This beef cheek ragu recipe is a real winner with everyone, well except vegetarians - sorry! The time and love that needs to be put into this dish might seem a little intimidating at first but the final outcome is TOTALLY worth it. Truthfully though, once the prep is done the beef cheeks just need to cook slowly in your oven or in the slow cooker and aside from enjoying the mesmerizing smells wafting through the house you can get stuck into other housework or maybe even crack open a bottle 😉
sponsored by Hobbs of Barossa, Barossa
What Are Beef Cheeks?
Well aside from the obvious fact that they are the cheeks of a cow. They are a versatile, delicious, melt-in-the-mouth piece of meat. At first, can, unfortunately, scare the average home cook but follow this simple beef cheek ragu recipe and you won't regret it. It's true, they aren't something that you can just quickly pan-fry and plop onto a plate like the average cut of beef. They definitely require some TLC and some time. This is not a dish you can whip up when you get in from a long day a work. Braised beef cheek ragu is a dish you can enjoy preparing over a day off / weekend day and delight your family and friends with your incredible results! Alternatively, check out my delicious Asian slow cooked beef cheek recipe for a "fancier" beef cheek dish!
All meat is made up of a combination of muscle, connective tissue and fat, but not all meat can be cooked the same way. This is due to the varying levels of these tissues found in different cuts. The cheek is a heavily used muscle in the cow. As you can probably imagine, as the cow lazes around chewing grass all day it gets a damn good workout. So unlike say the eye fillet which has a low-fat content and generally requires just a good hard sear and a little basting to bring it to the perfect temperature (55c in my book), the more fat or connective tissue in the cut generally means that the cut requires more time and a lower temperature to help break these elements down. We call this braising.
Braising
Braising means initially frying meat to get a nice sear/crust on it and then cooking it slowly in a closed container. This method of cooking is ideal for cuts like today's beef cheeks but also for short ribs, lamb shanks, pork neck, oxtail and in France the classic coq au vin dish which is a braised bird dish. Historically it was a cock or rooster as they are tougher birds, but nowadays most recipes use chicken thighs and legs. Braising can seem like a daunting task - will the meat that I have slowly and lovingly cooked for 3-5 hrs be ok or will I have waisted 1/2 the day on this so-called glorious recipe that ultimately turns in a phone call to the local takeaway (or into my fried rice dish ;))!
A helpful tip on the braising front. Beef cheeks are quite large in size and as mentioned contain a lot of fat/muscle/connective tissue so require plenty of time to cook. Help speed up this process by cutting the beef cheeks in 1/2 or even into 1/3's prior to cooking. To do this you need to make sure your knife game is strong. I use a boning knife to do so. If you are on the hunt for a new one check out this great article from my friend Markella over at Well Fed on her tips on 'best boning knives'.
Can I Make These In A Slow Cooker?
It 100% can! Simply prepare the beef cheek ragu ingredients as you would if you were cooking in the oven. Sear off the beef cheeks in a hot pan and add them to your slow cooker along with in the vegetables and remaining ingredients. Cook the beef cheek ragu on the low setting for approx 8 hours. Then shred the cheeks up and you are pretty much done!
I find that when using a slow cooker you need something to thicken the sauce up a little. My advice is either to flour the beef cheeks before cooking them or add a little cornstarch/water mixture in at the end.
Serve the beef cheek ragu up to your friends and family and bask in the glory!
What To Serve With Beef Cheeks?
Pasta for me is the BEST thing to have with beef cheeks! My wife likes a bit of fusili but I'm partial to pappardelle or fettuccine. If you are looking for a great store-bought brand then my advice is Guzzis Golden Pasta. It's readily available here in Australia, doesn't cost a fortune and taste bloody good.
When serving your beef cheek ragu the best advice I can give is to add the ragu into the cooked pasta along with a little bit of pasta water. The starchiness of the pasta water helps the ragu bind to the pasta. DON'T just put the pasta on the plate and then lob the beef cheek ragu on top!
My beef cheek ragu is topped with a little lemon, parsley oil to cut through the fat and a sprinkling of my homemade breadcrumbs too for a delicious crunchy texture!
I totally appreciate the apprehension many of you might have with beef cheeks. I can't comment on every beef cheek ragu recipe on the interweb but what I can tell you is this one is definitely worth the effort. Once you have mastered the art of braising and this beef cheek ragu recipe in particular you will become a bit of a fanatic. Especially during those colder months when you need to heat up the home. What better way to do it than accompanied by the divine scent of herbs, spices and red wine wafting throughout the home?
Cost Effective Meal!
Did I mention the cost-effectiveness of beef cheeks? I got these ones from my local butcher and they are approx $20 a kg for beef cheeks, bargain. 1kg of beef cheeks was enough meat to serve 8-10ppl so that's a win in my book. Not to mention the fact that my daughter's (5yr old) favourite dinner is this beef cheek ragu.
Better yet, they are super freezer friendly! I usually make a double portion so I can freeze them and whip out a DELICIOUS midweek meal with ease!
Wine Pairing
A dish like this deserves an equally epic drop to pair with! For my yummy beef cheek ragu, I have chosen a Shiraz from Hobbs of Barossa. If you haven't heard about Hobbs then you are in for a treat. The Hobbs vineyard is located in the Barossa ranges overlooking Flaxman Valley. The level of love and care that goes into their vines is second to none. All hand pruned and handpicked - makes for a lot of labour but when you get wines as good as this then it's easy to see why they do it.
Yes, they make big and bold Barossa wines but boy are they drinkable. The Tin Lids 'Aria Secca' Shiraz is made using the Amarone/Appassimento style. This is where the grapes are dried out or raisinated. It lowers the volume of wine made but concentrates the flavour and makes for a bloody good drop too.
Alternative Slow Cooked Meals
Made my beef cheek ragu and need more slow-cooked meals in your life. You know, the ones that are actually slow-cooked, not the ones that just take your partner bloody ages to make cause they don't know what they are doing 😉
Red Wine and Chocolate Braised Lamb Shanks
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Happy Cooking & Happy Eating Friends!
Ingredients
Beef Ragu
- 1 kg beef cheeks
- 2 carrots diced
- 1 celery diced
- 1 red onion diced
- 6 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1 red chili finely chopped
- 1 thumbsized piece ginger finely chopped
- 4 sprigs thyme
- 1 piece star anise
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 500 ml red wine
- 500 ml beef stock
- 440ml can diced tomatoes
- salt
- pepper
Parsley Oil
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp chopped parsley
- pinch salt
Fettucine or Pappardelle pasta
Essential Tools
- Chopping board
- Chef Knives
- measuring/weighing utensils
- frying pan for breadcrumbs
- heavy bottom pan with lid
- wooden spoon
Instructions
Parsley Oil
- Stir all ingredients together in a small bowl and serve immediately or store in fridge until ready.
Beef Ragu
- Cut beef cheeks into smaller sized pieces. I had 2 x 500g beef cheeks that I cut into 3 equal sizes.
- Oil and season beef cheeks. Sear in a hot pan until golden brown on every side – approx 5 minutes. Remove beef cheeks and leave on a clean plate.
- Add vegetables to pan, turn down to a medium heat and cook until soft – approx 5 minutes. Add wine & stock and bring to a simmer.
- Add tinned tomatoes, tomato paste, herbs & spices and stir. Place beef cheeks in pot and if needed top with a little water until cheeks are submerged. Bring to a simmer.
- Cover with a lid or aluminum foil and place in oven @ 180c for 3hrs.
- Remove from oven and test cheeks with tongs to see if they are cooked. You are looking for the cheeks to be tender and to pull apart easily. If necessary place back in oven for 15-20 minutes.
- Remove pan from oven, discard thyme sprigs, star anise and bay leaves.
- Place pan on a low heat and reduce braising liquid by 1/3 – approx 15mins.
- Toss in cooked pasta with a few tbsp of the pasta water and drizzle with parsley oil
Notes
Tips/Tricks
- this may seem like a lot of work at first but as the beef cheeks slowly cook you can get the parsley oil and breadcrumbs made so don’t be afraid of the long cooking time
- the dish will keep in the fridge for 4 days and will freeze well so don’t be alarmed by the recipe serving 8ppl. Feel free to cut the portions in half but once you taste this you will regret not making more
- the parsley oil is a key component as the acidity and freshness of the herbs helps cut through the richness of the beef cheeks. This will keep for a couple days in the fridge
- breadcrumbs will keep for about 1 month in cool, dry place. I always have some in the cupboard to sprinkle on other pasta dishes to add texture.
Is there any more steps to this recipe as it stops at instruction 8, also it doesn’t say when to add the parsley oil
Ian, that's the end of the process for the ragu. I have added in to "toss it in cooked pasta w/ a little pasta water and drizzle with the parsley oil". My apologies for the confusion. I hope you enjoy it!
We made this last night for the first time and it certainly won’t be our last! It was fabulous! The depth of flavour is amazing with the chilli, star anise, ginger, etc. Our butcher was sold out of beef cheeks so we used ossobucco and it worked perfectly. Can’t wait to try with beef cheeks. Do not skip the parsley oil and the crumbs! Perfection!
Sarah - thanks so much for your kind words. It's a family favourite here - we always have some in the freezer and my daughter pretty much always requests it when I ask her what she wants for dinner 😉
i adore beef cheeks and am hanging out for our local cafe to start serving them as soon as winter pops up in a few weeks!
If you are a beef cheeks fan then this recipe is a MUST!!!
I must have used this recipe about 4 times now and it has become the go to dish to impress any keen foodies who come to dinner with no last minute faffing in the kitchen!
That's Awesome - it's defo a go to in this house. I always have a couple portions in the freezer
Fantastic recipe! Supermarket didn’t have beef cheeks so we used ossobucco instead and it turned out great. Love the addition of star anise and ginger for some extra depth.
Ohhhhh, I like the sound of the ossobucco - might have to give it a go myself!
This was soooo good. The addition of the star anise and ginger really lifted the dish. We made and froze enough to accompany multiple pasta/gnocchi when serving, including enough to make a huge lasagne. Will be a saviour after a long day - quick but very satisfying. I didn't make the oil but I will do for the next round. 🙂 Thank you.
Thanks Laura - great idea with the lasagna!!!