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!
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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
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
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!
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!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
First- I know some don’t like to have alcohol in the house but I will say it evaporates off when heated and so u are just left with the flavor enhanced with no actual alcohol in the dish. When I was cooking I felt the red wine 100% enhanced the smell to something special. This was delicious. Tip- whether it is zucchini, cauliflower or sweet potatoes that I want to remove water from – I prepare them and put in a bowl with several layers of paper towels on the bottom and one or two on top. Press down and I let it sit all day. By dinner- my veggies are dry with zero effother effort. I am trying to cook for a sick child who needs to eat dairy, soy, egg, canola oil, corn and gluten free and this was delicious and met the requirements. Thanks Kelly!!
This was amazing! It was my first time cooking zoodles and the sauce was just AMAZING. I loved it so much I felt compelled to leave a comment which I never really do! 🙂 Thank you so much for sharing this recipe. I’m looking forward to making this again!
So glad to hear you enjoyed this Bianca! 🙂
Tried this recipe last night and it was outstanding.
This recipe was exactly what I was looking for!! Trying to cut out the carbs so this was on the money!!
This looks beautiful! I would like to feature this on http://www.zucchininoodlerecipes.com
I don’t cook with alcohol ever. What would substitute best for this? I am thinking maybe beef broth?
You could just omit the red wine altogether! 🙂
Very good sauce. Liked it with zucchini also. Healthy and delicious
THANK YOU FOR THIS WEBSITE! i have had so many health issues over the past few years and have to cut out all the processed rubbish i have been living on. i found this site tonight, went to the shops an bought these ingredients and whipped this up within an hour of finding the recipe. IT WAS DELICIOUS!!! THANK YOU, SARAH, australia
I always make zoodles but get stumped when it comes to the sauce since most store bought brands are packed with sugar! This looks heavenly and simple enough for even me to make! Thank you!
This was seriously awesome! This was my first time making zucchini noodles and the entire family loved this. I used 6 zucchini and could have used 8. The sauce was wonderful as well. I am sold and so are my husband and kids, Tomorrow I am making the avocado pesto recipe. Does the zucchini work for leftovers or do you need to eat it same day? Thanks so much for your wonderful recipe 🙂