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Low-Carb, Keto Bolognese – easy to make, meaty, chunky and flavorful, served over zucchini noodles and topped with cheese. You can serve it with zero pasta or shirataki noodles for low carb dieters or over regular pasta if you don’t follow the Keto diet.
This homemade bolognese sauce is perfect for meal prepping and comes together quickly. You can use ground beef, veal, pork or a combination of pork and beef, depending on your personal taste.
What is Bolognese?
Since I’m not Italian and definitely not an expert on Italian cooking, in simple Bolognese is red (tomato) pasta sauce to which minced (or ground) meat is added. It is often used to dress pastas like tagliatelle, pappardelle or in lasagna. It is slow cooked on the stove, prepared following various cooking techniques like sauteeing, braising or sweating.
Can you eat spaghetti while on Keto Diet?
Trying to follow the Keto diet but you miss your favorite spaghetti dish? Don’t worry, while spaghetti is a definite “no-no” on Keto, there are quite a few low-carb alternatives, both vegetable ones or pastas made with low-carb flours, cheese and eggs.
So technically you can not have spaghetti on Keto, but you can enjoy other low-carb alternatives.
Spaghetti Bolognese made without regular pasta is a great, hearty, low-carb meal.
Is Bolognese Keto friendly?
Some may argue that tomatoes are not “Keto” and not “Keto Friendly”, but my personal opinion is that if you follow the recipe and serving suggestion you are going to end up with a great, super delicious low-carb pasta meal.
It is all about the amount of ingredients and the way you serve the pasta. So yes, Bolognese sauce could be Keto Friendly. You can have Bolognese on Keto diet.
How many calories does beef bolognese have?
!!! 4 net carbs per 1/2 cup and 162 calories for the Keto Bolognese Pasta Sauce Only !!! Add the calories and carbs from the pasta alternative that you decide to use. All of my low-carb readers are extremely competent about carb calculation and macros.
What kind of low carb pasta can you cave with this Keto Bolognese Sauce?
You can make your own low-carb pasta at home, following one of the many recipes on the internet. I still have not had a chance to experiment with homemade Keto pasta, but this is definitely on my list. So once I create a good low-carb pasta recipe, that is worth sharing, I’ll post it on my blog.
Other low carb alternatives, that are not homemade pastas:
- Spaghetti Squash
- Zucchini Noodles (my favorite with this Keto Bolognese recipe)
- Spiralized Cucumbers
- Eggplant pasta
- Cabbage Noodles
- Cauliflower Cous Cous (aka rice)
- Shirataki Noodles – made from a type of fiber known as glucomannan, which comes from the konjac plant
- Tofu noodles
- Seaweed Pasta
What ingredients do you need to make Keto Bolognese?
- Ground Meat (preferably beef, but pork and veal or a combination of beef and pork will work)
- salt
- black pepper
- garlic powder
- tomato paste
- tomatoes
- onion
- oregano
- sugar
- basil
- red pepper flakes
- red wine (optional)
Please refer to my Zucchini Carbonara Recipe to see about different ways to make zoodles.
How to make Bolognese Sauce?
- In a large pot heat olive oil. Add the ground beefand cook for 4 minutes, breaking it down with a wooden spoon, to crumble while cooking.
- Add the onion, salt, garlic, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, sweetener. Next add the tomato paste and tomatoes. Cover and cook for 10 minutes.
- Using a wooden spoon stir and press the tomatoes to break into smaller pieces.
- Cook uncovered for 15-20 more minutes on medium-low heat, until the sauce it thick and tomatoes are cooked and tender, stirring occasionally. If the tomatoes start to splash, cover the pot leaving a gap on one end.
What kind of meat to use in this low-carb bolognese sauce?
While Bolognese Sauce is traditionally made with ground beef, I personally like making it with a combination of ground beef and pork. It is all personal choice and the fat from the pork is a good fat, if you are on the Keto Diet.
Plus, it brings great flavor. Ground veal could be used instead of ground beed. You can use leaner or less lean beef, depending on your preference.
- ground beef
- lean ground beef + ground pork
- veal
- pork + veal
- ground veal + ground beef
Can you Make this Keto Bolognese Sauce In the Slow Cooker?
Yes! Making this Keto meat sauce in the slow cooker is just a great idea! I’ve shared the stove top method, but I’ve also made in in the slow cooker, so I thought mentioning it will be helpful.
The crock pot method for making this Keto Bolognese Sauce is actually very easy and cleaner. No splashes, once you put the lid on. Also the slower you cook the tomatoes and meat together, the better the sauce will taste.
First: You need to cook the ground meat in olive oil in a skillet on the stove top for 3-4 minutes, crumble it and transfer to the slow cooker.
Second: Add the rest of the ingredients.
Cover.
Third: Cook on low for 2-3 hours, until the tomatoes are tender and cooked through. Mash with a potato masher to break any small pieces.
How far in advance can you make homemade bolognese?
This Keto bolognese can be made up to 5 days in advance, kept in the fridge in an air tight container. this makes it perfect for meal planning. After 5 days it may start to get bad, because there are no preservatives in it.
Can you freeze Bolognese Pasta Sauce?
You can definitely freeze this Bolognese sauce, but make sure you do it without the pasta! The sauce has to be completely cooled and place in freezer bags or containers. Freeze for up to 1 month. Reheat on the stove top or in the microwave.
More Keto and Pasta Recipes:
Here is a list of some low-carb pasta recipes, that are great alternatives to regular spaghetti and taste amazing!
- Chicken Alfredo Spaghetti Squash
- This Bison Bolognese from Perchance to Cook is a delicious meat sauce recipe made using ground bison, tomatoes, and Italian spices.
- Zucchini Carbonara
This Bolognese could be served with Shirataki noodles as well. Learn the best method how to cook Shirataki noodles in this post from Wholesome Yum.
Keto Bolognese
Video
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lb ground beef
- 28 oz peeled whole tomatoes
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1/2 cup onion, chopped
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp basil
- 2 tsp sweetener, erythritol for Keto, sugar for non keto
- 2 tsp salt, more to taste
- 3 oz red wine, optional
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes, optional
- 6 zucchini, spiralized
- 2/3 cup grated Parmesan
Instructions
- To make the Bolognese sauce:
- In a large pan (or pot) heat olive oil. Add the meat and cook for 4 minutes, breaking it down with a wooden spoon, to crumble while cooking.
- Add the onion, salt, garlic, oregano, basil, red pepper flakes, sweetener. Add the tomato paste and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Using a wooden spoon stir and press the tomatoes to break into smaller pieces.
- Cook uncovered for 20-25 more minutes on medium-low heat, until the sauce it thick and tomatoes are cooked and tender, stirring occasionally. The longer you cook the meat and tomatoes together, the better the sauce will taste.
- Spiralize zucchini (alternatively use regular or low-carb pasta). (You can cook the zucchini in a pan with a little bit of oil for 3-5 minutes or serve them raw).
- Serve zucchini noodles with the Bolognese sauce and topped with cheese.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This is one of our family’s favorite meals!! The adults and kids all love it. Quick question. Is this considered gluten free? We are having friends over for dinner who cannot eat gluten and I’m wondering if I can serve this?
Any chance you can fix the website so that when I click metric it actually changes it to metric rather than just take me to the top of the page?
Clicking jump to recipe then just shows in US measurements.
Hi Paul, I’m trying to reproduce the issue, but on my computer, when clicking on metric, it stays there. Could you refresh the page or clear the cache? I’ll look into some other possible issues to fix the problem on your side.
So good. My husband and I loved it. I doubled the recipe and we will have it all week. The red pepper flakes and the wine are really nice touches. I had some fresh oregano from my garden and used some dried basil I had put on from last year.
keto bolognese. Ingrediants: sugar. What kind of monster puts sugar in bolognese, let alone a keto receipe. you absolute mandman
Have you heard of “Keto sugar”? If yes, then this is what the recipe calls for.
Not a big issue as I make bolognaise (non keto) all the time… But you may want to add a step for adding the wine for those that decide to use that option.
Thank you! I’m going to do it.