Spaghetti with Bolognese sauce
Spaghetti with Bolognese sauce is a classic Italian pasta dish featuring long, thin spaghetti noodles topped with a rich, slow-cooked meat sauce. The Bolognese sauce typically includes ground beef or pork, tomatoes, onions, carrots, celery, and herbs, often simmered for hours to develop deep flavor. It originates from the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy, where it's traditionally served with tagliatelle rather than spaghetti.
🍽️ Nutrition at a glance
This dish is moderately high in carbohydrates from the pasta and provides a good amount of protein from the meat sauce, with some fat depending on the meat used. A typical serving offers iron, B vitamins, and lycopene from tomatoes, with a rough calorie range of 400-600 calories per serving.
Nutrition breakdown
| Calories | 350 kcal |
| Protein | 18 g |
| Carbs | 40 g |
| Fat | 12 g |
| Fiber | 4 g |
| Sugar | 6 g |
| Sodium | 600 mg |
| Iron | 3.5 mg |
| Potassium | 450 mg |
| Calcium | 80 mg |
| Vitamin A | 120 mcg RAE |
| Vitamin C | 10 mg |
| Vitamin B12 | 1.2 mcg |
| Phosphorus | 200 mg |
| Zinc | 3 mg |
Per 1 cup (240 g) · estimated, varies by recipe
💡 What's interesting
Culturally, the 'authentic' Bolognese in Italy is a meat-heavy sauce with minimal tomato, often served with wider pasta like tagliatelle to better hold the sauce, while the global spaghetti version is a more tomato-forward adaptation. Nutritionally, the slow-cooked tomatoes increase the availability of lycopene, an antioxidant, making it a surprisingly heart-healthy comfort food when prepared with lean meats.
