Slow Cooker Beef Ragu
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Flavorful Italian comfort food that only takes 15 minutes to prep? Count me in! This popular Slow Cooker Beef Ragu recipe is easy to make and so scrumptious! Toss everything in a Crock Pot, then let it do the work for you. Serve the ragu over creamy cheesy polenta or pappardelle pasta for a delicious dinner!

This Beef Ragu recipe has been pinned over 44,000 times and was featured at #3 on Huffington Post’s list of “The Best Recipes That Came From Food Bloggers in 2014“. Needless to say, it’s popular for a reason!
“This is a fantastic recipe – it has SUCH great flavor for such few ingredients!”
-Kari
This recipe has been a hit since it first appeared on the blog in 2014. While the original recipe remains the same, I’ve updated this post to include answers to frequently asked questions, new serving options, and easy additions that can be made to the recipe.
With a quick prep time, simple instructions, and delicious flavor, you simply can’t go wrong with this classic recipe! If you’re in a hurry, you can also try my Instant Pot Beef Ragu, same tender beef goodness, made in just one hour.

Instructions
- Add sliced onion, minced garlic cloves and fresh chopped rosemary to the bottom of a slow cooker.
- Heat a large skillet (preferably cast iron) on the stove over high heat.
- Season a beef chuck roast with salt and black pepper. Once the skillet is hot, add the seasoned roast and sear for 2-3 minutes per side, then transfer it to a slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl, stir beef broth, red wine and tomato paste together. Pour the mixture over the beef in the slow cooker. Add diced tomatoes to the Crock Pot.
- Cook on high for 5-6 hours, or on low for 10-12 hours.
- After the cooking time is complete, use two forks or meat claws to shred the beef apart in the slow cooker.
- Serve the beef ragu on top of creamy cheesy polenta or tossed with pappardelle pasta.
- If serving with pasta, bring a large pot of salted water to boil on the stove over high heat. Add the pasta and cook according to package directions, until al dente. Drain and toss with the ragù immediately. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Optional additions and substitutions
- To sneak in some extra veggies, add diced carrots and celery at the same time as the onion. This combination of vegetables is known as soffritto in Italian. I recommend adding 1/2 cup of each vegetable to the ragu.
- To spice up the ragu, add 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes with the salt and pepper.
- To add more flavor, rub 2 tablespoons of Italian Seasoning on the beef chuck roast with the salt and pepper.
- The fresh rosemary in this recipe can be substituted with fresh thyme sprigs.
- When it comes to red wine, I recommend using cabernet sauvignon, chianti, pinot noir, or syrah in this recipe. If you don’t want to use wine, you can omit it or replce it with white grape juice.
- You can substitute a tri tip, bottom round roast, or brisket, in for the beef chuck roast.
How to serve it
- Over Creamy Cheesy Polenta – my favorite way to serve the dish!
- With pasta – preferably pappardelle or another wide, flat pasta noodle, like fettuccine.
- In lasagna – seriously, the best lasagna you’ll ever make in your life is with this beef ragu as the sauce!
- Over raviolis – to keep things simple, pick up a container of pre-made fresh cheese raviolis in the refrigerated section of the grocery store. They cook up in 2-3 minutes and pair perfectly with the beef ragu sauce, cooked down to a slightly thicker consistency.
- Over spaghetti squash – for a low carb option, serve the ragu over roasted spaghetti squash.

What to serve with it
After deciding how to serve the ragu, it’s time to decide what to serve on the side. I usually keep it simple with a salad and bread (to soak up any extra ragu sauce left behind!).
An easy caesar salad and warm baguette are perfect, but if you want to step it up a notch, here are a few of my favorite salad and bread side dishes to serve with beef ragu.
More Italian sauces to try
And don’t miss these other popular recipes for Italian pasta sauces!
Slow Cooker Beef Ragu
Video
Ingredients
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons fresh rosemary, chopped
- 2 pounds beef chuck roast
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups beef broth
- ¼ cup red wine
- 6 ounce can tomato paste
- 15 ounce can diced tomatoes, or 2 cups diced fresh tomatoes
For serving (optional)
- 12 ounces pappardelle pasta
- 6 cups creamy cheesy polenta, click link for recipe
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
Instructions
- Add the onion, garlic, and rosemary to the bottom of a slow cooker.
- Heat a large skillet (preferably cast iron) on the stove over high heat.
- Season the beef on all sides with the salt and pepper. Once the skillet is hot, add the seasoned beef and sear for 2-3 minutes per side, then transfer it to a slow cooker.
- In a medium bowl, combine the beef broth, red wine and tomato paste. Pour the mixture over the beef. Add the can of diced tomatoes to the slow cooker.
- Cook on high for 5-6 hours, or on low for 10-12 hours.
- After the cooking time, use two forks or meat claws to shred the beef in the slow cooker.
- Optional: serve the beef on top of creamy polenta or toss it with cooked pasta. Top with freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Notes
- Nutritional Information: The nutrition information provided does not include the serving options.
- Gluten Free Option: This recipe is gluten free when served over polenta or with gluten free pasta. Always make sure the beef broth used is gluten free.
- Pressure Cooker Option: Click here for an Instant Pot version of this recipe.
- Thickening the sauce: to thicken the sauce, transfer it from the slow cooker to a large pot on the stove over medium high heat. Allow it to reduce and simmer for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Wine Substitute: omitting the wine in this recipe is totally fine. You can also substitute white grape juice in it’s place.
- Storage: leftovers of this ragu will stay good in the refrigerator for 5-7 days, or in the freezer for up to 3 months. To defrost, I recommend placing the ragu back in the fridge overnight.
- Reheating: place the ragu in a dutch oven on the stove, covered, set to low for one hour. You can also reheat the ragu in a slow cooker set to low for 1-2 hours.
- Cuts of beef: Instead of a chuck roast, a bottom round roast, tri tip or brisket can be used in it’s place.
Nutrition Facts
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165 Comments on “Slow Cooker Beef Ragu”
Thanks for the recipe! Ok, so this may hurt a little, given that a ton of folks really like this ragu recipe. I made this in my crockpot and set it to cook overnight. My crockpot has a time setting to where I can set it to cook for 6 hrs or 8 hrs, I chose 8 hrs and set it to automatically keep warm after that. I used USDA Choice for the meat, not sure where I went wrong, but the meat didn’t turn out as tender as I hoped for (but my cut didn’t look as marbled as the one in your picture). I also used twice as much red wine as your recipe calls for and I added a little sugar to the mix. The results look pretty much like yours, but I’m not satisfied with the taste/texture of the beef – it ended up being tougher/drier than I wished. It was almost like a drier version of bbq beef brisket. I believe the problem for me here is my slow cooker, I may have overcooked this beef. One of the posts here suggests that newer slow cookers cook hotter than older ones. I think I’ll try this recipe again, and only attempt for 4 hrs. Next time, I will also add some oregano, and more salt and pepper to the mix after incorporating the red wine mixture. Suggestion: would it be better to use rib eye?
Delicious. I didn’t change a thing!
I was looking around for a recipe for crock pot pot roast and stumbled upon this, and THIS is what I’m making for dinner tonight. You’ve sold me!
So glad you found it Sue! Enjoy 🙂
Hi! I am hoping to make this recipe next weekend but I will be out of the house for about 10 hrs and coming home right around dinner time. Do you think cooking for 10 hrs on low will work?
Hi Nicole, yes, I would recommend 10-12 hours on low as it takes 6-8 hours on high. Enjoy 🙂
Hey Nicole!
I’m an avid Sunday golfer, here’s what I did for afterwards. Go to your local hardware or home improvement store and ask for an appliance timer. Be sure to get one that plugs into the wall and has its own little plug to plug your crock pot into. You make the stuff, chuck it in, set the on/off times and turn the crock pot on high or low. It comes on, it goes off, and doesn’t over cook if you’re a little later than expected.
This turned out amazing, my fiancée and I love this recipe. Gonna try it again but use veal stock instead, think it might give it a nice depth?
Thank you for this absolutely easy and delicious dish. I just made it today. I opted to take the meat out of sauce once it was cooked and shredded it. Before I returned it to the pot I used my emulsion blender to purée the onion and garlic in the sauce. This resulted in a thick beautiful sauce. I added a splash of beef stock and some tomato paste, cooked it down a slight and returned the meat. Ah-mazing dish!
I want to try this recipe this week but wonder about the cook time. Six to eight hours on high seems like a lot based on other meals I’ve made in a slow cooker.
Hi Sean, yes, that is correct. I’ve made it several times in different slow cookers/crock pots and it has always taken at least 6 hours to become fork tender. Enjoy!!
This actually sounds like a decent (and “stinking easy”) recipe! I’m trying it – thanks for the knowledge Ms. Leopard!
Thanks so much! Enjoy 🙂
Hey, this recipe looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it! Can the chuck roast be substituted for another cut of beef? Or maybe pork or chicken? Thank you for sharing this delicious looking recipe!!
Hi Danielle, thanks so much! I had a friend make it with a pork shoulder and said she loved it! Enjoy 🙂
What a great recipe. Easy to make and full of flavor. When we were in Tuscany, some of the Ragu we had used Juniper Berries. I added about a teaspoon and it tasted great too. Thanks for posting this!
That’s awesome Steve, thanks for sharing! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe!
This is a keeper! Why go out to eat? This is way tastier and way cheaper than wasting money on restaurant meals. And the leftovers are so good! Thank you for this simple and absolutely fantastic recipe. This is going to be my number one recipe for bringing a date home for dinner.
This makes me so happy to hear Helen! Thank you so so much 🙂 I’m really glad that you loved the recipe as much as I did!
Do you drain the diced canned tomatoes, or pour in with all the juice? Thanks in advance for any answer.
Hi Michael, You do not drain the juice, you pour in the entire can of tomatoes and the juice. Enjoy 🙂
I’ve got this cooking now with fresh rosemary and it smells fantastic! Thanks for all the work it took to develop and refine this recipe.
Hardest part was adding only 1/4cup of wine. I may have added a bit more. Heehee..
Thank you so much Devon! A little extra wine never hurt anything 😉 Enjoy!!
Absolutely incredible recipe! I was a bit naughty and doubled the red wine. Thanks W!
I would love to hear what other recipes are in the top 5! 🙂
Hey Katia! I have a “WB Favorites” page where you can check out several of my favorite recipes! Two more that are definitely in the top 5 are Slow Cooker Chipotle Honey Pulled Pork Tenderloin and Italian Turkey Polenta Casserole!
Thanks, I will check them out!
Smells good! Can’t wait to taste!;)
I made this last night. I could smell it the ENTIRE time it was cooking, and it is a testament to my patience that I was able to hold out as long as I did. The dish was easy to make and absolutely delicious! The instructions were clear and the photos beautiful. Thank you! (Off to explore the rest of this blog…)
Thank you so much Evelyn! I’m so glad that you enjoyed it 🙂
this looks delish! One question – my husband hates rosemary. Is there another herb you would recommend in it’s place?
Thanks Rachelle! You could also use thyme!
Did you have to skim the fat out? It looks delish, but how was the greasy factor?
Hi Dana, this cut of meat should have very little fat on it, so the dish will not come out greasy and you don’t have to skim the fat.
Hi! I made the dish. This DOES need to be cooked on high for at least4 hours with a newer crock :X Also, I am 54. Chuck steaks [the thick versions, not the thin bone in ones] are not well marbled as they were whe n I was young married. So to the poster worried about too much fat, …don’t worry 🙂 You can skim off any if necessary, I did not find that to be necessary. For a few hours there, I was worried. the meat did not appear to be fall apart. But in the last hour, magic 🙂 This is going into regular rotation. I served it with a green salad, medium egg noodles, and a loaf of hm no knead bread [there are you tube videos for that] it was IDEAL to sop up the juices. A really nice recipe, Thank you 🙂
How many will this feed? I need to feed six adults. Should I double all the ingredients? Cook time longer?
Hi Barbara, I just served this at a dinner party earlier this week with one side dish and it fed 6 adults with a tiny bit leftover!
Thanks for the quick reply. I’m on my way to the store to get the ingredients for tonight’s dinner.
No problem Barbara, enjoy and happy new year!