Swap pasta for zucchini noodles and serve with a delicious homemade bolognese sauce for an easy weeknight dinner that is can be made in just 30 minutes!
Confession: I might be obsessed with zucchini noodles.
I’ve literally been making them so much lately because they practically go with everything! Well since I was craving spaghetti (yet again), I figured I’d share with you my favorite way to make s simple bolognese sauce and pair it with none other than, yes, zoodles. This recipe is basically a variation of my tomato sauce, but with a few minor adjustments. The best part is this entire recipe takes about 30 minutes from start to finish! Perfect dish for a quick and easy weeknight meal.
Oh and truth be told, I use this sauce ALL THE TIME.
If you’re still on the fence about purchasing a spiralizer, I’m here to tell you to just DO IT. Seriously you won’t be disappointed and then you can make these or even these! I’ve heard a few of you say that you just don’t have room for it in your kitchen. Well what I like to do is store it in the box in my pantry because it’s really not that big and I have easy access to it. There are also so many blade options giving you a huge variety of noodle sizes. If this spiralizer is still too large and you need something a little more convenient for easy storage, this handheld spiralizer
is great too!
Cleaning your spiralizer is super easy too, I just use a toothbrush and clean it after every use.
Oh and if you’re looking for more fun ideas to spiralize, I also LOVE the Inspiralized cookbook from Ali of Inspiralized! She has so many delicious recipes and creative ways to use your spiralizer, it’s incredibly helpful! I mean you can pretty much spiralize anything – sweet potatoes, squash, bell peppers, cucumbers – the possibilities are endless!
So as I said before, this recipe literally only takes about 30 minutes from start to finish which is great because sometimes I just don’t have a lot of time in the evenings to make a big dinner. Zoodles don’t take long to cook AT ALL and I prefer mine ‘al-dente’ just like I do my pasta, so I saute them with a touch of olive oil and garlic in a skillet just to cook them through and add some flavor – about 2 to 3 minutes max. I do this while my sauce is simmering nicely on the stove and is ready to serve. Top with fresh basil and enjoy!
Hope all you East Coasters are enjoying the snow we got last night! I never get President’s Day off from work so I’m thoroughly enjoying my snow day cuddled up with coffee and Netflix. Happy Monday!
RECIPE
Zucchini Noodles with Simple Bolognese Sauce
Ingredients
For the Zoodles:
- 6 medium zucchini, spiralized
- 1–2 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 clove garlic, minced
For the Bolognese Sauce:
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 lb. ground turkey or ground beef
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 (6 oz) can tomato paste
- ½ cup dry red wine
- 1 tsp. dried oregano
- 1 tsp. dried basil
- ½ tsp. salt
- ¼ tsp. black pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- Fresh basil, chopped as garnish
Instructions
- Spiralize your zucchini and set aside on paper towels so that any excess water is soaked up. Feel free to sprinkle with a little salt to help with this.
- Drizzle olive oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat and saute onion, celery and garlic until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add ground turkey (or beef) and cook until crumbled and brown, draining excess liquid as necessary.
- Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer for about 30 minutes.
- For the zoodles, drizzle olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and saute garlic until fragrant. Add zucchini noodles and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes until tender. *If you didn’t already add salt while the water was getting soaked up feel free to sprinkle a little on them now for flavor.
- Top zucchini noodles with the bolognese sauce, serve and enjoy!
Notes
Serving Size: 1 zucchini + 1½ cups sauce • Calories: 239 • Fat: 6.4 g • Saturated Fat: 0.9 g • Carbs: 24.6 g • Fiber: 7 g • Protein: 24.9 g • Sugar: 9.6 g • WW Freestyle Points: 6
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