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Slow Cooker Beef Ragu

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This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu recipe is easy to prep and simmered in the most delicious tomato sauce. Serve it over pasta, polenta, or whatever sounds good.

This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu is quick and easy to prep, and slow-simmered in the most AMAZING tomato sauce. Serve it over pasta, polenta, or whatever sounds good. | gimmesomeoven.com

Whew, October, you have been quite the ride so far.

I’ve had a somewhat steady month — well, minus finding a note on the door a weeks ago saying that our loft building had sold and that the new owners were raising my rent 50% (yes, 50) effective December 1, which was so disheartening, to say the least. Still trying to figure out what to do there. But honestly, I feel like that’s small potatoes compared to what some of my friends are going through.

Literally, in just this past month or so, some of my closest friends’ lives have been this roller coaster of incredible highs and heartbreaking lows. We’ve celebrated new jobs, engagements, signing leases and mortgages on new homes, bridal showers, new puppies and more. And then right alongside those, I’ve had some dear friends walking through the first stages of divorce, family members’ passing, sad medical news, lost jobs, depression, and — now — it looks like most of my favorite neighbors are going to be forced to move out of their homes in my building. Of course, all of these sorts of highs and lows in life have a way of overlapping in some of the most beautiful and brutal — or as Glennon says, “brutiful” — of ways, don’t they?

My heart’s definitely a little overwhelmed right now, mostly just wanting to love and support those who are struggling. I always wish there was a magic button to know what the most helpful thing is to do or say in a situation. But I’ve learned — as we probably all have by this point in life — that the most important thing is usually just to be there and listen and love one another as best we all can. And that it’s often the seemingly simple things — like, swooping in to clean a friend’s house and do their laundry, or babysitting the kids for a few hours — that can be most helpful, if there is anything to be “done”. But, I’ve also learned that just about everyone appreciates a quick drop-off of a freezer meal that they can stash away for later. Whether it’s a friend in the final weeks of wedding prep, or the friend who just lost his job, quick and easy freezer meals always seem to come in handy. And I love any chance to feed and nourish and bring a smile to a friend’s face.

So last week as I was flipping through my friend, Gina’s, new cookbook and trying to decide what to make, I spotted this easy Slow Cooker Beef Ragu recipe that I knew would bring a smile to a friend’s face. And I also happened to notice that the ingredients would freeze well. So before the weekend, I cooked up a batch with lots of love, and then spooned it up in some tupperware to share with a good friend who needed a good meal. And Gina did a great job with the recipe — it really was a good one.

This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu is quick and easy to prep, and slow-simmered in the most AMAZING tomato sauce. Serve it over pasta, polenta, or whatever sounds good. | gimmesomeoven.com

Actually, this entire cookbook — Skinnytaste Fast and Slow: Knockout Quick-Fix and Slow Cooker Recipes — seems to be full of good ones. :)

I’m guessing that most of you are familiar with Gina, creator of the wildly popular blog, Skinnytaste, and author of now TWO New York Times bestselling cookbooks. (Freaking amazing – yay Gina!)  But if her blog and cookbooks are new to you, I would wholeheartedly recommend that you pop over and check them out. Her feel-good recipes are beautiful, healthy approachable, family-friendly, and every single one that I’ve tried is consistently delicious. And Gimme Some Oven readers, I know how much you love your Crock-Pots. So if you’re looking for some new slow cooker recipes this winter, I feel like her new cookbook would be right up your alley. Just sayin’.

Gina also happens to be one of my favorite bloggers behind-the-scenes — always humble, always generously supporting and encouraging those around her, and always just such a delight to be around. And during a few moments in the past when I’ve been the one having a hard time with something, she has definitely been that friend who has offered a kind listening ear and just the words I needed to hear. So it seems extra apropos that her recipes be some of the ones that I get to share with friends…and with you all today!

 

This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu is quick and easy to prep, and slow-simmered in the most AMAZING tomato sauce. Serve it over pasta, polenta, or whatever sounds good. | gimmesomeoven.com

I think you’re going to love it. You pretty much just toss some flank steak (a leaner choice for ragu) and a bunch of veggies in the Crock-Pot, then let it work its magic while you’re working during the day. Then come dinnertime…

This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu is quick and easy to prep, and slow-simmered in the most AMAZING tomato sauce. Serve it over pasta, polenta, or whatever sounds good. | gimmesomeoven.com

…this amazing pot of ragu will be ready to shred…

This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu is quick and easy to prep, and slow-simmered in the most AMAZING tomato sauce. Serve it over pasta, polenta, or whatever sounds good. | gimmesomeoven.com

…serve up over pasta or polenta or whatever sounds good…This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu is quick and easy to prep, and slow-simmered in the most AMAZING tomato sauce. Serve it over pasta, polenta, or whatever sounds good. | gimmesomeoven.com

…and enjoy.

This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu is quick and easy to prep, and slow-simmered in the most AMAZING tomato sauce. Serve it over pasta, polenta, or whatever sounds good. | gimmesomeoven.com

And if you feel like sharing or saving some for later, this recipe also freezes very well. And I can vouch that it’s total comfort food.

So thanks to Gina for a great recipe and congrats on the new cookbook! And to everyone else, I say hug your loved ones a little extra longer this week. Because it’s our privilege to do this life thing together, and we need all the love we can get. Hugs to each of you today!

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Slow Cooker Beef Ragu

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 3 reviews
  • Prep Time: 15 minutes
  • Cook Time: 360 minutes
  • Total Time: 375 minutes
  • Yield: 8 servings 1x

Description

This Slow Cooker Beef Ragu recipe is easy to prep and simmered in the most delicious tomato sauce.  Serve it over pasta, polenta, or whatever sounds good.


Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 6 garlic cloves, smashed slightly
  • 1 1/2 pounds flank steak, cut against the grain into 4 pieces
  • Kosher salt and freshly-ground black pepper
  • 1 (28-ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 1/4 cup beef stock (or I used dry red wine)
  • 1 medium carrot, finely chopped
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
  • 16 ounces pappardelle pasta (or any kind of pasta will do)
  • 1/2 cup freshly-grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
  • 1/2 cup part-skim ricotta cheese, for serving (optional)
  • chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Instructions

  1. In a small skillet, heat the oil over medium-high heat.  Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until golden and lightly browned, about 2 minutes.
  2. Season the beef with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste.  Transfer to a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker.  Pour the tomatoes and broth over the beef and add the garlic, carrots, bay leaves and thyme.
  3. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours, or on low for 8-10 hours.  Discard the herbs and shred the beef in the pot using two forks.
  4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.  Add the pasta and cook until al dente according to package directions.  Drain, return to the pot, and add the sauce from the slow cooker.  Increase the heat to high and cook, stirring, until the pasta and sauce are combined, about 1 minute.
  5. Divide among 8 pasta bowls and top each with 1 tablespoon Parmesan and (optional) 1 tablespoon ricotta.  Sprinkle with parsley and serve hot.

Notes

Recipe used with permission from Skinnytaste Fast and Slow: Knockout Quick-Fix and Slow Cooker Recipes by Gina Homolka.

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34 comments on “Slow Cooker Beef Ragu”

  1. Wow! Looks so tender and the list of ingredients made me hungry. I would love to have it on Aromatic white rice I’m sure it will blow my mind :)

  2. Flank steak is now on my shopping list – can’t wait to try this.

  3. This looks amazing! I just bought 5 boxes of bucatini from Amazon, and I was thinking shredded beef ragu would be perfect with it. Yum!

  4. I hear you on crazy months. It’s amazing how life can bring you the highest highs and lowest lows literally sometimes all in the same week. Hang on tight. This ragu looks so wonderful, by the way.

  5. Hi Ali! This recipe looks fabulous, can’t wait to try! Thanks for sharing, along with Gina’s cookbook! It’s going on my Christmas list! Do you mind posting the calorie count per serving from the cookbook? Thanks in advance!!

  6. Are you just searing the garlic or do you sear the beef and then put in the slow cooker?

  7. Finally, a completely wonderful recipe for a crock pot.

    Thank you!

  8. And a big hug to you, Ali!!  Life is full of hardships, but even hardships can turn out to be blessings if we are willing to let them.  Thanks for sharing this recipe.  I’m not a huge fan of tomato-ey things, but this does sound like something I should try.

  9. Oh wow, delicious! Just friggin’ delicious! I just got a crock pot so I can soooo make this and pour it over spaghetti squash! So good :)

  10. I’m sorry to hear about your building! You and your neighbors might want to check KC law–many cities have limits on the time frame and amount that rent can be raised.

  11. Your recipes are amazing, going to make this soon

    • Thanks for your sweet words, Josie! This isn’t our recipe (it’s our friend Gina’s, from SkinnyTaste), but it’s amazing, and you should most definitely make it! :D

  12. This looks doable and delicious. 

  13. It looks amazing and sounds delicious! :)

  14. Thank you Ali!! So funny, I always say the same exact thing about you! You are humble, generous, smart and SO talented! Thank you SO much for sharing a recipe from my cookbook, I am happy it brought a little happiness to someone’s day. I just started reading Love Warrior so I love your Glennon reference to “brutiful”.

  15. This looks so hearty and delicious! Love that it’s slow cooked!

  16. This looks amazing! Is there another cut of meat that you would recommend other than flank steak? Thank you!

    • Thanks, Joy — we hope you enjoy it as much as we did! Unfortunately we’ve only tried this with flank steak, but you could try a roast or short ribs.

    • I bet some pork would be good too!

  17. I love Gina’s new cookbook!  I was planning to make this and another one of her slow cooker recipes for lunch this week!  Since I only have one slow cooker I was going to try to make it in my Dutch oven, do you think that would work? And how lon would I cook it for?

  18. I made this last night and it was amazing!! It’s just my boyfriend and me so I halved it (or attempted to). The smallest cut of flank steak they had was .90 lbs so I used that, halved the tomatoes, and kept the 1/4 cup wine. I served it over pappardelle. I probably should have used more of the tomatoes and cooked it a little longer (we were reaaallly hungry) but this overall was definitely a winner and so easy! Reminds me of when I used to live in Italy. Plenty of leftovers, can’t wait to eat it again tonight. Thank you for sharing!

  19. Hi! I have a hard time finding flank steak. Would any other cut of meat work? This sounds delicious! 

    • Hi Jamie! We’re sorry about that, that’s frustrating. :( You could try skirt steak (though if you can’t find flank, you might not be able to find this either). You could also try short ribs but they’re usually more money. We hope this helps and that you can find one of these!

  20. I tried it on Saturday as it was very cold and snowy here in MN, I really liked it but would use a little more seasoning and add a couple of tablespoons of tomato paste but will make it again.

  21. I could not get flank steak but at my local Walmart I found a product called “Carne Picada” and thought I would try it. I seared it quickly before adding it to the slow cooker and finished the recipe as written. WONDERFUL!!! The only differences to the recipe – I did not have to cut up the meat before cooking or shred it afterwards and it shortened the cooking time by about an hour.

  22. oh tanks sist, sepertinya enak sekali masakanmu ngeliatnya bikin ngiler :D

  23. Made this last night and my husband loved it. He took the leftovers to work and text me at lunch again how good it is.

    I added both red wine and beef broth along with a small can of tomato paste and a small dash of brown sugar just because I like it to be a bit saucier. Served over some fresh linguini. Perfect!






  24. I found this the other day and couldn’t wait to try it. Its in the slow cooker right now. I hope it tastes as good as it smells. Going to do home made noodles with it and a side salad. I also made hand held apple pies for later. Thanks