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This Leftover Pulled Pork Ragu is the perfect way to use up leftovers and turn it into something truly special. A ragu that’s ready from start to finish in just 40 minutes and tastes incredible. Toss with your favorite pasta and serve with crusty bread.
Wanna know how this ragu tastes like it’s been simmering for hours but takes just 40 minutes? Use the most delicious leftover pulled pork that’s been slow cooked for 10 hours (which btw only requires 10 minutes prep time).
Leftover pulled pork will keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days and can also be frozen (as can this ragu) so it’s the perfect way to be cost-effective and get 2-3 meals out of one piece of meat PLUS have the most delicious tasting meals.
This ragu is SO rich and intense in flavour but is made with only a few simple ingredients. Whaaat? No catches, nothing bottled, nothing jarred there are just a few simple but important steps to follow for the very best results every single time.
How to Make a Simple Sauce with Incredible Flavour
- Soffrito – soffrito is finely chopped carrot, celery and onion that’s slowly cooked until softened and just starting to brown. Now THIS is a really important step that creates a great depth of flavour to the sauce. Don’t be tempted to rush it or you won’t see the benefits.
- High-quality tomatoes – I’ve said this so many times because it’s SO important if you use cheap tomatoes your sauce will likely be bland and acidic tasting. This is my favourite brand that I use all the time and always gives the most delicious flavour.
- Using passata/sieved tomatoes – passata is much more concentrated than canned chopped tomatoes so it’s an easy way to get a rich tomato sauce, fast!
How to Make Leftover Pulled Pork Ragu – Step By Step
Heat olive oil in a large pan and add the diced carrot, celery and onion, cook until soft and translucent, around 10 to 15 mins (photo 1).
Then add the red wine and reduce by half or until the smell of wine has disappeared (photo 2 & 3).
Add the tomato paste, passata (pureed tomatoes) and 1 cup of water rinsed out from the passata can or jar, stir. Simmer the sauce down on a medium heat for another 10 to 15 minutes.
Once the sauce has reduced add the leftover pulled pork to the sauce and leave on the heat for another 5 minutes until heated through then add cooked pasta and toss to coat (photo 7 & 8).
Top Tips for Making Leftover Pulled Pork Ragu
- Make sure to slowly cook the soffrito until soft and translucent on medium heat (don’t turn up the heat, see the video and step by step photos for reference)
- Make sure to reduce the wine down for extra flavour.
- Use pureed tomatoes for rich flavour fast.
- You can use any pasta shape for this recipe, I love using a long shape such as bucatini or pappardelle.
- I used 300g (2 cups) of leftover pulled pork but you could also get away with less if you don’t have as much.
- Serve with freshly grated parmesan.
- Leftover pulled pork ragu can be stored in the fridge or freezer (without the cooked pasta). To reheat from frozen make sure to defrost it completely then reheat on the stove until piping hot all the way through. You may need to add a splash of water to help loosen the sauce.
More Ragu Recipes You Might Like:
- Venetian Duck Ragu with Pappardelle
- Easy Sausage Ragu With Ricotta Gnocchi
- Italian Beef Ragu – A Classic Recipe
- Lentil Ragu Lasagne
If you’ve tried this Leftover Pulled Pork Ragu or any other recipe on the blog please let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW MEon FACEBOOK, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Step By Step Photos Above
Most of our recipes come with step by step photos, helpful tips and tricks to make it perfectly first time and even video!
Leftover Pulled Pork Ragu
Ingredients
- 1 Carrot , finely diced (1/2 cup)
- 1 Celery , finely diced (1/2 cup)
- 1/2 Onion , finely diced (1/2 cup)
- 2 cups Leftover Pulled Pork, chopped (300g)
- 1/2 cup Red wine, (125ml)
- 2 cups Passata (sieved tomatoes), (500g )
- 1 Tbsp Tomato paste
- 1.5 cups Water, (375ml)
- 14 oz Bucatini or long pasta of choice , (400g)
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta until al dente (according to packet instructions). Heat olive oil in a large pan and add the diced carrot, celery, and onion, cook until soft and translucent, around 10 to 15 mins.
- Then add the red wine and reduce by half or until the smell of wine has disappeared.
- Add the tomato paste, passata (pureed tomatoes) and 1 cup of water rinsed out from the passata can or jar, stir. Simmer the sauce down on a medium heat for another 10 to 15 minutes
- Once the sauce has reduced add the leftover pulled pork to the sauce and leave on the heat for another 5 minutes until heated through then add cooked pasta and toss to coat.
Video
Notes
- Soffrito - soffrito is finely chopped carrot, celery and onion that's slowly cooked until softened and just starting to brown. Now THIS is a really important step that creates a great depth of flavour to the sauce. Don't be tempted to rush it or you won't see the benefits.
- High-quality tomatoes - I've said this so many times because it's SO important if you use cheap tomatoes your sauce will likely be bland and acidic tasting. This is my favourite brand that I use all the time and always gives the most delicious flavour.
- Using passata/sieved tomatoes - passata is much more concentrated than canned chopped tomatoes so it's an easy way to get a rich tomato sauce, fast!
Extra Tips
- Make sure to slowly cook the soffrito until soften on medium heat (don't turn up the heat, see the video and step by step photos for reference)
- Make sure to reduce the wine down for extra flavour.
- Use pureed tomatoes for rich flavour fast.
- Make sure to roughly chop the pulled pork before adding to the sauce.
- You can use any pasta shape for this recipe, I love using a long shape such as bucatini or pappardelle.
- I used 300g (2 cups) of leftover pulled pork but you could also get away with less if you don't have as much.
- Serve with freshly grated parmesan.
- Leftover pulled pork ragu can be stored in the fridge or freezer (without the cooked pasta). To reheat from frozen make sure to defrost it completely then reheat on the stove until piping hot all the way through. You may need to add a splash of water to help loosen the sauce.
Helpful Info for All Recipes
- I always use extra virgin olive oil in all of my recipes unless stated otherwise
- When I use canned or jarred tomatoes of any kind I always use Cirio or Mutti brands for the best results and flavour.
- All vegetables are medium sized unless stated otherwise
- All recipes are tested and developed using a fan (convection) oven
- Find out more about how nutrition is calculated.
- Check out our must have Italian Pantry Staples.
- You can also find all our Essential Kitchen Tools for Italian Cooking.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Loved this I added extra celery and used spring onions ( not shallots ), then used the green part of onion on top with the partisan. Used good quality Shiraz.
I just made the recipe… i might have done the veg a little too slow and low… so they were a bit crispy… but never the less the recipy was devine. Thank you for a left over pulled pork recipy that wasnt a sandwich! Lol
WOW EMILY…!!! My daughter works at a food joint…she brought 900g of left over pulled pork with a lovely roasted taste. I kept as close as I could to your recipe…I began with 300g of smoked bacon bits, added port wine to reduce..tomato puree…some ham stock..garlic paste and left over caremelised mushrooms and onions from the BBQ night before…a touch of white wine vinegar and sugar. Made a truck load of soffrito with fresh garlic and italian herbs..plus a few home grown radishes, grated. I often “mine sweep” the fridge for these things. Caremelised some chestnut mushrooms and added those with my pork and 3 tins of my favourite tomatoes…..HOLY MOLEY…! The most delicious ragu I have EVER made ..! You are a rockstar..My entire family loves you..!
Interesting, but not a review of the posted recipe…glad you enjoyed your version.
Made this tonight with leftover 6 hour slow cooked roast pork and it was delicious! Made heaps so we’ll have leftovers for lunch tomorrow too. Thank you for the recipe 😊
Mmm, leftovers always make the best meals, so happy you enjoyed it!
We had 30lbs of BBQ pulled pork donated for a fundraising dinner we had and had a much smaller turnout than expected. That meant several of us brought home about 3-5lbs of leftover pulled pork.
I found this via search and the only changes I made was I used peeled and diced organic tomatoes (14.5 oz), blended, used a boxed sangria for the red wine and substituted riced cauliflower for the celery.
It was a hit and I even found myself wiping up the excess sauce from my bowl. I never order red sauces or tomato based sauces and I loved this. Thank you!!
I made the recipe as posted, and it was delish. It was so easy to put together, and all ingredients were available at my local market. Will definitely make again.
Didn’t have pulled pork so used yesterday’s leftover Pork gravy instead but suprisingly it turned out good even though the gravy spice mix was a little different.
I just made it, though didn’t follow it 100% (used beef instead of pork, stock instead of wine, assorted tomatoes and home made ketchup instead of all things tomatoes above). And it came out great! Thank you.
We made this for dinner with some slow smoked pork, just as written. We didn’t even salt it, but the noodles (rigatoni) were boiled in “sea water” salty water so it really worked. This is a keeper recipe for sure. Our daughter says we ahould make pulled pork just for this 🙂 Thanks for posting the recipe!!
what a wonderful way to use leftover pork! a good ragu is just so delicious, especially one with all that delicious pork flavor. this sounds incredible!
Aw thanks so much Danielle, I love when you can get a good meal out of leftovers!
This ragu looks absolutely delicious! Love that you’ve used pulled pork.
Thanks so much Chris it’s sooo delicious!
This looks delish! Ragu is such a comforting meal. Definitely must try this one 🙂
Thanks so much and totally agree it’s one of my fav comfort foods!
I am drooling to the flavors and Tangyness to this dish. Surely delicious and perfect too.
Thanks so much Veena!
What a great way to use leftovers. Not that we usually have any leftovers haha.
Hahaaa rare in our house too!