We’ve outlined all the ingredients and directions for you to make the perfect 20-Minute Bolognese. This dish qualifies as a Easy level recipe. It should take you about 30 min to make this recipe. The 20-Minute Bolognese recipe should make enough food for 4 to 6 servings.
You can add your own personal twist to this 20-Minute Bolognese recipe, depending on your culture or family tradition. Don’t be scared to add other ingredients once you’ve gotten comfortable with the recipe! Please see below for a list of potential cookware items that might be necessary for this 20-Minute Bolognese recipe.
Ingredients for 20-Minute Bolognese
- 8 ounces uncooked spaghetti
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
- 2 cooked burgers (3 ounces each), crumbled
- One 28-ounce can crushed or pureed tomatoes
- 1 tablespoon butter, optional
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- 6 large, fresh basil leaves, torn
Directions for 20-Minute Bolognese
- Cook the spaghetti according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Heat the olive oil in a deep skillet over medium heat. Add the onions, and saute until lightly golden, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the meat, tomatoes and butter, if using. Bring to a boil. Season with the salt and pepper. Stir in the basil leaves. Reduce the heat to low, and cook for 20 minutes.
- Add the cooked pasta to the skillet, and toss well to coat. Divide among deep bowls to serve.
Cookware for your recipe
You will find below are cookware items that could be needed for this 20-Minute Bolognese recipe or similar recipes. Feel free to skip to the next item if it doesn’t apply.
- Cooking pots
- Frying pan
- Steamers
- Colander
- Skillet
- Knives
- Cutting board
- Grater
- Saucepan
- Stockpot
- Spatula
- Tongs
- Measuring cups
- Wooden Spoon
Categories in this Recipe
- Bolognese – Bologna (/bəˈloʊnjə/, UK also /bəˈlɒnjə/, Italian: (listen); Bolognese: Bulåggna ; Latin: Bonōnia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its metropolitan area is home to more than 1,000,000 people. It is known as the Fat, Red, and the Learn’d City due to its rich cuisine, red Spanish tiled rooftops, and being home to the oldest university in the western world.Originally Etruscan, the city has been one of the most important urban centres for centuries, first under the Etruscans (who called it Felsina), then under the Celts as Bona, later under the Romans (Bonōnia), then again in the Middle Ages, as a free municipality and signoria, when it was among the largest European cities by population. Famous for its towers, churches and lengthy porticoes, Bologna has a well-preserved historical centre, thanks to a careful restoration and conservation policy which began at the end of the 1970s. Home to the oldest university in the Western world, the University of Bologna, established in AD 1088, the city has a large student population that gives it a cosmopolitan character. In 2000 it was declared European capital of culture and in 2006, a UNESCO “City of Music” and became part of the Creative Cities Network. In 2021 UNESCO recognized the lengthy porticoes of the city as a World Heritage Site.Bologna is an important agricultural, industrial, financial and transport hub, where many large mechanical, electronic and food companies have their headquarters as well as one of the largest permanent trade fairs in Europe. According to the most recent data gathered by the European Regional Economic Growth Index (E-REGI) of 2009, Bologna is the first Italian city and the 47th European city in terms of its economic growth rate. As a consequence, Bologna is also one of the wealthiest cities in Italy, often ranking as one of the top cities in terms of quality of life in the country; in 2020, it ranked 1st out of 107 Italian provinces.
- Tomato – Lycopersicon lycopersicum (L.) H. Karst.Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.The tomato is the edible berry of the plant Solanum lycopersicum, commonly known as a tomato plant. The species originated in western South America and Central America. The Nahuatl word tomatl gave rise to the Spanish word tomate, from which the English word tomato derived. Its domestication and use as a cultivated food may have originated with the indigenous peoples of Mexico. The Aztecs used tomatoes in their cooking at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire, and after the Spanish encountered the tomato for the first time after their contact with the Aztecs, they brought the plant to Europe. From there, the tomato was introduced to other parts of the European-colonized world during the 16th century.Tomatoes are a significant source of umami flavor.The tomato is consumed in diverse ways, raw or cooked, in many dishes, sauces, salads, and drinks. While tomatoes are fruits—botanically classified as berries—they are commonly used as a vegetable ingredient or side dish.Numerous varieties of the tomato plant are widely grown in temperate climates across the world, with greenhouses allowing for the production of tomatoes throughout all seasons of the year. Tomato plants typically grow to 1–3 meters (3–10 ft) in height. They are vines that have a weak stem that sprawls and typically needs support. Indeterminate tomato plants are perennials in their native habitat, but are cultivated as annuals. (Determinate, or bush, plants are annuals that stop growing at a certain height and produce a crop all at once.) The size of the tomato varies according to the cultivar, with a range of 1–10 cm (1⁄2–4 in) in width.
- Spaghetti – Spaghetti (Italian: ) is a long, thin, solid, cylindrical pasta. It is a staple food of traditional Italian cuisine. Like other pasta, spaghetti is made of milled wheat and water and sometimes enriched with vitamins and minerals. Italian spaghetti is typically made from durum wheat semolina. Usually the pasta is white because refined flour is used, but whole wheat flour may be added. Spaghettoni is a thicker form of spaghetti, while capellini is a very thin spaghetti.Originally, spaghetti was notably long, but shorter lengths gained in popularity during the latter half of the 20th century and now it is most commonly available in 25–30 cm (10–12 in) lengths. A variety of pasta dishes are based on it and it is frequently served with tomato sauce or meat or vegetables.
- Main Dish
- Vegetarian – Vegetarianism is the practice of abstaining from the consumption of meat (red meat, poultry, seafood, and the flesh of any other animal), and it may also include abstention from by-products of animal slaughter.Vegetarianism may be adopted for various reasons. Many people object to eating meat out of respect for sentient life. Such ethical motivations have been codified under various religious beliefs, as well as animal rights advocacy. Other motivations for vegetarianism are health-related, political, environmental, cultural, aesthetic, economic, or personal preference. There are variations of the diet as well: an ovo-lacto vegetarian diet includes both eggs and dairy products, an ovo-vegetarian diet includes eggs but not dairy products, and a lacto-vegetarian diet includes dairy products but not eggs. A vegan diet excludes all animal products, including eggs and dairy. Avoidance of animal products may require dietary supplements to prevent deficiencies such as vitamin B12 deficiency, which leads to pernicious anemia. Psychologically, preference for vegetarian foods can be affected by one’s own socio-economic status and evolutionary factors.Packaged and processed foods, such as cakes, cookies, candies, chocolate, yogurt, and marshmallows, often contain unfamiliar animal ingredients, and so may be a special concern for vegetarians due to the likelihood of such additives. Feelings among vegetarians vary concerning these ingredients. Some vegetarians scrutinize product labels for animal-derived ingredients, such as cheese made with rennet, while other vegetarians do not object to consuming them or are unaware of their presence.Semi-vegetarian diets consist largely of vegetarian foods but may include fish or poultry, or sometimes other meats, on an infrequent basis. Those with diets containing fish or poultry may define meat only as mammalian flesh and may identify with vegetarianism. A pescetarian diet has been described as “fish but no other meat”.
