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.)
This will forever be a staple recipe in my family – it’s my partners FAVOURITE meal now – he requests it for every birthday. I’ve got 2 toddlers now who also love it – you honestly can’t go wrong with this recipe. 11/10 recommend
I even make my own pappardelle to go with this amazing dish and it was spectacular! Obviously it was quite involved when you throw making your own pasta into the mix but it was so worth it!! Amazing!
Hello Nagi, would love to substitute the beef with lamb shanks only because that’s what I have in my freezer. Is there anything else I would need to change? For example, would I substitute the beef stock cubes for chicken stock cubes? I would appreciate if so someone would share their thoughts with me. Thank you.
Do you need a casserole dish for this recipe?
This was a hit for a dreary Saturday evening. The chuck took longer than the 2-hrs to cook so just kept adjusting the heat til it was tender enough to shred and by then the sauce had reduced to a richly delicious elixir! Topped with parmesan cheese and a swirl of EVOO, and with the pappardelle, it was a master stroke. Will make again. Thanks Nagi for sharing yet another winner.
I made this with lamb shank meat. I made it a day ahead, adding a parm rind to the simmering sauce. Separated the meat from the sauce, and removed the fat from the cooled sauce. I pureed the sauce and reheated it, added broken lasagna noodles since I couldn’t find pappardelle for some reason. Chopped parsley and lemon rind topped it off and cut the richness.
Sounds complicated, but it’s easy, especially when broken up into two days. I’ll make it again.
For leftovers I added a couple spoonfuls of white beans I had previously cooked up. So good.
Absolutely delicious Ragu! I used the beef stock option. It did take a bit more to cook though, could have been my stove? It was closer to 3 hours… so keep an eye out
I made this tonight in the slow cooker, 6 hours and it was fall apart good. Couldnt get the pappardelle so got the tagliatelle. It is divine and I have enough for meal size containers in the freezer for days when I dont want to actually cook, well apart from cooking a bit of pasta 🙂 Another winner Nagi xx
This is an incredible recipe. We really liked it. Another top-notch recipe that you have given unto the world.
Also, my dog, Token, even likes it. She’s a big fan of Campbell’s canned spaghetto’s. Doesn’t matter if they are Spaghettio & Franks, S & Chicken, or S & Meatballs. She loves them all.
But, I let her “Clean Dishes” during this afternoon lunch, and she really liked this. But, tonight, she won’t have spaghettio’s. She will have Naggie & Dozer’s Beef Ragu.
Thanks again, N&D, for all the good and wonderful dishes that you give to the world. You are making eating at home more enjoyable and more affordable, as the prices just keep rising around us in America. It’s hard to keep making ends meet. But, your dishes save us from restaurants and overtly-priced fastfood.
This is an incredible recipe. We really liked it. Another top-notch recipe that you have given unto the world.
Also, my dog, Token, even likes it. She’s a big fan of Campbell’s canned spaghetto’s. Doesn’t matter if they are Spaghettio & Franks, S & Chicken, or S & Meatballs. She loves them all.
But, I let her “Clean Dishes” during this afternoon lunch, and she really liked this. But, tonight, she won’t have spaghettio’s. She will have Naggie & Dozer’s Beef Ragu.
Thanks again, N&D, for all the good and wonderful dishes that you give to the world. You are making eating at home more enjoyable and more affordable, as the prices just keep rising around us in America. It’s hard to keep making ends meet. But, your dishes save us from restaurants and overtly-priced fastfood.
PLEASE DELETE ABOVE COMMENT — too hard to read without paragraphs.
Just delicious !
Only had 800 gms supermarket chuck steak pieces so cut them in half . Reduced other ingredients as per recipe .
Cooked for 1 .5 hours but still not tender enough so put into pressure cooked for a further 10 minutes .
Only salt I added was a light sprinkle onto the steak pre frying plus 1 beef Oxo stock cube .
A pinch of salt only added to the pasta water .
Perfect 👍
This is a family favourite and is ALWAYS extremely tasty, just delicious, tonight’s dinner 👍
Hi there, so I am doing this for first time using slow cooker. I assume I don’t add ANY water to the slow cooker (ie just ad the beef stock cubes crumbled, without water?) I’m finding it hard to tell if when Nagi says in note 5, ‘do not add water’ if she is referring to the 1 1/2 cups water in ingredients list, IN ADDITTION to, making up 2 cups of stock. For now I’m assuming no water at all, I did melt the stock cubes with a tiny bit of hot water but haven’t added more than that. Sorry for my complicated question…can anyway confirm I’ve understood this right?
I made this tonight in the slow cooker, no water at all. Just the 2 cans of crushed tomatoes, cup of red wine and crumbled stock cubes. It was perfect. water doesnt evaporate in the slow cooker like it does on a stove top thats why you dont add the water
Okay this was AMAZING! I have never cooked anything slow-cooked before and was a little nervous as it felt like it was out of my reach. But seriously, this was so so easy and tasted like restaurant quality!! I am so impressed. Nagi I am obsessed with your blog and recipes (so is my partner when I feed them to him lol) x
This dish is divine. The texture & flavor of the sauce, to the meat that just melted in your mouth – 10/10 for this Nagi – just loving your recipes
My partner bought big cuts of casserole beef instead of Chuck steak. Can I still use this cut?
After trying a few different recipes, we decided to try this one and followed it exactly. Safe to say it’s an absolute winner and will be added to the cook book for regular cooking. Super easy and very tasty.
If you’d like an easy hack to shred the meat, pop it in the food processor and blitz for 10-20secs and it’s all done!
Can I cook this in the oven?
Made this the first time a few months ago and froze half. Had the frozen leftovers tonight and it tasted just as awesome. My boys loved it again. Great recipe to add to my repertoire. You’re the best Nagi.
What a great dish! We used our new pasta machine to make the pappardelle and it turned out incredible! I wouldn’t change a thing from this recipe 🙂