Here’s a Thanksgiving recipe for you that’s definitely not traditional, but most definitely so freakin’ delicious: braised beef ragu. There’s nothing out there that says you have to serve turkey at Thanksgiving (though I’ve got some great ideas here if you do), so go ahead and serve this slow-cooked beef ragu at your holiday feast for an extra punch of flavor. Your guests are going to love it!
The other non-traditional part of this recipe is that I’m using beer instead of red wine for our meat sauce. The swap may sound crazy, but using Samuel Adams Just the Haze IPA is perfect for this rich sauce. Just the Haze is the craft brewery’s award-winning non-alcoholic IPA. It’s juicy, refreshing and rich, and adds a ton of great flavor to the beef ragu sauce.
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Why You’ll Love This Beef Ragu
Beef ragu is the definition of comfort food. It doesn’t get much better than hearty, tender beef paired with umami-rich tomatoes, simmered for hours and making the whole house smell like Italian nonnas live there. By taking this recipe outside, Over the Fire Cooking style, you’ll have your backyard feeling like a ristorante!
We’re using chuck roast in our ragu, since it’s a cut that’s best cooked low and slow, which breaks down the connective tissue and gives us tender, fall-apart meat. It’s the best cut of beef for this ragu recipe, hands down.
Except for using Just the Haze as part of our braising liquid, the rest of the recipe falls in the classic category with aromatic veggies like carrots, garlic, onion and celery. The cooking time is long because the chuck roast needs it to fully break down, but it’s mostly hands off. Tons of epic flavor, minimal effort. Sounds like a perfect Thanksgiving recipe for all the home cooks out there!
Want more braised beef recipes? Check out Beer Braised Beef Melt, Braised Beef Short Ribs and Braised Osso Buco.
Beef Ragu Ingredients
- Beef: We’ll season our large chuck roast with kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
- Ragu Sauce: For the sauce itself, you’ll need canned tomato sauce, water, Samuel Adams Just the Haze IPA, carrots, garlic, onion, celery, red chili flakes, oregano, a bay leaf and kosher salt to taste.
- Pasta: Serve this braised beef ragu with your favorite noodles, plus chopped parsley and shredded Parmesan cheese for garnish.
Why We Use Beer or Wine in Beef Ragu
You might be asking, why even use beer or wine in our braised beef ragu? Why not beef broth or water? There are a few reasons behind this key ingredient, and why I used Just the Haze here.
- The acidity in beer plays a big role in breaking down the connective tissue in the chuck roast during the long, slow cooking process, helping to tenderize the beef.
- That same acidity brightens the rich meat sauce and cuts through the fattiness of the chuck roast.
- The beer adds a depth of flavor that you can’t get from just water or beef stock alone. Beer adds malty, slightly bitter undertones to the recipe. During the cooking process, these flavors concentrate and meld with the meat and tomatoes.
So, all in all, Just the Haze gives us that complex, rounded flavor we want in a braised beef ragu!
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How to Make Braised Beef Ragu
Let’s start by cooking our beef. First, preheat your grill to medium-high heat (around 375 degrees Fahrenheit). Cut your large chuck roast into six pieces, then slather with oil and liberally season with kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
Place the beef on the grill and sear off all sides until browned. Remove the beef from the grill.
Now it’s time to make the tomato sauce. Place a Dutch oven on the grill grates and add some oil. Toss in the chopped white onion, along with the dried oregano, red pepper flakes and kosher salt to taste. Cook the mixture for about two minutes, until the onion browns a little.
Next, add the chopped celery, carrots, and minced garlic cloves to sweat for 2 minutes. Once that’s done sweating, add your chuck roast back to the Dutch oven. Then, fill the pot with tomato sauce, water and Sam Adams Just the Haze IPA so that the beef ribs are almost submerged. Add in 1 bay leaf at this point too.
Cover the Dutch oven and let the sauce simmer over medium-high heat until the beef is fork tender (about 3.5-4.5 hours). Make sure to skim the top of the sauce of fat as needed.
Once the beef is tender, remove the bay leaf and add 3 cups cooked pasta to the sauce.
Top with chopped parsley and Parmesan cheese. Serve and enjoy!
What to Serve with Braised Beef Ragu
If you’re looking for pasta shapes that work well with this braised beef ragu, there are tons of options. Pappardelle pasta is great because the thick, wide noodles grab a lot of sauce. You could also use a short, tubular pasta like rigatoni. You definitely want something that stands up to the hearty shredded beef, so stay away from delicate shapes like angel hair.
Want to serve with something besides pasta? Creamy polenta would be so freakin’ delicious. Then, for your sides, roasted broccoli, Brussels sprouts, or your favorite green salad to serve at Thanksgiving would round out this meal perfectly.
Leftovers and Reheating
If you’ve got leftover sauce, store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. This sauce also freezes beautifully, so you can also stash it in your freezer for up to 2 months. When you want more beef ragu, reheat in the Dutch oven on your grill or stovetop over medium heat until warmed through.
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FAQs
Chuck roast really is the best cut here, but you could also use short ribs. The process and flavor might be slightly different, but you’ll get similar results. Just remember that the sauce will be fattier, though. You can either skim the fat as you go, or cook it the day before, refrigerate the sauce and then scrape the fat off the top once it’s hardened.
Any slow and low cooking method would work here! So yes, you can use your slow cooker if you’re not able to fire up your grill. I’d cook it for 6-8 hours on low or 4-5 hours on high, depending on how hot your machine runs. You could also make this recipe on the stovetop, using the same heat levels and timing.
Basically all over the U.S.! Everyone I’ve talked to loves the flavor of this non-alcoholic beer. Check out the company’s Find a Sam page to buy or order near you. Once you’ve tried it, drop a note in the comments and let me know what you think.
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Braised Beef Ragu
Ingredients
Beef:
- 1 Large Chuck Roast cut into 6 pieces
- 2 tbsp Kosher Salt
- 2 tbsp Black Pepper
- 1.5 tbsp Garlic Powder
- Canola Oil as needed
Ragu Sauce:
- 28 oz Tomato Sauce
- 1 cup Water
- 12 oz Sam Adams Just the Haze IPA
- 5-6 Whole Carrots peeled & diced
- 5-6 Garlic Cloves minced
- 1 cup White Onion chopped
- 1 cup Celery chopped
- 2 tbsp Red Chili Flakes
- 2 tbsp Dried Oregano
- 1 Bay Leaf
- Kosher Salt to taste
Pasta:
- 3 cups Favorite Pasta cooked
- Chopped Parsley garnish
- Shredded Parmesan garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your grill to medium high temperature (around 375F).
- Slather your beef with oil and liberally season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Place the beef on the grill and sear off all sides until browned.
- Pull the beef off and place down your dutch oven. Add some oil and add your sliced onions along with the oregano, chili flakes and salt to brown (2 minutes).
- Next, add the celery, carrots and garlic to sweat for 2 minutes.
- Add your beef ribs back to the dutch oven and fill with tomato sauce, bay leaf, water and Sam Adams Just the Haze IPA so that the beef is almost submerged.
- Cover the Dutch oven and let simmer over medium high heat until the beef is fork tender (about 3.5-4.5 hours). Make sure to skim the top of the sauce of fat as needed.
- Once the beef is tender, strain the bay leaves and anything else. Add the cooked pasta to the sauce topping with parsley and Parmesan. Serve and enjoy!
Notes
- The acidity in beer plays a big role in breaking down the connective tissue in the chuck roast during the long, slow cooking process, helping to tenderize the beef.
- That same acidity brightens the rich meat sauce and cuts through the fattiness of the chuck roast.
- The beer adds a depth of flavor that you can’t get from just water or beef stock alone. Beer adds malty, slightly bitter undertones to the recipe. During the cooking process, these flavors concentrate and meld with the meat and tomatoes.
