You know what I love about beef roasts and the ‘stew beef’ cut of meat? They slow cook beautifully. They are softened to perfection, as the low and slow heat cooks them all day. And in the case of this beef ragu recipe, the acidity from the tomato based sauce softens them even more.

And you end up with the most delicious sauce. This is a homemade tomato sauce, using crushed tomatoes. I like how the crushed tomatoes give the sauce a smidge of ‘texture.’ If you want something smoother, you could use canned tomato sauce instead. Also, I’ve got a great set of herbs and spices below…but feel free to tweak or change those (using other Italian seasonings) to make the sauce to your liking!

You can leave the beef stew pieces whole, or you could pull them apart a little with 2 forks…totally up to you!

This is delicious over pasta…and I think it would be fantastic over risotto, or even rice (if you’re GF!)

Buon appetito!

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Slow Cooker Beef Ragu

Beautiful beef based tomato ragu, full of flavor!

Prep Time10 minutes

Cook Time8 hours

Servings - 4 servings

Ingredients 

1x2x3x

• 2 lbs. stew beef
• Salt and pepper, to taste to taste
• 28 oz. can crushed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup sliced green olives
• 1 cup beef stock
• 2 whole carrots peeled and shredded
• 1 Tbsp minced onion
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• tsp dried rosemary
• 2 Tbsp heavy cream
• shredded Parmesan cheese garnish
• 16 oz. box small shell pasta
• salad side dish

Instructions

• Peel and shred the carrots.
• Place the stew beef into the base of the slow cooker and season with salt and pepper. Pour the crushed tomatoes, sliced green olives, beef stock, shredded carrots, minced onion, minced garlic, oregano, rosemary into the slow cooker and gently stir to combine.
• Set the slow cooker on low and cook for 8 hours.
• Once finished cooking, stir in the heavy cream. Garnish sauce with shredded Parmesan cheese.
• Cook the pasta, as directed.
• Prepare the salad.
• Serve Slow Cooker Beef Ragu over pasta with side salad.

This recipe is featured on SouthernPlate.com’s Meal Plan Monday #51.