Easy Ground Lamb Bolognese Recipe (30-minute Sauce)

This easy Ground Lamb Bolognese recipe is a 30-minute meal that tastes gourmet. Our bolognese sauce recipe uses simple ingredients but doesn’t skimp on flavor. It’s the perfect anytime meal.

Lamb Bolognese sauce recipe is all about simple ingredients and NO fancy techniques. It’s such an easy sauce to make but has a depth of flavor in a short amount of time.

Why You’ll Love Our Lamb Bolognese Recipe

This Lamb Bolognese proves that you don’t need 15 ingredients or hours of cooking time to create a dish that you’d be proud to serve anyone anytime.

Wouldn’t you rather sit and enjoy a glass of wine with the people at your table instead of running around stressing whether a meal is going to finish in time? It took me a while to figure that one out. Difficult and time-consuming dishes don’t necessarily equal better dishes!

Mild and flavorful lamb marries with fresh carrots and onions. Add a swirl of pappardelle pasta and you’ve got a complete meal in no time. Our lamb bolognese recipe is the perfect way to enjoy lamb.

Go open the wine because I’m going to show you how easy it is to make. It will be finished by the time you see the bottom of your glass!

Lamb Bolognese Ingredients

This is a smaller batch recipe perfect for date night. It can be doubled or even tripled.

• Ground Australian Lamb – Mild and flavorful lamb is so lean that it doesn’t need to be drained. Every bit of the flavor stays right where it should, in your recipe.
• Carrots – I chopped up a few carrots to add flavor, texture, and pretty color to our meat sauce.
• Onions – Yellow onions is what I used. You can use what you like to cook with.
• Seasonings – Italian seasoning, salt, and pepper were all this dish needed. If you don’t have Italian seasoning, dried herbs such as oregano or marjoram and a bay leaf would be delicious too. 
• Garlic – Minced fresh garlic is what we prefer. You could definitely use a jar of pre-minced garlic for convenience.
• Tomato paste – A very small amount adds richness to the bolognese meat sauce.
• Pasta water – Save a little pasta water to thin out your sauce if needed.
• Garnish – I love adding garnishes for color and another opportunity for flavor. A few sprinkles of fresh herbs such as parsley and some grated Parmesan Reggiano will do.
• Red Pepper Flakes (optional) – If you like spice, add 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper. Let it simmer and adjust the heat if you like it spicier.

How To Make Ground Lamb Bolognese

Since this recipe comes together quickly, I recommend that you pre-chop the carrots and the onion. You could start your pasta water now too. You will not believe how fast you have a delicious sauce with intense flavor.

1. Using a medium-sized saucepan, combine the ground lamb, carrots, onion, salt, and pepper. Allow the meat mixture to cook over medium heat until the meat is no longer pink.
2. Add the minced garlic, Italian seasoning, and tomato paste. Stir to combine. If the sauce is really thick, add some pasta water to thin it.

Note: Even though this rich sauce only takes 30 minutes to make, you can cook it over a slow simmer for much longer. It’s a great way to get extra flavor. Add additional liquid once the sauce cooks down. We used water but could use a red bottle of wine.

Tips for Amazing Bolgnese

• Chop the carrots and onion into small pieces so that they don’t take as long to cook and are ready when the lamb is cooked through. This is a recipe where great knife skills shine, but don’t be intimidated! Cut these ingredients into similar sizes for best results.
• Use a skillet or braiser with a large bottom so the ingredients are spread out. The ingredients will cook quicker and at the same rate.
• Cook the pasta al dente in a large pot of salted water. It flavors the pasta, and the hot bolognese sauce will finish cooking the pasta. You don’t want overcooked mushy pasta!
• Garlic isn’t added initially because it can burn very easily.
  • Garlic cloves only takes a couple of minutes to cook and adds amazing flavor so it’s added towards the end of the recipe.
• This Bolognese recipe doesn’t need much salt.
  • We salt the pasta water and the parmesan cheese garnish adds enough salt to this recipe in my opinion.

How to Serve Lamb Bolognese

I prefer to mix some of the meat sauce into a large bowl holding the cooked pasta and add just enough sauce to coat the noodles.

Once I plate the pasta, I will add more lamb bolognese meat sauce to the top of the pasta and add a fresh parsley garnish. Serve grated Parmesan Reggiano at the table.

A small green salad, a loaf of Italian Bread, Focaccia Bread, or this quick and delicious Garlic Bread Recipe, and dinner is done. A glass of Pinot Noir or Cabernet wine usually graces our table too.

Equipment Needed for Ground Lamb Pasta

• Pasta cooker – We like being able to just lift our pasta out of the cooking water when our pasta is done. It’s less likely to overcook. And, I’m also able to save our pasta water for thinning the sauce when we use a pasta cooker.
• Box Grater – The cheese is more likely to be fresh if you grate it yourself. Plus, we like seeing the shreds of fresh cheese on our bolognese so using a grater is the way to go for us.
• Braiser Pan – This pan is an enameled cast iron. It’s a larger heavy-bottom pot so all of your ingredients cook at the same rate. We use a wooden spoon so we don’t scratch the bottom of the pan. Clean-up is a breeze too!

How to Store Leftovers

What is the Best Way to Store Lamb Bolognese?

Store the bolognese in a covered dish in the refrigerator. I like to keep the leftover sauce separate from the leftover pasta (which has already been mixed with a little bit of sauce during recipe preparation) so that everyone can reheat exactly the amount of each they like.

You can reheat the bolognese briefly in the microwave or a saucepan on the stove. You can add a little water if you need to thin the sauce.

Can I freeze Ground Lamb Bolognese?

This Aussie lamb meat sauce freezes beautifully in an airtight container for 3 to 4 months. And, while pasta freezes too, we recommend cooking it fresh while you thaw and reheat the sauce in a skillet or saucepan.

How Long Will Ground Lamb Pasta last in the refrigerator?

Lamb Bolognese sauce will last for up to three days in an airtight container in the refrigerator.

Ground Lamb Bolognese FAQ

What is the best pasta to use for lamb bolognese and how much dry pasta do we need?

We generally use pappardelle with bolognese. It does a good job clinging to the meat sauce and these noodles aren’t generally thick so the lamb bolognese meat sauce shines through. Use your favorite pasta. You could also use rigatoni pasta or even spaghetti. You will need one pound of pasta for one pound of meat sauce. This recipe is all about enjoying the ease of the meal.

What is the difference between Bolognese and Ragu?

Ragu is a meat-based sauce that uses lots of tomatoes. Bolognese uses meat too but does not use many tomatoes as such. The primary ingredients of ragu are meat, tomatoes, and red wine. The primary ingredients of this bolognese are meat and chopped veggies.

If you enjoy this recipe, here are a few more I think you’ll like

• Savory Vegetable Lamb Soup
• Lamb Pot Pie with Puff Pastry Crust
• Lentil Chili – Instant Pot Recipe
• Lamb Meat Buns Recipe

We love lamb and you can find all of our lamb recipes here!

If you’re still looking for amazing lamb recipes, jump on over to the True Aussie Lamb website.

They have some chef creations using all of the lamb cuts available and more tips to cook lamb. There is also an interactive cooking tool that shows you how easy it is to cook lamb and will help you create your own dish.

Don’t Forget To Come Back And Let Me Know How Your Lamb Bolognese Recipe Turned Out!

Did you enjoy this recipe? Don’t forget to pin it for later and follow me on Pinterest for more delicious recipes like this one!

This post was originally sponsored by True Aussie Lamb but the opinions here, and the love I have for their products, are all my own.

What is Aussie Lamb?

I used to think that True Aussie Lamb was a brand. It’s not. They support all of the lamb producers in Australia.

Why look for Australian Lamb?

• Australian lamb is raised on natural pastures which produces a mild and flavorful lamb and it’s tender, lean, and healthy! It’s also so easy and versatile to use.
• It’s readily available in the United States. Australian lamb is actually the #1 source of lamb in the US and you may have already seen it in your local supermarket. You can go to their website to see who carries it in your area and to learn more about True Aussie Lamb.