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Tuscan Pork Ragu with White Beans

4.88 from 32 community reviews

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This slow-cooked pork shoulder is seasoned Tuscan-style, with rosemary and tomato, and braises in the oven or slow cooker until fork-tender, with creamy white beans. The meat and sauce is absolutely delicious shredded and served family style, with pasta or crusty bread.

Shredded slow cooked pork in tomato sauce with white beans in a bowl.

This low and slow-cooked pork ragu checks all my tastebud buttons. Think of it as Italian cassoulet — a rich, hearty dish with fall-apart-on-your-fork meat, tender white beans and seasonings, including rosemary, fennel and tomato.

In true ragu style, I love to serve the meat over pasta, but it’s just as delicious with just a hunk of warm crusty bread alongside.

Tender braised pork shoulder

Like my recipe for slow-cooked beef with red wine , this boneless pork shoulder cooks in the oven in a heavy pot such as a Dutch oven. But it’s easily adaptable to a Crock-Pot or other electric slow-cooker if that makes life easier for you.

Shredded slow cooked pork ragu in tomato sauce with white beans in a bowl.

Slow-cooking has an almost magical ability to make a home cozier and bring the family together. Factor in the crazy-good smells that waft from the kitchen all day and it’s a good bet that everyone will eagerly gather at the table for dinner.

  • This recipe makes enough pork and beans for next-day leftovers. Just add a little water or stock when reheating.

Tuscan Pork Ragu with White Beans

Karen Tedesco
This absolutely delicious rosemary-scented Tuscan-style shredded pork ragu slow-cooks with until the meat is super-tender enough to eat with a spoon. Add creamy white cannellini beans , and enjoy it with pasta or bread to capture all the saucy bits!
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4.88 from 32 community reviews
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 3 hours 30 minutes
Total Time 3 hours 45 minutes
Course Meat
Cuisine Italian
Servings 6 servings

Ingredients

  • 3 pounds (1.35 kg) boneless pork shoulder, trimmed of excess fat
  • Kosher salt
  • 3 tablespoons (45 ml) extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 large yellow or white onion, chopped
  • ½ cup (125 ml) dry white wine, such as pinot grigio
  • 2 teaspoons paprika, sweet or smoked
  • 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 2 tablespoons (30 g) tomato paste
  • 1 28-ounce can (800 g) crushed tomatoes
  • 2 cups (500 ml) chicken broth
  • Freshly ground black pepper to taste
  • 1 head garlic, trimmed of excess papery skin and halved crosswise
  • 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh rosemary
  • 1 14-ounce can cannellini or navy beans, drained

Instructions 

  • Heat the oven to 450 (225C) degrees.
  • Cut the pork into 4-inch chunks and season it all over with the 1 tablespoon of the kosher salt.
  • Put the pork on a rimmed baking sheet and put in the oven. Roast for 20 minutes to sear and render some of the fat. Remove from the oven and reduce temperature to 325 (160C) degrees.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened and lightly golden. Add the paprika, fennel, crushed red pepper and tomato paste. Cook about 1 minute.
  • Pour in the wine and let it bubble for 1 minute. Add the crushed tomatoes, broth, black pepper, garlic, rosemary, and 1½ teaspoons salt, giving everything a stir. Nestle the reserved pork into the pot and cover the pan.
  • Place the pot in the oven and cook 3-3 1/2 hours. The meat should be very tender when prodded with a fork. Remove the meat to a plate and shred it with a fork. Skim off excess fat from the sauce, then stir in the meat along with the beans.
  • Serve the saucy pork and beans over cooked pasta or with warm crusty bread.

Karen’s Notes and Tips

  • To make this recipe in your electric slow cooker: Soften the onions until softened, and then sear the pork as directed. Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
  • Instant pot/pressure cooker: Sear the meat in the oven as directed. Proceed with step 4, using the cooker’s insert to cook the onions and aromatics instead of a Dutch oven. Reduce the amount of broth to 1 cup. Cook on high (or use the Stew function) for 50 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 392kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 52g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 464mg | Potassium: 1002mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 236IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 41mg | Iron: 3mg

Nutrition facts are calculated by third-party software. If you have specific dietary needs, please refer to your favorite calculator.

Recipe developer Karen Tedesco of the popular website Familystyle Food in her kitchen making a kale salad.

Hey, I’m Karen

Creator of Familystyle Food

I’m a food obsessed super-taster and professionally trained cook ALL about creating elevated dinners with everyday ingredients. Find simplified recipes made from scratch and enjoy incredibly tasty food! Read more about me here.

4.88 from 32 votes (27 ratings without comment)

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31 Comments

  1. Is there an acceptable substitution for the white wine? My family are not big wine drinkers and I’d rather not buy a large bottle just for the recipe.
    Thanks!

  2. Gerre Gannaway says:

    5 stars
    Excellent recipe. I followed the instructions fairly closely, until I reached the inevitable, inescapable snag: “crusty” bread. Some of us don’t have teeth. How about a soft Rosetta? And why do recipe-writers specify “crusty” bread in the first place? Is it because everyone else does it?

    1. Hi Gerre – I’m glad to hear you made the recipe! I define “crusty” bread as a type similar to a sourdough or country loaf, that usually has a thicker, chewier crust. They can be harder to chew for that reason. You can certainly use a softer style bread if that’s what you enjoy most.

      1. Gerre Gannaway says:

        5 stars
        Thanks, Karen. I know I can use a softer bread — I was just having some fun. It’s just that so many cooks end their recipes with “crusty bread”, it seems like the punch line of a joke. The recipe is very good, by the way.

  3. Robin Chibi says:

    This turned out amazingly Karen. The halved garlic bulb and the Fennel really added a nice punch to the savoury flavours. I shall reminisce on this dish for days to come.

    Thank you

  4. Did you strain this at all? I’ve made it in a crock pot and found there was so much liquid, it was almost like a soup! Tastes great though 🙂

    1. Ameila -I didn’t strain the liquid when I made it in a Dutch oven as some of that liquid evaporates. Slow cookers tend to produce more liquid because of the condensation. Next time you make it in your slow cooker, use half the amount of stock. If you still find it too loose, you can strain the broth into a saucepan and reduce it on the stovetop. I’m going to adjust the recipe accordingly. Thank you for letting me know!

  5. 5 stars
    This is in the oven now and smellin’ terrific! Even though it’s August, it’s cloudy, breezy and “sweater weather” here and this is a perfect weekend meal. I used a bunch of cherry tomatoes I had to find something to do with. Feels like being in Tuscany! Cheers…

  6. 5 stars
    This food saved my life

  7. I need this in my life right now! this sounds so amazing, hearty and warm. What a lovely recipe 🙂

    1. Thanks Albert! My family loves this dish. Let me know if you make it!

  8. 5 stars
    This looks and sounds absolutely wonderful!

    XO

  9. I was just wondering if you know how to make a chai spice blend for a pork shoulder slow cooker recipe

  10. Yum, yum; tagging this right away, thanks.

    Love the new (to me) look! Wow!

  11. Now this sounds great!!! Im saving this recipe to try soon.

  12. My wife and I really liked this article. I have used it a few times. I think a lot of people would benefit from it. You should post it on Wacanai. They get a lot of traffic on the website and you can link it to your page so it will get more people going to your website. You can search for similar articles and when you post your article it will show you other articles that you may like. It’s worth checking out.

  13. Beautiful blog and wonderful recipe–I will pass this on to my mom–she would love it!

  14. As I am writing this we are expecting 10 inches of snow tonight…ugh! This slow cooked pork looks like the perfect comfort food to stave off the snowy weather.

    1. A big bowl of pork and beans is perfect for a snowy night. Gotta love spring snowstorms! I like that last hit of winter, knowing that summer is just around the corner.

  15. This is a delicious and filling looking meal, I like that it practically makes itself and has a ton of hearty ingredients :).

  16. silly question, perhaps. you say remove the excess papery skin and halve the garlic head, but you don’t actually peel the cloves? you put them in the crockpot with the “skins” still on?

    1. Hi Lee – Yes, you can just put the cloves in skin and all. The garlic will soften and scent the pork. When the pork is finished cooking, you can pull out the garlic. Or, if you love garlic, squeeze it out on some toasted bread for an extra yum factor.

  17. you know what you should try for your hands? vapor rub. it smells weird and feels weird to do, but if you slather it on and put on some cotton gloves, it heals cracked skin like nobody’s business.

  18. zestycook says:

    WOW this looks incredible! Great job

  19. I may have to buy a crockpot so I can make this recipe!
    Sounds delicious for a cold day like today!
    Stacey Snacks