Low carb Zoodles Bolognese

Low carb Zoodles Bolognese

Yes, hearty and savory low carb Bolognese can be on your dinner table tonight! With a dash of umami and a hint of garlic – this is sure to satisfy any pasta lover.

Low carb Zoodles Bolognese

Yes, hearty and savory low carb Bolognese can be on your dinner table tonight! With a dash of umami and a hint of garlic – this is sure to satisfy any pasta lover.
USMetric
6 servingservings

Ingredients

  • 1 (4 oz.) 1 (110 g) yellow onionyellow onions
  • 1 1 garlic clovegarlic cloves
  • 3 oz. (¾ cup) 85 g (200 ml) celery stalkcelery stalks
  • 1½ lbs 650 g ground beef or ground turkey
  • 3 oz. 85 g butter or olive oil
  • 2 tbsp 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 14 oz. (123 cups) 400 g (400 ml) crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tsp 1 tsp salt
  • ¼ tsp ¼ tsp pepper
  • 1 tbsp 1 tbsp dried oregano or dried basil
  • 1 tbsp 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
  • water (optional)
Zoodles
  • 2 lbs 900 g zucchini
  • 2 tbsp 2 tbsp butter or olive oil
  • salt or pepper
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Instructions

Instructions are for 6 servings. Please modify as needed.

  1. Chop the vegetables finely. Sauté in butter or olive oil until soft, then add the ground beef. Sauté on high heat until everything has turned a nice color. Add the remaining ingredients, stir and let simmer on medium-high for 15 minutes.
  2. Lower the heat some more. Add water if the sauce is getting too thick. Let simmer for 20 minutes or more. The longer the sauce is allowed to simmer, the better the flavor.
  3. In the meantime, make the noodles. Use a spiralizer, mandolin, or peeler to make long, thin strips of zucchini.
  4. Heat a frying pan and toss them around quickly in butter or olive oil. A minute is enough to keep them from going too soft.
  5. Taste the sauce and add more salt and pepper if needed.
  6. Serve the noodles warm with the hot sauce on top. Finish with a good grating of Parmesan cheese.

Tips

Make a double batch and freeze in serving sizes to use for other dishes like lasagna and gratins.

Skip tomato paste if you want to limit the carbs more.

Don’t forget to garnish with fresh parsley, for a stunning visual contrast!

Recommended special equipment

Spiralizer or mandolin

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26 comments

  1. 1 comment removed
  2. Apicius
    Real bolognese sauce has milk added to it too. I actually add cream to mine. It still turns out to be a deep red colour sauce (even with cream added) and the taste is more rich I find. I also add a bit of red wine too.
  3. Christina
    So if im doing net carbs.. you dont have all the nutrition to figure it out.
  4. Jane
    the instructions on this recipe isn't loading properly
  5. Marina
    I had zucchini pasta with a delicious veggie sauce which is very health and has only 5 cal per 30g..added some cheddar cheese and ground meat...yummmm
  6. Maya
    Have made twice now and it’s really satisfying and delicious! I added some red pepper flakes as well as some garlic salt. Very pleased w the results!
  7. Maria Cristina Galdi
    zucchini???? they are not large enough to look like the picture, are they zucchini, really?
    Reply: #8
  8. Caron

    zucchini???? they are not large enough to look like the picture, are they zucchini, really?

    LOL the Zucchini has been spiralized.

  9. KennyDallas
    Maria Cristina Galdi, the spiral tools vary by tool and type, so you get different thicknesses depending. Hope that helps. 🙂

    I hate zucchini 🤢 and wasn’t gonna try this. WOW so glad I did. I don’t hate it anymore. It was amazing. They are not starchy noodles, they are fresh yummy noodles. I microwaved my noodles a couple minutes. They turned out fine. I ate 2 zucchini worth of znoodles myself. I am a 6 foot male, only noting this so you might know how much people might eat so get extra zucchini, people are gonna love these and eat them. As usual thank you to DietDoctor for this amazing meal idea. Peace & health to all. 🙂

  10. Tiffany
    So is it 10grams of carbs total or 10 grams of carbs per serving?
  11. Anthony
    It says net carbs - Overall 10g in total recipe
    Reply: #14
  12. Susan H
    I have a hard time when sites post recipes and the author doesn't know the difference between to and too. :(
    Reply: #13
  13. Kristin Parker Team Diet Doctor

    I have a hard time when sites post recipes and the author doesn't know the difference between to and too. :(

    Thank you for taking the time to point this out. Please rest assured that this was a typo and that I have asked to have it corrected. We take all issues of grammar, spelling and consistent style very seriously!

  14. Melissa
    Hi Anthony.

    Actually, the nutrition information states that the data refers to an individual serving.

    My understanding is that the term "net carbs" in Keto and LCHF dieting refers to carbs the body can digest and absorb versus carbs that digest more slowly or simply pass through the system. Net carbs are supposedly those that affect blood sugar. To arrive at the net carb number for whole foods, the theory is that one subtracts indigestible fiber grams from the total grams of carbs. For example, a cup of chopped red peppers (149 g) contains 9 grams of total carbs and 3 grams of fiber. The carbs one would count in this diet would be 6 carbs.

    I hope one of the staff will correct me if I am wrong about net carbs, but I think this is generally how net carbs work.

    Take care!

    Reply: #15
  15. Kristin Parker Team Diet Doctor

    I hope one of the staff will correct me if I am wrong about net carbs, but I think this is generally how net carbs work.
    Take care!

    You're correct! Our recipes always list net carbs per serving.

  16. Janet
    Yum! Another fantastic Diet Doctors recipe! I added 1/2 cup heavy cream to the sauce and instead of Zoodles I served it over palmini hearts of palm noodles!! Delish!
  17. Maureen Crook
    Made this tonight for dinner and all I can say is WOW thank you wasso delish and even my fussy eater loved it. Had fun making the noodles show knew thank you again
  18. jeff41
    The bolognese was great. The noodles didn't get soft enough by sautéing one minute. I'll fix that next time around.
  19. Helen E
    Unami is mentioned in the text, but not in the recipe. Is this something you are supposed to add?
    Reply: #20
  20. Crystal Pullen Team Diet Doctor
    Umami refers to a savory taste rather than a specific ingredient.
  21. Hanine
    Hi,
    Why is it moderate low car 10 g ?
    Where is that coming from? I still can’t understand how to determine if the net carbs fall under liberal moderate or strict.

    I want to try zoodles with Italian meat ball (another recipe having 5 g carb on strict diet). but am not sure how it will add up because am following strict diet ? Can you please guid little through that? Thanks

    Reply: #22
  22. Kerry Merritt Team Diet Doctor

    Hi,
    Why is it moderate low car 10 g ?
    Where is that coming from? I still can’t understand how to determine if the net carbs fall under liberal moderate or strict.
    I want to try zoodles with Italian meat ball (another recipe having 5 g carb on strict diet). but am not sure how it will add up because am following strict diet ? Can you please guid little through that? Thanks

    All our recipes are color coded based on ketogenic, moderate, or liberal low carb. The ratings are based on the ratios of carbs, protein, and fat. Check out this article for more info! https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb/how-low-carb-is-low-carb

  23. Giane
    Is palmini (hearts of palm) a keto safe substitute for zucchini?
    Reply: #24
  24. Crystal Pullen Team Diet Doctor

    Is palmini (hearts of palm) a keto safe substitute for zucchini?

    Hearts of palm will add substantially more carbs. Hearts of palm has about 24 net carbs per 100 grams and zucchini has about 2 net carbs per 100 grams.

  25. Alicia
    Is this correct? There are many hearts of palm substitutes with significantly less total carbs, let alone net carbs, than 24 per 100 grams?
    Reply: #26
  26. Kristin Parker Team Diet Doctor

    Is this correct? There are many hearts of palm substitutes with significantly less total carbs, let alone net carbs, than 24 per 100 grams?

    I think that may have been an advertent typo! It looks more like perhaps 2.4g net carbs per 100g. Here's one version of a commercial Palmini you can use to compare. Specific nutrition information varies by product.
    https://eatpalmini.com/

  27. Gary
    I substitute spaghetti squash for the zucchini noodles. Much better texture IMHO.

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