A simple dump-and-go Instant Pot recipe for beef ragu, with shredded meat and a flavorful tomato sauce. Great for diets like low carb, keto, paleo, whole 30, and gluten free.
Recipe Overview
This is one of those low-effort recipes that doesn’t require much active cooking on your part. Chop up the meat and veggies, throw everything in the pressure cooker, and wait for it to cook.
It takes about 15 minutes for my 6 quart Instant Pot to pressurize, followed by 35 minutes of cooking at high pressure, and ends with 10 minutes of natural pressure release. No saute mode is needed.
After releasing pressure, shred the meat and stir it into the sauce to soak up the flavors. The result is a flavorful stew filled with tender bites of meat. Very savory and comforting.
Recipe Development
As one of my favorite Italian dishes, I’ve been making beef ragu with pasta long before I started following a low carb diet or owned an Instant Pot. Sometimes I would add bacon or swap beef for pork, or try different veggies or herbs. I would usually serve it with pappardelle.
When developing this recipe, I experimented with various proportions of ingredients to minimize the number of carbs without sacrificing on flavor. I also adapted it for the pressure cooker and designed the recipe to be as fuss-free as possible.
The various amounts of ingredients yield what I consider to be ideal thickness for beef ragu. If you want a saucier dish, add more crushed tomatoes. Or for a thicker sauce, turn on the saute setting on your pressure cooker to boil off some liquid.
Serving Ideas
I serve beef ragu with mashed cauliflower, as photographed here, and it tastes and looks just like mashed potatoes. You can prepare homemade cauliflower mash, or opt for store-bought versions to save time. Check your supermarket’s frozen vegetables section — I’ve used the brand Bird’s Eye, which has 3g net carbs per 1/2 cup serving.
Other ideas for low carb side dishes include spiralized zucchini, cauliflower rice, or radish noodles, which are often available in the refrigerated produce sections at grocery stores. You can also add toppings like shaved parmesan cheese and chopped parsley.
Super Easy Instant Pot Beef Ragu
A simple dump-and-go Instant Pot recipe for beef ragu with shredded meat and a flavorful tomato sauce. Great for diets like low carb, keto, paleo, whole 30, and gluten free.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef chuck chopped into 1-2 inch chunks
- 28 ounces canned unsalted crushed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup diced onions
- 1/2 cup diced carrots
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground thyme
For serving:
- mashed cauliflower
- chopped fresh parsley
Instructions
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Add all ingredients to the pressure cooker pot. No need to stir.
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Secure and seal the lid. Cook at high pressure for 35 minutes. When finished, let it sit for 10 minutes to naturally release the pressure before using the steam release handle to vent remaining pressure.
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Uncover. Transfer only the meat to a plate and finely shred using 2 forks. Return the shredded meat to the pot, stirring it in to soak up the sauce.
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Serve while hot with your choice of side, such as mashed cauliflower, and optionally garnish with chopped parsley.
Nutrition Info
This recipe yields 6.5 g net carbs per serving (1.5 cups of stew or 1/5th of the recipe).
| Nutrition Facts Per Serving |
| Calories 300 | |
| Total Fat 6g | 9% |
| Saturated Fat 2g | 10% |
| Trans Fat 0g | |
| Cholesterol 120mg | 40% |
| Sodium 880mg | 37% |
| Total Carb 10g | 3% |
| Dietary Fiber 3.5g | 13% |
| Sugars 6g | |
| Protein 43g |
YUM! I made this for my family, and I also made a vegan version for myself, using mushrooms and root vegetables. I served with oven roasted Brussel sprouts and sour cream!
Loved it!! So easy…Just follow the recipe
Made this tonight and it was SO good! Had cauliflower on the side to be healthy. 🙂
I love to serve this on spaghetti squash that I have broken down further than strands so it resembles polenta and add shredded parmesan cheese.
I don’t have a pressure cooker. Can I make it as a casserole in the oven?
Thanks.
Yes, that should work. Use a dutch oven or other heavy oven-safe pot, cover with a lid, baking at 350 F for a few hours or until tender enough to shred.
Sounds good and great for fall! How would I adapt it for a slow cooker? Could I just dump it all in and cook on low for 8 hours or add the veggies in late so the onions don’t disintegrate?
This recipe adapts well to a slow cooker — your suggested modifications sound reasonable to me. Depending on how crisp or soft you prefer your veggies to be, I would do a coarser chop (instead of diced) and add them at the same time as the beef.
Thank you!
Made this last week. Delicious and reheats well for lunches.
Don’t have an Instant Pot. I do have a standard stovetop 15psi pressure cooker. I understand too that the Instant Pot’s high pressure is 12 psi. How long should I cook this recipe?
Hi Peter! I haven’t tested this recipe with a stovetop 15psi pressure cooker so I can’t say what the cooking time should be or what changes you would need to make in the recipe.