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Thank you for a beautiful pappardelle recipe. Made this tonight for my family and the kitchen smells divine. It tastes even better.
Onkar Bhosale
Video For Beef Ragu
Slow Cooker Beef Ragu Is The MVP Of Dinner.
I won’t hold you up too long here because really I just want you to spend some quiet blissful minutes looking at these gorgeous pasta shots and know that this slow-cooked beef ragu is every bit as luscious and comforting as it looks.
It is absolutely packed with juicy tomato and big garlic flavor, tender shredded beef that swims in a little almost gravy-ish situation, all twirling and swirling around big wide chewy pappardelle. Hello, are you crying? It’s all just so beautiful.
I also probably don’t need to tell you that this is perfect for bread dips too, because you were obviously already thinking that.
This recipe is originally from the amazing Skinnytaste cookbook, called Fast and Slow (affiliate link), which is loaded with awesome recipes for real people and we are just real big fans of Gina over here. Because this recipe is a slow cooker dream, it comes together pretty easily!
This is a weeknight, slow-cooked winner. I hope you love it too.
Ingredients You’ll Need
In addition to a few pantry staples, there’s not a super long ingredient list to get this cozy, rich bowl of comfort on your table.
- garlic
- flank steak (chuck roast can also work)
- can crushed tomatoes
- beef broth
- carrot
- bay leaves, fresh thyme
- pappardelle pasta
- salt and pepper
- parmesan, ricotta, and parsley for topping
How To Make Beef Ragu In The Slow Cooker
Once you get it all together in the slow cooker, you’re pretty much there and ready to go!
- Sauté Garlic: Get your garlic cloves golden and lightly browned with a quick sauté in some olive oil.
- Put Everything In A Slow Cooker: Season the beef and transfer to a slow cooker. Pour in tomatoes, broth, carrots, the garlic from step one, bay leaves, and thyme.
- Cook: Set that slow cooker to a low simmer and walk away for the day! Once done, discard the herbs and shred the beef in the pot.
- Make Pasta: Cook your pasta and then let that sauce and pasta hang out with each other for a few minutes. Give it a quick stir.
- Serve: Top with some excessive piles of parmesan cheese, ricotta, and parsley or fresh basil.
We gave it a whirl and yes, this totally can be made in the Instant Pot in a pinch (see recipe notes for instructions), but why not fill your house with the smells of cozy dinner all day long?
What To Serve With Beef Ragu
Plenty of options to round out your table for this beauty even though it will be hard for anyone to focus on anything else once they have these joyous bowls of pasta in front of them. But here’s what I recommend:
- Pasta (pappardelle, fettuccine, or rigatoni are best), polenta, or mashed potatoes.
- Simple Green Salad
- Homemade Garlic Bread or No Knead Bread
Dream dinnertime lineup!
Slow Cooker Beef Ragu: Frequently Asked Questions
Yes! We followed the recipe as-is for 45 minutes on Manual and it turned out great. A quick release should work, but if it splatters, feel free to do a natural release.
You can also check out this recipe for Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu – made in the Instant Pot and insanely delicious!
I haven’t tested this in the oven, but I would image it would work in a Dutch oven as well. Based on similar recipes, it should work well at 350 degrees for about 3 hours.
Yes! Cook and then freeze in an airtight container in the freezer, thaw overnight when you’re ready to re-heat on the stove. Or you can freeze before cooking and then make in the Instant Pot.
It should last about 1 week in the fridge and up to 6 months in the freezer.
Flank steak or skirt steak are best here, but a chuck roast also works. Just cut it into 3-4 large chunks before cooking.
For sure. I would probably opt for chicken thighs (more tender and luscious!) or a pork butt roast to make this a pork ragu.
Slow Cooker Beef Ragu with Pappardelle
- Total Time: 8 hours 10 minutes
- Yield: 8 servings 1x
Description
We’re making this cozy, comforting Beef Ragu with Pappardelle! Steak is braised in the crockpot for hours with garlic, tomatoes, veggies, and herbs, then shredded and piled high on pappardelle with Parm cheese.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 6 garlic cloves, smashed slightly
- 1 1/2 pounds flank steak, cut against the grain into 4 pieces
- salt and pepper
- 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium beef broth
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme
- 16 ounces pappardelle pasta
- Parmesan, ricotta, and parsley for topping
Instructions
- In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium high heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until golden and lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
- Season the beef with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Pour the tomatoes and broth over the beef and add the garlic from step one, carrots, bay leaves, and thyme.
- Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or on low for 8 to 10 hours. Discard the herbs and shred the beef in the pot using 2 forks.
- Cook the pasta according to package directions. Drain, return to the pot, and add the sauce from the slow cooker. Increase the heat to high and cook, stirring, until the pasta and sauce are combined, about 1 minute.
- Divide among 8 bowls and top each with Parmesan, ricotta, and parsley. Serve hot!
Equipment
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Buy Now → Notes
This recipe comes from the brand new Skinnytaste cookbook, Fast and Slow (affiliate link).
Instant Pot Instructions: We followed the recipe as-is for 45 minutes on Manual and it turned out great. A quick release should work, but if it splatters, feel free to do a natural release.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: Italian-Inspired
Keywords: slow cooker beef ragu, beef ragu with pappardelle, beef ragu recipe
Make It A Freezer Meal!
Freeze Together:
- 6 cloves garlic, smashed
- 1 cup mirepoix, fresh or frozen
- 2 pounds flank steak or beef chuck, cut into 4 pieces
- 2 teaspoons salt
- one 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 teaspoon thyme
- 2 bay leaves
To Cook:
INSTANT POT: For beef chuck: From frozen, 65 minutes on high pressure + 10 minutes nature release. For top sirloin: From frozen, 45 minutes on high pressure + 10 minutes nature release.
SLOW COOKER: From thawed, 6 hours on high.
FINAL STEP: Shred the meat and serve with pasta, baked potatoes, polenta, rice, cauliflower rice, gnocchi, zucchini noodles, etc.
View more healthy freezer meals here!
One More Thing!
This recipe is part of our collection of easy pasta recipes. Check it out!
I was so excited about this recipe and was disappointed by how tough the meat was after it cooked in the slow cooker. I couldn’t even shred most of it because it was a rock so I had to throw away more than half of the meat. I don’t think it was an issue with the piece of meat but I guess that’s always a possibility. I don’t know what went wrong.
Made this last night and it was spot on DELICIOUS!! Thank you! Did ours in the instapot with the addition of a 1/2cup red wine & some oregano. I would prob add an onion with the garlic next time but otherwise we loved it!!
Could you add red wine to this? Or does it not need it? It sounds amazing and plan on making it this week.
You definitely could!
I made the slow cooker beef ragu with paperdelle last night.It was absolutely delicious.
We love so many POY and Skinnytaste recipes but this is one of my family’s most requested favorites. It’s so easy to prepare and always a hit. It tastes fancy but it’s so low prep!
Yum!! I’ve made this 3 times!! My only question is that the meat gets very gummy – just kind of globs together. What am I doing wrong?! Help! 😍
Absolutely incredible! Super easy; yet, it tasted so complex and elegant. Restaurant quality but I was able to control the ingredients (salt, oil, etc.). Loved that as well. The variations that I used was: 2 lbs of flank steak, 3 big cloves of garlic (minced), and I sauteed the garlic and the carrot before adding to the slow cooker. Thank you for an amazing recipe.
This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu with Pappardelle looks absolutely delicious! I love how tender the beef gets after simmering for hours. Can’t wait to try this recipe for our next family dinner—perfect for cozy nights in! Thanks for sharing!
This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu looks absolutely savory and perfect for a cozy dinner! I love how the flavors come together with the pappardelle. Can’t wait to try this recipe over the weekend! Thanks for sharing!
Can you cook this in a Dutch oven in the oven? If so, what temp and for how long?
Thanks!
We made the Slow Cooker Beef Ragu last night, but used Elk tip steak instead of beef. Oh My!! We would pay premium at a fancy restaurant for this comforting and easy meal! We paired it with Liz’s Roasted Broccoli Salad and these two dishes were a perfect way to start our fall, cool weather cooking. My husband is asking for a regular replay of both these dishes. Thank you for all your inspiring and comfort filled recipes!
Awesome! Love to hear it!
I normally love your recipes because they have so much flavor but I felt this one was flat. Maybe my bay leaves were not good? I followed the recipe to a tee – but I did use London broil since a true flank steak wasn’t available. The meat was super tender. I just feel like this needed something
I have made this dish multiple times and my family and friends love it. The only thing I add to it is fresh rosemary while cooking.
Made this last night for dinner and it was delicious! Even my picky eater partner loved it. It will definitely become a staple meal in our household, especially going into cozy season.
Hey, I tried it tonight. It was quite delicious. I have a couple questions.
In the frozen recipe you state to use mirepoix but in the regular you just use 1 carrot. Why the change?
My ragu was pretty thin. I cooked it down a bit after the pressure cooker. Any tips to make it a bit thicker?
This recipe is delicious and now on regular rotation at our house.
if others find it bland I would just add more spice. I use fresh herbs, add rosemary and place it all in cheese cloth roll so its easy to remove at end of cooking. I have served to friends and they loved it.
I made this last night. I made sauce all the time, and I was afraid the sauce would not have enough flavor. Two hours in I tasted it, and I decided to add my additions. I added the following:
* 1 tbsp Italian Herb Blend or combination of equal parts thyme, basil and oregano
* 2 tsp Granulated White Sugar more or less to taste
* 1 Onion small, finely diced
* 6 leaves fresh finely chopped basil
I made the sauce one day in advance for a huge group. It was a huge success. I would recommend adding more seasonings though.
Love this recipe. Especially for an instant pot / freezer option. I have to go light on the garlic due to a sensitive stomach (like 2 cloves) but I add a bit of garlic infused oil to make up for it. I’ve served it over egg noodles, gnocchi, and polenta. All excellent! Thank you! Love your website!
I’ve made this recipe numerous times and it is yummy. I have a suggestion though. Quickly sear (at high heat) the beef on all sides before placing in the slow cooker. It really added another depth of flavor.
This recipe looks amazing! I love slow cooker recipes, and the addition of pappardelle is perfect. I can’t wait to try it out and enjoy a delicious homemade ragu. Thanks for sharing! 😋
This recipe looks amazing! I’m loving the idea of using a slow cooker to make a rich and hearty ragu. The addition of pappardelle noodles sounds perfect for soaking up all the delicious sauce. Can’t wait to try it out!
We made this tonight!! Hubby said it was restaurant quality ragu! Absolutely delicious 🤤 we took pictures, but I’m not sure how to share it.
Sad to say it ended up being quite bland and watery… I cooked it on low for 9 hours and the meat still turned out tough. Not sure where I went wrong.
This was so bland. Even with the addition of so many more spices and some red wine, it was just meh. Will not make again.
This is delicious! We had a ton of roasted garlic in olive oil that we used (probably 20 cloves) and finished it off with a splash of red wine. Perfection!