend an hour or so putting together the lasagna.
If you don't like the idea of arduously layering pasta, sauce, ricotta, and mozzarella cheese, there IS an easier way. You can always make a baked pasta casserole with whatever pasta shape you have on hand.
Mix cooked pasta with the meat sauce and ricotta (and an egg to hold it all together), sprinkle on your mozzarella cheese, and bake.
If you enjoy this spin on an Italian classic, be sure to try some of my other Italian-inspired dishes, like Lasagna Bolognese (using your leftover Bolognese Sauce, obvo!), Baked Lasagna Bowls, Pantry Linguine with Clam Sauce, Baked Pasta Casserole, and Pork Scaloppine with Mushroom-Caper Sauce. For vegan options, try my Vegan Pantry Marinara Sauce and Vegan Pantry Tomato Soup with Homemade Croutons!
Without further ado, I leave you with my easy Bolognese sauce recipe. I hope it's as big a hit with your family as it is with mine!
—xoxo Michelle
P.S. For more pantry raid inspiration, check out Easy Pantry Meals – Living Out of Your Pantry (and refrigerator and freezer).
Bolognese Sauce
Yeah, it's a cheat sauce. Sue me. It's yummy and fast. It freezes well, and it can grow up to become really awesome lasagna. You'll want to keep this recipe in your holster for a quick sauce that tastes as though it took hours to make!
Ingredients
- 1 ½ lb. Italian Sausage, (hot or mild)
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, peeled and chopped
- 2 stalks of celery, washed and chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, finely minced
- 1 pinch crushed pepper flakes (optional)
- 1 tablespoon Asian Fish Sauce (I like Three Crabs; optional)
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ cup full-bodied red wine
- 56 oz crushed tomatoes (2 28-oz cans)
- 2 teaspoon dried Italian herbs
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 14 oz plain tomato sauce (optional, see Note)
Instructions
- Sauté the Italian sausage over medium heat until it’s lightly brown and the fat is rendered, 7–8 minutes. Drain off the fat and reserve the meat. Add the olive oil, the pepper flakes, onions, carrots, and celery to the pan over medium heat. Sauté until softened and translucent, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic; sauté another minute. Add the tomato paste and stir well until slightly darkened, about 1 minute. Add the meat back to the pan.
- Raise heat to medium high and add the fish sauce; stir until reduced almost completely. Raise heat to high and add the wine. Reduce almost completely, then add the crushed tomatoes and herbs. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 25 minutes.
- Taste sauce and adjust seasoning to taste with salt and pepper (the amounts stated are a suggested starting point).
- You can serve right away with your favorite cooked pasta. Or, you can store the sauce in the refrigerator up to 3 days or the freezer (use a freezer-safe container) up to 3 months.
Notes
If you like a "saucier" sauce, you can adjust by adding tomato sauce until you reach the consistency you want. A 14-oz. can should be more than enough.
For the wine, I like something big and bold like a cabernet sauvignon. Don't forget: if you wouldn't drink it (I highly recommend that you do!), don't cook with it!
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 12 Serving Size: ~¾ cup of sauceAmount Per Serving: Calories: 287Total Fat: 18gSaturated Fat: 6gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 14gCholesterol: 32mgSodium: 1066mgCarbohydrates: 17gFiber: 4gSugar: 9gProtein: 14g
Nutrition data provided here is only an estimate: if you are tracking this information for medical purposes, please consult a trusted external source. Thanks!
Scarlet says
Thanks for the easy bolognese sauce recipe. The traditional one takes a lot of time which means planning before hand. It will be nice to be able to whip one up more easily!
Michelle says
You're welcome, Scarlet! Thank you for stopping by!
Platter Talk says
Asian fish sauce in Bolognese Sauce? That's a new twist! I'll try it out. I used some fish sauce in preparation of a lamb dish a while back and everyone was crazy for it!
Michelle says
Thanks, Dan! I Googled it when I started using the fish sauce hack regularly: I am definitely not the first to think of it!
Sarah @ Champagne Tastes says
I remember reading a Michael Rhulman book where he suggested thinking "outside the box" when trying to add umami and salt- I think he even mentioned fish sauce! I love that you were able to shorten the time with some fish sauce! Clever!
Michelle says
Thank you, Sarah! It really is a magic bullet.
valentina says
This looks so incredibly cozy and delicious! I want it for dinner!
Michelle says
Thank you, Valentina!
Veena Azmanov says
Ah... ! So cool. I love the twist on the fish sauce.. Never knew that..! Must try next time - Thanks for the recipe
Michelle says
You're welcome, Veena! It's a life-saver!
Cindy Gordon says
This sauce looks delicious! You had me at "easy to make" Our lives can be so busy so its great to find easy to make recipes like this one!
Michelle says
Thanks, Cindy!