Just thinking about this authentic Italian beef ragu makes my mouth water. It is rich in flavor and can be paired with so many different pasta shapes like tortellini, tagliatelle, pappardelle, cavatelli and more! It is totally worth spending the time on a Sunday to put this sauce together and it’s a dish that makes the entire family happy!
Why you’ll love this recipe
- It has 318 calories per serving and fits into my weight-loss and weight-maintenance meal plans
- You have to open a bottle of wine to make this, which means you get the bonus of drinking a glass for yourself. Woohoo!
- It is super easy to make, but tastes like a professional chef made it
- This is a large batch, so you will have plenty of left-overs for next day or to put in the freezer
- Like most slow cooked sauces, it tastes better the next day
Ingredients you will need
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Beef chuck or beef brisket – I like to grind the meat myself, however you can get the butcher to grind these cuts of meat for you if you don’t have a grinder
- Pancetta
- Celery
- Carrot
- Yellow Onion
- Garlic
- Red pepper flakes
- Bay leaves, preferably fresh
- Chicken stock/broth, homemade or store bought
- Tomato paste
- Dry Red wine, I like Sangiovese
- Kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Freshly grated parmigiano-Reggiano
See the recipe below for quantities.
Tools you will need
- Meat grinder, or kitchen aid meat grinder attachment (optional)
- Small, medium and large sized bowls
- Large heavy bottomed or cast iron pot
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Pepper mill
- Cheese grater (affiliate)
Instructions
Gather all your ingredients and tools and let’s get started!
Start by passing the beef through the meat grinder into a large bowl and set aside. Then pass the pancetta through the grinder into a small bowl and set aside.
Without cleaning the meat grinder, pass the roughly chopped celery, carrot and onion through the grinder into a medium bowl. If you do not have a meat grinder make sure you chop the vegetables very, very fine.
Heat a large heavy bottomed pot (affiliate) over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and wait for it to heat up. Add the ground pancetta and cook until the fat has rendered, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and bay leaf and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the vegetables and cook stirring frequently until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
Add the ground beef and generously season with kosher salt and a little bit of freshly ground pepper. Stir everything together with a wooden spoon and cook until the meat releases it’s juices, about 6-8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook until it is a dark red colour.
Add the wine to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 5 minutes.
Next, Add the chicken stock to the pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Turn the heat down to low and let the sauce cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Ensure that you do not boil the sauce. After 3 hours, taste for tenderness and seasoning.
Keep cooking if the meat is not tender enough, up to 5 hours. If the sauce is very thick you can add up to ½ a cup of additional chicken stock and continue cooking.
Remove and discard the bay leaf once the sauce is ready
Pair with your favourite pasta, like this hand-rolled Cavatelli, and enjoy with a pinch of parm!
Substitutions and Additions
- Substitutes for beef – you could substitute beef chuck for beef brisket, pork shoulder, lamb shoulder or veal
- Substitutes for pancetta – you can also substitute pancetta for mortadella
- Add creaminess – many Italians add butter to their ragu to finish it off. I skip this step to keep the recipe on the healthier side. But if you would like to try it you will find it gives the sauce a rich, creamy texture.
Top tip
Make sure you do not rush cooking the vegetables. The vegetables help develop the flavor of the ragu, so you want to make sure they are slowly cooked for about 15 minutes to ensure deep flavor!
FAQ
Ragu is a broad category of sauces that typically contain ground meat, tomatoes, finely chopped vegetables, red wine and spices. Bolognese sauce is a type of ragu that originated from Bolgna, the capital of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. Bolognese sauce typically includes white wine and milk, which makes it a little different from other meat ragu you would find throughout Italy.
Brisket or chuck roast are the best cuts of meat for ragu sauce as they are rich in flavour and are perfect for slow cooking.
Stewing beef typically comes from tougher parts of the cow, like the chuck, which is located in the shoulder. These cuts of tougher meat need to be slow cooked to become tender, but they pack a lot of flavour and typically have fat marbling throughout. Other names for chuck are the Chuck Shoulder, Chuck Roast, Chuck-Eye Roast, or Top Chuck.
Beef ragu is a hearty sauce, so you should look for types of pasta that can hold up to the weight of the sauce. Cavatelli, tagliatelle, pappardelle or tortellini are all traditional pairings with this sauce, but you don’t have to limit yourself to these. I also like beef ragu with rigatoni or penne.
Wine Pairings
This is such a rich and flavourful dish, only a full-bodied, dry red wine could stand up to it. The easiest thing to do is just keep drinking the wine you’ve already opened to make the ragu. But, if that is not an option, here are a few suggestions from different parts of the world to help you out.
Italy
- Tenuta Tignanello ‘Marchese Antinori’ Chianti Classico Riserva
- Il Nero di Casanova Terre di Pisa Sangiovese
Canada
USA
Storage
To store, transfer the cooled sauce to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 1 month. To thaw, place in the refrigerator overnight.
Authentic Italian Beef Ragu
Equipment
- Meat grinder, or kitchen aid meat grinder attachment
- Small, medium and large sized bowls
- Large heavy bottomed or cast iron pot
- Sharp knife
- Cutting board
- Pepper mill
- Cheese grater (affiliate)
Ingredients
- ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
- 2 ¼ lbs 1 kg beef chuck or beef brisket
- 3 oz 85g pancetta
- 2 celery stalks chopped roughly
- 1 carrot peeled and chopped roughly
- 1 yellow onion
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes
- 2 Bay leaves preferably fresh
- 2 ½ qt 2.7 L Chicken stock, homemade or store bought
- ½ cup tomato paste
- ½ cup dry Red wine like Sangiovese
- Kosher salt as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Freshly grated Parmigiano-Reggiano for serving
Instructions
- Start by passing the beef through the meat grinder into a large bowl and set aside. Then pass the pancetta through the grinder into a small bowl and set aside. Without cleaning the meat grinder, pass the roughly chopped celery, carrot and onion through the grinder into a medium bowl. If you do not have a meat grinder make sure you chop the vegetables very, very fine.
- Heat a large heavy bottomed pot (affiliate) over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil and wait for it to heat up. Add the ground pancetta and cook until the fat has rendered, about 4 minutes. Add the garlic, red pepper flakes and bay leaf and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the vegetables and cook stirring frequently until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
- Add the ground beef and generously season with kosher salt and a little bit of freshly ground black pepper. Stir everything together with a wooden spoon and cook until the meat releases it’s juices, about 6-8 minutes. Add the tomato paste and cook until it is a dark red colour.
- Add the wine to the pot and bring to a simmer. Cook until the wine has almost completely evaporated, about 5 minutes.
- Next, Add the chicken stock to the pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Turn the heat down to low and let the sauce cook for 3 hours, stirring occasionally. Ensure that you do not boil the sauce. After 3 hours, taste for tenderness and seasoning. Keep cooking if the meat is not tender enough, up to 5 hours. If the sauce is very thick you can add up to ½ a cup of additional chicken stock and continue cooking.
- Remove and discard the bay leaf once the sauce is ready. Season with more salt and pepper if needed.
- Pair with your favourite pasta and enjoy with a pinch of parm!
Notes
Nutrition
Related
Looking for other recipes like this? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with beef ragu recipe:
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