This Braised Pork Ragu is rich, cozy, and full of flavor. Pork shoulder is slow-braised in beer and balsamic until fall-apart tender, then tossed with pasta and parmesan.
When give the choice, I’ll usually opt for strands of fettuccine smothered with creamy white sauce over a heaping plate of meat or red-sauce based pasta. Except when it comes to this Braised Pork Pasta. Or our spaghetti and meatballs. (If you haven’t tried them you must immediately.)
This braised pork ragu is the kind of dinner that feels fancy enough for entertaining but easy enough for a Sunday night and it can certainly feed a crowd.
We slowly braise pork shoulder slowly in a rich mixture of beer, balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, and aromatics until it’s irresistibly tender and packed with flavor. Toss it with pasta, a generous amount of starchy water, a hint of cream if you wish and an obscene amount of grated parmsean cheese.
It’s cozy, hearty, and one of those recipes that only gets better as it sits.
Why You’ll Love This Braised Pork Ragu
- Deep, slow-cooked flavor with minimal hands-on time
- Perfect make-ahead meal (tastes even better the next day)
- Great for entertaining or feeding a crowd
- A unique twist on classic ragu with beer + balsamic
Key Ingredients
- Pork shoulder – Pork shoulder isn’t just for pulled pork. I love the flavor departure pork offers versus beef and of course, it shreds beautifully.
- Bacon – adds richness and smoky depth
- Balsamic Vinegar. This is my favorite ingredient in our pork ragu. It adds richness, acidity and an undetectable flavor that will hook hungry eaters.
- Beer – Love beer instead of wine here.
- Tomato paste – I want a tomato essence in your braised pork ragu without adding actual tomatoes.
- Onion, carrot, garlic – blended so each bite has a little bit. A trick I learned from my girl Lidia Bastianich
- Pasta (cavatappi, rigatoni, or pappardelle) – I love cavatappi but rigatoni would be a great option
- Parmesan cheese – don’t skimp!
How to Make Braised Pork Ragu
Cook the bacon. Cook bacon in a large Dutch oven until crisp. Remove and reserve. Leave about 2 tablespoons of fat in the pan.
Sear the pork. Season pork generously with salt and pepper. Sear in batches until deeply golden on all sides. Remove and set aside.
Prep the vegetables. While the pork browns, add onion, carrot, and garlic to a food processor and blend until smooth.
Affordable 7 quart Dutch Oven
We love this affordable dutch oven! It’s a must for braising.
Build the base. Add the vegetable mixture and cook for 1–2 minutes. Stir in balsamic vinegar and let it reduce slightly. Add tomato paste and cook another minute, then stir in beer. Return the pork to the pot and add chicken stock. Cook until fork tender.
Shred. Once the pork is fork tender, shred pork directly in the sauce. Simmer uncovered if needed to thicken.
Cook the pasta. Boil pasta until just under al dente. Reserve pasta water.
Assemble! Toss everything together. Add pasta to the ragu and toss over low heat.
Add cream and reserved pasta water as needed to loosen. Stir in parm just before serving.
Make Ahead and Storage Tips
- Make ahead: Ragu can be made 2–3 days in advance
- Freeze: Freeze sauce (without pasta) up to 3 months
- Reheat: Warm gently with a splash of stock or water. You can do this on the stove or microwave.
Substitutions
- Use pappardelle for a more traditional ragu feel or rigatoni if you want all that shredded pork to fill the big rigatoni holes.
- Add a splash of cream at the end for richness.
- Stir in fresh thyme or parsley before serving.
- Add a bay leaf for deeper flavor.
Tips and Tricks
- Warning! This makes A LOT of pork ragu. It’s sometimes hard to find a small pork shoulder so this will make enough for two pounds of pasta so if you’re feeding a crowd. perfect. If not, you can do what I did and divide the sauce evenly, serve the first half and then cool and freeze the second half in a freezer zip lock baggie, so you can have a comforting pasta dinner in a jiffy down the road.
- Sear the pork well — that’s where a lot of the base flavor develops.
- Use a lighter beer so it doesn’t overpower the sauce.
- Undercook pasta slightly so it finishes in the sauce. You can always cook the pasta longer, but you cannot fix overcooked pasta.
- Let the sauce rest for even better flavor
This Braised Pork Ragu is rich, cozy, and full of flavor. Pork shoulder is slow-braised in beer and balsamic until fall-apart tender, then tossed with pasta and parmesan.
- 3 slices bacon
- 2 tsp salt
- 4 lbs bone-in pork shoulder or 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 3-inch pieces. Discard bones and an excess fat.
- 1 large onion, roughly chopped
- 3 large garlic cloves, roughly chopped
- 3 large carrots, roughly chopped
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
- 12 oz wheat beer
- 4 oz tomato paste
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 2 pounds cavatappi or rigatoni
- 1/2 cup cream (optional)
- pasta water
- 1/2 cup parmesan cheese
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Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
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In a dutch oven, cook bacon until crisp over a medium heat. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Remove all the bacon fat except for two tablespoons, reserve the rest.
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While the bacon cooks and the pork browns, add onion, garlic and carrots to a food processor. Pulse until it creates a paste. Set aside. If you haven’t already, cut the pork into 3-inch pieces, discard the bones. Trim any excess fat and discard. Season pork on all sides with two teaspoons of salt.
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Turn the flame up to a medium-high heat. Working in two batches (if necessary) brown the pork on all sides. This should take about 15-20 minutes. Transfer to a plate. Turn the heat down to medium.
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Add veggies into the same pot, cook for 1-2 minutes.Add balsamic vinegar, reduce for 30 seconds to one minute. Stir in tomato paste. Cook for 1 minute. Add beer. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Simmer 2-3 minutes. Transfer the pork back to the pot and cover with chicken stock. Stir to combine. Cover the pot with lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for 2-3 hours or until meat is fork-tender. Mine actually finished in two hours.
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When pork is done cooking, remove from oven and shred with two forks. If you see any excess fat, discard. Tip: If the sauce is very loose, put it back on the burner and bring to a boil and reduce to a simmer until thickened.
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Bring a large stock pot of water to a boil. Season with salt. It should taste like sea water. Add in pasta. Cook until just under aldente. Reserve 1 cup of cooking water. Drain the pasta. Pour pasta back into the pork sauce and toss with noodles over a low heat. The pasta will continue to cook in the sauce. If using, add cream. Add pasta water to loosen up the sauce. When it’s your desired consistency, add parmesan cheese. Stir until melted. If needed add more pasta water to loosen up sauce. Garnish with extra parmesan cheese.
Serving: 13 oz serving pasta and about 1/2 cup of pork sauce, Calories: 493kcal (25%), Carbohydrates: 62g (21%), Protein: 31g (62%), Fat: 11g (17%), Saturated Fat: 4g (25%), Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.01g, Cholesterol: 69mg (23%), Sodium: 672mg (29%), Potassium: 634mg (18%), Fiber: 3g (13%), Sugar: 5g (6%), Vitamin A: 185IU (4%), Vitamin C: 3mg (4%), Calcium: 87mg (9%), Iron: 3mg (17%)
Meet Nicole
Welcome! My lifelong passion for delicious food and cooking has evolved over time into an equal love of showing you an elevated meal can be easy, approachable and most importantly, tasty. Dive in and find something perfect for you and your family!
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