Instant Pot Italian Beef Ragu with Pappardelle (So Flavorful!)

In this recipe for Beef Ragu, chuck roast is cooked until tender with garlic, herbs, and plenty of tomatoes. Serve this Instant Pot Italian Beef Ragu with Ppappardelle for a delicious and hearty family pasta night recipe.

This recipe for Instant Pot Italian Beef Ragu with Pappardelle was created in partnership with Red Gold Tomatoes. I have been compensated for my time, but all opinions are my own. Thank you for continuing to support the brands that continue to make Good Life Eats possible.

Beef Ragu Pasta Sauce

Eating a family dinner and spending quality time together during the week is really important to me. These are the days when everyone is busy with work, homework, sports, and other school activities.

It would be really easy to not check in with each other. That makes family time seem that much more important though.

Or to all eat at different times and not have any fun family conversations. And sometimes there is no avoiding it.

Kendall will have a basketball game, someone else will have practice, and parents need to be in two places at once. We usually end up with one really crazy night a week that leaves us eating in shifts depending on what is going on.

So, I try really hard amidst all of our busy schedules to make sure at least one night during the school week we are all sitting down together at the same time to eat a good dinner.

Usually one night a week we have pasta night for family dinner. Pasta night is probably the kids’ favorite dinner of the week.

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Beef Ragu is Cozy Comfort Food

Especially during the fall and the winter when we are craving cozy evenings and comfort foods. Or maybe I mean “I” and not “we.”

Kevin is always teasing me about how I like to be cozy. I can’t help it. I like soft comfy clothes. Fuzzy socks and flannel pajamas. Having “cozy date nights” where we get all snuggled up in bed under the covers and watch a movie in our room.

If I like all of this, why would I also not like foods that feel and smell comforting and make me feel cozy eating them?

That is my reasoning for family pasta night. I’m not really sure what it is for the kids’, but they all seem to inhale dinner when we have pasta.

Often times it will be Spaghetti with my Best Ever Homemade Classic Marinara Sauce. I love that sauce recipe, but it takes all day to simmer, and sometimes that just isn’t in the cards for me.

Creating this Beef Ragu

So, I wanted to come up with another equally comforting Italian pasta dinner that I could cook up in the Instant Pot and wouldn’t require hours and hours of simmering.

The kids also love Pot Roast, which usually takes a long time to cook as well.

In this beef ragu recipe, I decided to combine some of the flavors of both a rich tomato sauce served over pasta and the fall apart tender beef of a pot roast.

And then cook it in the Instant Pot so it wouldn’t have to braise for 4+ hours.

Tools Needed to Make this Beef Ragu Pappardelle

I recommend having the following kitchen tools on hand before you start preparing this delicious shredded beef ragu:

• Cutting Board – to cut the vegetables and garlic on.
• Sharp Knife – for cutting the vegetables and garlic. I like a chef’s knife.
• Measuring Cups and Spoons – to measure the ingredients.
• Pressure Cooker (such as an Instant Pot) or Crock Pot – to cook the beef ragu sauce
• Wooden Spoon – to scrape the bottom of the pot after browning the meat.
• Stock Pot – to cook the pappardelle pasta in.

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Beef Ragu Ingredients

This beef ragu recipe starts with quality ingredients:

• Boneless Beef Chuck Roast
• Salt and Ground Black Pepper
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Veggies and Aromatics: yellow onion, carrot, celery, garlic
• Quality Red Wine
• Double Strength Beef Broth
• Crushed Tomatoes and Diced Tomatoes
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Herbs: fresh thyme, bay leaves, and fresh parsley
• Bay Leaves
• Pappardelle (or your favorite pasta)
• Butter
• Parmesan Cheese

For the complete ingredient list and detailed instructions to make this beef ragu pappardelle, scroll to the bottom of this post for the FREE printable recipe card.

How to Make Beef Ragu in an Instant Pot

1. First, you’ll brown the roast on both sides until a nice crust is developed.
2. Next, you’ll sauce the vegetables and the garlic.
3. The wine deglazes the pan so you can get all of those good crusty browned bits that have tons of flavor. Simmer for a bit to reduce.
4. And then you’ll add the broth, tomatoes, balsamic, bay leaves, and thyme.
5. Then, cook in the instant pot until the meat is fall apart tender, about an hour.
6. Shred the beef when it is done and serve it with pasta and plenty of parmesan cheese.

I usually like to use the time that it is cooking to get a few things checked off my list so after dinner I can spend time with the family.

The above is simply a quick summary of this hearty meal. Check out the full recipe in the free printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for all the detailed instructions.

Tips for Making the Best Beef Ragu

Any red wine will work in this beef ragu recipe, but make sure it is a quality wine.

• My personal favorites are Chianti or Sangiovese. Make sure to buy a red wine you’d actually drink and not a “cooking wine.” Check out my complete guide to cooking with wine.

Purchase a quality chuck roast.

• I recommend going to the meat counter at your local grocery store and purchasing a roast there. Sometimes the prepackaged roasts aren’t the best quality. Use your best judgement!

Make sure you deglaze the pot.

• Use a wooden spoon to scrape up all of the browned bits from the bottom of the pan once you add the liquids. There is tons of flavor in these caramelized bits that add flavor to the rich sauce!

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Beef Ragu Recipe FAQs

Got questions about how to make this recipe? Here are the answers to a few commonly asked questions. Feel free to leave any other questions in the comments on this post and I’ll respond with answers.

What is the Best Cut of Beef for this Ragu Recipe?

My personal favorite is beef chuck roast. It has plenty of fat marbling throughout to keep the meat really moist.

Cooking it in the instant pot (or in a slow cooker) provides amble time for the connective tissue to break down which results in incredibly tender meat.

Most likely, you could also use boneless short ribs, but I haven’t tested it so I can’t speak to the cook time or if there is a taste difference.

How Should I Store the Leftovers?

Leftovers should be transferred to an airtight container and stored in the refrigerator. I prefer to store the pasta and the ragu sauce separately.

Leftover Beef Ragu will be good for approximately 3-5 days.

Can You Freeze Instant Pot Italian Beef?

Yes! Both the Italian beef itself and the prepared beef ragu pasta sauce can be frozen. So if you wind up with too much sauce, you can always freeze portions for later.

This Instant Pot Italian Beef Ragu is a great recipe for freezing. Let the beef cool completely, then transfer it in to freezer safe containers or freeze it flat in a zip top bag.

The portion size is up to you. For lunches, I recommend freezing in individual portions.

I do not recommend freezing the pasta with this recipe as pasta becomes mushy when it is frozen and reheated.

Can I Make Beef Ragu in a CrockPot?

Yes, but I haven’t made a slow cooker beef ragu version of this particular recipe in my CrockPot yet, so I can only give you rough estimations on cook times. Here are my tips:

• First, you’ll need to use a stove top safe pan, such as a cast iron pan, to sear the roast and cook the veggies.
• You will definitely need to cook the meat MUCH longer. I would aim for 6-8 hours total to get the meat tender enough to shred. You want the end result to be beef chuck roast that is fall-apart tender!
• If it were me, I would probably start with 2 hours on high and do the rest on low. (I’m just going off of how long I normally would cook a roast in a CrockPot to get it very tender.)

What to Serve with Beef Ragu

If you’re looking for side suggestions to go with this recipe, I recommend a big green salad.

It doesn’t have to be fancy at all. We often use mixed greens, lettuce, cucumber, shredded carrot, and tomato for a basic side salad. Check out these 3 Simple Salad Dressing Recipes to go along with your salad.

If salad isn’t your thing, try this easy recipe for Roasted Broccoli for a vegetable side dish.

Sometimes instead of a simple garden salad it is a Caesar salad, or sometimes a Copy Cat Olive Garden Salad is fun.

I also love this recipe for Italian Mixed Greens Salad with Prosciutto and Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette.

And if salads aren’t your family’s favorite, a simple side of Honey Roasted Carrots with Balsamic or Lemon Roasted Broccolini would also pair nicely with Instant Pot beef ragu.

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Try this Ultimate Comfort Food Recipe!

Next time you’re looking for a meat sauce to serve with your favorite pasta, give this Instant Pot Beef Ragu a try!

Did the whole family love it? Leave a comment below and give it a review for others to see what you thought of this great recipe.

On Instagram? Share your photo and tag me with @goodlifeeats and #goodlifeeatsrecipes. I’d love to see your photo of this braised beef ragu!

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