Beef Ragu Recipe {Slow Cooker or Stovetop}

Total comfort food -- with just 10 minutes of prep! Prepare this Beef Ragu recipe in the slow cooker or on the stovetop for an Italian-inspired easy dinner that your family will adore! The affordable meal serves a crowd and freezes beautifully.

There's something so cozy about a big pot of sauce simmering in your kitchen. The smell of garlic and onion wafts through the house as you anticipate time with your family around the table. There's no last-minute stress or effort! You can leave the ragu recipe in your Crock Pot all day while you work, and come home to an amazing, restaurant-quality meal!

Best of all, this dish takes advantage of inexpensive ingredients (such as a beef chuck roast), yet transforms them into something truly special.

What is Beef Ragù?

An Italian ragù recipe is typically defined as a hearty, seasoned Italian sauce made with meat and tomatoes. It is most often served with pasta, and includes ground beef (or shredded chuck roast, in this case), tomatoes, and finely chopped carrots, celery and onion (source).

How to make Beef Ragu:

My mom originally gave me this recipe, which she created for the stovetop. While simmering the beef and vegetables in a Dutch oven results in a beautiful sauce, I don't always have that kind of time! As a result, I've tested Mom's recipe numerous times in my own home to create a slow cooker version that's just as good! By using a lot less liquid in the Crock Pot, you can still accomplish a thick, rich, flavorful braised beef ragu -- that's not watered down by the slow cooker.

First, whisk together red wine and tomato paste. This helps to create a smooth mixture so that you don't have large chunks of tomato paste in your slow cooker.

Add the red wine mixture to your Crock Pot, and stir in salt, onion, garlic, celery, carrot, Parmesan cheese, and crushed tomatoes.

Season a beef chuck roast with salt and nestle the meat in the slow cooker among the vegetables.

Cover the pot and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH for 5-6 hours. You know it's done when the beef is fall-apart tender!

You can shred the meat right in the slow cooker, or you can remove it to a cutting board or rimmed baking sheet to shred with two forks. I like to take it out of the pot in order to make sure that every bit of beef is shredded and to remove any fatty pieces.

Return the meat to the pot and stir to combine.

It's thick, rich and perfect with a bowl of pasta!

How to serve Beef Ragu:

Beef ragu is often served with pappardelle -- a large, very broad flat pasta noodle. If you're like me and you have trouble finding pappardelle in your local grocery store, you can toss the ragu sauce with another sturdy pasta. Good alternatives include:

• Rigatoni
• Ravioli
• Fettuccini
• Tagliatelle
• Or use the sauce in your favorite lasagna recipe!

On the side, you can pair the braised beef ragu with any of these easy options:

• 3-Ingredient Homemade Breadsticks or garlic bread
• Green salad dressed in Italian Balsamic Vinaigrette
• Cucumber Salad
• 2-Ingredient Italian Sugar Snap Peas
• Garlic Roasted Broccoli
• Green Bean Salad

Cook's Tips and Recipe Variations:

• Note the different amounts of liquid called for in the different cooking methods. The stovetop version requires water and more red wine, because you simmer with the lid ajar -- which releases steam and allows the sauce to thicken. The slow cooker, by contrast, needs the lid closed -- which means that condensation falls back into the sauce. As a result, you will omit the water and drastically reduce the amount of red wine when preparing the Crock Pot ragu.
• This recipe calls for kosher salt. If you're using regular table salt, you will likely need to decrease the amount of salt that you add to the dish. Just taste and adjust to your liking!
• Don't want to use red wine? You can substitute with an equal amount of beef stock.
• If you can find San Marzano crushed tomatoes, they're the best!
• Is Beef Ragu spicy? No, not at all! This mild sauce is incredibly kid-friendly. That said, you can easily add heat to the dish by stirring in crushed red pepper, to taste.
• How to thicken Beef Ragu: if you find that your sauce looks too thin -- even after you have added back in the shredded beef -- you can continue to simmer the sauce without a lid until the ragu reaches the desired consistency.
• How to freeze Beef Ragu: This sauce will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To preserve the ragu even longer, package in an airtight container (or in a Ziploc freezer bag) and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• To reheat Beef Ragu: Thaw frozen ragu in the refrigerator overnight. Place in a saucepan, cover and cook over low heat, stirring regularly, until warmed through.

More easy sauce recipes that you might enjoy:

• Spaghetti Meat Sauce {Slow Cooker or Stovetop}
• Quick and Easy Spaghetti Bolognese Sauce
• Easy Marinara Sauce
• 5-Ingredient Pasta Pomodoro Sauce

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5 from 7 votes

Beef Ragu Recipe {Slow Cooker or Stovetop}

Total comfort food -- with just 10 minutes of prep! Prepare this Beef Ragu recipe in the slow cooker or on the stovetop for an Italian-inspired easy dinner!

Course Dinner

Cuisine Italian

Keyword beef ragu recipe, ragu recipe, slow cooker beef ragu

Prep Time 10 minutes

Cook Time 8 hours

0 minutes

Total Time 8 hours 10 minutes

Servings 8 people

Calories 375kcal

Author Blair Lonergan

Equipment

• Slow Cooker

Ingredients

• 2 ½ - 3 lb. chuck roast
• 3 teaspoons kosher salt divided
• 3 Vidalia onions thinly sliced
• 3 cloves garlic smashed and peeled
• 1 stalk celery finely diced
• 1 carrot peeled and finely diced
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 1 ½ cups red wine (such as pinot noir) for stovetop method OR ½ cup red wine for slow cooker method
• ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
• For serving: pappardelle or other sturdy pasta

Instructions

SLOW COOKER METHOD:

• Spray a slow cooker with cooking spray. Whisk together tomato paste and ½ cup red wine; transfer to slow cooker. Add onions, garlic, celery, carrot, Parmesan cheese, crushed tomatoes and ¾ teaspoon salt. Stir.
• Season beef with ¾ teaspoon salt and place in the slow cooker.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours or on HIGH for 5-6 hours. You know it’s done when the beef is fall-apart tender. Discard garlic cloves and use two forks to shred the beef. Add remaining 1 ½ teaspoons salt, stir, and serve over pasta.

STOVETOP METHOD:

• Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Season beef with ¾ teaspoon salt; brown in hot oil (about 4 minutes per side).
• Remove meat to a platter.
• Reduce heat to low; add onions and additional ¾ teaspoon salt. Stir frequently, scraping bits from the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon as the onions cook and caramelize for 25-30 minutes. NOTE: If you don't have the time or patience to cook the onions for this long, that's fine -- just sauté them for about 7 minutes (until tender). The caramelizing adds extra rich flavor, but it will still be delicious with a shorter time too!
• Add garlic, carrot and celery; cook for 2 more minutes.
• Clear space in the bottom of the pot; add tomato paste, and cook, stirring, for 2 more minutes.
• Add wine and deglaze the pot by scraping up bits from the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon.
• Simmer for 3 minutes. Return meat to the pot; add 2 ½ cups of water, Parmesan cheese and crushed tomatoes. Reduce heat to very low; cover halfway (leaving the lid ajar to let the steam escape). Simmer for about 3 hours, or until meat is fall-apart tender.
• Discard the garlic cloves. Remove meat to a rimmed baking sheet (or cutting board) and shred with two forks. Return shredded beef to the pot, and stir in remaining 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Serve over pasta.

Notes

• Note the different amounts of liquid called for in the different cooking methods. The stovetop version requires water and more red wine, because you simmer with the lid ajar -- which releases steam and allows the sauce to thicken. The slow cooker, by contrast, needs the lid closed -- which means that condensation falls back into the sauce. As a result, you will omit the water and drastically reduce the amount of red wine when preparing the Crock Pot ragu.
• This recipe calls for kosher salt. If you're using regular table salt, you will likely need to decrease the amount of salt that you add to the dish. Just taste and adjust to your liking!
• Don't want to use red wine? You can substitute with an equal amount of beef stock.
• If you can find San Marzano crushed tomatoes, they're the best!
• Is Beef Ragu spicy? No, not at all! This mild sauce is incredibly kid-friendly. That said, you can easily add heat to the dish by stirring in crushed red pepper, to taste.
• How to thicken Beef Ragu: if you find that your sauce looks too thin -- even after you have added back in the shredded beef -- you can continue to simmer the sauce without a lid until the ragu reaches the desired consistency.
• How to freeze Beef Ragu: This sauce will stay fresh in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. To preserve the ragu even longer, package in an airtight container (or in a Ziploc freezer bag) and store in the freezer for up to 3 months.
• To reheat Beef Ragu: Thaw frozen ragu in the refrigerator overnight. Place in a saucepan, cover and cook over low heat, stirring regularly, until warmed through.

Nutrition

Serving: 1/8 of the recipe based on a 2.5 lb. roast in the slow cooker | Calories: 375kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 32g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Cholesterol: 101mg | Sodium: 1350mg | Potassium: 1173mg | Fiber: 4g | Sugar: 14g | Vitamin A: 1857IU | Vitamin C: 21mg | Calcium: 130mg | Iron: 5mg