No.74 The 100 Most Popular Recipes Ever · October 2026

Bolognese Meat Sauce

Made famous by Marcella Hazan

Photo: wordridden on Flickr, CC BY 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons

From The Classic Italian Cook Book, 1973; Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking, 1992.

Marcella's ragù, with milk before the wine and hours on the lowest heat, is the Bolognese most English-language cooks were taught and still make.

Written in our own words and tested in a home kitchen. Get the original in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking.

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 3 tbsp butter, plus 1 tbsp for tossing
• 1/2 cup chopped onion
• 2/3 cup chopped celery
• 2/3 cup chopped carrot
• 3/4 lb (340 g) ground beef chuck (not too lean)
• Salt and black pepper
• 1 cup (240 ml) whole milk
• Whole nutmeg
• 1 cup (240 ml) dry white wine
• 1 1/2 cups canned whole Italian tomatoes, cut up, with their juice
• 1 1/4 to 1 1/2 lb (570 to 680 g) tagliatelle or other pasta
• Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano, for the table

Steps

1. Put the oil, 3 tbsp butter and onion in a heavy pot (enamelled cast iron is best) over medium heat. Cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the celery and carrot and cook 2 minutes more, stirring to coat.
2. Add the beef, a large pinch of salt and a few grinds of pepper. Crumble it with a fork and cook, stirring, just until it's lost its raw red color.
3. Pour in the milk and simmer gently, stirring now and then, until it has bubbled away completely. Grate in about 1/8 tsp nutmeg and stir.
4. Add the wine and simmer until it has evaporated.
5. Add the tomatoes and stir. When they start to bubble, turn the heat down until the sauce barely simmers, with just an occasional bubble breaking the surface.
6. Cook uncovered for 3 hours or more, stirring from time to time. When it starts to dry out and stick, add 1/2 cup water at a time as needed. By the end, there should be no water left and the fat should separate from the sauce. Taste and add salt.
7. Cook the pasta in well-salted water until al dente. Drain and toss at once with the sauce and the remaining 1 tbsp butter. Serve with grated Parmigiano.

Chef's tips

• The milk goes in before the tomatoes so it can protect the meat from the acid.
• It keeps 3 days in the fridge and freezes well. Make a double batch.

This is Chef Amazing's write-up of the dish, tested for a home kitchen. The original is in Essentials of Classic Italian Cooking by Marcella Hazan: get the book, No. 3 on The 100 Greatest Cookbooks.

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