Slow Cooked Beef Ribs Ragu

5 from 2 votes

This slow-cooked beef short ribs ragu is so delicious and rich, served with pappardelle pasta for the most comforting bowl. It requires some time but the dish itself is minimal effort to put together.

Prep Time30

Cook Time3 30

Total Time4

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Servings: servings

Ingredients

For the ragu:

1.2 kg bone-in beef short ribs usually about 4
2 large carrots peeled and diced
1 red onion diced
2 celery stalks diced
4 garlic cloves
1 small bunch of fresh thyme
2 bay leaves
3 tbsp tomato paste
100 ml red wine something you would drink but nothing expensive
500 ml beef stock or enough to nearly cover the short ribs. Top up with more stock/water as needed.
1 x 400g tin of tinned chopped tomatoes or passata
2 squares dark chocolate
½ tsp sugar or 1 tsp balsamic glaze

To serve

400 g pappardelle or rigatoni
Parmesan
Fresh parsley or basil to top

Instructions

Pat the short ribs dry to help them brown nicely. Season generously with salt and, if possible, leave them uncovered in the fridge overnight to dry brine. If you don’t have time, just move on to searing.
Heat a large Dutch oven pot (you want an ovenproof dish with a lid and heavy bottom) over high heat. Add a drizzle of oil then sear the ribs until they’re well browned but definitely not cooked, then set aside. You just want some colour.
I like to blitz the carrots, celery, garlic and onions in my food processor for a quick fine dice. But you can also do by hand. Add the diced veg to the same pan in which you seared the ribs, with a little salt and pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes.
Stir in the tomato paste and the red wine. Let it cook for a couple of minutes. Heat the oven to 160°C fan/180°C conventional/355°F.
Add the chocolate, bay leaves, thyme, and tinned tomatoes to the pot and then refill the tomato tin with water and add to the pan. Then add the stock. You want enough stock to almost cover the ribs - around 300 but could be more (e.g. 500ml), depending on your pan. Bring everything to a gentle simmer, then nestle the ribs back into the sauce. Cover with a lid.
Cook low and slow for about 3.5 hours in the oven. If you’d rather, you can do it on the stove on a really low simmer for 3 hours, until the meat is falling-apart tender.
Once out of the oven, there will likely be a nice layer of fat in the pot. I like to remove some of it (keep some as fat is flavour) but if there is a lot, you don’t want it to feel too greasy. I use a large spoon to skim the fat off the surface and discard it.
Pull the bones out of the ribs, they should just slide out. If there is some jellified fat on the short ribs, you can trim this and discard, as it’s not always a nice texture to eat. Then shred up the meat and add back to the sauce.
At this stage, you can refrigerate the ragu for up to 3-4 days and reheat when needed.
Then boil the pasta in well-salted boiling water and then drain. Add the pasta to the pan of ragu. Add a few spoons of pasta water and toss together. Top with parmesan and fresh parsley or basil.

Video

Notes

Scroll up for a step by step guide on how to make this beef short ribs ragu.

To Store: Keep leftover ragu in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Storing them in the cooking liquid keeps the meat tender and stops it drying out.

To Reheat: Gently reheat the ragu either on the stove over low heat (covered) until warmed through. Add a splash of stock or water if the sauce has thickened too much.

To Freeze: Once cooled completely, portion into airtight containers with some of the sauce. Freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge before reheating gently.

Make Ahead: I find the flavour often improves after a night or two in the fridge. Cook the ragu fully, let them cool, then refrigerate overnight. Skim any solidified fat from the surface before reheating.

Leftover Sauce: If you have extra sauce, don’t throw it away - it’s packed with flavour. Stir it into soups, or use as a base for a stew.

Nutrition