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.)
Loved this but it took a lot longer to be able to shred the meat(2&1/2 hours). Was it because the heat was too low on on my electric stove top?
Different cuts and beef can vary – sometimes it just takes longer or it could also be the heat down a bit too low – you got there in the end! N x
It’s the business. My partner said its a 1st class meal. Thank you. Wish I could post a pic.
I am happy that you enjoyed it Trinette! N x
Can this be served over polenta?
Yes you could TS! N x
This was absolute perfection – delicious. Total comfort food for me. Topped with parm-reg sooo good.
Thanks Nagi!
Hello! How many servings will this make? Up top, underneath the name and info it says 5-6 but in the description is says 8. Thank you!
Hi Sarah,
I believe it’s 5-6 servings for the meal with the 500 grams pasta and 5 cups of sauce but 8 servings of sauce so you will have a bit extra left over.
Cheers 🙂
This is a fabulous recipe; it makes a great family meal. I’ve made it twice, so far, and I’m wondering why I haven’t made it more often.
I have one question: why 5 cups of ragu to the noodles? What do I do with the rest of it? I assume I can serve it as needed, right?
Thank you for a great meal!
This was absolutely delicious!! Will definitely make it again
Just amazing, thank you for the recipe!
Made this yesterday in the dutch oven IN the oven. Turned out great. It was also my first ever homemade noodle experiment!
The recipe was easy to follow and relatively fool proof (you can tell because I was able to successfully prepare it hah),
The flavor profile was definitely of the beefy/red-wine type. My daughter thought it tasted like tomato soup + pot roast, but she’s 11. I thought it tasted HEAVENLY.
I am not at all an expert in the kitchen, but I do come from a background where we love to cook and eat foods that are highly flavorful. I am usually disappointed by online recipes but this one was so good that the adults in my circle said things like, “this is restaurant quality!” and “I’m going back for seconds”, and the children said nothing and kept eating! This is my go-to for special dinners and for family getaways at the cabin. I just make the sauce in advance, cool it thoroughly then freeze it, and warm it at the cabin. Boil the pasta there and voilà!! Love it love it love it! Thank you, Nagi!!
For the slow cooker process, when it says do not add water when transferring ingredients to the slow cooker, does it mean the 1 1/2 cups in the ingredients section, or the water from the pasta when serving? Thanks
I’m 99% sure it’s the water from the ingredients’ section. The water won’t evaporate off in the slow cooker as it would on the stovetop, therefore no need to add it for the correct consistency.
So far everything I’ve tried on this, my now favorite recipe site, has been wonderful. This included. So savory and delicious. Pretty much always when I make something involving pasta and tomato sauce, it’s my mom’s fabulous spaghetti sauce recipe. But this sounded so good that I made an exception and am glad that I did.
I made this last night. Omg it’s so delicious! I will definitely be making this again!
Hi Nagi! I love all your recipes—–If I cant find canned crushed tomatoes should i use can diced tomatoes? I am cooking in slow cooker…
Hi Adrienne – that should be fine but the sauce will be a bit thicker so add water if you need to! N x
This was dinner tonight. It was soooo good. As usual my family thought I was an amazing chef and I gave you all the credit Nagi! Another recipe tin winner!
I made this recipe tonight and it was amazingly delicious. I cooked it in a pressure cooker to save time and then reduced it in a dutch oven pot over stove top. It worked really well Thank you again for sharing!
Thought this tasting stunning. So rich and deep. Making it again today but substituting the thyme for oregano as I thought the thyme made it taste more like a stew than a ragu
This was wonderful. I subbed stock for bouillon and sauted the mirpoix longer. We had it with fresh homemade pasta and it was wonderful and felt like old world italian. Lovely with a Negro amaro and a great Sabbath or company meal.
This was delicious. Only thing I changed for the ragu was to add the rind ends of some parmesanfor som added richness. We ate off of it for 2 meals and froze enough for one more.
Super good! Next time, I’ll add the carrots and celery and blend them into the sauce.