This Short Rib Ragu is a rich, slow-braised meat sauce made with tender beef short ribs, tomatoes, aromatics, cream, and Parmesan cheese. The beef cooks low and slow in a Dutch oven until it is fall apart tender, then gets tossed with pappardelle for a cozy pasta dinner.
It is the kind of comfort meal that feels special enough for Sunday dinner but still uses simple ingredients. If you love hearty Dutch oven recipes, you might also like my Red Wine Braised Short Ribs, Dutch Oven Beef Stew, and Dutch Oven Pot Roast.
Quick Look: Short Rib Ragu
- ⏱️ Ready in: About 3 hours 30 minutes, mostly hands-off braising time.
- 🍽️ Serves: 6 people.
- 🏡 Best for: Sunday dinner, date-night at home, holidays, or a cozy weekend pasta meal.
- ❤️ Why you’ll love it: The short ribs slowly braise until tender, creating a rich tomato based sauce that coats wide pappardelle noodles beautifully.
- 🍝 Flavor profile: Savory beef, caramelized soffritto, tomato, Parmesan, and a creamy finish.
- 🎯 Best paired with: Serve it with Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan, Green Bean Almondine, or Easy Dinner Rolls.
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“I’ve made this six or seven times now. Now a family favorite and requested by friends. Sometimes I use chuck roast if the ribs are too pricey and it still turns out amazing.”
– Audrey
What is ragu?
Ragu is a slowly cooked Italian meat sauce that is usually served with pasta, gnocchi, or polenta. It starts with meat and aromatics, then simmers until the meat is tender and the sauce becomes thick and flavorful.
In this version, boneless short ribs braise in a tomato-based sauce until they can be shredded into the ragu. The sauce is finished with heavy cream and Parmesan, then tossed with pappardelle so the wide noodles catch all of the rich sauce.
Why This Recipe Works
- Short ribs become incredibly tender. A long, gentle braise breaks down the connective tissue and turns the beef into a rich, shreddable sauce.
- Soffritto builds flavor from the start. Onion, celery, and carrot cook slowly in the Dutch oven, creating a savory base for the ragu.
- Tomato paste and crushed tomatoes add depth. The tomato paste cooks briefly with the aromatics before the crushed tomatoes and broth go in.
- Heavy cream and Parmesan finish the sauce. They make the ragu velvety without overpowering the beef.
- Pappardelle is the perfect pasta shape. The wide ribbons hold the hearty sauce better than thin pasta.
Key Ingredients
- Boneless short ribs. I prefer boneless short ribs for ragu because they are easy to trim and shred into the sauce. If short ribs are expensive, chuck roast can also work well.
- Onion, celery, and carrot. This trio is the soffritto, which gives the sauce a deep savory base. Let it cook until softened and lightly caramelized.
- Garlic, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce. These ingredients add richness and complexity before the liquid goes in.
- Crushed tomatoes. Crushed tomatoes create the body of the sauce. For another tomato-forward pasta dinner, try my Baked Cheese Tortellini with Meat Sauce.
- Chicken broth. Broth keeps the ragu saucy while the short ribs braise. Beef broth can also be used for a deeper flavor.
- Heavy cream and Parmesan cheese. These finish the sauce and make it smooth, creamy, and balanced.
- Pappardelle pasta. Wide pappardelle noodles are ideal for short rib ragu, but rigatoni, mafaldine, or another sturdy pasta can also work.
Substitutions and Additions
- Bone-in short ribs: You can use them, but they may need a little extra time. Remove the bones before shredding the meat into the sauce.
- Chuck roast: Several readers have had success using chuck roast when short ribs are too expensive or hard to find. Cut it into large pieces before searing.
- Red wine: For a deeper, restaurant-style sauce, replace part of the broth with dry red wine and let it simmer briefly before adding the tomatoes.
- Different pasta: Use rigatoni, paccheri, tagliatelle, or another shape that can hold a hearty sauce.
- Oven method: After bringing the sauce to a boil, cover the Dutch oven and braise at 350°F for 2 ½-3 hours, stirring occasionally.
How to make Short Rib Ragu
The full printable recipe is in the recipe card below, but this is the basic process. The biggest key is to take your time with the sear and let the sauce simmer gently until the meat is tender enough to shred.
- Sear the short ribs. Pat the meat dry, trim excess fat, season with salt and pepper, then brown it in a hot Dutch oven in batches.
- Cook the soffritto. Lower the heat and cook the onion, celery, and carrot until soft and lightly caramelized. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce.
- Braise the meat. Add crushed tomatoes and broth, return the short ribs to the pot, cover, and simmer until the meat is fall-apart tender. Then shred the meat. Stir more often as the sauce reduces so it does not burn.
- Finish with pasta. Cook the pappardelle, reserve some pasta water, then stir cream and Parmesan into the ragu. Toss with pasta and loosen with pasta water if needed.
Expert Tips
- Brown the meat in batches. If the pot is crowded, the short ribs will steam instead of sear. Give each piece room to brown.
- Do not rush the soffritto. Let the onion, celery, and carrot soften and start to caramelize before adding the garlic and tomato paste.
- Stir more often as the sauce thickens. Once the ragu reduces, it can stick to the bottom of the pot. If it gets too thick before the meat is tender, add a splash of water or broth.
- Cook until the beef shreds easily. If the short ribs are still tough, they need more time. Continue braising until the meat falls apart with a fork.
- Save pasta water. A splash of reserved pasta water helps loosen the sauce and makes it cling to the pappardelle.
- Freeze the ragu without pasta. The sauce freezes better on its own. Cook fresh pasta when you are ready to serve.
What to serve with it
Short rib ragu is rich and hearty, so I like serving it with a simple vegetable side or something that can soak up the sauce.
For vegetables, try Roasted Broccoli with Parmesan, Green Bean Almondine, or Mediterranean Roasted Vegetables. If you want bread on the table, Easy Dinner Rolls are perfect for the extra sauce.
For more cozy dinner ideas, add Red Wine Braised Short Ribs, Dutch Oven Beef Stew, Dutch Oven Pot Roast, or Instant Pot Boneless Short Ribs to your list.
Short Rib Ragu FAQs
Yes. Though I prefer to fully cook it on the stovetop, you can also cook it in the oven. After the meat and vegetables are seared, and you add all the ingredients back to the pot, bring the liquids to boil, then cover with the lid and transfer to the oven. You can braise them in the oven at 350°F for 2 ½-3 hours, occasionally stirring.
Most likely you didn’t cook them long enough. Braising short ribs is a slow process that requires patience. Depending on the size of the meat pieces and their quality, you might need more time to cook them to get the right texture.
I prefer to use boneless short ribs because they are easy to trim and make the ragu less greasy. Also, if there is some extra fat on the meat, you can easily trim it.
More cozy dinner recipes
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If you make this Short Rib Ragu recipe, I’d love for you to leave a rating and comment below. Your feedback helps other readers and gives them useful tips before they try the recipe themselves.
Dutch Oven Short Rib Ragu with Pappardelle
Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds boneless short ribs trim excess fat
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 rib celery diced
- 1 large carrot diced
- 2 cloves garlic smashed
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 15 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 3 cups chicken broth
- ⅓ cup heavy cream
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese grated
- 10 ounces pappardelle pasta
Instructions
- Pat dry boneless short ribs, trim off the excess fat, and then generously season with salt and pepper from both sides.
- Preheat a Dutch oven over medium/high heat and add 2 tbsp olive oil. Once the oil is hot, brown the meat in two batches. Sear for about 4-5 minutes on each side or until the meat is nicely browned. Then transfer to a plate and set aside.
- Lower the heat to medium/low and add chopped onion, celery and carrots. Cook for about 15 minutes or until the vegetables are soft and starting to caramelize.
- Then add 2 smashed cloves of garlic, ¼ cup tomato paste, and 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce. Stir and cook for another minute.
- Add 15 ounces crushed tomatoes, 3 cups chicken broth, and stir. Then add the browned meat with juices.
- Turn up the heat to high and bring the liquid to boil. Then reduce the heat back to low, cover with the lid, and let it simmer for 2 ½-3 hours or until the meat is fall-apart tender.
- NOTE: After cooking for 40 minutes, you will need to pay closer attention to the pot and stir more often, so the sauce doesn’t burn. If it reduces too much, you can add some water and continue cooking until fully done.
- When the meat is almost done, boil a separate pot of water and cook pappardelle pasta according to the instructions. Then drain the pasta, reserving 1 cup of cooked pasta water, and set aside.
- When the meat is fully cooked and fall-apart tender and the sauce is reduced, add ⅓ cup heavy cream and ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, and stir until well combined.
- Add the cooked pasta and toss to coat. If the sauce is too thick, you can add a splash of reserved cooked pasta water to loosen it up. Keep cooking for 1 minutes to blend all the flavors together, then turn of the heat and serve.
Notes
- Brown the meat in batches. If the pot is crowded, the short ribs will steam instead of sear. Give each piece room to brown.
- Do not rush the soffritto. Let the onion, celery, and carrot soften and start to caramelize before adding the garlic and tomato paste.
- Stir more often as the sauce thickens. Once the ragu reduces, it can stick to the bottom of the pot. If it gets too thick before the meat is tender, add a splash of water or broth.
- Cook until the beef shreds easily. If the short ribs are still tough, they need more time. Continue braising until the meat falls apart with a fork.
- Save pasta water. A splash of reserved pasta water helps loosen the sauce and makes it cling to the pappardelle.
- Freeze the ragu without pasta. The sauce freezes better on its own. Cook fresh pasta when you are ready to serve.
I could only get my hands on bone-in short ribs. Will they throw off the recipe?
I’ve made this six or seven times now. Now a family facorite and requested by friends. Sometimes I use chuck roast if the ribs are too pricey and it still turns out amazing.
Am I completely blind? I don’t see the temperature anywhere of what to set the oven to??
OK now I see that it’s supposed to sit on the stove for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. I’m not about to use that much gas so I plan to cook them for 2 1/2 hours at 325 in the oven.
If you decide to cook it in the oven, I would suggest to cook it at 350F. Hope that helps.
Delicious!!! I got a dutch oven for Christmas and this was the first meal I made in it! Absolutely going in my dinner rotation!
Thank you so much, Courtney! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
Made this for a dinner party and it was a hit! Such a great dish! I also had trouble with sauce reduction but just removed lid after 3 hrs and let it simmer a little longer. Worked out great!
Thank you, Tammy! Glad everyone liked this dish!
Hi! I made this tonight and it was so good! But I had trouble with the sauce reducing on the stove top – after 3 hours, the sauce had hardly reduced (maybe 1/4”) and I ended up having to transfer the Dutch oven to the oven to get the sauce to reduce and finish cooking the short ribs. I followed the recipe exactly – is there any recommendations/advice on why I had issues using the stove top?
Hi,
I had the same issue as you, followed to a tee, still only like 1/4 reduced. It’s pretty frustrating it seems that a lot of recent reviews/comments have not gotten a response from the author. If anyone else reads this, a lot of scouring the internet says these types of sauces reduce better when uncovered to allow the water to evaporate so that would have been good to know.
Hi Elizabeth,
If you have too much liquid left in the pot, you can just to open the lid and cook it a bit longer until the liquid evaporates. Hope that helps.
Made this tonight for dinner from the first bite absolutely delicious! Cannot thank your daughter enough for sharing the recipes on Instagram.
Outside of short ribs being ridiculously expensive, this is a good recipe.i didn’t add the cream because the sauce was good without. I also used whole Roma tomato’s and let them boil down. Worked wonderfully! I would cut back a bit on the initial chicken broth and use that to moderate the sauce. Good heads up on paying attention to prevent burning.
Hi! Just a question on nutrition information. Is the calorie count 809 calorie per serving? Or for the whole dish? Also, what is the serving size in oz for the calories.
Thanks
What other cut of beef would work well if I don’t have short ribs?
This recipe was a hit! My family loved it and will make again. Thank you!