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Ragu Sauce Pasta Bake is a delicious comforting meal, made with a hearty shredded beef tomato sauce, ziti pasta, and lots of melty cheese! The best part, the ragu sauce is made from Leftover Beef Roast, to stretch your efforts into two amazing dinners!
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Why We Love It!
- Perfect Use for Pot Roast Leftovers! - When leftovers transform into a second dinner as delicious as the first, I'm all in! This Beef Ragu Pasta Bake is just as delicious as the Beef Roast dinner it came from the night before! My Simply Perfect Beef Roast is a family favorite, a fond memory from my childhood, served many times by my mom and grandma. It's pure comfort food, and feeds a crowd or makes great leftover roast beef pasta! This Ragu Pasta Bake can also be made from leftovers of these Slow Cooker Italian Beef Sandwiches, also an incredible meal!
- Simple Flavors - With only 3 ingredients, beef, onion, and stock, and a little bit of morning prep, my beef pot roast braises away in the oven all day to be ready by dinner. Those basic flavors make it very transformable into the be best shredded beef leftover recipes!
- Transforming Leftovers! - Your leftovers are easily turned into a hearty shredded beef tomato sauce mixed with ziti pasta and broiled melty cheesy! It's an easy weeknight meal that makes yesterday's beef roast prep worth every effort!
Ingredients & Substitutions
- Onions & Garlic- Give your leftover pot roast some Italian flavor with sauteed onions and garlic.
- Leftover Pot Roast - Your leftover Simply Perfect Beef Roast can be refrigerated a day or two and then used to make this ragu pasta bake. Scrape off and discard any white fat that has settle on the top. Any amount of leftover beef, roughly 1 to 2 cups can be used for this recipe.
- Red Wine - Deglazing the pan with red wine adds depth of flavor.
- Crushed Tomato and Tomato Paste - For the base of your ragu pasta sauce, I like to use 1 can of tomato paste for a thick rich consistency, along with 1 can of crushed tomatoes. Whole peeled tomatoes are fine too, just chop them or pulse in a food processor.
- Fresh Herbs - Fresh Italian herbs such as basil, parsley, oregano, and thyme add a bright flavor to the ragu pasta bake. If you don't have fresh, 2 teaspoons of dried Italian seasoning is fine too. We like to freeze mixed herbs from the garden in the summer, perfect to add to this dish!
- Ziti Pasta - Use your favorite short pasta such as ziti, penne, or rigatoni. Something hearty that will stand up to the bold rich beef ragu pasta sauce.
- Provolone Cheese - Top your ragu pasta bake with lots of shredded melty white cheese. Provolone, mozzarella or even white cheddar are great options.
- Parmesan Cheese - Add extra Italian flavor with shredded Parmesan cheese.
Instructions
Step 1 - In a large sauce pot, saute the onion in olive oil. Add garlic and your leftover shredded beef roast. Discard any white fat that has solidified after being refrigerated.
Step 2 - Deglaze with red wine and add canned tomato. Season with salt, pepper, and a handful of fresh herbs. Simmer on low heat for 30 minutes or longer until ready to assemble.
Step 3 - Preheat oven to high broil. Cook pasta following package instructions, drain and add to the simmering sauce. Mix well to combine.
Step 4 - Transfer to a casserole dish (or you can bake it right in the sauce pot if it is oven safe) and top with shredded cheese.
Broil in the oven until cheese is melted and bubbly, about 3 minutes. Garnish with more fresh herbs. Serve with an Italian Mixed Greens Salad and crusty bread!
Storage and Make Ahead
- Storage - Leftover Roast Beef Pasta Bake can be stored in the fridge for 2 or 3 days and reheated in the microwave.
- Freezer Tips - Leftover beef roast can be frozen and then thawed later to make this pasta bake. The ragu sauce can also be frozen without the pasta. So if you are feeding a smaller group, you can make the full sauce recipe, freeze half of it, and then just cook half the amount of pasta.
- Make Ahead Instructions - The leftover beef pasta sauce can be made up a day ahead of time, or the morning of and stored in the fridge. Or the full casserole can be assembled and refrigerated. If doing this, you will need to cover it with foil and bake at 375° until heated through, much like cooking lasagna. Then remove the foil and broil the cheese until melty.
What to Serve It With
A hearty pasta night always goes well with a salad and garlic bread! We love this Prosciutto Parmesan Salad with Basil Dressing or this Italian Mixed Greens Salad with Crispy Prosciutto.
In the summer add a Green Bean Salad with Tomato and Feta. This Blueberry Goat Cheese Salad with Candied Pecans is great anytime of year.
A green vegetable side dish like this Balsamic Glazed Asparagus would also be a delicious addition!
Recipe FAQs
No. The leftover Simply Perfect Beef Roast used in this Ragu Sauce Pasta Bake uses a small amount of flour to sear the beef and thicken the sauce, so it is not completely gluten-free, even if you use a gluten-free pasta. You could make the beef roast gluten-free by omitting the flour.
The simple flavors of a Simply Perfect Beef Roast make it so easy to transform into other pot roast leftover recipes! Leftovers can be heated the next day for lunch, frozen and then rewarmed in a saucepan with a little water, or recreated into a new dinner all its own. Warm the shredded beef with a few dashes of chili powder and cumin for tacos, nachos or burritos topped with Pico de Gallo Salsa, shredded cabbage and Guacamole. Pile your pot roast leftovers on hoagie buns and bake with melted provolone and top with jarred giardiniera for a delicious sandwich night! Or my favorite, combine the leftover pot roast with canned tomato and Italian herbs to make this Ragu Sauce Pasta Bake with ziti and melty cheese!
Leftover Italian Beef Sandwich meat usually has bell peppers and onions or other hot peppers in it, which works well in this Ragu Pasta Bake. Leftover shredded Italian Beef could also be used on nachos or burritos, paninis, rice bowls, shepherd's pie, beef stew, or tater tot hot dish.
Ragu is a hearty sauce so you'll want a hearty pasta to hold up to it. Use a short pasta like ziti or rigatoni or a long pasta like pappardelle and tagliatelle.
Yes, if you don't have leftover shredded beef roast, you can make this very simple tomato ragu sauce with 1 pound of ground beef or Italian sausage.
More Pasta Recipes You'll Love!
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Ragu Sauce Pasta Bake from Leftover Beef Roast
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Print Pin RateIngredients
For the Ragu Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon olive oil
- ½ onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1-2 cups leftover beef roast (whatever amount you have is fine, discard white fat)
- ½ cup red wine (optional)
- 1 large can crushed tomatoes or whole peeled pulsed in a food processor
- 1 small can tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 6 grinds fresh black pepper
- ⅓ cup fresh Italian herbs like basil, oregano, thyme or parsley (or 2 teaspoons dried Italian seasoning)
For the Pasta Bake
- 1 pound ziti pasta or any short pasta (rigatoni, penne)
- 2 cups Provolone cheese shredded
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese shredded
Instructions
- In a large pot over medium heat, heat oil and saute onion until soft and starting to lightly brown.
- Add garlic and leftover beef roast and stir and break it up to warm through.
- Deglaze with wine, letting it cook and sizzle a minute, then add tomato cans. Rinse out your cans (and food processor if using) with ½ cup of water and add the tomatoey water to the sauce.
- Season with salt, pepper and fresh herbs. Stir well to combine, reduce heat to low and simmer for 30 minutes or longer. It can sit on low heat until you are ready to assemble the pasta bake.
- Set oven to high broil.
- Cook pasta according to package instructions, drain and add to the simmered ragu sauce. Stir well to combine. Transfer to a casserole dish (or you can bake it in the pot it's in if it is oven safe) and top with shredded cheese.
Notes
- Simply Perfect Beef Roast or Italian Beef Sandwiches make great shredded beef leftovers to use in this pasta bake!
- This recipe could be made with 1 pound ground beef or Italian Sausage in place of the leftover beef roast, just brown it first and then add the onions and go from step one.
- Store leftover Ragu Sauce Pasta Bake in the fridge for 2 to 3 days, reheat in the microwave.
- White cheddar or mozzarella cheese could be substituted for the provolone cheese.
Julie says
I had leftover Italian beef I made and needed to use it. This was a perfect way!!! I added some shallot, red pepper, and a splash of lemon juice e (watching food network has made me an acid adder) and this was a hit!!!! Thank you for a great recipe!
Meryl Downing says
Thanks Julie, so glad you liked it! I like your additions!
Maranda says
I'm making this recipe as I write this comment so haven't even TASTED this dish yet but like it already! There are so many things about this recipe that make me happy: using leftovers, simple, fresh ingredients I often have on hand (when I don't, dried will probably do), the flexible instructions (i.e. use whatever beef you have, cook a min or so, leave on simmer 30 min or as long as you need), the efficient use of cookware and the rinsing out the cans or processor to help with clean up and to get all the good stuff in the pan! Just some great things about this recipe. I'm looking forward to tasting it!
Elizabeth Swoish says
I love how this is a repurposed leftovers meal! I don't like wasting food. Definitely trying!