Italian American Bolognese Sauce is a rich and meaty sauce made with ground beef, hot breakfast sausage, red wine, and creamy Parmesan. Perfect for cozy dinners, freezer meals, or impressing dinner guests.

You’ll Love This Recipe Because…

It’s the ultimate comfort food—hearty, saucy, and deeply flavorful.
Uses breakfast sausage for a spicy, savory twist on the classic.
Freezes beautifully for make-ahead dinners or future entertaining.
Feels fancy but is surprisingly easy to make with simple pantry staples.

What Is Italian American Bolognese?

This version of Bolognese leans into bold flavor with a mix of ground beef and hot breakfast sausage, lots of aromatics, and a generous pour of Italian red wine. It’s simmered low and slow until thick and luscious, then finished with Parmesan and milk for a rich, velvety texture. Think Sunday sauce—but with a kick.

I finished the Windy City Series, from Liz Tomforde, and Rio’s Mom’s Bolognese sauce didn’t leave my mind! I’ve grown up with my aunt’s spaghetti sauce, which is fabulous. But, I knew I wanted my own, so I crafted my own version!

Tips & Tricks

Wine Matters: Use a good Chianti or Italian red wine you’d enjoy sipping. It adds depth!
Low & Slow: Let this simmer for at least an hour. The longer, the better. I baked mine in the oven for two hours.
Big Batch Friendly: Double the recipe and freeze half in flat zip-top bags. I ended up with dinner for my family the next day, as well as 2 quarts of sauce in my freezer for later!
Cheese Finish: Stir in Parmesan and milk at the end for that creamy, irresistible finish.

What to Serve With This Bolognese

Toss with tagliatelle, pappardelle, or rigatoni
Serve over creamy polenta or mashed potatoes (I’d serve mine over Goat Cheese Grits!)
Pair with a side salad and garlic bread
Glass of red wine + tiramisu for dessert = chef’s kiss
This would also be phenomenal in the Italian Triple Dipper!

You’ll notice I haven’t published any “finished” photos of the sauce being used. I made this to make a bunch for my freezer. You’ll notice several recipes being added to the website over the next little bit to showcase how you can use this sauce in various recipes!

Tools & Equipment

Dutch oven or heavy-bottomed pot, this is my favorite Le Creuset Pot!
Wooden spoon
Chef’s knife & cutting board
Food Chopper or Food Processor

Tips for Making the BEST Sauce

I’d love to talk to you about my tips and tricks for making the best bolognese sauce for the first time.

This recipe starts with a pound of ground beef and a pound of breakfast sausage pressed flat into a COLD pot. Why do I do this? This allows the meat to brown, and get those good crusty bits, before you go in and break it up.

I do this anytime I cook breakfast sausage or ground beef! It’s really a great little tip that might just change your cooking world!

Next, I buy pre-diced carrots, celery, and onions. I know, I know! But, honestly, it’s cheaper than buying all the ingredients “raw” and not ready to go.

Then, I’ll put the containers of carrots, celery, and onions into a my food chopper. If I had a big food processor, I’d dump them all in, but, I only have this cordless food chopper (which I LOVE!!), so it was done in batches.

Once your meat is cooked-ish, you can add in your sofrito. Stir that around to let everything cook and the water from the carrots, celery, and onions evaporate.

Now, you’ll add in your garlic and tomato paste. One of the reason I add the garlic later is so that it doesn’t burn. I find that when you “suspend” the garlic in the tomato paste, it doesn’t burn and get that bitter after taste.

You want to cook your tomato paste for 2 minutes, while stirring around the pot. The tomato paste will coat all the meat and veggies, and you’ll get a deeper fond on the bottom of the pot.

This is when you add in your wine! Traditionally, a bolognese is made with white wine. I prefer red wine, because I’m me! I use the acid from the red wine to pull up all those browned bits on the bottom of the pan (that’s called fond!), and stir everything around.

After this has cooked a couple of minutes, you can pour in your tomato passata. I don’t like chunks of tomatoes in my sauce — I like a smooth sauce!

Once this is all stirred in you’ll add in your spices and bay leaves, then pop this whole HEAVY pot in your oven for 2 hours at 300˚.

You might be wondering why I don’t just let it simmer on my stovetop.

Two Reasons:

First, my stove is an old electric coil stovetop with very uneven heat. The oven helps keep the pot at a steady temperature, allowing everything to simmer evenly.

Second, I can leave it and forget it. Not much is going to happen in the oven. Making these two hours hands off cooking. Yay!

FAQ

Can I use mild sausage instead of hot?
Yes! It’ll be a little less spicy but still super flavorful.

Can I make this ahead of time?
Absolutely. It gets even better the next day. Store in the fridge for up to 4 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Do I have to use red wine?
You can substitute beef broth, but wine gives the sauce its signature depth.