Name: Keto Bolognese Sauce Recipe
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 25 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: Italian
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon olive oil; 1/2 pound ground pork (8 ounces); 1/2 pound ground beef (8 ounces); 1/2 cup onion, diced; 1/2 carrot, diced; 1/2 stalk celery, diced; 1 (14.5ounce) can diced tomatoes; 1 tablespoon tomato paste; 2 cloves garlic, crushed; 1/2 teaspoon salt; 1/4 teaspoon black pepper; 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes; 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasonings; 1 teaspoon Better than Bouillon beef base; 1/2 cup water (can use beef broth instead of water and bouillon); 1/4 cup heavy cream

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For a delicious low carb Italian sauce to eat with your veggie noodles or keto friendly pasta, try this keto bolognese sauce. Rich and meaty, this sauce is easy to make and tastes delicious on these spiralized turnip noodles! Each serving 6.9 grams net carbs and 20.6 grams of protein!

You might also like this large batch slow cooker meat sauce.

closeup of a white dish with a serving of keto Bolognese sauce mixed with turnip noodles — *This post contains affiliate links. For more information visit our policies page.*

I recently went to Italy and Slovenia on a wonderful vacation and I was so inspired by the food I had there. Today’s keto bolognese sauce recipe is one such food that I had in northern Italy. I had never had it before and it was SO good. This is my interpretation of that sauce and I made keto friendly.

It’s an interesting dish to me because it’s very meaty and while it has some tomatoes, it’s more beefy in flavor rather than tomatoey like a marinara sauce. All in all it came out good and my husband said this is his preferred pasta sauce so I’ll be making it often I’m sure.

For those on a low carb diet yo will want to eat this with a low carb pasta. I used turnip noodles because I learned from this keto spaghetti casserole how good they are as a pasta substitute, especially with a Italian meat sauce.

You can use whatever kind of pasta you want and below I have some suggestions of different keto friendly noodles you can try. I really loved the turnip noodles so give them a try someday. They are the perfect pasta alternative for those on a low carb diet.

aerial view of pan and plate of keto bolognese pasta

Recipe ingredients I used and substitutions.

The simple ingredients I used for this Bolognese sauce recipe is yellow onion, carrots, celery, salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, fresh garlic cloves, hot pepper flakes, diced tomatoes, tomato paste, Better than Bouillon beef base, heavy cream, ground pork and ground beef.

Ground Beef and Ground Pork
I think it’s important to use both the hamburger and pork in this dish as that is what the classic recipe calls for. You could just use ground beef but it won’t tastes as good.

Better than Bouillon Beef Base
I love the flavor of the Better than Bouillon products and use them all the time. They add a lot of flavor. However you can also use beef broth or beef stock as a substitute but don’t use the added water in the recipe.

Heavy Cream
I used heavy cream as a substitute for whole milk because milk has quite a few carbs. So I used less and used the heavy whipping cream. If you want to use half and half you could and if you don’t care about carbs you can use whole milk in double the amount of the cream. If you are dairy free you could eliminate it but it doesn’t give a nice taste to the dish.

Spices and Vegetables
The chopped veggies and spices are pretty standard and you should use these. One thing I wish I did was use petite cut diced tomatoes because I think they would cook done quicker but it’s not necessary. And while you are only using 1 tablespoon of the tomato paste it is pretty necessary to the dish so don’t skip it.

recipe ingredients - ground beef, ground pork, cream, spices, tomatoes, tomato paste, better than bouillon, garlic, carrots, onions, celery

How to make keto bolognese sauce.

Step 1: Get out a stock pot and heat to medium heat. Add the olive oil when it’s hot then add in the onions, carrots and celery. Saute for 2-3 minutes until they soften.

Step 2: Add in the ground pork and ground meat. Break up the ground meat with a wooden spoon as it browns until it’s mostly cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.

Step 3: Mix the Better than Bouillon with hot water and add to the pot along with the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT the heavy cream. Note if you are using beef stock or broth instead of the bouillon, don’t add the water.

Mix well to combine. Cover and cook for 8 minutes, then take off the lid and continue to cook for about 7 minutes.

Step 4: When the tomatoes have broken down and you have a rich meat sauce add the heavy cream. Continue to cook on low for 3 minutes then it’s done. Take off the heat and let rest for a few minutes to cool before serving.

Serve the low carb bolognese sauce over keto noodles. I used turnip noodles and mixed it in with the sauce in the pan. I show you how below but I also have other options for you.

closeup of a pan of pasta and keto bolognese sauce

You can eat this with a nice green salad to make it a meal. You can sprinkle some grated parmesan cheese over top or even some fresh herbs like basil or fresh parsley. Store leftovers in an airtight container.

Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card.

If you want to eat it with turnip noodles.

I really love turnip noodles with meat sauces like this homemade bolognese sauce. It seems to have the best texture in my opinion. If you what to try this all you need to do it peel the turnips and use a spiralizer to make a thicker noodle if possible. I use my Paderno vegetable slicer to make the below thicker pasta noodle.

Then heat a large saute pan to medium high heat. When the pan is hot, add the noodles and tablespoon or two of water. Cover and turn the heat down to medium. Cook for about 5 minutes until the turnip noodles are tender. You don’t want them mushy though.

Other keto friendly pastas to try.

There are more and more keto pasta options available these days for this on a keto diet. Below are a few other ideas of what you can use this sauce with.

shirataki noodles or konjac noodles
zucchini noodles and other veggie noodles like asparagus, spaghetti squash, butternut squash, etc.
palmini noodles
store bought keto noodles like Kaizen low carb pasta (have not tried yet)
another option is it eat this over low carb cauliflower rice

Well I am very happy with how my keto bolognese sauce came out. And while it might not be just like traditional bolognese sauce I do think it’s quite tasty. And as my family really liked this, I will keep it as a regular in our meal rotation. I hope you like it too.

The nutritional information for 1 serving of the sauce is 292 calories / 19.3g fat / 7.9g carbs / 1.2g fiber / 20.6g protein = 6.9g net carbs

If using 3 turnips to make into keto noodles for this dish that has 6 servings, each serving of just the noodles would be 17 calories / 0.1g fat / 3.9g carbs / 1.1g fiber / 0.5g protein = 2.8g net carbs