I’m not a big red meat person, it’s just never been my personal preference. That said, it takes A LOT for me to enjoy a beef dish on the rare occasion, and this Grass Fed Beef Bolognese fits all the criteria – it must be very high quality grass-fed beef (this meat was sourced from Thrive Market), usually needs to be ground – it’s a texture thing – and of course, it needs to be packed with nourishing and tasty ingredients.

Why It’s Important to Source High Quality Organic, Grass-Fed Beef

As a person who doesn’t often enjoy eating beef, I work on incorporating it into my diet here and there ensure i’m varying in my protein sources and getting certain nutrients I don’t otherwise get on a daily basis. That said, I can’t emphasize quality enough here!

While anti-meat advocates and scientists have tried to scare Americans by linking meat to everything from cancer to heart disease, diabetes, and even obesity, research actually shows meat is a nutrient-dense food that can help prevent disease and nutritional deficiencies when you eat it with plenty of plants and vegetables and not as part of the typical Western diet and lifestyle. – Dr. Mark Hyman

Modern American factory farming has completely stripped traditional red meat of its nutrients and in fact poised it, for lack of a better word. If you eat only one thing organic in your diet, it should be meat. Grass-fed meat has much better types of fat than grain-fed (or conventional meat)—more omega-3s, fewer omega-6s, and more CLA (or conjugated linoleic acid), which boosts metabolism and can prevent cancer. Grass-fed meat also has higher levels of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients (1).

Where To Purchase High Quality, Grass-Fed Beef

Bolognese Recipe

Grass Fed Beef Bolognese

Servings 6 people

Ingredients

2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil or avocado oil
1 yellow onion diced
sea salt & black pepper
1.5 lbs organic ground beef, 90% lean/10% fat
1 stalk celery diced
1 carrot diced
2 brown shiitake mushrooms destemmed, diced
2 cloves garlic thinly sliced
1 32-oz jar no sugar added tomato sauce I like Thrive Market brand
1 tsp maple syrup (optional)

Instructions

Heat the oil in a large high-walled pan over medium-high heat. Cook the onion with a pinch of sea salt; stir, turning down the heat to medium-low after 10 minutes. Cook for another 20 minutes. You will notice a light brown caramelization on the onion and pan.
Add the ground beef and stir once the meat begins to brown on one side, 5-10 minutes.
Add the celery, carrot, shiitakes, and garlic and saute for 5 minutes.
Add the tomato sauce and bring the mixture to a light simmer. Reduce the heat to medium and simmer for another 30 minutes (or until the sauce reaches a desired sickness and vegetable are tender).
In the last 10 minutes, if you like a sweeter sauce, add the maple syrup and stir.
Season with Maldon sea salt and pepper to taste.
Serve over spagetti squash or your favorite pasta noodle. The green noodles shown here are shirataki noodles (aka Miracle Noodles).