Easy Ragu Bianco (White Ragu)
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If you love bolognese but want something a little different, this creamy ragu bianco recipe is definitely one to try. This white ragu is rich, slow-cooked and packed with flavour from beef, sausage and pancetta, but without a single tomato in sight. Try it alongside my Roasted Mediterranean Vegetables for a balanced dinner.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Ragu bianco is a brilliant option for pasta night if you like bolognese but want a tomato-free twist.
- Full of flavour: Beef, sausage and pancetta give this white bolognese sauce layers of savoury, smoky depth. The cream added at the end brings everything together and helps coat the pasta perfectly.
- Versatile: white ragu + wide pasta is the classic choice, but you can spoon this creamy white ragu over gnocchi, polenta or mash for something different. It’s a recipe you can adapt to whatever you’ve got, similar to how I treat my Easy Mushroom Ragu, which works with just about anything.
- Hands-off cooking: Once the meat and veggies are browned, the sauce just simmers away for hours. It needs hardly any attention, and the flavour only gets better the longer it cooks.
Serve it for friends as part of an easy Italian spread with Simple Tricolore Salad, Italian Sausage Stuffed Peppers or Mini Bruschetta Bites.
Table of Contents
Ingredients
These three ingredients are the foundation of your ragu bianco:
- Beef mince: I like using 20% fat here. The fat cooks out and keeps the white ragu sauce juicy.
- Sausage: Remove the casing and break them into small chunks. They bring a boost of pork flavour and balance out the beef.
- Pancetta: The pancetta crisps up in the pan to add smoky notes that run through the whole bolognese bianco. If you have some leftover, you can also make my Creamy Green Risotto with Crispy Bacon and Mushrooms.
See the recipe card for full information on all ingredients and quantities.
Variations/ Adaptations
- If you want to make the ragu bianco lighter, swap the beef for chicken or turkey mince. Both work well and give you a slightly leaner version of the sauce, while still keeping that rich, slow-cooked flavour. Using just pork is another option, and it gives you one of the best pork mince pasta recipes you can imagine. And if you’d like to skip meat altogether, my Lentil Bolognese is a great plant-based alternative.
- For anyone who likes a bit of spice, try adding red pepper flakes. The base recipe leans creamy, but just a pinch of chilli flakes can completely change the balance. The heat cuts through the richness of the dairy and makes the dish even more addictive.
- If dairy’s off the table you don’t have to miss out, you can definitely use oat milk and cashew cream to make it dairy-free, which also works nicely in a white bolognese recipe. The sauce still clings to the pasta beautifully, so you won’t feel like you’re missing out on the classic version.
- If you don’t have rosemary or sage, thyme will also work. Each one will give the dish its own personality, so you can switch them around depending on what you’ve got.
How to make Ragu Bianco (white ragu)
Step 1: Dice 2 onions, 2 carrots, and 2 celery sticks into small cubes.
Step 2: In a hot pan with a splash of oil, brown the beef mince for about 7 minutes, season with salt and pepper, then set aside.
Step 3: Break sausages into chunks, brown for 5-7 minutes, then set aside.
Step 4: Deglaze the pan with a splash of stock, then fry the pancetta for 8 minutes until golden.
Step 5: Add the onion, carrot, and celery. Cook for 6 minutes, stirring often.
Step 6: Pour in 150ml white wine and let it bubble for 2 minutes to cook off the alcohol.
Step 7: Return the sausage and beef to the pan, then add 400ml stock, milk, bay leaves, rosemary, and a parmesan rind if you have one.
Step 8: Simmer uncovered on very low heat for 4-5 hours. The ragu bianco should be thick and glossy, barely bubbling.
Step 9: Near the end, cook pappardelle in salted water until 2 minutes shy of al dente. Stir 100ml cream into the ragu bianco and remove the parmesan rind.
Step 10: Toss pasta with sauce, adding pasta water to loosen. Serve with reserved ragu on top, parmesan, and cracked black pepper.
If you’re after more pasta inspiration, try my Low-Carb Veggie Lasagna, Tagliatelle Carbonara or Garlic Parmesan Chicken Pasta.
Tips for the best result
- Ragu bianco needs to cook gently. If it simmers too hard, the liquid will reduce too quickly and the white ragu can turn thick and gluey. A slow cook gives you the best flavour and texture.
- Add parmesan rinds if you have them, dropping one in while the ragu cooks adds extra savoury depth. Let it melt into the sauce as it simmers, then remove before serving. And since you’ll already have parmesan on hand, it’s perfect for making my Crispy Smashed Broccoli with Parmesan as a side.
- Stirring some of the starchy cooking water into the ragu bianco sauce makes it glossy and helps it coat the pasta properly instead of sliding right off. It’s the difference between sauce pooling at the bottom of the bowl and sauce clinging to every ribbon of pappardelle.
- Finish with black pepper for balance against the cream. You don’t need to go overboard, just enough to give the sauce a little edge at the end.
Serving Suggestions
Wide pasta shapes like pappardelle or tagliatelle are the classic match for ragu bianco, as the ribbons hold onto the sauce really well. The white ragu is also delicious served over gnocchi, creamy polenta or even mashed potatoes if that’s what you have at home. To make it a full meal, add a fresh salad on the side or serve with some bread to soak up the extra sauce.
Try pairing it with:
Leftover Storage and Reheat Instructions
One of the best things about ragu bianco is how much better it tastes the next day, making it perfect for prepping ahead. Here’s how to store and reheat it so it tastes just as good the second time around:
Refrigerator: Let it cool completely before transferring to a sealed container. It will keep in the fridge for 4-5 days.
Freezer: For longer storage, freeze portions of the ragu without the cream. This helps prevent splitting or graininess when reheating. It will keep for up to 3 months, though the flavour is best if used sooner. When you’re ready to serve, defrost in the fridge overnight and then stir in the cream after reheating.
Reheat: Warm the ragu gently on the stove. If the sauce looks a bit thick, add a splash of stock or pasta water to loosen it. Stir in the cream at the end to bring back the creamy texture.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can still make a delicious white bolognese sauce without wine, just swap the wine for more stock. The flavour will be slightly different, as the wine adds a bit of depth and acidity, but you’ll still get a creamy sauce that works perfectly with pasta.
I’d go with wide pasta like pappardelle or tagliatelle. They hold the sauce better and let the flavours shine, just like a real bolognese bianco. If you don’t have those, it’s also great with gnocchi or spooned over polenta. Any option that can carry a thick, meaty sauce will work well.
Definitely. In fact, this is one of those sauces that tastes even better the next day. The flavours have time to mellow together and deepen as it sits. Make it the day before, keep it in the fridge, and then reheat it on the stove when you’re ready to serve.
Traditionally white ragu is made with a mix of ground beef and sausage. This gives the sauce lots of savoury flavour and richness. But you can easily adapt it – chicken or turkey mince will make the sauce lighter, or you can make an all-pork version for one of the best pork mince pasta dishes.
For something sweet after, make Frozen Yogurt Bark with Berries, Kinder Bueno Chocolate Mug Cake or Chocolate Rice Cakes with Peanut Butter.
Explore More Recipes
If you tried this Easy Ragu Bianco, it would be mean so much to me if you could leave a review & a star rating to let me know how you found it! I love hearing about your experiences – it motivates me to keep creating more and more recipes for you guys 💛 Let’s get cooking! – Mimi x
Easy Ragu Bianco (White Ragu)
Ingredients
- 500 g beef mince, 20% fat
- 6 sausages, removed from casing
- 160 g pancetta
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 1 onion, finely diced
- 2 celery stalks, finely diced
- 1 carrot, peeled and finely diced
- 4 rosemary sprigs, leaves removed from the stems and finely chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 400 ml whole milk
- 300 ml white wine
- 150 g Fresh pappardelle, per serving
- 200 ml single cream
- 50 g parmesan, finely grated
Cupboard Essentials
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tsp fennel seeds
- ½ tsp dried sage
- 400 ml chicken stock
- Salt
- Pepper
- Optional red pepper flakes
Method
- Preheat a non-stick frying pan over a high heat. Add the oil and mince to the pan, seasoning with salt and pepper. Leave to brown for 5 minutes, then stir and continue frying for an additional 2 minutes.
- Set aside, then repeat the process with the sausages, breaking the sausages into small chunks. Set the sausage aside once it is browned, for around 5-7 minutes.
- Deglaze the pan with a splash of stock, then add the pancetta. Fry for 8-10 minutes until crispy. Then add the celery, onion, carrot and garlic. Fry for a further 6 minutes, adding the fennel seeds, rosemary and dried sage for the last couple of minutes.
- Add the wine and cook off for a couple of minutes, then add the sausage, beef, milk and stock back into the pan. Stir to combine and reduce the heat to loooow. Add the bay leaves and optional parmesan rind if you have one!
- Cook for 4-5 hours on a very low heat uncovered. The ragu should barely be bubbling.
- When it’s time to eat, cook your pappardelle in heavily salted water, to the packet time minus 2 minutes. Add the cream to your ragu and stir to combine. Remove the parmesan rind.
- Remove ⅓ of the ragu and set aside. Combine the al dente pasta and ragu, loosening with a couple of ladles of pasta water.
- Once it’s fully incorporated, serve in bowls and top with the reserved ragu. Add a sprinkle of parmesan and a good crack of black pepper and enjoy!
Notes
- Freeze any servings that you’re saving for later without cream, then simply add when you’re heating up to combine with the parpadelle.
- I recommend just freezing the sauce and cooking the pasta fresh. As a rule of thumb, add 1-2 tbsp of cream per ladle of ragu when reheating.
- Ragu bianco likes a gentle cook. If it bubbles too hard, the liquid reduces too quickly and the sauce turns thick.
- A splash of starchy pasta water makes the white ragu sauce glossy and helps it cling to the pasta instead of slipping off.
Nutrition
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