When it comes to hearty beef dishes, Stracotto, or Italian Pot Roast is at the top of the list for most delicious! The beef is braised until tender in a tomato-based sauce with red wine, vegetables, and herbs and served with polenta or pasta for a truly unforgettable meal!
Braised beef dishes are a must for cooler weather and Stracotto is truly one of the simplest you can make.
The Italian word, stracotto, translates to “overcooked” in English and accurately describes the way in which the beef is cooked – braised for hours until super tender and flavorful.
Stracotto di manzo is best served with creamy polenta, mashed potatoes, or pasta, such as pappardelle.
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Beef. I’m using a chuck roast for this recipe as I find it has the most flavor but you can use leaner cuts such as rump roast, top round, or bottom round. For leaner cuts, the beef can be larded with a larding needle or knife by inserting strips of pancetta into the meat. This will keep it moist during the braise.
- Wine. Use a dry red wine, such as Cabernet, Merlot, or Chianti. You can also omit the wine entirely and replace with stock.
- Stock. I recommend using either homemade beef stock, or a quick stock made with Better Than Bouillion low-sodium beef base.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make it
- Preheat the oven to 325f and set the rack to the middle of the oven in order to accommodate a Dutch oven with its lid. Finely dice 1 large sweet onion, and shred 2 large carrots and 3 ribs of celery. You can also pulse the carrot and celery in a food processor if preferred. Hand crush 1 28-ounce can of plum tomatoes.
- Slice 8 cloves of garlic into slivers. Using a knife, make slits in 1 3-pound chuck roast and insert the garlic slivers. Any remaining garlic can be used later in the recipe. Pat the chuck roast dry with paper towels and season with 1 tablespoon of Diamond Crystal kosher salt and 1 teaspoon of black pepper.
- Heat a large Dutch oven to medium heat and add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the chuck roast to the pot.
- Sear the roast until browned on all sides, about 15 minutes total, then remove the roast to a plate.
- Add the onions along with 1/4 cup of water and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat while using a wooden spoon to gently scrape the bottom and dislodge any brown bits.
- After sauteeing the onion for 10 minutes, add the celery and carrots and cook for another 10-15 minutes or until they’re very soft. During the last few minutes, add any remaining garlic. If at any time the veggies start to burn, lower the heat or and/or add a splash of water or beef stock to the pot.
- Add 3 tablespoons of tomato paste and cook for 1 minute while stirring frequently. Add 1 1/2 cups of dry red wine and bring to a simmer while scraping the pot with the wooden spoon to dislodge any brown bits.
- Tie together 10 sprigs of thyme, 3 large bay leaves, and 5 large sage leaves with kitchen twine (or add to a sachet), then add to the pot along with 2 cups of low-sodium beef stock, the crushed plum tomatoes, and 1 cinnamon stick (if using). Bring to a simmer.
- Once simmering, turn off the heat and add the roast back to the pot and cover with a tight-fitting lid.
- Place in the oven and cook for 3 hours, then use a knife or fork to check for doneness. If the stracotto isn’t tender enough, return it to the oven and cook for another 30 minutes, then check again. Once it’s tender enough, remove it from the pot and tent with foil. It can be cut into chunks, or carefully sliced.
- Chuck roast has a lot of fat and you may need to degrease your sauce. To degrease the sauce, lay paper towels on top of the sauce to absorb the fat, then discard, or use a ladle to skim some of the fat. Taste test and season with salt and pepper if needed.
- Place the chunks of beef on a platter and top with sauce. You’ll have plenty of extra sauce to serve with pasta, polenta, or mashed potatoes. Enjoy!
Recipe tip
I like to shred or even pulse the carrots and celery in the blender so they almost disintegrate in the sauce, however, if you want a more rustic and textured stracotto, you can 100% dice the vegetables instead of shred.
If you love the flavor of stracotto but want a quicker braised beef dish, be sure to check out steak pizzaiola, swiss steak, and beef braciole.
More braised beef recipes
Here are a few more of my favorite braised beef recipes, all perfect for cold weather!
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Stracotto (Italian Pot Roast)
Ingredients
- 3 pound chuck roast
- 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 8 cloves garlic
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large sweet onion finely diced
- 2 large carrots shredded or pulsed in a food processor
- 3 ribs celery shredded or pulsed in a food processor
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes hand crushed or blender pulsed
- 1 1/2 cups dry red wine
- 2 cups low-sodium beef stock
- 1 cinnamon stick optional
- 3 large bay leaves
- 5 large sage leaves
- 10 sprigs thyme tied
- salt and pepper to taste
- 3 tablespoons minced flat-leaf Italian parsley for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325f and set the rack in the middle of the oven to accommodate a Dutch oven with its lid.
- Cut the garlic cloves into slivers. Make slits in the roast and insert the slivers of garlic. Pat the chuck roast dry with paper towels then season with salt and pepper. Any remaining garlic can be added to the pot in step 5 below.
- Heat a large Dutch oven to medium heat with the olive oil. Add the chuck roast to the pot and sear until browned on all sides (about 15 minutes total) then remove the roast to a plate.
- Add the onions along with a 1/4 cup of water and a pinch of salt. Cook over medium heat while scraping the pot with a wooden spoon to remove all of the browned bits.
- After sauteing the onions for 10 minutes, add the celery and carrots and continue to cook for another 10-15 minutes or until the vegetables are very soft. During the last few minutes, add any remaining garlic. If at any time the veggies start to burn, lower the heat and/or add a splash of water or beef stock to the pot.
- Add the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute while stirring frequently. Add the red wine and bring to a simmer. Again, scrape the pot with a wooden spoon to dislodge any remaining browned bits.
- Tie the thyme, sage, and bay leaves together or add to a sachet.
- Add the beef stock, plum tomatoes, cinnamon stick, and tied herbs and bring to a simmer. Once simmering, turn off the heat and add the roast back to the pot and cover. Place into the oven.
- Cook the roast for 3 hours then check for doneness. If it isn't tender enough, return it to the oven for another 30 minutes and check again. Once the roast is tender remove it from the pot and tent with foil. The roast can be cut into chunks or carefully sliced.
- To degrease the sauce, lay paper towels on top of the sauce to absorb the fat then discard or use a ladle to skim some of the fat. Taste the sauce and season with salt and pepper as required. Place the chunks of beef into a platter and top with sauce. You will have pleny of extra sauce to serve with pasta, polenta, or mashed potatoes if you like. Enjoy!
Notes
- Chuck roast makes the best pot roast due to its unique fat profile, but other leaner roasts such as rump roast, top round, and bottom round can also be used. Those cuts can be sliced instead of shredded.
- There will be enough sauce for the pot roast and 1 pound of pasta.
- Leftovers can be saved for up to 3 days in the fridge and can be reheated in the oven.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This sounds great and I’d love to make. Can you provide measurements for dry seasonings please?
When subbing dry for fresh, use 1/3 less of the dry than you would of the fresh since dry is much more potent.
I made this for Christmas Eve. I used cans of San Marzano tomatoes and I added pancetta. I actually doubled the recipe because I got a 7.5lb chuck roast to feed 8 people. Cooked it for about 4.5 hours. (I did the first hour and half at 350° and the rest of the time at 325°). This came out PHENOMENAL. WOW. The smell in the house all day. The flavor and tenderness of the meat is absolutely outstanding. This is such an excellent recipe. Thank you for this gem. It’s certainly going into rotation for us.
Couldn’t find a cinnamon stick at two grocery stores and plan to make this dish tonight. Can I use ground cinnamon? Thanks!
Hi Alicia, yes, you can use some ground cinnamon to taste.
What a delicious dish! And again, I admit, we had fregola tostata instead of pappardelle and added quite a few juniper berries…