Rigatoni Bolognese is a tried and true Italian-inspired pasta recipe that turns out amazing every time! This savory, meaty sauce takes time to build flavor, but is super simple to make!
We love hearty pasta recipes with tons of flavor! Try out these other favorites like Easy Cheese Tortellini Pasta, Baked Feta Tomato Pasta, Tuscan Sausage Pasta, Creamy Garlic Shrimp Pasta, and this delicious Old Fashioned Baked Macaroni and Cheese.
Why This Recipe Works
Savory & Saucy: The flavor combinations in this bolognese sauce are super savory and delicious. The flavor really starts to build with the veggies, garlic and pancetta. Then you add the ground meat, tomatoes and red wine and everything just goes together sooo amazingly! It is savory, meaty, and slightly acidic. This is a very comforting and filling meal that is great to have in your dinner rotation all year round!
Simple to Make: While there are multiple steps in this process that take a bit of time, each step is super straightforward, making rigatoni bolognese quite simple to make. Traditional bolognese sauce is simmered for hours to get all the flavors to perfectly meld, but you don’t have to simmer for that long in order to get an absolutely divine bolognese sauce. If you follow the steps provided here, you will have an amazing homemade pasta dish that is sure to impress!
Ingredients
Rigatoni bolognese uses easy to find, pantry staples for your ease! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Veggies: Onion, Carrots and Celery are finely chopped and added to the pan first along with some olive oil. Traditional bolognese uses the combination of onion, carrots and celery and it adds a ton of flavor and nice addition of veg!
- Garlic: Garlic is always needed in an Italian-inspired tomato sauce! Don’t be shy, you’ll need a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic here.
- Meat: Pancetta, Ground Beef & Ground Pork are all added to the sauce in order to make a meaty, umami flavored sauce.
- Sugar: A little bit of sugar helps to offset the acidity of the tomatoes. I promise your sauce won’t turn out sweet!
- Tomato Paste & Canned Diced Tomatoes: First you will add the tomato paste to the mix and let it brown and caramelize in the pan before adding canned diced tomatoes. I love the brand Mutti for both of these!
- Chicken Broth: To thin the sauce a bit without diluting the flavor, opt for chicken broth.
- Red Wine: Red cooking wine adds a depth of flavor that you will not otherwise get! You can look for cooking wine specifically or use a dry red wine you have on hand.
- Oregano: Dried Oregano is the only herb that you need to add here. There are a lot of flavors already in the sauce and a hint of herb is all you need!
- Milk: Milk makes this sauce a little bit creamier and takes the bite off of the acidic tomatoes.
- Pasta: Rigatoni is amazing here, or you can use any other tube shaped pasta!
- Shredded Parmesan: To serve, top it off with shredded parmesan!
Here’s How to Make It
Step by Step Instructions
- Sauté the Veggies: Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or deep casserole dish over a medium high heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery with a pinch of salt and cook for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft and just starting to color. Stir in the garlic and cook for a further minute until aromatic. (photos 1-2)
- Add Pancetta: Stir in the pancetta and cook, stirring often until it is cooked through but not colored. If it looks like the vegetables or garlic might burn, just turn down the heat and keep on stirring. (photos 3-4)
- Add Meat: Add the ground beef and pork, and stir so it is all broken up and starting to color. Turn the heat up to high and cook, stirring often until the meat is cooked through and has started to brown. Season well with more salt, a little pepper and add the sugar. (photos 5-6)
- Caramelize the Tomato Paste: Stir in the tomato past so that it has coated the meat, cooking for a minute or two to allow it to caramelize. (photo 7)
- Add Tomatoes: Next, add the canned tomatoes, broth and red wine, using a little of the wine to wash the remaining tomato juices from the tin so you can add them to the pot. Stir in the oregano and reduce the heat to medium. (photo 8-9)
- Simmer: Allow the sauce to bubble away on a quite rapid simmer (but not a boil) for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir in the milk and reduce the head to low. Simmer for another 20 minutes. (photo 10)
- Cook Pasta: Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a pot of salted water as per the package instructions. Reserve at least one cup of the pasta water. (photo 11)
- Season: Season the sauce to taste with more salt and pepper, if needed, and remove any portions from the pot you’d like to serve for later before adding the drained pasta and turning the heat back up to medium. Stir, and add a splash of the reserved cooking water. Keep stirring and adding splashes of water until the sauce has become glossy, it coats the pasta and has reached the desired consistency. (photo 12)
- Serve: Serve the rigatoni bolognese in warm bowls topped with the shredded parmesan and some torn fresh basil, if desired.
Expert Tips
- Chop the vegetables to small and uniform sizes! The texture of this dish is improved by having very finely chopped veggies that are in uniform sizes. You want to make sure that the veggies are tender (especially the carrots) by the time the sauce is done cooking!
- Substitute the meat! I like the different flavors and added fat that the ground pork lends, but you can substitute the ground pork with additional ground beef. I don’t recommend substituting it with something like ground chicken or turkey since that might come out a bit try! You can also try using spicy Italian sausage instead of ground pork for a bit of heat!
- Make sure to let the tomato paste cook a few minutes! The tomato paste will release more flavors and deepen in color when it is cooked for a few minutes before any other liquids are added to the pot. Don’t skip that step!
- Rigatoni bolognese is amazing paired with some crusty garlic bread and a simple side salad!
Frequently Asked Questions
Bolognese is an Italian meat based sauce that contains onions, carrots, celery, herbs, garlic, diced tomatoes, wine and whole milk. It is known for having a thick texture. It is great with tube shaped or other small pasta shapes!
Store the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in the microwave until heated through.
To freeze, freeze prior to adding the pasta into the sauce. You can freeze portions or all of it in a freezer safe container for up to 2-3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight prior to warming up in a pot when you are ready to eat it! Make sure the meat and pancetta have not already been frozen before. If so, do not freeze the sauce.
More Italian-Inspired Recipes to Try
- Classic Lasagna
- Creamy Tomato Sausage Penne
- Four Cheese Baked Ziti
- Slow Cooker Spaghetti & Meatballs
- Chicken Parmesan
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Rigatoni Bolognese
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 brown or white onions - finely chopped
- 4 carrots - peeled & finely chopped
- 2 celery sticks - finely chopped
- salt - to taste
- 1 tbsp minced garlic - heaped
- 8 oz pancetta
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 lb ground pork
- ground black pepper - to taste
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 28oz can diced tomatoes - I use fire roasted tomatoes, see note
- 1 ¼ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 1 ¼ cups red cooking wine
- 2 tbsp dried oregano
- ½ cup milk
- 1.5 pounds Rigatoni pasta noodles - or similar tube-shape pasta noodles
- shredded parmesan - for serving
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan or deep casserole over a medium high heat. Add the onions, carrots and celery with a pinch of salt and cook for about 10 minutes until the vegetables are soft and just starting to color. Stir in the garlic and cook for a further minute until aromatic.
- Stir in the pancetta and cook, stirring often until it as cooked through but not colored. If it looks like the vegetables or the garlic might burn, just turn down the heat and keep on stirring.
- Add the ground beef and pork, and stir so it is all broken up and starting to color. Turn the heat up to high and cook, stirring often until the meat is cooked through and has started to brown. Season well with more salt, a little pepper and add the sugar.
- Stir in the tomato paste so that it has coated the meat, cooking for a minute or two to allow it to caramelize.
- Add the canned tomatoes, broth and red wine, using a little of the wine to wash the remaining tomato juices from the tin so you can add them to the pot. Stir in the oregano and reduce the heat to medium.
- Allow the sauce to bubble away on quite a rapid simmer (but not a boil) for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then stir in the milk and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for a further 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the pasta in a pot of salted water as per the package instructions. Reserve at least a cup of the cooking water.
- Season the sauce to taste with more salt and pepper, if needed, and remove any portions from the pot you’d like to save for later before adding the drained pasta and turning the heat back up to medium. Stir, and add a splash of the reserved cooking water. Keep stirring and adding splashes of water until the sauce has become glossy, it coats the pasta and has reached the desired consistency.
- Serve in warm bowls topped with the shredded parmesan, and with some torn fresh basil, if liked.
The 3 adults in my household all liked this dish very much. I will be making it again. Next time, I will probably spice it up a little bit more.
So thrilled to hear that! You can’t go wrong with a little bit more heat with this one, in my opinion! 😉