Beef Ragu Pasta
This flavorful and totally irresistible Beef Ragu Pasta is pure comfort food! It’s a cousin to boeuf bourguignon & perfect for a chilly night.
This Pot Roast Pasta is slow-cooked in the oven with a beef chuck roast, tomatoes, red wine, and aromatics to make a flavorful pasta sauce.
Why You Must Make
- When fall arrives, this hearty, filling, and delicious pasta makes the perfect dinner.
- It’s an excellent reason to crank up the oven and let the beef, veggies, and wine commingle and magically transform into a flavorful pasta topping.
- It’s a family-friendly recipe, but tasty enough for a casual dinner with friends.
Expert Tips
We are huge fans of Julia Child’s classic Boeuf Bourguignon or beef burgundy. This recipe utilizes many of the same ingredients, though without mushrooms or bacon. Also, instead of simmering beef chunks in a wine sauce, the chuck or pot roast is shredded and then combined with the penne pasta, veggies, and juices. This entree has become a family favorite and I put it on the menu at least once in the dead of winter.
- Use a chuck roast as it’s more flavorful than a leaner cut of beef. Just make sure to remove some of the excess fat when prepping and/or shredding the meat.
- Wine, like salt, is a flavor enhancer. It adds a lovely depth of flavor to the sauce. If you’re concerned about feeding this pasta to children due to the alcohol, most will evaporate during the cooking process.
- Cook your pasta in well-salted water; it should taste like the sea. This allows the salt to infuse into the pasta, which enhances the flavor of your noodles.
- Cook your pasta al dente, or “to the tooth.” It should offer a bit of resistance when biting, not overly soft. Often, the pasta box will offer the timing for al dente pasta.
Buy an extra chuck roast and make my Easy Pot Roast Recipe, too.
Frequently Asked Questions
According to Food and Wine Maganize, ragu is an Italian meat-based sauce often served with pasta. The typical ingredients are meat and vegetables with the occasional tomatoes.
Ragout, on the other hand, is a French slow-cooked stew, not a sauce, that can be made with meat, fish, and/or vegetables. Bolognese sauce is another example of a ragu.
Pot roasts are typically made with less expensive, less tender cuts of beef. When they are slowly braised, the tough connective tissue is broken down, making for tender and flavorful beef.
Chuck roasts work best as they slice and shred easily, but round roasts and brisket are also great choices and will both slice nicely after slow cooking.
Wine, just like salt, is a flavor enhancer. With the long cooking time, much of the alcohol will cook off/evaporate and leave a wonderful depth of flavor.
You May Also Like:
- Slow Cooker Beef Stew with Mushrooms
- Beef Chuck Roast
- Beef Stew with Red Wine and Carrots
- Grilled Korean Steaks
- Mushroom Topped Pepper Steaks
- More Beef Recipes
Beef Ragu Recipe with Pasta
A twist on the classic boeuf bourguignon in a pasta dish! Pure comfort.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 3-pound chuck roast
- 1 ½ cups chopped onions
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 1 cup chopped celery
- 4 cloves garlic, slivered
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 can (28 ounces) plum tomatoes, drained and roughly chopped
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt, plus more to taste
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ cup burgundy or another favorite red wine
- 1 pound penne pasta
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350º.
- Heat the oil in a large pot with a lid (like a Dutch oven) over medium heat. Season beef with salt and pepper. Brown roast on all sides. Remove the meat from the pan, and set it aside.
- Add the onions, carrots, celery, and slivered garlic and sauté until the vegetables are soft, about 10 minutes. Remove the vegetables and set them aside.
- Return the pot roast to the pot and add the stock. Heat the meat and stock till the stock comes to a boil. Put the lid on the pot and place it in the oven for an hour.
- Remove the pot from the oven, and slice the meat into ¼-inch slices. Return the meat to the pot.
- Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, minced garlic, pepper, salt, thyme, bay leaf, red wine, and reserved vegetables. Bring to a boil, transfer pot to the oven, and bake, covered, until the meat is very tender, about 1 ½ hours.
- Remove the meat and bay leaf from the pot, and allow to cool slightly. Shred the meat (removing any fatty areas) and return it to the pot. Mix to combine.
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add a generous amount of salt, 1+ tablespoon. Add the pasta, and cook at a rolling boil until just tender. Drain. Toss the sauce with the hot pasta.
Notes
Adapted from The New Basics Cookbook.
Wine, like salt, is a flavor enhancer. Most of the alcohol will evaporate throughout the cooking time.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 774Total Fat: 43gSaturated Fat: 16gTrans Fat: 2gUnsaturated Fat: 24gCholesterol: 188mgSodium: 550mgCarbohydrates: 36gFiber: 4gSugar: 6gProtein: 63g
56 Comments on “Beef Ragu Pasta”
Gallo’s Hearty Burgundy was great stuff in the 1960s! Then a decade or two later it seemed to have lost its charm. I’ll have to try it again — wine making goes through fads, and they’ve probably upped their game again. Anyway, speaking of upping one’s game, you outdid yourself with this dish! Love the idea! And I’m so going to steal it some day. 😉 Really nice — thanks.
Yes, please…beef, wine, on top of pasta. I am there 🙂
That looks absolutely delicious, and I love the dishes! So cute!
What a great twist on beef burgundy! We love pasta around here and often serve stew over buttered noodles, so this would be perfect for us!
I’m so ready for this winter to be over but I think a bowl full of your dish would certainly help pass the time.
Liz, I know this pasta would be such a hit in our house! So satisfying and hearty…which is pretty much necessary with all of this cold weather!
It has been unseasonably hot here, and I wish I could trade you a day or two of chill, just to shake things up! I’ll eat your bowl o’ beef in ANY weather!
What a great dish!! I love it and an awesome idea! This is just perfect!!
So hearty and comforting. I think many could benefit from this warming dish this week.
Liz, this looks amazing. I’ll trade ya; your pasta for my pasta. Don’t even get me started on the layering. It’s so cold here–snow everywhere. Stay warm!
I love your pasta with all those bits of goodness! Stay warm, Liz!
Lizzy-This reminds me of your Pot Roast Pasta which is a favorite in my house. I don’t have the recipe handy to compare but this will do! Yummy!!
Mary, it’s pretty much the same recipe…a winner at our house, too 🙂
Beef and burgundy are a match made in heaven. Nice recipe, Liz!
Liz,
I hear you on the cold weather so what a great idea to was to make this! How gorgeous and delicious! I LOVE a good beef burgundy pasta!!! Looks absolutely beautiful and delicious!
What a gorgeous pasta dish — I love the twist on the traditional dish. I could see this Sunday Supper dish time and time again at our home. It is totally something my boys would love.
Love this twist on beef burgundy. It sounds divine over pasta!
Wonderful pasta dish Liz! My husband doesn’t care for pasta as much as I do however I can see them eating several bowls of this.
This would such a nice dish for Sunday dinner.. 🙂
Now that’s a hearty dinner! I’m lovin’ the look of those rolls too:@)
Reading through your boeuf bourgignon recipe, I get a sense of warmth and comfort. Great idea to shred the beef, Liz.
Wishing you could feel some of our sunshiny California rays =)