What does ragu mean?
Ragu is a rich, savory sauce or stew associated especially with Italian cooking. It is usually made by slowly cooking meat, such as beef or pork, with tomatoes, onions, and herbs, and it is commonly served over pasta. In English, the word is used more broadly than it sometimes is in Italian, where ragù can refer to specific slow-cooked meat preparations as well as the sauce itself. Ragu often suggests a rustic, deeply flavored dish whose flavors have had time to develop through prolonged cooking. The term is especially common in restaurant menus, recipes, and food writing. Because it entered English directly from Italian, it is generally pronounced with stress on the final syllable, and its spelling without an accent reflects standard English usage rather than Italian orthographic conventions.
nounA rich tomato-based sauce or stew made with meat and seasoned with aromatics, used particularly in pasta dishes. The term is an English borrowing from Italian cuisine.
- A rich tomato-based sauce or stew made with meat, typically served with pasta.
"She served the ragu over handmade pasta with freshly grated parmesan."
"The restaurant's beef ragu simmered slowly with tomatoes, onions, and herbs."
"He ordered a plate of pappardelle and ragu at the small Italian café."
The plural is uncommon because ragu is usually used as a mass noun for a sauce or dish.
"The menu featured several regional ragus, including beef and pork."
The word entered English from Italian cuisine, bringing with it the distinctive Italian stress on the final syllable: rah-GOO.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does ragu come from?
English ragu is borrowed from Italian ragù, meaning a stew or richly prepared sauce, especially one containing meat. The Italian culinary term is related to French ragoût, an older French word for stew, and to the French verb ragoûter, meaning to season or make into a stew. In English, the unaccented spelling ragu became the usual form, although ragout and ragoût also occur as older or related variants.
How ragu is actually used
Ragu is common in menus and culinary writing, especially for Italian-style pasta sauces. It is often treated as a mass noun, though ragus is possible when referring to distinct preparations.
Easily confused with ragu
Ragout is an older English spelling of the culinary term, while ragu is the modern form borrowed directly from Italian.