You’re probably thinking, “Did I just read that right? Chinese Spaghetti Bolognese?!!”
Yep, that’s right–Chinese Spaghetti Bolognese. The name popped into my head as I was making this dish for the family. It’s ground beef in a silky Chinese-style brown sauce with plenty of delicious Asian flavors. Cooked until fragrant, mixed with green peas, and tossed with your favorite pasta, it’s similar to a traditional beef “Yook Soong,” but instead of serving it over rice, it’s tossed with spaghetti! (Of course, I’m definitely using the term “bolognese” here very loosely. Wouldn’t want to offend any of our Italian readers!)
This recipe is so satisfying and easy to make, it will wow your family (especially the kids). Plus, this comes together much more quickly than a traditional Italian Spaghetti Bolognese. It’s definitely an original one-of-a-kind dish, so don’t worry about the strange looks you first get when you approach the table with a plateful of spaghetti, noticeably absent of tomato sauce. Once your family digs in, you’ll know what I mean. Give this original dish from our family recipe archives a try!
(QUICK SIDE NOTE: Hey everyone, this is Sarah. I’m interrupting my dad’s post here to say that this “Chinese Spaghetti Bolognese” idea is one of my favorite recipes to come out of the blog in a long time. Suffice it to say, I demolished an embarrassingly large bowl of this spaghetti. Props to dad on this one.)
You’ll need:
- 8 oz. dried spaghetti
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 12 oz. ground beef
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1/8 teaspoon white pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with 2 tablespoons water
Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions, undercooking it by about a minute (it will finish cooking in the sauce). While the pasta is cooking, start the sauce.
Heat a wok over high heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the ground beef and cook until slightly browned, breaking up any large chunks of beef.
Add the onion, garlic, and Shaoxing wine, and turn the heat down to medium. Cook until the onion is transparent, and then add the chicken stock.
Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Stir in the oyster and soy sauces, sesame oil, and white pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the cover, add the peas, and stir for one minute.
Stir up the cornstarch slurry (since the starch will separate from the water when left to sit), and drizzle the slurry into the sauce while stirring constantly. The sauce should thicken until it coats a spoon.
Drain the pasta, and add it directly to the wok. Toss until the pasta is coated in sauce. Feel free to add some of the pasta cooking liquid if the sauce is too thick, and add more cornstarch slurry if the sauce is too thin.
Serve your Chinese spaghetti bolognese hot!
If you like pasta dishes, Asian or otherwise, you must try some of Sarah’s other favorites like Roasted Pasta Ratatouille , Thai Basil Pesto Pasta with Spicy Shrimp, or Soy Sauce Butter Pasta with Shrimp and Shiitakes. Take your pick and I’m sure you won’t be disappointed!
- 8 oz. dried spaghetti
- Salt
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 12 oz. ground beef
- 1 medium onion, finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
- 2 cups chicken stock
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
- ½ teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- ⅛ teaspoon white pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch, mixed with 2 tablespoons water
- Bring a pot of salted water to a boil for the spaghetti. Cook the spaghetti according to the package instructions, undercooking it by about a minute (it will finish cooking in the sauce). While the pasta is cooking, start the sauce.
- Heat a wok over high heat and add a tablespoon of oil. Add the ground beef and cook until slightly browned, breaking up any large chunks of beef. Add the onion, garlic, and Shaoxing wine, and turn the heat down to medium. Cook until the onion is transparent, and then add the chicken stock.
- Bring to a boil and lower the heat to a simmer. Stir in the oyster and soy sauces, sesame oil, and white pepper. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove the cover, add the peas, and stir for one minute.
- Stir up the cornstarch slurry (since the starch will separate from the water when left to sit), and drizzle the slurry into the sauce while stirring constantly. The sauce should thicken until it coats a spoon.
- Drain the pasta, and add it directly to the wok. Toss until the pasta is coated in sauce. Feel free to add some of the pasta cooking liquid if the sauce is too thick, and add more cornstarch slurry if the sauce is too thin. Serve!
Simon says
That’s funny. I do a variation of a Ken Hom Szechuan beef noodles recipe where you fry garlic, spring onion and beef or pork mince and then add yellow bean paste, chilli bean paste, soy, shaosing, sugar and stock. Once reduced add noodles or spaghetti, cooked peas and cabbage. It looks like spaghetti Bolognese so we call it Chinese spag bol! I love your website, I’ve made lots of your dishes.
Judy says
Hi Simon, so glad that you enjoy our recipes. Keep on cooking and eat well :-)
Lana says
Another delicious recipe. I had to substitute mirin for the wine, even though I know it’s more sweet but it still turned out fantastic. I haven’t tried a recipe from you guys that I didn’t like and I’m up to four so far!
Judy says
Lovely, keep going! As for wine, you can use dry sherry to avoid too much sweetness.
Tiana says
This was excellent and really easy to put together! Will be making this on a regular basis.
Bill says
Thanks Tiana, glad you liked it!
Helen says
Hey Bill,
I made this recipe tonight. I didn’t have any Chinese cooking wine, so I used dry white wine. I also added a tablespoon of kecap manis. I served it with pulse pasta and carrot noodles ( idea I got from Sarah’s recipe). I topped it with some parmesan cheese, which sounds weird, but it tasted great. Thankyou for a lovely recipe, it reminds me of a savoury mince I make ( for sloppy joes) and also great with pasta.
Bill says
Hi Helen, interesting variations!
Kara says
Hi. I’d like to double the amount of spaghetti noodles. Should I double everything else?
Bill says
Hi Kara, yes, doubling everything in this recipe should work fine!
Gerrit Visser says
Excellent flavours, used spiced sausage meat (because that is what we needed to use up). We love your recipes, clear, concisely written and well illustrated for those times when the process is new to us.
Judy says
So glad you tried the recipe and love it!
jeanne C says
cant wait to try this!!! as an italian, i get kind of sick of italian food LOL you post such great recipes, & i really enjoy reading your blog :)
Judy says
I know what you mean, Jeanne! I am Chinese, and I often look forward to a good plate of pasta.
Kristine Uy says
Hi! Can I use ground pork instead of beef? Would the change in flavor be big?
Kaitlin says
Hi Kristine, you can definitely use ground pork, or ground chicken/turkey, etc. for that matter. The flavor will be a little bit different, but you should use whichever protein you prefer :)
Pekie says
I tried this tonight and it was lovely! I didn’t add the wine and it was fine without. Such a change to not have a tomato based pasta sauce.
Bill says
Hi Pekie, Glad you enjoyed it. I love both tomato and non-tomato pasta dishes also. Check out our recipe index for more tomato-less pasta dishes :-)
Jen Lu says
Came home from work today hungry and remembered I had all the ingredients for this in my kitchen! Fantastic recipe! Took me ~30 mins total to prep and cook and then I could eat. And it was so so so good! I think this is my new favorite fast dinner dish!
Bill says
Hi Jen, love to hear you enjoyed it – quick, easy and delicious!
Diego says
I made the beef bowls last night, and today put the leftovers over knife-cut noodles and added a little bit of vinegar and some godmother chili crisp… extremely good! extremely good!!!!
Bill says
Hi Diego, love to hear you are so creative in the kitchen. Can’t go wrong with Godmother sauce either haha!
francescabianca says
I must admit that as an Italian I had a heart attack when I saw the title. But then I read the recipe and thought hey, this is something I could try!
Bill says
Hi francescabianca, yes, give it a try for sure––I’m sure you will enjoy it. We Chinese and Italians love our noodles and pasta!
Min Yee says
Hi Bill, I made this today. Was really yummy and chilli garlic sauce as condiment elevates the flavour to another level. Next dish will be beef tomato stir fry from your blog!
Bill says
Hi Min Yee, we love to add spicy condiments to our rice and noodles also! You will love the beef and tomato – make sure the tomatoes are ripe and sweet and don’t forget the crucial step of frying the ketchup in the oil ;-)