Slow Cooked Lamb Ragu {Easy To Prepare}

This Slow Cooked Lamb Ragu recipe is a double winner, Yay! Not only do you get a huge pot of delicious Ragu at the end of it but the scent through your house is like a dream as the warming smell of good old fashioned home cooking works it's way through. Get that Super Mom feeling without really having to do much work at all. Gotta love that!

Also see ---> Slow Cooked Half Leg of Lamb Recipe

Slow Cooked Lamb Ragu

Want a slow cooked tender supper that's packed full of veggies? This is the recipe for you!

If you're a mint sauce lover (yep!) you can add a dollop the the top of this Ragu after it's cooked for some minty lamb flavor. Otherwise serve it with a liberal portion of grated Parmesan cheese and tuck in!

This slow cooked lamb Ragu recipe is a proper classic family favorite recipe.

There's loads of recipes I've made over the last few years that the kids have loved, loads they've loved far less (ahemm...) and those which have become engrained in our families meal carousel. This is one of those.

While we're neither Italian or have been cooking this for generations I feel like this is going to be something my kids cook for their kids.

It's a real staple quite apart from being delicious, easy and pretty budget friendly while producing awesome leftovers. Is this the perfect dinner recipe? It's right up there :)

Oven Or Crock Pot?

I used my main oven to slow cook this Ragu rather then the slow cooker.

I often use the Crock Pot but it was on another recipe so I used a casserole pot and the cooker and it slow cooked it beautifully. Feel free to use either. You could also use a Dutch oven if you had one.

The oven cooks it faster (by several hours) than the slow cooker would, so if you've less time then use the oven.

If you know you're going to be out at work all day then your slow cooker would be the way to go, just boil some pasta when you get in and you'll have yourself a filling healthy dinner in no time.

What Actually Is A Lamb Ragu?

Ragu translates literally in Italian as meat based sauce and Oh Boy! what a meat based sauce this is.

But it's also so much more than a meat based sauce: It's a classic family friendly recipe that you'll be making again and again. And then some more!

Many people think of Ragu as a pasta dish which of course it is, but the Ragu really refers to the sauce.

The Best Lamb To Use For Ragu

I used Lamb mince to make this Ragu. There are no hard and fast rules as to the best Lamb to use and so while I find it's easiest to use minced meat, if you have a leg of lamb or a lamb shoulder you want to use or would prefer to have chunkier pieces of lamb in this you can absolutely do so.

The minced lamb I buy is the 'full fat' version which is 20% fat. You can buy 10% fat if you like and I believe you can buy a 5% fat minced lamb (I've never seen this though!) so go with whichever you prefer.

I find the fat in the lamb adds to the flavor of the Ragu and so opt for the fatty version!

When you're preparing this recipe if you've chosen to use a cut of lamb, skip the browning the meat stage and simply add the meat to the pan as usual and add the cumin and cinnamon straight away. You can then carry on the recipe as normal.

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Ragu Pasta

Pappardelle pasta seems to be the pasta most recipes use with a Ragu sauce however...I can never find this in the Wholewheat version. While I totally agree that pappardelle is a great pasta to serve with this it's just pasta and so I tend to put this with wholewheat tagliatelle which where I live at least, is far easier to come across in the local shops.

You can use whichever type of pasta you like, it's the rich Ragu that's the start of the show and so I tend to see the pasta as a side note anyway.

I also see a lot of people adding the dried pasta to the slow cooker a little before the end of the cooking process so that you serve the whole dish up together. I really like doing this as the pasta cooks in the sauce but for the reason of wanting to have a load of leftovers for other dinners, I've cooked the pasta separately here.

If you want to add the pasta to the slow cooker and there's room in your casserole pot, add it an hour before the Ragu will finish cooking and make sure it's fully submerged in the sauce. Stir the pasta through several times during the cooking hour to break it up and make sure it's always under the sauce!

More Ways To Serve Slow Cooked Lamb Ragu

While I most often have Ragu with pasta there are lots of other ways to serve any leftovers you have:

• Jacket potatoes - A ladleful of Ragu over a jacket potato with a little grated cheese on top makes a pretty awesome next day lunch!
• Lasagne - If you have enough leftovers you could use them to make a Lamb lasagne. This is the recipe for my regular minced beef lasagna but swap the meat sauce for the lamb Ragu and you've got a whole new dish.
• Lamb flatbreads - Make yourself a batch of these 2 ingredient flatbread tortillas and then spoon in some Ragu. Add a tablespoon of sour cream and a touch of grated parmesan. Messy yet devine :)

Storing & Reheating Lamb Ragu Leftovers

Store your leftover Ragu covered in the fridge for up to 2 days. You'll notice the fat from the lamb solidifies and turns to an orange color. This goes as soon as you reheat it.

This lamb Ragu is as easy as anything to reheat. You can reheat it in the microwave by transferring it to a microwave dish, covering it with clingfilm and microwaving for 3 minutes. Stir the Ragu half way through to make sure it's piping hot the whole way through.

You can also reheat this in a pan on the stove top over a low-ish heat. Stir it often to make sure it doesn't start buring on the bottom of the pan and then bring it to a simmer and reheat it for a few minutes.

If your lamb wasn't frozen to start with you can also freeze this Ragu. Put it into an airtight container or food bag and you can freeze it for up to a month. To defrost this leave it in the fridge on a plate overnight until fully thawed and then reheat as above.

More Slow Cooked Dinner Recipes

• Slow cooker beef stew with dumplings
• Sausage Pasta Ragu
• Slow cooked Mongolian beef
• Kid friendly Crock pot meals
• Chicken Tikka Masala
• Kids butter chicken

How To Make Slow Cooked Lamb Ragu

Ingredients

• 1 lb Lamb Minced
• 2 Large Carrots Peeled and grated
• 2 Onions Peeled and diced
• 1 Red pepper Diced
• 1 Tin Chopped tomatoes
• 1 Tin Chicken stock I fill the empty chopped tomato tin and use that quantity to make the stock, you can also use beef stock if you prefer
• 3 tbsp Tomato paste
• 1 Clove Garlic Peeled and crushed
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• ½ Cup Red wine
• Salt and black pepper to season To taste
• 1 tsp Ground cumin
• ½ tsp Cinnamon

Instructions

• Turn your oven onto 140C or 290F or grab the slow cooked and get it turned on
• In a large frying pan add the olive oil and heat on a medium heat and then gently fry the onions for 5 minutes until they're starting to soften. Turn the heat down if the onions are browning too much
• Add the diced red pepper, garlic and grated carrots and combine
• Season well with the salt and pepper and then cook for around about 10-12 minutes moving the veggies around the pan every couple of minutes until they're all cooked through and soft. If they're becoming to dry add a couple of tablespoons of water to loosen them
• When the vegetables are cooked through take them off the heat and transfer them to a bowl and leave them to one side
• In the same pan you cooked the veggies in add the lamb and put back onto the heat
• Use a wooden spoon to break up the mince a little but don't move it around too much. If little bits burn on the bottom that'f fine as they add to the flavor.
• After 3-4 minutes move the meat around and then let the other side cook for 3-4 minutes leaving it to sit for most of that time
• Add the cumin and cinnamon to the lamb and combine. The lamb will darken slightly in color
• Pour the wine into the pan and allow it to bubble and reduce for 3-4 minutes
• Then add the tomato paste and chopped tomatoes and combine well
• Add the stock to the pot and combine well and bring the Ragu up to a simmer on the stove top
• Leave the Ragu to simmer on the stove for 30 minutes keeping the heat fairly low. Don't allow the Ragu to boil so much it's spitting sauce out everywhere!
• Put a lid on your pot and transfer it to the oven and slow cook for 3 hours, stirring once or twice throughout. The sauce will reduce during this time
• If using a slow cooker transfer the sauce to the slow cooker and set the timer for 6-7 hours on a low heat
• Serve with mint sauce or grated parmesan cheese.

Slow Cooked Lamb Ragu Recipe