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    Home » Recipes » Main Dishes » Slow Cooker Italian Beef Ragu Pasta

    Slow Cooker Italian Beef Ragu Pasta

    Published: Aug 7, 2019 · Modified: Sep 30, 2019 by Lucy · This post may contain affiliate links · 21 Comments

    Jump to Recipe
    A bowl of 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!

    A bowl of rich beef ragu pasta with a slow cooker in the background.

    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!

    Shredded slow cooked beef ragu with pasta and fresh rosemary.

    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.

    A piece of raw beef in a frying pan.

    Seared roast beef in a frying pan.

    Red Wine Sauce Alternative 

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

    • ½ 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 ¼ cup red wine and ¼ cup liquid beef stock.

    Ingredients for a beef ragu pasta sauce.

    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. 

    Tomato and onion in a slow cooker.

    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. 

    Shredded slow cooked beef.

    Shredded beef in a tomato sauce in a slow cooker.

    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. 

    Tender slow cooked beef ragu and fettuccine on a fork.

    More Slow Cooker Recipes

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

    A bowl of pasta with shredded beef ragu and a tomato sauce.

    WANT EVEN MORE DELICIOUS RECIPES? Subscribe to my newsletter or follow along on Facebook or Instagram. And if you love baking, then please come and join my Facebook cooking club group or subscribe to my YouTube channel. 

    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!

    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
    • ½ cup beef stock
    • ½ 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 ½ cup liquid beef stock with ¼ cup beef stock and ¼ 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

    « Lemon Meringue Pie
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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Mike

      November 03, 2018 at 2:08 am

      What type of pasta did you use? In the photo it looked like Fettuccine but looked a little thicker.
      Would browning the meat first make it a little tastier?

      Reply
      • Lucy Mathieson

        November 03, 2018 at 2:01 pm

        Yes I used fettuccine 🙂
        You can definitely brown the meat if you would like an extra flavour boost!

        Reply
    2. Lyn

      September 27, 2016 at 11:00 am

      Sounds delicious! Do you think this recipe would be suitable for a pressure cooker?

      Reply
      • Bake Play Smile

        September 27, 2016 at 4:17 pm

        Absolutely!!

        Reply
    3. Claudia

      June 16, 2016 at 8:17 pm

      Do you put the meat in whole or cut it into pieces?

      Reply
      • Bake Play Smile

        June 17, 2016 at 8:19 am

        Just in whole! 🙂 Too easy!

        Reply
    4. Carole from Carole's Chatter

      June 19, 2015 at 6:11 am

      Hi Lucy, I would love you to stop by Food on Friday: Pasta over at Carole's Chatter to add this to the recipe collection! Cheers!

      Reply
    5. Nagi@RecipeTinEats

      June 13, 2015 at 1:01 pm

      I had to smile - our recipes are virtually the same! Love it. And you're right. Victorians NEED a slow cooker!! 🙂

      Reply
      • Bake Play Smile

        June 15, 2015 at 7:46 am

        Hahaha definitely! It's a MUST!

        Reply
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