Chicken Bolognese is a lighter version of traditional Italian beef sauce. This bolognese sauce using ground chicken is smooth, rich, hearty, and slow cooked to perfection. An easy and impressive meal, let’s take a look.
Table of contents
What is Bolognese
Bolognese is a traditional celebrated tomato based Italian sauce that hails from the Bologna area of Italy. Made with ground meat it is simmered low and slow to concentrate the flavors. It becomes even richer and creamier by adding milk or cream.
A traditional Bolognese sauce is made with ground pork or ground beef or a combo of the two. This easy Chicken Bolognese is a lighter version using ground chicken that doesn’t skimp on flavor.
Sauce Bolognese was made frequently during my time in Culinary School. It wasn’t a fussy dish to make, but the process took more than half a day. Carefully chopping vegetables to make the perfect sofrito for bolognese. And the meat sauce was simmered over low heat 3 – 4 hours.
Served over homemade pappardelle noodles, it was among the best things I’ve ever eaten.
This recipe for chicken spaghetti Bolognese simplifies the process with a cooking time of just an hour.
With some attention to evenly chopped vegetables and a hearty splash of Extra Dry Vermouth the flavor shines.
Adding cream at the end sends this one over the top.
The sauce is tossed over pasta and topped with Parmesan Cheese.
Let’s get started.
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Ground Chicken. Preferably not ground chicken breast. A fattier blend that includes dark meat (like chicken thighs) will bring more flavor.
- Canned Tomatoes, Preferably San Marzano
- Italian Flat Leaf Parsley
- Chicken Broth
- Vermouth, or white wine
- Fresh Basil
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Cream, heavy whipping cream
- Onion, yellow or sweet onion
- Fennel Seed
- Tomato Paste
- Garlic
- Celery
- Carrot
- Parmesan Cheese
Ingredient Substitutions
- Substitute white wine for the Vermouth.
- Tomatoes: You can substitute a can of tomato sauce for the canned pureed tomatoes.
- Use milk in place of heavy cream.
- Ground Chicken: Swap out ground turkey for the ground chicken.
About Ground Chicken: Using ground chicken can be a nice break from ground beef. It’s lighter in taste, fat and calories and holds up in the heartiest of recipes. Unless labeled as ground chicken breast, ground chicken is made with both dark and white meat. I prefer the blend as adding a little fat equals a moist texture and more flavor.
Step by Step Instructions
- Step 1: Make the Sofrito. Sofrito is a flavor base used in Mediterranean, Spanish, Italian and Portuguese dishes. You’re probably most familiar with it making Paella. It consists of aromatic ingredients, in this case onion, carrots and celery, diced and sauteed in oil until caramelized with flavor. Heat the oil in a large heavy skillet. Add the chopped carrot, onion, and celery. Cook over medium high heat for about ten minutes or until vegetables become soft and start to brown. This browning process will add a beautiful layer of flavor. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Pro Tip: This is a great opportunity to hone your knife skills. It’s important to dice the vegetables small and even in size. Not only will you have pride in skill, but the vegetables will cook evenly for a better end texture and flavor.
- Step 2: Add the ground chicken to the sofrito breaking up the meat with a spoon or spatula. Cook until the pink is almost gone from the meat. Add the vermouth and turn up the heat. Cook for five minutes to evaporate the alcohol. Add salt and fennel seed.
- Step 3: Stir in the pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, the chicken stock and parsley. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for one hour.
- Step 4: Stir in the cream. Serve chicken bolognese sauce over spaghetti or pappardelle noodles.
FAQ’s
Absolutely yes. Everything about this recipe is freezable. Not only does Bolognese sauce store well in the refrigerator, but you can also freeze the sauce for up to four months. I like to use a freezer safe sealable plastic bag for optimum storage. Freezer bags are easy to squeeze the air out so as to eliminate ice crystals. To reheat, defrost in the refrigerator overnight and then reheat microwave or stovetop.
You could … however, it will turn the sauce a purple color. Stick with white wine for this lighter bolognese recipe.
This chicken bolognese sauce is naturally gluten free. And serve it over gluten free pasta for a complete gluten free meal.
Even though dairy is an important traditional ingredient in bolognese sauce, you can omit the cream. By doing so, you’ll have a richer tomato based sauce. Or substitute almond milk for cow’s milk.
Tips For Success
- About Salting Water for Boiling Pasta: No reason to haphazardly throw salt into a pot of water so it “tastes like the sea”. Use a rule of 2 – 3 tablespoons of salt per one pound of pasta. This ratio comes from my Executive Chef teacher at Culinary School.
- Type of Pasta: Even though I’ve made Chicken Spaghetti Bolognese, it’s a popular theory in Italy to use a wider noodle to capture as much of the sauce as possible. Pappardelle pasta works well here.
Pro Tip: Why is pasta water good for pasta sauce? Don’t throw all of that pasta cooking liquid down the drain, It’s liquid gold. It’s a must to add to any sauce for any pasta dish. It’s high in starch and this salty starchy water helps the sauce cling to the pasta while helping to thicken the sauce. It turns any pasta dish into a luxurious pasta dish.
Make it a Meal
Serve this easy chicken bolognese with a nice big perfect tossed green salad. And topped with blue cheese dressing for a treat. Make it a very special meal with Homemade Rosemary Bread.
I hope you give this chicken spaghetti Bolognese recipe a try. It’s a definitely a crowd-pleasing recipe that will make you very popular.
This chicken spaghetti bolognese is so good that the last time I made it, I doubled the recipe to insure leftovers and a stash for the freezer.
Related Recipes
And if you’re looking for more pasta recipes, don’t miss my Pasta Category. You’ll find lots of recipes, including the most popular on my site for Creamy Smoked Mozzarella Pasta Salad with Creamy Parmesan Cheese Sauce.
Ground Chicken Bolognese Sauce for Spaghetti
Equipment
- Large Heavy Bottom Fry Pan
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons Olive oil
- 1 Onion Sweet, or yellow. Chopped. About 1 cup
- 1 carrot peeled and chopped. About 1/2 cup
- 1 large celery stalk with leaves, chopped. About 1/2 cup
- 1 clove garlic diced
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1/2 cup dry Vermouth or white wine
- 1 Tablespoon Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fennel seed
- 14.5 ounce tomatoes canned, undrained and pureed in food processor
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 1 Tablespon Italian flat leaf parsley chopped
- 1/4 cup heavy whipping cream
- 1/2 pound spaghetti
- 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated
Instructions
- In a large fry pan, heat the oil over medium heat.
- Add the chopped onion, carrot and celery. Saute uncovered, stirring a couple of times, until starting to soften. About 5 minutes. Add chopped garlic and cook for another minute.
- Add the ground chicken and cook, breaking up the meat. Cook until it's just starting to lose its pink color. About 5 minutes.
- Add the salt and fennel seed.
- Add the Vermouth or white wine. Raise the heat to high and cook stirring occasionally until the alcohol is almost evaporated. About 5 minutes.
- Stir in the pureed tomatoes, the tomato paste, the chicken stock and parsley. Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low and simmer uncovered for 1 hour.
- Stir in the cream and let it heat for about 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti until al dente. Drain, reserving about 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water.
- Place the spaghetti back into the pan in which is was cooked and stir in a glug of the pasta water. Add the remaining pasta water to the sauce and stir.
- Place spaghetti into pasta bowls or plates. Top with a heaping scoop of the bolognese sauce and garnish with grated Parmesan Cheese and fine chopped fresh basil.
Notes
- About Salting Water for Boiling Pasta: No reason to haphazardly throw salt into a pot of water so it “tastes like the sea”. Use a rule of 2 – 3 tablespoons of salt per one pound of pasta. This ratio comes from my Executive Chef teacher at Culinary School.
- Type of Pasta: Even though I used spaghetti for this Chicken Bolognese, it’s a popular theory in Italy to use a wider noodle to capture as much of the sauce as possible. Pappardelle pasta works well here.
Nutrition
Chicken Bolognese Sauce … It’s Whats for Dinner
Why Trust These Recipes? Lea Ann Brown has lived, worked and played in Colorado for 45 years. She has immersed herself in the Colorado Culinary space, is a Culinary School Graduate and publishes her Colorado food Blog, Cooking On The Ranch.
I would be all over this! Love a good bolognese. I never thought of using ground chicken but totally doable without losing any flavor-I agree. Saving this one!
Best,
Velva
This sounds really good & I definitely will be trying it soon. As the fennel seed and tomato paste are not
included in the ingredient list, could you please provide the amounts of each. Also, what size is the can
of tomatoes…..14.5 oz. or 28 oz.?
Thanks Lea Ann. I’m eager to give this recipe a try!