To think cooking from scratch is not always cheaper?

But if the jar of pesto was made with 100% olive oil, real cheese and pine nuts like your homemade pesto, it would be expensive too.

As others have already pointed out, it depends what you’re making. A jar of pesto for example is way cheaper than the ingredients to make your own, so I usually buy it ready made (even though it’s not as nice)! On the other hand, last week I made carrot and coriander soup, it cost me about £1.50 to make a huge batch, at least 8 portions so much, much cheaper than buying it ready made.

@RainbowSlidders I also reduce mine down in the oven. It's the caramelisation that makes it worth it. I do an adapted version of this- without the chicken livers and without adding gelatine as I use homemade stock and it's fine.

www.seriouseats.com/the-best-slow-cooked-bolognese-sauce-recipe

I'm intrigued by your sundried tomato trick and might give that a go. Assuming it tastes less tinny!

Don't get me wrong, I LOVE lamb - it's my favourite meat.

Tbh I'm a purist, so as soon as certain key ingredients are changed a dish stops being something. I'd call your dish spicy lamb spaghetti instead of Bolognese. But yes, it's not a big deal.

What is a big deal is that my cousin shortens spaghetti Bolognese to "spag bog" instead of spag bol.

I can (and regularly do) make bolognese for about half what you are spending op, come on 🙄 you know it can be done much cheaper than that, surely

That's fine, I just won't cook for you... :)

Lots of people put a little chilli in their bolognaise. And the lamb is different but sometimes I prefer it - it is a richer, softer flavour than the beef. It’s nice to mix it up sometimes. It’s really not a big deal but it most definitely is recognisable as a spag bol.

Oxo is minging in anything.

Oxo is belting in spag bol.

Yep.

Well I’ve never heard of Oxo in Bolognese and I’m certain the Bolognese haven’t either.

None of you put enough wine in your spag Bol. I do half a bottle perfect 500g of meat.

All we've learned from this thread is that it's expensive to make a tasty, high quality bolognese to serve 6 adults.

Does that surprise anyone?

If I want a cheap meal I'll make something else.

It's Bigham's not Bingham's, but you are by no means alone.

What a bizarre thread.
Of course a meal made from scratch using luxury ingredients is going to cost more than a ready meal.

There's no garlic in a soffrito.

However, anyone can make it how they want to, add garlic, do it for 20 mins on the hob, have it with spaghetti, macaroni, penne, whatever - it's you eating it so if you're making it, make it how you like it.

But that's a meat sauce with pasta, not a Bolognese ragu

"I agree and it is just basic economics that the ingredients to make 6 portions of spag bol are more expensive than the ingredients to make 60,000 portions of spag bol, distributed as ready meal or jar."

Yes, economies of scale and efficiency.

By dint of the lamb and chilli that is not bolognese!

A soffrito (onion, carrot, celery, garlic) base for the sauce is pretty standard for ragu/bolognaise. Horses for courses.

I'm half Italian, father from Bologna.

1. 50/50 beef/pork mince and not the lean stuff
2. Couple of slices of cut up smoked streaky bacon
3. NO GARLIC
4. Min of 2 hours cooking to develop the flavour
5. Serve with tagliatelle, NEVER spaghetti

I agree, I can get cheap pizzas for £1, but to make a nice pizza from scratch with decent toppings costs £6/8. And like you say cheap jarred sauces are much cheaper than scratch. Dr Chris and his upf stuff says upf is cheaper than real food too

I don't think it necessarily should go in the oven, but there's plenty of authoritative sources that say to cook it (on the hob presumably) for 3 hours or so.

In defence of the OP, proper bolognese is supposed to be oven cooked for hours, the "on the hob for 20 minutes" job that most British people do would have your average Italian turn their nose up in disgust!

Its like the difference between slow braised beef that is fall apart tender put into a pie with crumbly home made pastry and a rich redwine gravy v a Greggs steak bake!

Well this thread has blown my mind! I have honestly never in my life come across a spaghetti bolognaise with carrots & celery in it (sounds gross) or heard of it being cooked in an oven.

My from scratch bolognaise is usually:

500g of 5% minced beef - £3.89 pack
3 Chesnut Mushrooms - £0.89 punnet
1/3 of a red onion - £0.69 pack of 3
Carton of passata or can of chopped tomatoes - £0.55
1/2 small bottle of Red Wine - £2.75 a bottle
An oxo cube - £2.78 box of 24
Squeeze of garlic puree - £0.85 tube
Squeeze or 2 of tomato puree - £0.59 tube
Mixed Herbs - £0.59 jar
Pepper - ?
1/3 pack of Spaghetti - £0.75 per pack
Garlic Bread / Baguettes - £1.49 for two
Parmasan - £1.59

Thats £17.41 for 3-4 servings based on the assumption I didn’t have a single item in stock and had to buy new packs (since most items don’t come in individual servings) of everything. In reality using stuff I already have in its probably more like £11 (or less as personally I wouldn’t normally do garlic bread and only parmasan if we already had some needing using up).

A jar of Dolmeo is £2.50
You’d still need:
Mince £3.89
Your Spaghetti £0.75
Your Garlic Bread £1.49
Your Palmasan £1.59

Thats £10.22 but wouldn't leave any ingredients over to use in other meals so actually in the grand scheme of things there probably isn’t that much difference in overall cost.

Cooking is an hour simmering on the hob.

Home made spag bol sauce of the type you would get in a jar would probably be comparable on cost and have less sugar and additives in it. It would also take a fraction of the time yours cost. And you would probably think it tasted rank compared to yours.

So yes, usually home made is cheaper and tastes better. The fact that you are choosing to spend nearly £20 on something that you could make for a hell of a lot less, doesnt mean that over all premade is better value.

So YABU.