Y’all, my Beef Ragu recipe is slow-braised and in a rich tomato sauce that melts in your mouth. It’s got so much savory flavor making it so dang on good! Each bite has juicy beef with tomatoes, herbs and pasta! Serve up a bowl with a side of caesar salad and garlic bread, and get your whole life.
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Beef short rib ragu ingredients
- Beef: Short ribs are what I use. Swap these out with pot roast, beef shanks or even oxtails.
- Flavors: Salt, pepper, and extra virgin olive oil.
- Aromatics: Chopped onions and minced garlic.
- Tomatoes: Crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce are both needed.
- Red Wine and Stock: You can leave the alcohol out of the ragu recipe entirely and just use more chicken stock.
- Italian Herbs & Spice: Italian seasoning, some sugar for balance, and crushed red pepper flakes.
- Pasta: Pappardelle pasta’s wide, flat ribbons. Toss in some other pasta options like rigatoni, fettuccine or tagliatelle.
How to make Ragu
Get to Searing
Step 1: Liberally season both sides of beef with salt and pepper. Don’t be shy. They will need lots of flavor. Add olive oil to large pot over medium high heat on stove. Once olive oil is hot, add beef to pot.
Step 2: Deeply brown on all sides then remove from pot.
Build the Ragu Sauce
Step 3: Scrape the bottom of the pan to get the flavor back into the oil. Next add chopped onion. Sweat them for a few minutes until they soften and turn golden. Next add in the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
Step 4: Add in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, red wine, and chicken stock. Stir in Italian seasoning, sugar, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Bring sauce to a simmer.
Cook Low and Slow
Step 5: Lastly return browned beef to pot and submerge in the sauce. Bake covered for 3 1/2- 4 1/2 hours or until beef is cooked through, tender and falling off the bone and sauce has thickened.
Step 6: Remove oil from the top then heat over medium heat to thicken the sauce.
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Step 7: Serve completed gravy by adding pasta to serving platter and mixing together with gravy to sauce the noodles then topping with meat and gravy with garnishes if you prefer.
Beef Ragu
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Ingredients
- 2 pounds short ribs beef shanks or pot roast
- Kosher salt and black pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
- 2 tablespoons minced garlic
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes 1 can
- 15 ounces tomato sauce 1 can
- 1/3 cup red wine
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning and herbs
- 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 pound pappardelle pasta cooked
- chopped parsley and parmesan cheese for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
- Liberally season both sides of beef with salt and pepper. Don’t be shy. They will need lots of flavor.
- Add olive oil to large pot over medium high heat on stove.
- Once olive oil is hot, add beef to pot and deeply brown on all sides then remove from pot.
- Scrape the bottom of the pan to get the flavor back into the oil. Next add chopped onion and sweat them for a few minutes until they start to soften and turn golden.
- Add in minced garlic and only cook for 1 minute.
- Pour in crushed tomatoes, tomato sauce, red wine, and chicken stock. Stir in Italian seasoning, sugar, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper to taste. Bring sauce to a simmer.
- Lastly return browned beef to pot and submerge in the sauce.
- Bake covered for 3 1/2- 4 1/2 hours or until beef is cooked through, tender and falling off the bone and sauce has thickened. This will depend on the thickness of beef.
- Remove pot from oven and gently ladle the oil off the top of the sauce which has settled. Simmer over medium low heat to thicken sauce.
- Cook pasta according to instructions on package and drain.
- Serve completed gravy by adding pasta to serving platter and mixing together with gravy to sauce the noodles then topping with meat and gravy and garnishing with chopped parsley and parmesan cheese.
Notes
How to store & reheat ragu
To store ragu, let it cool completely, then transfer it into an airtight container. When you’re ready to enjoy it again, reheat it slowly on the stove over a low heat, stirring occasionally, until it’s warmed through. This method ensures the roast stays tender and flavorful, just like when it was first cooked!How long will beef ragu last in the fridge?
It will last for up to 3-4 days.Can I freeze ragu spaghetti sauce?
Absolutely boos. Once it’s cooled completely, add leftovers to freezer bags, sign with the date then freeze them up. You can freeze up to 3 months. When you wanna enjoy again, let the ragu thaw in the fridge overnight.Nutrition
Recipe Tips
- Get It Marbled: Make sure you cuts of meat are nice and marbled. That equals more flavor in the end.
- Brown It Up: Don’t skip browning the meat. That searing at the beginning starts the flavor development.
- Pick the Good Stuff: Make sure you use an incredible wine that you would actually drink. Avoid using the cooking wines you find on the shelves in the grocery store. That ain’t it boos.
- Make Sure You Deglaze: When I tell ya to scrape those bits of browned bits up from the bottom of the pan, do it. It gets all those caramelized notes in the mix.
- Low and Slow Boos: The way to let those flavors intensify is to let them cook at a low and slow pace carefully allow that beef to cook down and tenderize while enriching the sauce even more.
Recipe help
Absolutely boos. In fact, you should! It tastes even better after resting for a day in the fridge and reheating. The extra day lets those flavors mingle into something super special.
Nope boos. You can leave it out. Just replace with more stock and add a splash of balsamic or apple cider vinegar to give a little extra note of tang and essence.
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Number 1 favorite recipe in my house.
I made this dish for my family tonight & it was amazing!!! My family loves this Italian pot roast dish so much, the roast was so tender. My husband has already asked me to make this again. Thank u so much, this is a keeper.
Thinking about using a chuck roast because that’s what I have in the freezer. That would work, right? Does the fat cook off into the sauce? Because, otherwise, I think it might be too fatty. Thanks for a great idea!
Hi Alene,
I have made this recipe with chuck roast and it turns out great. You just need to laddle the fat of the top like you do with the short ribs..
Linda
Amazing!!! Don’t alter a thing!!!
I made this today for dinner. It was a huge hit. I will make this recipe again. Thank you!
Crazy ahhhhmazing! Thank you so much for sharing this gem.
Hi! This is exactly what I was looking for. I’m curious about the issue of burning the bottom of the bottom. When you make this do you actually leave it for a couple of hours or do you have to stir it throughout to keep from burning? Thanks!
Because this braises at such a low heat it shouldn’t really burn on the bottom.
I found this recipe and I thought I was going to cry. I remember making this exact recipe with my mother when I was a kid back in 196mumblemumble. I thought I would never find it again. So glad to see it featured here and I’ll be making it this weekend. Thank you!
Hooray thank you so much! I can’t wait to hear how it turns out for you.
This is the recipe I’ve been waiting for. Carabba’s Italian Grill use to have a similar dish, Beef Brasato we could only get Sunday afternoons. They haven’t had it in years. I even tried to get the recipe from the company but was told No. I’ve tried other recipes but this had the look. Kroger had the pot roast on sale, so I picked on up and let it cook away today. I got tied up at an appointment so it did spend almost two hours longer in the oven so it was a little thick. But Good God that the taste I missed. Super easy, and so so delicious. Thank you for creating this recipe.
I do have a photo of my results.
sounds yummmmy. bought the fixins to make for company this week. is there a particular brand of italian spices you use or do you make your own? thank you!
You can do either honestly. Let me know how it turns out.