Slow-Cooker Beef Ragu & Spaghetti Squash

This has become a staple meal in our house! We don’t eat red meat often, but when we do I love to make this dish.  I make it for the evenings when we have a lot of sports activities with the kids. It takes less than 10 minutes to prep, so I can get it in the slow-cooker quickly in the morning and forget about it. This dish will make your house smell amazing — I love coming home knowing this is in my slow-cooker, such a cozy warm feeling. We serve the beef over spaghetti squash, which I feel is the healthiest way to serve it.  I used to make a similar pot roast recipe using lipton soup mix and dried ranch mix.  This dish has just as much, if not more flavor than my “processed food” version and takes the same amount of time to prepare.

When purchasing your tomato paste, make sure the bottle is made of glass or that the can is produced without BPA.  We use Bionaturae Organic Tomato Paste, the cans are lined with clear, protective lining and are lead free.  When we use tomato sauce (not needed for this recipe), we purchase Muir Glen Organic Tomato Sauce, No Salt Added because the lining of their cans are produced without BPA. “The resin linings of tin cans contain bisphenol-A, or BPA, a synthetic estrogen that has been linked to ailments ranging from reproductive problems to heart disease, diabetes, and obesity. Studies show that the BPA in most people’s bodies exceeds the amount that suppresses sperm production or causes chromosomal damage to the eggs of animals. You can get 50 micrograms of BPA per liter out of a tomato can, and that’s a level that is going to impact people, particularly the young. Choose tomatoes in glass bottles (which do not need resin linings), such as the brands Eden Organic and Bionaturae. You can also get several types in Tetra Pak boxes, such as Trader Joe’s and Pomi.” http://www.rodale.com/food-ingredients-avoid

Here is a great reference for BPA free canned food brands: http://bpafreecannedfood.wordpress.com/bpa-free-canned-food-brands/
Here is a BPA Canned Food Pocket Guide to take with you to the store: http://bpafreecannedfood.wordpress.com/bpa-free-pocket-guide/

The Breast Cancer Fund and Silent Spring Institute found that BPA levels in families who ate fresh instead of canned or plastic-packaged food for THREE days dropped by 60%!

Slow-Cooker Beef Ragu

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours, 30 minutes

Number of servings: 6-8

See Detailed Nutrition Info on

Slow-Cooker Beef Ragu

Ingredients

  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 6 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves (or 3 teaspoons dried)
  • 1 beef chuck roast (4 pounds), halved (preferably grass-fed, organic)
  • Himalayan pink salt and ground pepper
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

Instructions

  1. In a 5-to-6-quart slow cooker, combine onion, garlic, tomato paste, and oregano.
  2. Season roast with salt and pepper and place on top of onion mixture. Add 2 cups water, cover, and cook on high until meat is tender and can easily be pulled apart with a fork, 4 1/2 hours (or 9 hours on low).
  3. Let cool 10 minutes, then shred meat in slow cooker with 2 forks and stir in vinegar to taste.

Notes:

Purchase all organice ingredients if possible. I have made this on the high and the low setting. The meat was more tender on the low setting.

Print Spaghetti Squash recipe here.

Slow-Cooker Beef Ragu Recipe adapted from Everyday Food, March 2012

Ingredients (purchase organic ingredients if possible):

  • 1 medium yellow onion, diced small
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 6 tablespoons tomato paste
  • 3 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano leaves (or 3 teaspoons dried)
  • 1 beef chuck roast (4 pounds), halved (preferably grass-fed, organic)
  • Himalayan pink salt and ground pepper
  • 1 to 2 tablespoons red-wine vinegar

1. In a 5-to-6-quart slow cooker, combine onion, garlic, tomato paste, and oregano.

beef ragu 2

2. Season roast with salt and pepper and place on top of onion mixture. Add 2 cups water, cover, and cook on high until meat is tender and can easily be pulled apart with a fork, 4 1/2 hours (or 9 hours on low).

beef ragu

3. Let cool 10 minutes, then shred meat in slow cooker with 2 forks and stir in vinegar to taste.

ragu 4

Spaghetti Squash

2 whole spaghetti squash
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
Himalayan pink salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Split the squashes in half and scrape out seeds. Line an oven tray with aluminum foil. Season the spaghetti squash with olive oil, salt, and pepper. (You will notice one of my halves is missing pepper — I leave pepper off the one I serve to the kids).

squash 2

3. Place flesh side down and roast for 30 to 40 minutes until fully cooked.

squash

4. Remove from the oven and let rest until cool enough to handle.

squash 4

5. When squash is cool enough to handle, using a large kitchen spoon scrape the strands of squash from the inside of the skin.
6. Serve the Ragu over the squash.  Enjoy!

Real Beef Ragu Final

To receive daily health tips and gluten-free, grain-free, dairy-free and sugar-free meal/snack ideas, like us at www.facebook.com/wholefoodrealfood.

“When you know better, you do better.”

2 thoughts on “Slow-Cooker Beef Ragu & Spaghetti Squash

  1. I can vouch that this dish is “AMAZING”!!! Julie gave me some on the run one night to eat while I was taking the girls to cheer!!! I got to taste it over the whole grain pasta she mentioned above…..best dish ever!!! And perfect for those nights when everyone is eating at a different time because of sport practices!!!

    LOVE IT!!!!!!

Leave a Reply to MoM Cancel reply