The Easiest Bolognese Sauce, Ever!

Today is one of those days where you just feel like staying in your pajamas and laying in your cozy bed for hours. Do you know those kind of days? The kind where you wake up in the morning and it seems like the sun never came up. Where it’s overcast outside and there’s a persistent drizzle that just won’t stop. On days like these I almost always crave a meal that’s comforting and full of flavor. I have a recipe for The Easiest Bolognese Sauce, Ever! that will most definitely satisfy your craving.

Rainy Day on the Lake

Not only is my bolognese sauce delicious, but it’s simple to prepare. That’s a win/win situation because the less time you spend in the kitchen means the more time you have in your jammies! Or you could use this time to tackle something on your “To Do List”. I personally used this extra time to make lunches for “the boys” for the following day. Have you been using the “Prioritizing My To-Do List” printable? It’s just one of the freebies I made to help you on the road to ORGANIZATIONAL bliss. Make sure to subscribe to my site to receive it. 🙂

In addition to being comforting and scrumptious, this easy bolognese sauce is a healthy option you can add to your weekly meal rotation. I made this particular bolognese sauce with ground chicken breast and substituted the regular pasta for spaghetti squash. Spaghetti squash is currently in season during the fall and winter months so it was on sale at the grocery store.

Over the summer, when summer squash was in season, I used my spiralizer to make zucchini pasta to go with my bolognese. I’m absolutely in love with my spiralizer. You can literally spiralize a zucchini in 10 seconds flat. If you don’t have a spiralizer try checking out the produce section of your grocery store. My store carries zucchini spiralized for you. Pretty awesome!

If you don’t care about the calories, and vegetables scare you, substitute regular ground beef in your bolognese and serve it over any pasta you choose. You can really be naughty and add a side of Texas Cheese Toast. Delicious.

So what do I need to make The Easiest Bolognese Sauce, Ever!

1 pound ground meat (I used ground chicken breast), 15 oz can tomato sauce, 6 oz can tomato paste, 1 tbsp chili powder (adds just enough heat), 1 ½  tsps salt, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, ½ tsp pepper, 2 garlic cloves (minced), 1 dried bay leaf, 1 large carrot (chopped), 1/2  yellow onion (chopped), 1 tbsp dried parsley, 1 spaghetti squash per 2 people

First thing you need to do is turn your oven on to 350 degrees to roast your spaghetti squash. You’ll need 1 spaghetti squash for every two people. I ended up getting two because we are a family of three and had one half of a squash left over. Grab a baking sheet and line it with aluminum foil. Spray the foil with cooking spray. You’ll have to cut your spaghetti squash in half to cook them. Warning! This takes a ton of elbow grease. The center of a spaghetti squash has seeds so you’ll have to scoop them out.

Sprinkle the squash with salt and pepper and lay them cut side down on the baking sheet. Put in the oven and roast for about an hour. You’ll know it’s ready when it’s tender all the way out to the skin of the squash.

The bolognese sauce is beyond easy. Add all the ingredients listed in the ingredients section except the spaghetti squash into your pot. Take note that some of the ingredients need to be chopped 🙂 You don’t have to brown the meat, saute the veggies, or any of that crazy stuff. Told you this was easy. Put a lid on it and cook over medium heat for an hour which is the same time it will take for the squash to cook. Perfection, right?!?! Make sure to stir every 10-15 minutes so you don’t burn the bottom.

Once the ground chicken starts to cook you can break it up with your spoon so it distributes throughout the sauce. You want the sauce to thicken up but if it thickens up too much just add a little bit of water. When the sauce is finished cooking, pull out the dried bay leaf and send it to the trash.

After the hour is finished you can pull the spaghetti squash out of the oven. It will be extremely hot so you can either wait a little until you can handle it without burning your fingers off, or you can use a kitchen towel to hold the squash. Totally up to you! Take a fork and start pulling away at the flesh of the squash. It will look like spaghetti, duh!

Put some spaghetti squash on your plate, spoon bolognese sauce on top and sprinkle with some parmesan cheese if that’s your style. It’s definitely ours.

And Viola! You just made the Easiest Bolognese Sauce, Ever!

Slightly modified from this recipe  featured on the Food Network.

*A couple of notes:

I never have large carrots in my refrigerator but I always have baby carrots or matchstick carrots for salads and lunch boxes. Listen, a carrot is a carrot. Just chop up what you think would be equivalent to a large carrot and you’re fine. No one will know!

I used a dried bay leaf in this recipe. You can find them where the seasonings are at your grocery store. You can get fresh bay leaves in your produce department but I find that I can never use all the leaves in the package before they go bad.  I opt for the dried version instead. I have used dried and fresh bay leaves in this bolognese sauce and didn’t taste a difference.