Bolognese sauce (ragù in Italian) is a meat- and tomato-based pasta sauce originating in Bologna, Italy. It is typically made by simmering ground meat in tomato sauce, white wine, and stock for a long time (often upward of four hours), so that the meat softens and begins to break down into the liquid medium. The original sauce is not done with minced meat; instead, whole meat, usually beef or veal, is chopped with a knife.

Spaghetti alla Bolognese, or spaghetti bolognese which is sometimes further shortened to spag bol, is a dish invented outside of Italy consisting of spaghetti with a meat sauce. In Bologna, spaghetti is generally not served with a meat sauce, which tends to fall off the pasta and stay on the plate. Instead, the people of Bologna serve their famous meat sauce with tagliatelle or short, tubular pasta like rigatoni .