A thick, stick-to-your-ribs, meaty sauce traditionally perfumed with red wine, and chicken or beef bone broth or stock that's often made with three types of meat (often pancetta, veal, and beef), bolognese is an Italian ragù that's brightened with the paste of sun-ripened tomatoes and mellowed by stirring in milk before it gently simmers on the back burner for at least an hour. We simplified this robust, cozy dish to make it less fussy to make on a weeknight, but still be full of thick, meaty flavor. This Whole30, no-dairy bolognese uses only five ingredients and is ready to devour in about 40 minutes.

Shortcut 5-Ingredient Whole30 Bolognese 

 

Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 8

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Heat a large pan over medium-high heat. Add cubed pancetta to the pan. Cook and stir frequently until the pancetta is crispy and browned, about 5 minutes.
  • Remove the cooked pancetta from the pan. Drain a little bit of the rendered fat from the pan, if desired (we kept it in!).
  • Put pan back on heat and add ground beef to the pan. Break up the ground beef with a wooden spatula (tip: A metal potato masher works well for this job, too!) until the meat is separated into smaller chunks. 
  • Cook meat until fully browned, about 7 to 10 minutes, breaking the meat up into smaller bits as it cooks.
  • Add diced onion and diced carrot to ground beef mixture, stirring well to incorporate. Let vegetables cook until soft, about 4 to 5 minutes.
  • Pour in jar of Primal Kitchen Roasted Garlic Marinara Sauce. Add cooked pancetta back into the pan. Stir the sauce and pancetta into the meat until well combined.
  • Reduce heat to medium-low and allow sauce to simmer for 20 minutes. 
  • Serve on top of spiralized veggie noodles, or spoon on top of roasted or grilled zucchini or eggplant slices.  

Shortcut 5-Ingredient Whole30 Bolognese

 

Nutritional Information (per serving*):

Calories: 207

Carbs: 9 grams

Fat: 12 grams

Protein: 15 grams

Nutritional information calculated using Cronometer.

*Nutritional information includes sauce recipe only.

You might like these other Whole30 recipes:

IF YOU LIKED THIS...
You'll Also Love These Recipes

Adding this recipe to your rotation? Don't stop there. Keep the deliciousness coming with these other crave-worthy dishes cooked up in the Primal Kitchen.

A white baking dish filled with Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip made with Primal Kitchen Original Buffalo Sauce. Chips, pretzels, and celery and carrot sticks in the background. Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip
5 MIN PREP TIME • 25 MIN TOTAL TIME • 10 SERVINGS
With just four core ingredients, this tailgate-ready buffalo chicken dip is super simple to make! Our plant-based Original Buffalo Sauce is the MVP and creamy mayo backs up this snack play, making it a hearty game-day appetizer your watch party team will go wild over.  
A white bowl filled with an autumn salad of bacon, cranberries, pecans and more, with a bottle of Primal Kitchen Poppyseed Dressing in the background. Autumn Salad with Poppyseed Dressing
20 MIN PREP TIME • 50 MIN TOTAL TIME • 6 SERVINGS
As customizable as it is cozy, this delicious salad combines the season’s best harvest—think crisp apples, buttery pecans, and creamy sweet potatoes—with a savory poppy seed dressing made from real ingredients you’ll love. It’s like a crisp fall day in a bowl!  For a more substantial meal with an extra rich flavor, add goat cheese or feta and top with grilled chicken.
A sheet pan of chicken and vegetables for fajitas Sheet Pan Chicken Fajitas
15 MIN PREP • 6 SERVINGS • 60 MIN TOTAL TIME
This no-mess, no-fuss chicken dinner is as easy as it gets. You simply preheat the oven, chop some vegetables, season the chicken, then pop it in the oven. It’s the perfect weeknight recipe to make when you don’t want to wash a bunch of dishes or spend a lot of time thinking about what to cook.
BROWSE MORE RECIPES