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.)
I have just discovered your website and don’t think I’ll ever google other recipes again… I love the boldness in your style of cooking and cannot wait to cook your beef Ragu pappardelle, chicken and mushroom risotto (love the handy tips) and am yet to discover “Dover”…..guessing it is your dog or a Dover sole fish recipe 😊 Thank you
Hiii Paula! Welcome to RecipeTin Eats 🙂 I’m so glad you found me and I hope you love the recipes you try! N xx
Hello Nagi. I have been enjoying looking at your recipes for a while and have finally got around to cooking one – this delicious Ragu (it’s pure comfort food – thank you so much for the recipe). I have a question about beef bouillon cubes….all the cubes I see at the supermarket are beef flavoured and suitable for vegetarians so I’m assuming not very ‘beefy’. I settled on Continental Stock Pot Beef (little pots of condensed beef stock), it worked well in the Ragu but I now have my eye on your meatloaf recipe which also calls for beef bouillon cubes – can you recommend a good brand of the cubes please? I know the liquid stocks available are made with real meat products but as I love cooking in my slow cooker I look to reduce any liquid added to the pot. Thanks again Nagi and I’m so thrilled to have found your site. Suzie 🙂
Hi Suzie! I like to use Oxo because it crumbles super easily, otherwise any of the ones in containers in powder form 🙂 N xx
Thanks Nagi 🙂 Also, I used some of the left over Ragu (without pappardelle) as a pie filling – it was really lovely.
Hi Nagi,
Found your blog just the other day and thought I would try this recipe because the photos look SO good. I have a multi cooker with pressure cooking abilities so I thought I would try your pressure cooker instructions for this. Unfortunately the sauce wasn’t quite as thick as yours and a bit watery 🙁 The flavour wasn’t bad though. I have a feeling it may be because I used beef stock instead of bouillon cubes (and you say to skip the water). That said, the liquid to meat ratio seemed a bit off too, there was too much meat and not enough liquid. What are your thoughts if I were to try this again?
Wow this looks delicious! I’m getting the girls around next week for a homemade pasta night and think I’ll use this recipe! I’m just wondering whether you think adding porcini mushrooms into the recipe will be okay?? ☺️
I think it will take it OVER THE TOP! 🙂 N x
This look so yummy:)
So for slower cooker version is to:
Dear the beef->saute the onion, celery, carrot, garlic-> add the beef back with the sauted ingredients? and add wine ?-> transfer to a slow cooker with the rest of ingredients?
Thank you.
I am confuse here too.
Oh, Nagi, this was SO GOOD!! I made the slow cooker version today. We went to the movies and came home to the most wonderful aroma that filled the house. Mmmm. It was hard to wait for dinner time. The beef barely needed shredding as it fell apart nicely. I had never used pappardelle pasta. In fact, it took trips to a couple stores before I could find it. I’m so glad I kept looking and didn’t settle for fettuccini as it wouldn’t have been the same. I wish I could give this recipe more than five stars!
Thank you for all the great recipes. Also…I know I’ve already told you, but I LOVE Dozer in your posts!
LOVE hearing that Cindy!!! So glad you enjoyed it – AND seeing Dozer! N x
Did the Ragu delicious, froze the leftover sauce and made a equally delicious lasagne mmmmmm
LOVE hearing that Paul!!! So glad you enjoyed it! N x
If cooking in a slow cooker as the notes say to NOT add water, are you supposed to leave out the beef stock entirely and just use the same amount of wine?
Hi Kate! Just leave out the water listed in the ingredients but use everything else! 🙂 N x
Hi Nagi,
Just love this recipe. My friends and I would like to make it for a local Ronald MacDonald House dinner…30-40 parents and kids. Thinking 15 lbs of beef? Would that be enough? We will have access to a professional kitchen. Would you just make 3-4 double batches? Would that be easiest? Anything you would adjust? Will serve a simple green salad before and probably serve the sauce with rigatoni or penne to make it easier to emulsify that quantity before serving. Of course with lots of fresh Italian bread too to clean up those plates!
Now for dessert?
Hi Kathleen, sorry for the delay responding. What a wonderful cause! I think 4 batches should suffice given there are kids there as part of the head count. Just scale up the recipe using the slider, I would probably 4 batches in 2 giant stock pots 🙂 Dessert…. hmmm. I’d probably do a giant batch of apple crumble and cheat by using canned apple, or self saucing chocolate pudding. Because both of those can be made in big baking dishes so you can make giant batches. Use the recipe scaler on the recipe – click / hover on servings and slide and the ingredients will change! Hope that helps – N x
Hi Nagi
Did your recipe for eight people for a 40th birthday bash ,cooked it at home and had it two days later at the holiday cottage,it was the best meal of the weekend everyone wanted more
Big thanks
You were the hero of the weekend!!! Love hearing that! 😇
Help! My sauce is super watery, like water and not thick at all and the beef is hard! I’ve cooked it 2 hours on low, covered! How do I rescue it?
Hi Sam! Easy fix don’t worry take the lid off and cook it down so the sauce thickens! N x
Thank you! I did just that! It was lovely!
I have refrigerated fresh pappardelle. It has a two minute cook time. Will the water be starchy enough after just a minute?
Hi Amber! Starch will release from the pasta when tossing with the ragu sauce so still add a little splash!
Will do, thank you!!
Hi Nagi: Thank you for responding to my question so quickly. I’ve now made your dish twice. The first time there wasn’t the depth of flavour that I wanted. So the second time, I slowed down and really browned the meat (as you advise). I used better than beef bouillon (rather strong) and used more garlic (personal preference). We were all very happy with it the second time.
It was a great recipe to make the day ahead. I served it with a course of salad milanese; and a second course of roasted peppers with tomatoes and anchovies. Lovely, mostly make ahead menu.
I look forward to exploring your other recipes
Nagi – This sounds and looks amazing! I’m planning to make this today and deliver to my parents tomorrow for them to reheat on their own. Could I add some sauce to the Pappardelle and refrigerate over night? Maybe have extra sauce in a separate container? Thank you!
Hi Wendy! I would urge you to keep the pasta and sauce separate until just before serving, that’s the freshest way to serve pasta! Pasta sucks up sauce when left out 🙂 Hope your parents enjoy it – your lucky parents! N x
I told my wife about having a beef ragu sauce at a restaurant in Europe when I was a kid in the 60’s. We looked the recipe up on Google and found yours! Looks just like the dish we got in our local trattoria. Can’t wait to make it!
Hope you do try it Randy! it’s SO SO GOOD!
Hi, I made this last night in my slow cooker and had it set on low for 6 hours (I used the meat you recommended and followed your directions a “T”).
We took the meat out to shred it and it wouldn’t shred!? We sliced it up and put it in the sauce again.
I am going to serve it tonight, do you know what I did wrong to not make it shred? My husband is really excited to eat this.
I am going to reheat it in my Dutch oven tonight.
Any help or advice would be greatly appreciated!
Thank you 😀
I’m sorry to hear that 🙁 Is there a chance your slow cooker is not coming to temperature as it should? 6 hours should definitely be enough for the size of the beef pieces to be shreddable. A whole beef pot roast is ultra tender in 8 hours in a slow cooker! N xx
I’m so excited to make this tomorrow for my whole family how would I make this to feed 8 people?
Hi Nagi – ‘Just tried your Slow Cooked Shredded Beef Ragu with Pappardelle. Everybody loved it, including the dogs who were in the kitchen the whole time. I’m so glad I found your site and can’t wait to try more of your recipes. You explain everything very well, including with photos. Having earned my living as a photographer, I’d like to say that your photography is excellent. You know how to communicate and it shows that you care about what you are doing. You make a heart felt contribution that people around the world can enjoy. What’s better than that? Thanks
Oh WOW Rick, I’m so honoured to get a compliment from a professional! Thanks so much Rick 🙂 I’m so glad you enjoyed this Ragu, I am OBSESSED with it! N x
I am making this right now! It smells AMAZING, and even my veggie-phobic hubby was air sniffing around asking me what delicious thing I was making 🙂 I went back to the recipe page after it was all going to make sure I did not miss anything and then decided to watch your video…OMG it was almost too much to stand with the aromas coming out of my kitchen at the same time-TORTURE to wait I tell you, but I am sure worth it! Thank you so much for your fantastic site and great recipe collections-you are on my favorites bar, and I cruise by everyday to see what kind of delicious genius you are up to!
PS: my boy (90lb black German Shepherd) gets all the meat scraps too…he likes to hang out with me when I cook, I don’t know why 😉
You boy is a smart one there… BOTH of them! 😂
Your recipe for shredded beef ragu looks very good and I’d like to give it a try.
Would it be possible to make it the day ahead and let it rest in its’ sauce in the fridge and then
reheat and serve the next day? If so, would you shred it before you put it in the fridge?
Thank You.
Hi Betty! Shred before refrigerating, and YES to making ahead it just gets better!