Easy Instant Pot Beef Ragu Recipe

For this Instant Pot Beef Ragu, all you need is marinara sauce, chuck roast, red wine, and your pressure cooker! The easiest way to make a healthy, delicious meal with minimal ingredients and nothing but ease. Serve it over your favorite pasta or keto side– a meal the whole family will love!

this recipe

What Makes This Recipe Great

This Instant Pot Beef Ragu is the coziest bowl of healthy comfort food. Fancy enough for a holiday meal but easy enough for a weeknight dinner! It comes together quickly and turns out perfect every single time.

Here’s the best part: it’s made with just 3 ingredients: beef, jarred marinara sauce, and red wine! It has the best ingredient list and an amazing depth of flavor. It’s seriously so tasty!

After the beef pressure cooks, it is perfectly tender. You can serve it immediately or leave it on WARM in your instant pot until ready to serve—the perfect recipe for entertaining. I love it on top of cauliflower gnocchi, also great on your favorite pasta. Top it with fresh parsley and parmesan cheese. The coziest dinner your family and guests are going to love!

Watch The Recipe Video

Note: You can also watch this recipe video on YouTube.

Rescue Recipes: Nat’s Notes

Keeping this Instant Pot Beef Ragu SO SIMPLE by just using beef, store-bought marinara sauce, and red wine. You could get fancier by adding in onions and garlic and herbs, but pasta sauce already has that in it, and it’s fewer steps while cooking–all about shortcuts on this one.

It’s easy enough for a weeknight but fancy enough for when having guests over for dinner. Since it’s such minimal effort, I can spend my time being with friends and family rather than stuck in the kitchen cooking.

I love to serve this with cauliflower gnocchi from Trader Joe’s, topped with parmesan and parsley. Also amazing with pappardelle pasta or any pasta noodle. To keep it low carb, use hearts of palm pasta or zucchini noodles.

• Rescue Recipe Tip: The perfect dish for busy nights because I can make the ragu ahead of time and leave it in the instant pot on warm. When we’re home, I just need to cook up pasta or gnocchi, and dinner is ready!
• Kid-Friendly Tip: This meal is super kid-friendly! My kids love spaghetti, so I make a fresh pot of pasta to serve it over for them. This meat is very tender, so it’s easy for littles to chew. Plus, it’s a great way to pack protein, carbs, and veggies into one complete meal!
• Keto Tip: I recommend looking for a marinara sauce that doesn’t include added sugar to keep it as low-carb as possible. Serve the sauce over hearts of palm noodles, zucchini noodles, or spaghetti squash for an all-around keto-friendly meal! 

Ingredient Notes

• Boneless chuck roast:  I love using chuck roast. I like to look for one that is well-marbled. You could also use 2 pounds of beef stew meat that is already cut up by your butcher.
• Kosher salt
• Black pepper
• Avocado oil or Olive oil
• Marinara sauce: Use your favorite tomato sauce. My favorites are Rao’s, the Thrive Market brand or Fody. 
• Red wine: I love a cabernet sauvignon for this recipe. But really, any dry red wine will do.

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Set your instant pot on SAUTE mode and let it heat up.
2. Prepare the meat: by cutting the chuck roast into 2-inch cubes. Season it on all sides with salt and pepper.
3. Brown the meat: Add the avocado oil to your warmed-up instant pot, then add the beef in an even layer. You may need to do this in 2 batches, so you don’t overcrowd the instant pot. Sauté the meat for 5-8 minutes on each side.
4. Make the Sauce: Add all the browned meat into the instant pot, then add the marinara sauce, red wine, and bone broth.
5. Cook the Sauce: Close with the lid, and make sure the vent is at SEALING. Hit CANCEL, then cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 35 minutes. It will take about 10-15 minutes to reach pressure, then it will start counting down from 35. After the 35 minutes is up, do a QUICK RELEASE, where you move the valve to VENTING to release all the steam. Once all the steam is gone and the float valve has dropped, you can safely open the instant pot. 
6. Shred the beef: remove the beef from the instant pot using a slotted spoon and transfer it to a plate. Shred it with 2 forks. Before adding the shredded beef back in, use a spoon to skim any fat from the top of the sauce. I like to remove about 70% of the fat. Remove as much as you desire. Then, add the shredded beef back into the instant pot and stir to combine with the sauce.

Expert Tips

• Make Ahead Tip: You can make this sauce earlier in the day and then leave your instant pot on WARM for up to 8 hours. When it is time to serve, just cook up your preferred pasta and top with the warm sauce.
• Slow Cooker Method: You can also make this in the slow cooker. Brown the beef on your stovetop, then transfer the browned meat and all the other ingredients to your slow cooker. Cook on HIGH for 4-6 hours or LOW for 8-10 hours.
• Beef Broth: I did test this recipe with bone broth, but the sauce ended up being too thin. However, if you find your sauce too thick and want to thin it out a bit, feel free to add additional bone broth until your desired consistency is reached. 
• Adding Spice: If you love spicy, feel free to garnish with red pepper flakes or even add them to your sauce, according to your spice preference. 

Serving Tips

Serve warm over cooked cauliflower gnocchi (or pasta, hearts of palm noodles, zucchini noodles, whatever you like the most!) I love it topped with finely chopped fresh parsley and additional parmesan cheese as a garnish—then season with additional salt and pepper to taste. 

Storage Tips

Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 6 months. 

To freeze, cool the beef ragu completely. Then store in a freezer-safe container or zip-top bag. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator and reheat on the stovetop until warmed through. 

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