UPDATE: This post was updated on March 17, 2025 to include conversions for metric measurements, a video, and nutrition information.
This easy Chicken Bolognese is an absolute favorite dinner at our house. It's full of flavor, surprisingly packed with veggies, and comes together quickly (and not to mention, it feeds a crowd!). Have some extra veggie odds and ends in the fridge? Throw them in too - it'll be delicious!
Serve this chicken bolognese with this Sourdough Discard Focaccia, Sourdough Discard Garlic Rolls, or this Caramelized Shallot Focaccia. Get ready to dig in, and soak up any extra sauce with those rolls and focaccia!
Why You'll Love this Recipe
- This Chicken Bolognese is ready in under an hour, making it a perfect weeknight dinner!
- This recipe is great for kids and adults - everyone will enjoy!
- Serve this with some homemade focaccia or garlic rolls and you'll have a delicious meal on your hands.
- You can easily modify this recipe to use different meats or veggies to create a totally different variation of this recipe.
Ingredients
This is an incredibly flexible recipe and has just a few key ingredients. The most time-consuming part of this recipe is chopping the carrots, onion and celery. To save time, you can also shred some of these ingredients.
- Carrots: Chopping the carrots is, in my opinion, the most tedious part of this recipe. If you prefer, this also works very well if you shred the carrots. This will be paired with the celery and onion in the bolognese sauce.
- Ground chicken: This will be the main meat of your sauce. You could also substitute this for ground beef or turkey for a different variation of this recipe.
- Spicy Italian sausage: This gives the bolognese some much-needed fat content, but also a delicious flavor. Do not skimp on the sausage!
- Tomato sauce: Use your favorite jarred tomato sauce.
- Wide noodles: Using a wide noodle like pappardelle works really well for bolognese, but use whatever kind of noodles you prefer.
See full recipe below for detailed instructions.
Substitutions & Variations
This is a very flexible recipe and you can easily modify it to fit your preferences (or the ingredients you have on hand!). Here are some of my favorite variations:
- Change the veggies - Keep the same proportions, but change the veggies. I love to make this with onion, red pepper, and zucchini - it adds a bit of sweetness to the sauce!
- Change the meats - You can also modify this recipe by using ground turkey or ground beef instead of the ground chicken. Either way, I recommend keeping the Italian sausage as it adds some much-needed fat and flavor to the bolognese.
- Make it spicy - Want your chicken bolognese to have more of a kick? Increase the amount of red pepper flakes to give some more spice.
How to Make Chicken Bolognese
There are just a few steps to making this easy Chicken Bolognese. You can almost smell it already! The full recipe with detailed directions is at the bottom of this post.
Finely chop (or shred) your veggies.
Heat a large skillet over medium heat, then add the olive oil and minced onion, celery and carrots. Cook for 3-4 minutes. Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Add chicken and Italian sausage, stirring and breaking up the meats. Cook until all meat is browned, about 5-7 minutes.
Add tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes.
While the sauce simmers, cook the pasta according to package directions, then drain.
Add the pasta to the bolognese sauce and stir to combine. You're ready to serve!
Expert Cooking Tips
- You can use meat straight from the freezer. If you forgot to thaw the meat, that's ok! Add it directly to the pan and let it thaw as it's cooking, stirring to break up and brown the meat.
- Don't skimp on the Italian sausage. This gives the recipe some much-needed fat and flavor!
- Have some extra veggies? Throw them in! This is a very forgiving recipe and can be a great place to use up some odds and ends.
- Use a wide noodle like tagliatelle or pappardelle that can hold a lot of the sauce.
Equipment
You'll need a sharp knife and cutting board to chop your veggies. If you'd rather shred some of the veggies (particularly the carrots), you certainly can. Use a large pot or sauté pan to cook the bolognese (I like the Caraway Sauté Pan, but you could also make this in a Dutch Oven). You'll also need a large pot to boil the water for the pasta.
kitchen essentials
My Favorite Sauté Pan
Perfect for all your everyday cooking!
Storage
Refrigerator Storage: This Chicken Bolognese is great to make ahead and store to eat throughout the week. If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container for up to 3-5 days. Reheat in the microwave for 60-90 seconds, or in a small pot. If needed, you can add extra tomato sauce as it does tend to soak into the noodles.
Freezer Storage: If you want to make the sauce in advance to freeze, you can. Once the sauce has cooled fully, transfer it to a freezer-safe container (Souper Cubes are great for this as you can portion the sauce out for easy reheating). When you're ready to serve, let the sauce thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Reheat in the microwave for 60-90 seconds and serve over freshly cooked noodles.
Recipe FAQ
You can substitute the ground chicken for ground turkey or ground beef if you prefer! I do recommend keeping the Italian sausage for some much-needed fat content and flavor.
This recipe is written to use carrots, celery and onions, but one of my favorite variations is to make this with onions, red pepper and zucchini. Gives it a bit more sweetness!
This is a great recipe to make ahead of time. Make the sauce, then store it in an airtight container in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve. Once you're ready, cook your pasta and reheat the sauce, then combine and serve! The sauce also freezes well if you're looking for an easy freezer meal.
Easy Chicken Bolognese
Ingredients
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup carrots peeled and minced or shredded
- 1 cup celery trimmed and minced
- 1 cup onion minced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 8 ounces spicy Italian sausage removed from casing
- 24 ounces jar tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 pound wide noodles such as pappardelle
- fresh basil for serving
Instructions
- In a large sauté pan or pot heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the minced onion, celery and carrot, and cook for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add minced garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add ground chicken and Italian sausage (removed from the casing) and stir, breaking up the meat until browned, about 5-7 minutes.
- Add tomato sauce, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer uncovered for 30 minutes.
- Boil the noodles according to package directions. Drain the pasta, then add it to the sauce. Toss to combine. Serve topped with fresh basil and additional salt and pepper.
Jessica Vogl says
This is an easy weeknight meal that I love making for our family! Plus, the leftovers are great throughout the week!