A budget cut of beef, simple pantry ingredients, a bit of patience and pappardelle pasta. This Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Ragu Sauce with Pappardelle may be the king of all pastas. It is hands down one of my all time favourite pastas ever!
Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Ragu Sauce
There’s this annoying thing that’s been a thorn in my backside all my working life. This thing called pride.
I’m not a professional food photographer, or food stylist, videographer or a chef for that matter. But that doesn’t matter. What does matter is being proud of everything that I have on my website, knowing that even if there are people out there who can take better photos and make better videos, that I’ve done the best I can do and I’m proud of what I’m sharing.
3 years into blogging with over 500 recipes, I still get butterflies when I hit Publish on a new or updated recipe.
And having rewritten, rephotographed and made a video for this Shredded Beef Ragu which I first shared over 2 years ago, yes I’m going to have butterflies when I hit Publish on this (again!) because it’s one of my all time personal favourites. 🙂
I have a weakness for all things slow cooked, but hands down this shredded beef ragu is one of my all time favourites. I’d dare say I love it even more than traditional Ragu Alla Bolognese. It’s the shredded beef that seals the deal for me. The way it soaks up the sauce and clings to the pasta. It’s an absolute ripper!
I’m pretty sure I first learned how to make Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Ragu Sauce with Pappardelle from Lidia Bastianich. Years ago, her show “Lidia’s Italy” was one of the few cooking shows on free-to-air TV and I used to watch them over and over again. Almost everything I know about Italian cooking (including the reason why I was hunting down Kale a decade before it became “cool”) is because of Lidia Bastianich. Old school, real deal Italian. 🙂
Best Pasta to serve with Ragu
The question of what type of pasta to serve with different pasta sauces is a question that I get asked quite regularly. Generally, most pasta sauces will pair perfectly well with most common pasta types, like spaghetti, fettuccine, linguine, penne / ziti, macaroni, shells etc.
And while this Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Ragu Sauce will be great with any type of pasta, the best pasta for a rich sauce like this ragu is pappardelle. This wide, flat pasta is especially great for this recipe because the shredded beef clings to the wide strands.
For pappardelle, I am quite particular about which brand I use because I’ve had problems in the past with uneven cooking. I use San Remo which is a well known trusted brand here in Australia. The pappardelle is bundled into nests so they are fully submerged when dropped into boiling water, and the nests are loose enough so the bubbling water separates the strands and the pappardelle cooks evenly.
You’ll find San Remo pappardelle at all the major supermarkets as well as fresh produce stores and delis. And here’s a photo for size context – giant pasta in my Baby Hands…..
Oh – and the other reason San Remo Pappardelle is my pasta of choice for ragu is because it’s an egg pasta. The addition of egg makes the pappardelle stronger so it doesn’t break when tossed in the thick, rich sauce.
If you’ve just invested hours of patience, slow cooking the sauce to tender perfection, you’ll make me cry if you just dump cooked pasta in a bowl and spoon over the sauce. And the entire nation of Italy will cry with me. 😉 Please promise me you will toss the ragu with the pasta before serving! It is worth it, I promise. Look how every strand of the pappardelle is beautifully coated in that luscious ragu!! – Nagi xx
Watch How To Make It
Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Ragu Sauce with Pappardelle recipe video!
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Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Ragu Pasta
Ingredients
Ragu
- 1.2kg / 2.5 lb chuck beef or other slow cooking beef cut, cut into equal 4 pieces (Note 1)
- 1 tbsp salt
- Black pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil , separated
- 3 cloves garlic , minced
- 1 onion , diced
- 1 cup carrots , diced (Note 2)
- 1 cup celery , diced (Note 2)
- 800g / 28oz crushed canned tomatoes
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 beef bouillon cubes , crumbled (Note 3)
- 1 cup / 250ml red wine , full bodied (like merlot, cabernet sauvignon), or sub with beef broth/stock
- 1 1/2 cups / 375 ml water (Note 3)
- 3/4 tsp dried thyme or 3 sprigs fresh thyme
- 3 dried bay leaves
To Serve (Not all Sauce is used)
- 1 lb /500g dried pappardelle , or other pasta of choice (Note 4)
- Freshly grated parmesan cheese or parmigiano reggiano
- Fresh parsley , finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Pat beef dry and sprinkle with salt and pepper
- Sear Beef: Heat 1 tbsp olive oil over high heat in a heavy based pot. Add beef and sear each piece aggressively on all sides until very browned (3 – 5 minutes in total), then remove onto a plate.
- Turn stove down to medium low and add remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil.
- Soffrito: Add garlic and onion and sauté for 2 minutes. Then add the carrots and celery and sauté slowly for 5 minutes.
- Add remaining Ragu ingredients and return the beef to the pot (including pooled juices). Turn the stove up and bring it to a simmer, then turn it down to low so it’s bubbling very very gently. (Note 7)
- Slow cook: Cover the pot and let it cook for 2 hours or until beef is tender enough to shred. (Note 5 for slow cooker and pressure cooker).
- Shred: Remove beef then coarsely shred with 2 forks. Return beef to the pot. Simmer for 30 minutes until sauce is reduced and thickened – beef will soften slightly more during this step.
- Final season: Do a taste test and adjust the seasoning to your taste with salt and pepper. ALSO, add 1/2 tsp sugar if sauce is a bit sour for your taste (Note 6). Place the lid on and set aside until ready to serve (it’s even better the next day and freezes well for months!).
To Serve (Note 4):
- Bring a very large pot of water with 1 tbsp of salt to the boil.
- Add pasta and cook for 1 minute less than the recommended cooking time as per the packet instructions.
- Meanwhile, place 5 cups of the Ragu in a very large fry pan, dutch oven or use 2 normal size fry pans. Heat over high heat while the pasta is cooking.
- When the pasta is ready, transfer it directly from the pot into the fry pan using tongs.
- Add 3/4 cup of pasta water into the fry pan.
- Gently toss the pasta (I use 2 wooden spoons) for 1 to 2 minutes, until the sauce water evaporates and leaves you with a thick Ragu sauce that coats the pasta.
- Yell for your family to sit down at the dinner table because you need to serve it immediately!
- Serve with plenty of freshly grated parmesan, or even better, with parmigiano reggiano.
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Today’s recipe is brought to you with thanks to San Remo. When they asked if I would consider showcasing one of their products in a recipe, it seemed meant-to-be because I wanted to republish this Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Ragu and in fact, I had made the video using San Remo pappardelle pasta before they approached me! I figured it was a sign. ❤️ San Remo is Australia’s most well known pasta brand and is available at supermarkets all around Australia, including the pappardelle I recommend using for this recipe.
Life Of Dozer
Pappardelle pup. (Try saying that 10 times real fast after a few glasses of wine.)
How much liquid beef stock should be used in place of the cubes?
Hi Emily, omit the water and cubes and replace with 2 cups beef stock – N x
I can’t wait to try this recipe. Do you think this will work using Osso Bucco? I love that you have the option to change the serving sizes in the recipe. You are seriously just the BEST Nagi!
Hi Nagi! Love your recipes! I am planning to make this ahead of time and freeze for easy weeknight dinners! After defrosting, would you still recommend the emulsifying step when the fresh pasta is cooked? Thank you! Carrie xx
Yes definitely Carrie!
If a pressure cooker is being used, should the water or broth be added at some point?
Hi Karen, I have the pressure cooker directions in the notes – omit the water ❤️
Hi Laura, I’m so sorry you didn’t enjoy it! Can I ask what cut of beef you used? – N x
YUM! this was delicious!! and I just LOVE the pappardelle noodles 🙂 This time I made it as using the crockpot method for 8 hours but may add mushrooms in the next batch – used Romano cheese on top!
Yum! I’m so glad you loved it Rachael ❤️
Is this actually better to make a day before and serve the next day? What is the best way to reheat the ragu the next day
Hi Liza, I usually just microwave to reheat – N x
If I am using 5 cups of sauce, do I add 500g of pasta? Or is it 500g added to the total amount of sauce? If so how much pasta should I add to the 5 cups of sauce?
Hi Aaron, It’s 5 cups of the ragu for the 500g of dried pasta which has been cooked – N x
Can I cook this on high in crockpot? Will to come out the same?
Hi Deb, I can’t confirm the time on high as I have only done this on low – N x
Can you pls tell me measurements for 6 people and to have more sauce. I dont want to mess it up and have made this exact recipe for my husnand and i but wanting to mske it for 6 people for next week dinner party
Hi Sab, you can click on the serving size and change it to 6 servings – all the ingredients will automatically adjust for you – N x
Sorry i don’t see what your talkimg about? Can u semd me tje link?
Hi Sab – in the recipe card above it says “Servings:5 – 6 people” hover your mouse over this and a bar will pop up allowing you to change the number of servings – N x
I’m Italian and my mum cooks a lot of stuff (she’s from Calabria). I’ll have to send you the recipe for Nacatoli. Anyway, this is pretty damn close to my mum’s cooking! On Ya 🙂 Keep up the good work.
PS. Just came across your site recently by accident.
That’s so awesome to hear Antonio, thanks so much!
Nagi, be loud and proud! You wouldn’t have the huge following you have if you weren’t up there with best. ☺
Thank you! ❤️
Always loved our Mum’s ragu.
She has dementia now and regret not spending more time in the kitchen with her. I used this recipe and what I recalled of her cooking style to get a reasonable facsimile of her ragu. I am so grateful. This recipe is awesome but Mum’s was a 5, lol. Thanks so much. Working on the pumpkin soup now:)
Hi Danny, nothing beats Mum’s cooking!! I’m so glad you enjoyed the ragu ❤️
I love your recipes. I made a ragu with beef cheeks one time and slow cooked on high for 8 hours which was perfect. I will be using blade (chuck) this time. 6 hours at low is sufficient as suggested?
Hi Kevin! Slow cooking on high for 8 hours is a pretty long time even for cheeks! that equates to about 13 – 14 hours on low, and I never cook meat for that long. Having said that though, cheeks are a tougher cut of meat than chuck so do take longer. 8 hours on low is definitely enough without the beef turning into mush, so go for that if you’re concerned 6 hours isn’t long enough 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
Making this for about the 5th time….I LOVE IT.
Thank you.
Thank you just for being the direct, humble, unpretentious you that delivers delightful, delicious and most of all doable recipes!
I try to choose a new obe every fortnight to try but is hard to not come back to my faves which as a sungleton stock my freezer up.
Could you possibly add a note on recipes you recommend as best for scaling down? Would mean I could sample more dishes 😁
Thanks! Melissa
Hi Kat, sorry you found it too tomatoey, just reduce by 1 tbls and it shouldn’t be too overpowering for you – N x
OMG!!!Yummo….it made enough for left overs which was a bonus. First night had with the same pasta as per the recipe but we found (personal preference) the pasta is so thick that it took away from some of the beautiful sauce. With leftovers we had it with ricotta filled agnolotti and think we enjoyed that a bit more but again pasta choice personal preference. The sauce is amazing!
I’m so happy you loved it Maryanna, this rage would be great on anything to be honest 😂
Hi Nagi, I can’t use red wine and I don’t have beef broth. I do have liquid beef stock though. How should I adjust the recipe?
Broth and liquid stock are the same thing Chris! 🙂 N x
Made this today as I have friends coming over tomorrow. So so so good. Now I am worried that I will not have any left over for my friends 🤔. Do you recommend a nice side dish for this. Normally, this is perfectly enough. It’s just – you know- friends coming over.
This is an excellent recipe! And so easy! It is my son’s FAVORITE meal. Winner!
Love hearing that Victor, thanks!! — Nxx
Hi there,
I’ve made this twice and slow cooked for 6-7 hours. I used chuck both times and the meat was still tough. Should I cook it longer?
Hi Anna, sounds like it needs to cook longer for the meat to start breaking down – how big are the pieces you are using? – N x