This Gnocchi with Bolognese Sauce is a cozy pasta dinner made with soft potato gnocchi and a slow-simmered meat sauce of ground beef, ground pork, carrot, celery, onion, red wine, tomatoes, and a splash of milk.

The sauce turns thick and silky, and the gnocchi soak it up in every bite.

It’s a great make-ahead Sunday dinner, a freezer-friendly meal prep option, and an easy way to feed a crowd on a cold night.

If you love a good meat sauce over pasta, these are worth a look:

Ingredients You’ll Need

A mix of beef and pork gives the Bolognese sauce more depth than beef alone, but all beef works fine if that’s what you have. Store-bought potato gnocchi is a totally fair shortcut here, since the sauce is the main event.

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 medium carrot, finely diced
1 celery stalk, finely diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb ground beef (80/20)
1/2 lb ground pork
1 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 can (28 oz) crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup whole milk
1 bay leaf
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1 1/2 lbs potato gnocchi, homemade or store-bought
1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for serving
Fresh basil or parsley, for garnish

Directions

Heat the olive oil and butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat.
Add the onion, carrot, and celery with a pinch of salt and cook, stirring often, for 8 to 10 minutes.
You want the vegetables very soft and just starting to turn golden, not browned.
Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds until fragrant.
Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the ground beef and pork.
Break the meat into very small pieces with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 6 to 8 minutes.
Keep going until it loses all its pink color and some bits start to brown on the bottom of the pot.
Season with the salt and pepper.
If there’s a lot of fat in the pot, spoon off all but about 2 tablespoons (a little fat carries flavor, but too much makes the sauce greasy).
Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 to 2 minutes until it darkens to a brick red.
Pour in the red wine and scrape up all the browned bits stuck to the pot.
Let it bubble for 2 to 3 minutes until most of the wine has cooked off and the raw alcohol smell is gone.
Add the crushed tomatoes, milk, bay leaf, and oregano and stir well.
Bring it to a gentle simmer, then lower the heat so you only see a lazy bubble here and there.
Partially cover the pot and simmer for at least 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes or so.
The milk sounds odd, honestly, but it’s traditional and it softens the acidity of the tomatoes while making the meat more tender.
Check the sauce after an hour.
It should be thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, with the fat starting to pool slightly at the edges.
If it gets too thick before then, add a splash of water.
Remove the bay leaf, taste, and adjust the salt and pepper.
When the sauce is nearly ready, bring a large pot of well-salted water to a boil.
Add the gnocchi and cook until they float to the top, about 2 to 3 minutes for store-bought or 1 to 2 for homemade.
Scoop them out with a slotted spoon and save about 1/2 cup of the cooking water.
Cook them in two batches if your pot is small, because crowded gnocchi stick together.
Add the cooked gnocchi directly to the pot of Bolognese sauce.
Toss gently over low heat for 1 to 2 minutes so the sauce clings to every piece.
Stir in the Parmesan and a splash of the cooking water if it needs loosening.
Be gentle (gnocchi are soft and can break if you stir too hard).
Spoon into bowls, top with more Parmesan and fresh basil, and enjoy!

Important Recipe Notes

Chop the vegetables small. A fine dice on the onion, carrot, and celery lets them melt into the sauce. A food processor makes this quick.
Don’t rush the soffritto. Cooking the vegetables slowly builds the sweet base of the sauce. High heat browns them too fast and adds bitterness.
Break the meat up finely. Bolognese should be smooth and spoonable, not chunky. A potato masher helps if you’re having trouble with the wooden spoon.
Simmer as long as you can. One hour is the minimum, and two or three is even better. The flavor gets deeper and the meat gets more tender the longer it goes.
Use broth instead of wine if needed. Swap the red wine for beef broth with 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar for a similar flavor without alcohol.
Don’t overcook the gnocchi. Pull them out as soon as they float. Overcooked gnocchi get mushy and fall apart in a thick sauce.
Grate your own Parmesan. A real wedge of Parmigiano-Reggiano melts smoothly into the sauce. Pre-grated cheese in a can tastes dusty and won’t blend in the same way.
Make the sauce a day ahead. Bolognese tastes even better the next day. Reheat it gently, then cook the gnocchi fresh right before serving.
Freeze the sauce in portions. Cool it completely, then freeze in airtight containers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.

How to Serve, Store & Customize This Recipe

Serving Serve this gnocchi Bolognese hot in wide bowls, with plenty of grated Parmesan on top. A crisp arugula salad with lemon and olive oil or some garlic bread on the side rounds it out nicely. A glass of the same red wine you cooked with is a good match.

Storing Store leftover gnocchi and sauce together in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. The gnocchi soften as they sit in the sauce, so leftovers are a bit less bouncy. Reheat in a saucepan over low heat with a splash of water or broth.

Customization:

Swap the pork for Italian sausage with the casings removed for extra seasoning. Ground turkey works for a lighter sauce, though you’ll want to add an extra tablespoon of olive oil. Finish with a scoop of ricotta on each bowl or bake it all under mozzarella for a cheesy gnocchi bake.