Crockpot Beef Ragu With Pappardelle Pasta

Crockpot Beef Ragu simmers tender beef and veggies in rich tomato sauce for the BEST ragu recipe ever! Serve over pappardelle pasta for an easy weeknight meal.

What is ragu?

Slow-cooked ragu is a hearty Italian stew that turns meat, vegetables, and traditional ingredients into tender morsels swimming in rich, red sauce. Crockpot beef ragu delivers classic flavor with hassle-free slow-cooker ease.

Why It Works: Slow Cooker Ragu Recipe

I love the convenience: sauté veggies, sear steak, then set it, forget it, and crockpot magic! I always enjoy coming home to the aroma of ragu sauce and a scrumptious Italian dinner on the menu.

• Easy make-ahead meal, prep vegetables and beef the night before.
• Time-saving slow cooker beef ragu recipe cooks while you do…anything else!
• Serve with wide noodles, mashed potatoes, or a chewy grain, like farrow. 
• Classically delicious meat and veggie Italian stew recipe that tastes like a traditional ragu.
• This crockpot ragu recipe is easily doubled or tripled and is a great pasta dish to serve a crowd.

Simple Yet Elegant Beef Ragu Meal

For busy weeknights, casual get-togethers, or even special occasions, ragu is so easy to pull together with a loaf of crusty bread, a simple Italian salad, and an easy make-ahead dessert.

My husband loves cherry jello poke cake (okay, me too!). Or I give into chocolate cravings with tiramisu brownies. With everything ready for a fantastic beef ragu meal, I treat myself, I mean my guests, to refreshing lemon meringue martinis.

Ingredients You’ll Need

Rich Italian slow cooker beef ragu tastes like you slaved all day. Nothing fancy is required, although pappardelle IS a fancy name for a wide pasta noodle that bears up to loads of yummy meat sauce.

• Avocado oil and unsalted butter.
• Finely diced yellow onion, carrots, and celery stalks
• Minced garlic cloves, black pepper, and kosher salt 
• Beef chuck steak cut into 1-inch cubes.
• Crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, honey, beef stock, red wine, and beef flavored Better Than Bullion. 
• Chopped fresh parsley, dried oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves.
• Pappardelle pasta
• Garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley.

For specific amounts, please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.

Equipment Needed

• Cutting board & Knife
• Bowl & Spoon
• Measuring Tools
• Cast Iron Skillet
• Meat Shredder Forks
• Large Pot
• Colander
• Slow Cooker

Preparing Beef Ragu With Pappardelle Noodles

Seared and slow simmered in a rich red wine and tomato ragu sauce, your chuck steak becomes tender melty morsels, perfect for pappardelle noodles.

When you are making this recipe, you’ll want to use the full recipe at the bottom of the page.

1. Saute the diced veggies, garlic, pepper, and salt in a cast-iron skillet; add them to the crockpot. 
2. Sear the steak cubes and add them to the crockpot.
3. Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker and cook on low until the beef is tender.
4. Boil the pasta in salted water according to package directions. 
5. While the pasta cooks, shred the slow-cooked steak and return to the crock pot.
6. Sauce the cooked and drained pasta in the pot with enough ragu sauce to coat the pasta.
7. Plate the pasta, top with beef ragu sauce, and top with freshly grated parmesan and fresh chopped parsley.

Beef Pappardelle Recipe Tips for Success

Pappardelle is a broad, flat pasta perfect for holding the tender shredded beef and rich sauce. Although tagliatelle and fettuccine also work well, you can use any pasta you like.

• Your cast iron skillet must be hot enough to sizzle nicely when you put in the steak to sear.*
• Use cold meat and sear quickly; don’t cook until done.
• Meat is ready when it is fork-tender, separates, and shreds easily. 
• Remove bay leaves before serving crockpot beef ragu. 
• Retain ½ cup of the starchy pappardelle pasta cooking water to silken the ragu sauce.

Chef’s Tip

*Add a splash of wine to deglaze your pan, and scrape up the browned pieces with a wooden spoon to incorporate their rich flavor into the sauce.

Recipe Variations

• Ragu aficionados insist that diced bacon sauteed with the veggies is a ragu sauce game changer.
• You can replace the honey with white granulated sugar. 
• For a richer crockpot beef ragu sauce, increase the red wine to 1 cup. 
• No wine? Use equal parts red wine vinegar and water for a similar flavor.

Storage Tips

I keep ragu leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days. When I don’t use them within a few days, they go in a freezer zip-top bag, air removed, and frozen for optimum flavor.

Beef ragu sauce freezes well and can be kept for up to 2 months. When ready for another easy Italian dinner, thaw overnight or all day in the fridge, then gently reheat.

How else can I prepare a beef ragu recipe?

Stovetop: After searing the meat, deglaze the pan. Add ingredients, cover, and simmer on low for 2 hours. Check and stir occasionally until the beef is tender.

Instant Pot: Saute your veggies and sear the chuck steak as directed. Add all the ingredients to your pressure cooker and cook for 30-40 minutes on high.

Do you have to sear the meat for ragu?

While you can get away without searing the chuck roast for a crockpot beef ragu, searing creates a delicious crust on the meat that adds incomparable depth and flavor to a red sauce.

Enjoy Crockpot Beef Ragu with Pappardelle Pasta for your next set-it-and-forget-it slow cooker weeknight meal—fantastic Italian comfort food!

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Crockpot Beef Ragu

Yield: 8 servings
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Slow Cook Time: 6 hours
Total Time: 6 hours 10 minutes

Slow-cooked beef ragu in a crockpot with seared steak, served over wide pappardelle pasta, topped with freshly grated Parmesan.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons avocado oil
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 cup finely diced yellow onion
• 1 cup finely diced carrots (2 carrots)
• 2 finely diced celery stalks ½ cup
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• ⅛ teaspoon coarse kosher salt
• 1 ½ pounds beef chuck steak, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 28 ounces crushed tomatoes
• 2 cups beef stock
• ½ cup red wine
• 3 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons better than bouillon, beef
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ cup water
• 16 ounces Pappardelle pasta
• Garnish with parmesan cheese and fresh chopped parsley

Instructions

1. In a large cast iron skillet heat the avocado oil and butter over medium heat. Just as they start bubbling add the onion, carrots, celery, garlic, black pepper, and salt. Stir until the onions are translucent (2-3 minutes). Transfer everything to the crockpot.
2. Add the steak cubes to the hot skillet. Over medium-high heat sear all sides of the steak on medium to high heat until the steak has a deep golden brown color (1-2 minutes per side). You are not cooking it through, but searing the outside.
3. Transfer the seared steak to the crockpot. 
4. To the crockpot add the crushed tomatoes, beef stock, red wine, tomato paste, honey, parsley, better than bouillon, oregano, thyme, red pepper flakes, and bay leaves. 
5. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours or until the beef is tender.
6. Add ⅛ cup of water at a time if you feel it needs to be thinned out. 
7. Remove the bay leaves and discard.
8. Remove the steak from the crockpot and shred with 2 forks. The steak should easily separate. Transfer the shredded steak back to the crockpot. 
9. Cook the pasta in large pot of salted water(1 tablespoon salt) according to the directions on the package. 
10. Drain and transfer the pasta back into the pot it was cooked in. Add enough of the ragu sauce to coat the pasta.
11. To Serve: Plate the pasta, top with beef ragu sauce, and top with freshly grated parmesan and fresh chopped parsley.

Notes

This is a great dish to serve a crowd. 

You can use any pasta of your choice, but a wide, flat pasta like pappardelle pairs well with ragu sauce. The wide, flat pasta is perfect for holding the rich sauce and the tender shredded beef.Tagliatelle, fettuccine would work well too.

You can replace the honey with white granulated sugar. 

If you like a richer sauce you can increase the red wine to 1 cup. 

You can substitute red wine with a mixture of red wine vinegar and water (half vinegar, half water) for a similar flavor.

You can double or even triple this recipe.

Storing Leftovers:

Ragu leftovers should keep in the fridge for up to 5 days in an airtight container once it's completely cooled. To freeze scoop cooled pasta into a zip-top bag, air-removed, and and place in freezer for up to 2 months optimum flavor.

Beef ragu sauce freezes well and can be kept for up to 2 months. When ready for another easy Italian dinner, thaw overnight or all day in the fridge, then gently reheat.

Nutrition Information:

Yield: 8
Serving Size: 1

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 578
Total Fat: 25g
Saturated Fat: 9g
Trans Fat: 1g
Unsaturated Fat: 14g
Cholesterol: 141mg
Sodium: 545mg
Carbohydrates: 49g
Fiber: 3g
Sugar: 10g
Protein: 37g

Nutrition information is estimated based on the ingredients and cooking instructions as described in each recipe and is intended to be used for informational purposes only. Please note that nutrition details may vary based on methods of preparation, origin, and freshness of ingredients used and are just estimates. We encourage, especially if these numbers are important to you, to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.