Slow Cooker Italian Beef Ragu Pasta

This Slow Cooker Italian Beef Ragu Pasta has a beautiful, rich tomato based sauce, beef that literally melts in your mouth, and of course… a good sprinkling of parmesan cheese. This is winter comfort food at it’s very best!

When the weather cools down, the slow cooker recipes come out! There’s nothing better than popping the slow cooker on in the morning, letting it cook away all day, before sitting down to a delicious dinner of Slow Cooker Roast Beef, Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup, Pulled Pork Burgers, or this melt-in-your-mouth Italian Beef Ragu!

Searing The Beef Chuck Roast

A beef chuck roast is perfect for slow cooking as it becomes the most tender delicious meat once slow cooked. Beef brisket or beef solar blade can also be used in this recipe. 

Generally, cheaper cuts of meat are the best for slow cooking as have more flavour and literally fall apart!

Searing the beef before cooking will lock in the juices and bring out the best flavour of the beef (see recipes tips below). 

*Check out my Slow Cooker One-Pot Beef Roast with Vegetables recipe which also uses beef chuck.

Red Wine Sauce Alternative 

In this Slow Cooker Italian Beef Ragu recipe, I use:

• 1/2 cup of liquid beef stock
• tomato paste
• diced tomatoes
• dried Italian herbsHowever, if you’d like a richer tasting sauce, you can substitute the liquid beef stock for 1/4 cup red wine and 1/4 cup liquid beef stock.

Cook On LOW For 8 Hours or HIGH For 6 Hours

For the most amazing fall-apart slow cooker Italian beef ragu pasta, cook the meat and sauce nice and slow for either 8 hours on your slow cookers LOW setting or 6 hours on HIGH. 

Shredding The Meat

After slow cooking, the beef can be removed from the slow cooker and shredded using two forks. It will fall apart very easily by this stage. Add the shredded beef back into the slow cooker before stirring through the cooked pasta. 

Best Types Of Pasta For Slow Cooker Italian Beef Ragu Pasta

Ragu should be served with large pasta shells or ribbons to catch all of the sauce. Pappardelle, tagliatelle, fettuccine or rigatoni are all perfect options. Cook the pasta until al dente and then mix through the ragu sauce in the slow cooker before serving. 

More Slow Cooker Recipes

• Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
• Slow Cooker Mexican Chicken Soup
• Slow Cooker Beef Roast
• Slow Cooker Chilli Con Carne

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Slow Cooker Italian Beef Ragu Pasta

This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu Pasta has a beautiful, rich tomato based sauce, beef that literally melts in your mouth and of course a good sprinkling of parmesan cheese. This is comfort food at it's best!

5 from 1 vote

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Slow Cooker Recipe

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 6 hours

Total Time: 6 hours 5 minutes

Servings: 8 serves

Calories: 369kcal

Author: Lucy - Bake Play Smile

Ingredients

• 1 tbs olive oil
• Sea salt and cracked pepper to season
• 1 kg beef chuck roast (or beef brisket or beef solar blade)
• 1 brown onion
• 1 clove garlic (or 1 tsp minced garlic, crushed)
• 400 g diced tomatoes
• 1/2 cup beef stock
• 1/2 cup tomato paste
• 2 tbsp Italian dried herbs
• 500 g cooked pasta to serve
• parmesan cheese to serve

Instructions

• Heat the olive oil over high heat in a frying pan. Season the beef roast with salt and pepper and then sear on all sides until browned (approximately 5 minutes each side). Place the beef into the slow cooker. 
• Add the sliced onion and the garlic to the frying pan and cook over medium heat until fragrant and the onion is transparent. Add to the slow cooker. 
• Add the canned tomatoes, liquid beef stock, tomato paste and herbs. 
• Cook on LOW for 8 hours or HIGH for 6 hours. The beef is ready when it can be pulled apart with a fork. 
• Cook the pasta according to the packet instructions. Drain and place into the slow cooker and mix through the ragu. 
• Serve with grated parmesan cheese. 

Notes

RECIPE TIPS

Cut of beef: Beef chuck roast is perfect for slow cooking as it becomes the most tender delicious meat once slow cooked. Beef brisket or beef solar blade can also be used in this recipe. 

Searing the beef (optional but HIGHLY recommended): To get that amazing beef flavour, you’ll need to sear the beef in a frying pan before popping it into the slow cooker. I like to sear it for around 8-10 minutes on the highest possible heat so that you get a dark crust forming (this gives it an incredible amount of flavour and also locks in the moisture).

Red wine sauce alternative: For a richer sauce, replace the 1/2 cup liquid beef stock with 1/4 cup beef stock and 1/4 cup red wine. 

Cooking time: Cook the beef ragu for 8 hours on LOW or 6 hours on HIGH.

Shredding the meat: The meat will be so tender after cooking, it will be able to be easily shredded with 2 forks. 

Types of pasta: Ragu should be served with large pasta shells or ribbons to catch all of the sauce. Pappardelle, tagliatelle or rigatoni are all perfect options.

 

Nutrition

Calories: 369kcal | Carbohydrates: 26g | Protein: 29g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 86mg | Sodium: 267mg | Potassium: 750mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 4g | Vitamin A: 360IU | Vitamin C: 9.5mg | Calcium: 50mg | Iron: 4.4mg

Did you try this recipe?Mention @BakePlaySmileBlog or tag #BakePlaySmile!

C