3-Ingredient Shredded Chicken Ragu with Zuchinni Pappardelle

Slow cooker. It’s a must-have. Seriously. This is my serious font. It allows you to create a meal that tastes like you’ve been cooking all day but you haven’t. It does it for you.

This chicken ragu is a great comfort meal. It’s tasty, yeah. Duh. I don’t disappoint. But it’s also really easy. So when you’re totally dunzo with your week and have no energy this is the meal for you! I especially like lean meats and veggies when I’m having issues with my ulcerative colitis. If my colon is acting up but I can still eat solid food I will often eat chicken or turkey with easily digestible veggies like squash. Hence this meal.

*Tomato sauce not your intestine’s friend? Add half pureed pumpkin or sweet potato in place of the sauce to cut the tomato acidity. 

I timed myself prepping this chicken ragu. Took me three minutes. Um. That’s awesome. It would have taken me two minutes but I had to open the small tomato paste can by hand so… Anyways, here are all the things I did one particular Sunday while the food was cooking:

• Took a 2 mile trail walk.
• Wrote two other blog posts (this takes a while, folks. It ain’t easy!)
• Watched this video about 18 times rapid fire.
• Did a load of a laundry.
• Took a shower and did my hair. I know, fancy.
• Shopped at Target for too long and bought things I didn’t need.
  And more!

Then I got home and it smelled SO FREAKIN’ GOOD so I opened the slow-cooker lid. I took two forks to the chicken and pretended I was Wolverine just shredding that chicken up in the sauce.

For the zucchini pappardelle:
Use a veggie peeler to create long thin slices of raw zucchini. You may either leave it raw, boil, sauté, or the salt method. The salt method is when you liberally sprinkle salt on the zucchini and let it sit for 3-5 minutes. It extracts the moisture. Then wash the zucchini noodles in cold water to rinse off the salt. You’ll notice they are more flexible and soft.

Isn’t Ragu the thin jarred sauce?

Nope. Nope. All the nope. Ragu and bolognese and meat sauce all have interchangeable names. You know that jarred sauce called Ragu? It’s not actually ragu. Ragu is not just a plain tomato sauce. Ragu just means a meat sauce. Ragu is like the umbrella term for bolognese. Bolognese is a particular type of meat sauce. Difference explained here.

My favorite jarred sauce (okay Italians, don’t kill me for buying sauce in a jar) is Rao’s.

Slow-cooker Shredded Chicken Ragu

Print Recipe

A paleo slow-cooker recipe that turns boring chicken into a hot Italian comfort meal. And you barely have to do a thing.

Servings	Prep Time
6 servings	3 minutes

Cook Time

3.5 hours

Servings Prep Time 6 servings 3 minutes

Cook Time 3.5 hours

Slow-cooker Shredded Chicken Ragu Print Recipe A paleo slow-cooker recipe that turns boring chicken into a hot Italian comfort meal. And you barely have to do a thing. Servings Prep Time 6 servings 3 minutes Cook Time 3.5 hours Servings Prep Time 6 servings 3 minutes Cook Time 3.5 hours

Ingredients

• 24 ounces marinara sauce I use Rao's tomato basil
• 6 ounces tomato paste
• 2.5 pounds chicken breast boneless, skinless

Servings: servings

Instructions

1. Place the chicken breasts in your slow-cooker so they are snug next to each other.
2. Add the marinara sauce and tomato paste. Combine the paste a bit if you'd like.
3. Cover with lid and cook on low for 3-4 hours. Internal temperature should be 160 F.
4. Once cooked, take two forks to the chicken and pull it apart to shred. This is where I like to pretend I'm X-Men's Wolverine.
5. Stir together all the shredded chicken in the sauce so it is evenly coated. Serve over zucchini noodles.

Mangia!

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