Use up leftovers to make this incredible pulled pork ragu. Serve over pasta or my favorite, creamy polenta and you’ve got an incredible Italian comfort food that will blow you away!
Find leftover pulled pork recipes here.

Let start this off and tell you that this recipe is life changing. I always thought that pulled pork was an American thing. We love it smoked and in sandwiches, slathered in barbecue sauce. Well, my kids aren’t into sauces, so many times I prepare pulled pork without any sauce in it.
Mexicans have their own version of pulled pork, carnitas. And it’s pretty damn delicious, too. But I recently learned that Italians have their own version of pulled pork. A slow roasted pork shoulder in a delicious ragu sauce. And wowza – it’s so good!
Jump to:
Recipe highlights
- Simple: Instead of spending all day making a pork ragu with a large pork roast, I created a wonderful ragu recipe that utilizes leftover pulled pork. It is a fabulous way to use up leftovers, but also serve up an incredible dinner even on busy week nights.
- Flavor: There are so many layers of flavor in this dish, from the fresh herbs, the browned tomato paste and finally the red wine. I have to say it is my favorite way to enjoy leftover pulled pork. For me, it is simply perfect served over some creamy, cheesy polenta.
Reader’s Reviews
“Wow this recipe is so so delicious, thank you for sharing! I added red pepper flakes to my ragu for spice and I used homemade veggie stock as liquid for my polenta. If you can, use fresh herbs, I can taste each of them and they add so much depth to the flavors. So happy with how this meal turned out! 10/10 would recommend and will be making again!” — Suz
Ingredients you need
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Read my full disclosure policy
- Onions: I use simple brown onions. You can also use white or sweet Vidalia onions.
- Celery: This is used to build the base of the ragu.
- Garlic: As we are building flavors in this ragu, fresh garlic is most definitely preferred to garlic powder.
- Fresh herbs: This recipe uses a combination of fresh sage, thyme, basil and rosemary. I strongly recommend using fresh versus dried herbs. Or if you have most of the herbs in fresh form, you can substitute one of them with dried.
- Dry red wine: I am not a wine drinker or aficionado, but I do like wine in my cooking. It really brings tremendous flavor in the ragu. If you don’t drink alcohol, don’t worry, it gets burned off in the cooking process.
- Cooked pulled pork: It is preferred to use shredded pork that is not drowning in barbecue sauce. I typically use smoked pulled pork (which adds a nice flavor element to the dish). It. is very tasty with my crispy oven pulled pork.
- Pantry staples: Tomato paste, diced tomatoes, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper.
Serve with a nice crunchy bread or over wide noodles like pappardelle or egg noodles. My personal favorite is over cheesy polenta, where you will need fine polenta corn meal, water, butter and grated parmesan.
Step-by-step directions
Want to save this recipe?
- Sauté the vegetables. The base of the sauce begins with sautéd onions and celery. Once softened, garlic and herbs are added in. I used what I had in my yard: fresh rosemary, thyme and basil. Be warned: your kitchen will smell divine while I you cook this baby up.
- Add tomato paste. Next you stir in tomato paste and you stir it into the aromatic vegetables, lightly browning the tomato paste. Nancy says this caramelizes the sugar in the tomato paste and creates a richer and deeper flavor. It reminded me a lot of how you cook roux for gumbo. The darker the color (without burning it), the deeper the flavor.
- Add red wine. Once the tomato paste is browned, stir in the red wine. There are some differences in opinion on whether you can use red or white wine (as you are adding pork, a white meat). I chose red wine, as had some merlot on hand and used it in the ragu. Stir in the wine to release any bits on the bottom of the pot and cook until the liquid is reduced by half.
- Simmer. Stir in the diced tomatoes and then let the sauce simmer for at least an hour.
- Add pork. Add in the shredded pork and let it cook with the sauce for an additional 20 to 30 minutes. You can serve this over egg noodles or polenta. While the pork simmers in the sauce, prepare the side of your choice.
Expert tips and recipe FAQs
The inspiration of this recipe comes from this traditional pork ragu recipe thatmy friend Nancy/A Communal Table created where a pork shoulder is roasted slowly and braised in a chunky tomato sauce.
Polenta. Having had bland polenta before, I was never a huge fan of the stuff. It tasted rubbery and blah. Then one night I went to an Italian restaurant and enjoyed the creamiest, most heavenly polenta.
Polenta is an Italian dish made with stone ground corn. Stone ground corn meal is more coarse than fine stuff you find at the grocery store. You want to look for corn meal that is labeled for polenta.
Fine corn meal will cook faster than stone ground and the final texture will be much smoother. So if you use regular corn meal, cut the cooking time in half.
If you are looking for more comfort food with a twist, try my Braised Chuck Roast with Herb Dumplings and Saffron Chicken. So delish!
Storing/Freezing Instructions
TO STORE: Store any leftover pork ragu in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 4 days.
TO FREEZE: You can also freeze leftovers. Transfer to a resealable bag or freezer safe container and freeze for up to 4 months.
Polenta is an Italian dish made with stone ground corn. Stone ground corn meal is more coarse than fine stuff you find at the grocery store. You want to look for corn meal that is labeled for polenta. Fine corn meal will cook faster than stone ground and the final texture will be much smoother.
Because pork ragu is a thick and hearty sauce, you should serve it over a thick pasta. You can use wide noodles like pappardelle or egg noodles. You can also serve with a crusty baguette. My personal favorite is over creamy, cheesy polenta.
If you are enjoying my recipes, please sign up for my newsletter and get my free 28-day meal plan! You can also follow me on Instagram or Facebook.
Pulled Pork Ragu with Polenta
Ingredients
Ragu Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- ½ cup chopped onions
- ¼ cup chopped celery
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh sage
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh basil
- ½ teaspoon chopped fresh rosemary
- 1 ½ teaspoon salt divided
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- ⅓ cup dry red wine
- 15 oz canned diced tomatoes
- 8 oz cooked pulled pork
Polenta Ingredients
- 1 cup polenta corn meal
- 4 cups water
- 4 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup grated parmesan
Instructions
Ragu Directions
- In a medium pot over medium-high heat add olive oil.
- When oil is hot, add onions and celery and sauté until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Stir in herbs, garlic, ½ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper until combined.
- Reduce heat to medium and stir in tomato paste. Work it into the vegetables and herbs and cook until color begins to darken.
- Stir in wine and continue stirring and cooking for 2-3 minutes.
- Mix in diced tomatoes, then reduce heat to low and simmer ragu for at least one hour.
- Stir in pulled pork and let sauce simmer for 20 minutes.
- If sauce gets too thick, add a little water to thin out.
Polenta Directions
- In the meantime, make the polenta. If you are serving over pasta, prepare the pasta.
- Add 2 cups of water into a small pot, add 1 teaspoon salt and bring to boil.
- When water is boiling, slowly pour in corn meal, whisking it into the water the whole time.
- Reduce heat to medium-high and continue whisking until mixture is smooth and begins to thicken.
- Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until corn meal is tender and polenta is thick by creamy, stirring often, about 20 minutes.
- Stir in butter and parmesan cheese.
- To serve, spread cornmeal over a shallow bowl or pasta dish and top with pork ragu.
- Garnish fresh parsley and more grated parmesan, if desired.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
PS If you try this recipe, why not leave a star rating in the recipe card right below and/or a review in the comment section further down the page? I always appreciate your feedback.
You can also follow me on Pinterest, Facebook or Instagram. Sign up for my eMail list, too!
Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
I’m grateful for a recipe that doesn’t start with a whole pork butt, but(!) this was not nearly as saucy as the photo, and I had to double everything except the celery and wine to keep the ragu from being too dry. I also added some oregano as this is what brings out the flavor in tomatoes for me. It did turn out well and the leftovers should be even better. I normally cook polenta slowly in milk with butter and add salt and parmesan at the end, but I actually had some already prepared to use up, so this… Read more »
Hi Terry-
The ragu is definitely more on the thick side and not a ‘watery’ sauce. And I agree, polenta is so under appreciated here in the US.
Laura
Wow this recipe is so so delicious, thank you for sharing! I added red pepper flakes to my ragu for spice and I used homemade veggie stock as liquid for my polenta. If you can, use fresh herbs, I can taste each of them and they add so much depth to the flavors. So happy with how this meal turned out! 10/10 would recommend and will be making again!
Hi Suz-
So glad you like this recipe. It’s one of my favorite ways to enjoy my pulled pork.
Laura
Yummmmmm! Two things I love: pulled pork and polenta!
This combo is ridiculously good!!!!
Laura
🙂