Keto Bolognese with Zucchini Ribbons is our favorite low-carb, go-to meal perfect for cozy, chilly evenings. It pairs wonderfully with your favorite green salad and is a keto, low-carb, grain-free, gluten-free dish!
Keto Bolognese with Zucchini
This coming week, make room for our delicious Keto Bolognese with Zucchini Ribbons. Trust us - you’ll be glad you did!
It’s one of our favorite keto entrees, and for good reason.
It’s hearty, flavorful, and super satisfying, without the carbs attached. To make this dish extra special, we’re using high-quality, grass-fed beef from Butcher Box. More on that in a minute.
What is Bolognese?
Bolognese is essentially an Italian meat sauce traditionally served over pasta noodles. It’s made with ground beef, tomato sauce, and a bunch of spices to create a mouth-watering blend of flavors.
To keep things keto-friendly, we’re swapping the pasta noodles for a more carb-conscious choice: zucchini ribbons. They’re equally as tasty, and help to keep this dish to just 6.8 grams of net carbs per serving. You can’t beat that!
Featured Recipe Video
Check out this video to see how to make our most popular recipe – Keto Zucchini Bread Whoopie Pies.
They are easy to make and so delicious!
Mouth-Watering Keto Bolognese
This Bolognese recipe is guaranteed to become your new favorite. It’s incredibly easy to make and is full of easy-to-prep ingredients.
It requires browning the meat and spiraling the noodles, and after that it’s smooth sailing. Just throw everything into one big dish!
One of the great parts about this meal is that it’s perfect for batch-cooking. Double to triple the recipe, and freeze it for later!
Though you could include the zucchini spirals in your batch cooking, we recommend creating your zoodles day of.
This keeps them extra fresh and helps to maintain peak flavor! If thawed from frozen, they can get a bit soggy. We don’t want that!
Which Ingredients are Used for Keto Bolognese with Zucchini?
This delicious pasta Bolognese contains the yummiest of ingredients. All can be found easily in your local grocery store, and if you go the Butcher Box route like us, the beef will be hand delivered right to your front door!
This entire Bolognese recipe can be printed from the recipe card at the bottom of this post. In the meantime, here’s an overview of the ingredients you’ll need:
- Zucchini
- Olive oil
- Onion
- Garlic
- Grass-fed ground beef
- Heavy cream
- Tomato sauce
- Salt
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Grated Parmesan
- Basil
Why We Use Butcher Box for Our Bolognese Recipe
For this recipe (as well as all of our entrees that contain meat products), we choose to use Butcher Box, a monthly subscription service that delivers premium beef, chicken, and pork products right to your home!
It’s convenient, easy, and just… better.
We’re very particular about our protein and make a conscious effort to consume only top quality, humanely sourced beef products. All of Butcher Box’s products are organic, antibiotic-free and hormone-free, meaning the products are healthier for you than other meats.
When you choose Butcher Box, you aren’t supporting factory farming or inhumane practices. The animals are grass-fed and ethically-raised, and they’re done so in sustainable, eco-conscious environments.
As the cherry on top, Butcher Box has an incredible price point, with meals averaging out to less than $6 each. For your beef, chicken, and pork products, it’s definitely the way to go if you value uncured, sugar-, nitrate-, and hormone-free products.
Check out Butcher Box today and get $20 off on your first order, plus free bacon and ground beef!
Wanna see what we get in our Butcher Box - check out the video below.
How to Get the Perfect Zucchini Ribbons
If you’ve been wondering how to make zucchini ribbons, it’s pretty easy! Anyone can do it successfully.
Using a spiralizer of your choice, create spiral noodles by shredding the zucchini into ribbons or zoodles. Allow them to sit in between two paper towels to absorb any moisture, as this will make cooking more successful.
If you’ve got enough time, allow them to air dry for a couple of hours. Alternatively, you can bake them on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 10 minutes at 300°F.
Note: If you’re not a fan of zucchini, try Shirataki noodles. Shirataki noodles are long, white noodles made from that come from the root of a konjac plant. You may also see them called miracle noodles or konjac noodles.
How to Freeze Bolognese with Zucchini
This delicious “keto bolgnese” works wonderfully as a frozen meal. Whenever you need a pre-prepped meal, you can pull this out of the freezer, allow it to thaw, and quickly heat it up to enjoy!
For this reason, we definitely recommend using this recipe as a batch-cooking option. If you’d like to do so, follow these instructions for storing:
- Allow the beef Bolognese to fully cool. We recommend placing it in the refrigerator for an hour or two to speed up the process.
- Separate into usable servings. Once you freeze and thaw this meal, it’s best not to refreeze or refrigerate leftovers a second time. I recommend separating the chilled Bolognese into small servings that you can use one at a time to avoid creating leftovers.
- Place in airtight containers or sealable bags. Don’t forget to date them!
Be sure to use within 3 to 4 months for ultimate tastiness.
What Equipment You Need
Before you begin creating this tasty zoodle pasta Bolognese, be sure your kitchen is equipped with the following:
- Zucchini spiralizer
- Large pot
Perfect Dishes to Pair with Keto Bolognese
When it comes time to serve your keto Bolognese with zucchini ribbons, you’ll want to serve it alongside dishes that will do it justice! Here are some tasty options to get those palettes ready:
- Keto Cheese Bread (Focaccia de Recco)
- Keto Spinach Artichoke Tartlets
- Smoked Salmon Salad with Lemon Dill Vinaigrette
- Keto Garlic Butter Mushrooms
Other Delicious Keto Mains
- Keto Taco Kebabs
- Keto Creamy Chicken Thighs
- Keto Ribeye Steaks with Garlic Rosemary Butter
- Keto Calzones
- Keto Gnocchi with Pesto
Recipe
Keto Bolognese with Zucchini Ribbons
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini spiralized into ribbons or noodles
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion diced
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 2 lbs. grass-fed ground beef
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 15oz. can tomato sauce
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons basil chiffonade
Instructions
- Spiralize your zucchini into ribbons or zoodles and let them sit in between two layers of paper towels to absorb any moisture. We also like to let them air dry for a couple hours if we have enough time. Or you can heat your oven to 300°F and bake them on a parchment-lined baking sheet for 10 minutes to help get rid of moisture.
- Add the olive oil to a large pot over medium heat, then add the onion and garlic. Sauté for 5 minutes or until softened.
- Add in the ground beef and sauté until cooked through. Next, add in the heavy cream, tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and Parmesan.
- Turn the heat down to low and let simmer for 30 minutes.
- Before serving, stir in the basil to the bolognese.
- Serve the bolognese over the zucchini ribbons and garnish with extra basil and Parmesan.
- Optional: Add in some cherry tomatoes and mozzarella balls as a garnish.
Nutrition
We Can't Wait To See You Try It!
We love seeing our recipes come to life!! We can’t wait to see how you make these and loving seeing each person's unique spin on it! Tag us on Instagram @cleanketolifestyle or use the hashtag #CKLrecipe!
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