Simple Braised Beef Ragu With Greens and Beans

Serving of beef ragu with greens and beans.

Simple Braised Beef Ragu With Greens and Beans

The simplest preparation of a beef ragu, made with chuck roast and served with beans and greens, is velvety, versatile and smooth flavored. A little goes a long way with this rich, but easy recipe, and if you are pasta obsessed, you can serve it that way.

Prep Time30

Cook Time3

shred meat10

Total Time3 40

Course: dinner

Cuisine: European-inspired

Keyword: braised beef ragu

Servings:

Calories: 721kcal

Author: Kathy Marshall

Equipment

1 dutch oven any 3-4 qt covered, oven proof pot works

Ingredients

3 lb boneless chuck roast 3-4 lb range
1 tbsp olive oil
1 ea medium onion
1 ea head of garlic 8-12 cloves
6 sprigs fresh thyme sub tbsp dried thyme
6 oz tomato paste 4-6 oz (one small can/jar)
3 cups white grape juice sub purple grape juice or wine (red/white)
3 cups water sub beef broth if you like the flavor/saltiness of broths
1 tbsp tamari low sodium/wheat-free soy sauce
salt/pepper to taste
2 tbsp red wine vinegar 2-4 tbsp to taste for acidity
1 ea bunch parsely for garnish
2 can white beans any type: cannellini, navy, butter, see notes
2 bunch kale sub any green, see notes

Instructions

Check out the helpful ideas in notes below!
Preheat oven to 350. Set rack with space in middle of oven.
Heat dutch oven on medium high and sear all sides of the 3 lb boneless chuck roast (including sides if possible) for about 5 min per side, so all surfaces have a dark, almost charred color (not trying to render fats however). Set meat aside.
Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in the same dutch oven, with the leftover meat bits, on medium heat and add 1 ea medium onion, diced. Saute 5 min, to soften.
Add the roughly chopped 1 ea head of garlic and 6 sprigs fresh thyme with salt/pepper, stir and saute another 5 min.
Add the 6 oz tomato paste, stir on medium heat a few minutes until the paste starts to stick and caramelize.
Add 3 cups white grape juice, 3 cups water, and 1 tbsp tamari, stir, add in the seared piece of meat, cover and place in oven to cook for 3 hours.
After 3 hours, remove from oven, remove lid and using tongs, remove meat and place on a place.
Use two forks to shred meat - read next step carefully.
If eating right away, mix shredded meat into sauce, but if you can refrigerate overnight, store the cooked meat separate from the sauce, so that in the morning, you can easily spoon off the congealed fat from the top of ragu sauce (see photo in post), then add shredded beef to sauce and reheat.
As sauce and shredded meat reheat, drain and rinse beans, Wash and roughly chop kale/greens. Stir into pot with ragu and cook 10 minutes until greens are fully wilted and soft. Stir often, and add a bit of water if needed, to avoid sticking.

Notes

Beans: any white bean can be used. The larger the bean, the less likely they seem to be to break down, depending on how long you cook your ragu when reheating. As suggested in post, use 2 cans for a more vegetable heavy ragu if desired.

Kale: any green can be used, such as spinach, baby bok choy, or swiss chard. Choose based on the amount of bitterness you prefer. Use two bunches (or one large bunch), if you are doubling the beans and want the vegetable heavy ragu as mentioned in the post.

Pasta: if you want to serve with pasta, I recommend 12 ounces.

Feed a crowd: to serve a crowd of 8 I recommend using 12 oz pasta, 2 cans of beans and 2 bunches of greens for an outstanding meal.

Nutritional info: no ADDED sugars.

Nutrition