How to make smoky black beans and 'life-changing' ragù
Cookbook author Caroline Chambers is back with simple, delicious recipes designed to make life easier for busy home cooks.
Chambers joined "Good Morning America" on Monday to announce her new cookbook, "What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking: Make it Fast," arriving this summer. She also revealed the book's cover, which highlights complete, flavorful meals -- featuring protein, vegetables and starch -- made with minimal effort.
Also on "GMA," Chambers shared how to make smoky black beans, a versatile recipe that can be used five different ways throughout the week, and "life-changing ragù," an easy, one-pot dinner that's perfect for cold, wintry days.
Scroll down to find the recipes and try them at home.
Smoky Black Beans
"My pantry is never without multiple cans of black beans -- they're one of my very favorite panic purchases. Everyone has their own favorite panic purchase -- you know, the item you buy every time you're at the store because you think 'do I have this at home . . .?' They're a reliable yet humble vessel for impressive flavor -- all it takes is a few shakes of spices and you have a delicious protein to build dinner around," Chambers wrote. "I'm no short-order cook, but on smoky black bean nights, I don't mind customizing plates. For the baby? Black beans straight up. For my pickiest eaters? Black bean flautas they can dunk into sour cream."
"For George and me? Most often some sort of bowl like these Mediterranean bowls, but I definitely dabble in crunchy tacos and loaded sweet potatoes," she added. "There's no wrong way to down these beans!"
Serves 4
Ingredients
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon ground cumin
¼ teaspoon chili powder
2 (15-ounce) cans black beans
Kosher salt
4 cilantro sprigs
1 lime
Directions
Melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and chili powder and cook, stirring, until fragrant, for 15 seconds.
Drain and rinse 1 can of black beans, then add them to the pan along with the (undrained) beans from the second can. Add 1½ teaspoons salt and the cilantro. Turn down the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until the beans thicken and are no longer watery, about 10 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to lightly smash about half the beans against the side of the pan. Pluck out and discard the cilantro sprigs. Halve the lime and squeeze in the juice of 1 half. Stir, then taste and add more salt and/or lime juice as needed.
If you’re not using the beans right away, let them cool, then store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. When ready to use, warm them gently in a saucepan over medium-low heat or in the microwave. If they’re very thick, stir in some water to loosen them up.
Life-changing Beef Ragu
"While I was in final edits on this book, my family was also in the middle of a move/renovation, and we had a very small baby. I really, really, really didn’t feel like cooking. Thus, this recipe was born," Chambers shared. "It's a riff on the famous Marcella Hazan tomato sauce where you simmer canned tomatoes with a halved onion and a stick of butter and somehow it transforms into the most delicious thing you've ever tasted."
She continued, "Instead of butter, we’re simmering chuck roast right in the tomatoes, then blending all the delicious fat and juices from the beef into the tomato sauce at the end. This dish debuted in the newsletter and instantly took the internet by storm, so we decided it just had to be in here. We literally inserted it into the already laid-out book, which is why it’s the only recipe that doesn't have a photo, but I promise it's worth your while."
"Just close your eyes and picture perfectly shredded, tender beef swimming in a sea of deeply flavorful tomato sauce, all wrapped around your favorite pasta, with tons of Parm on top," she wrote. "Okay, now go make it."
Serves 6
Hands-on for: 15 minutes
Walk away for: 2½ to 3 hours
Ingredients
2 pounds boneless chuck roast
1 medium yellow onion
1 large fennel bulb
1 (28-ounce) can whole or diced tomatoes, with their juices
1 (14-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
Kosher salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 pound of your favorite pasta (I like mezze rigatoni)
Freshly grated Parmesan cheese, for serving
Chopped fresh parsley and/or basil, for serving
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350°F.
Cut the beef into 6 pieces. Halve the onion. Trim the root end and fronds (the branchy arms) off the fennel bulb and discard, then cut the bulb in half.
In a large Dutch oven, combine the can of tomatoes with their juices, tomato sauce, and vinegar. Nestle in the beef, onion, and fennel. Sprinkle 2 teaspoons salt and the pepper over everything.
Cover the pot, transfer to the oven, and cook for 2½ hours. Pull at the beef with a fork -- if it shreds easily, it's ready. If it doesn't, cook for another 30 minutes or until it's fall-apart tender. It might take up to 3 hours, depending on your oven, pot, and/or beef.
During the last 20 minutes or so of cooking, bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over high heat. Add the pasta and cook to al dente according to the package instructions.
Transfer all the beef to a bowl and use tongs or two forks to shred it. Discard any fat that doesn't shred.
Use an immersion blender to blend the sauce until smooth, tilting the pot as needed to ensure that the blades are submerged at all times -- it usually takes me a minute or two to get it really smooth. (Alternatively, transfer everything -- except the beef -- to a blender and blend on low speed, gradually increasing to high, until smooth, about 45 seconds, or discard the onion and fennel and whisk the tomato sauce until smooth and combined.)
Return the shredded beef to the sauce and toss in your pasta. Stir to combine well. Serve the ragù in low bowls with lots of Parm and fresh parsley on top.
LEARN: Tomato sauce is sometimes sold as tomato puree. You know you're picking up the right thing when the only ingredient in it is tomatoes. If your beef is still tough after 3 hours, it's not overcooked -- it just needs more time for the fat and tendons to break down. Trust the process and keep cooking!
SHORTCUT: Dump 2 (24-ounce) jars of marinara into a large Dutch oven, nestle in the beef, and proceed straight to the oven.
RIFF: Serve it over oven polenta (page 160), or make a lasagna by layering the sauce with no-boil noodles, ricotta, and mozzarella.
Recipe reprinted with permission from "What to Cook When You Don't Feel Like Cooking: Make it Fast" by Caroline Chambers © 2026. Published by Union Square & Co., an imprint of Grand Central Publishing, a division of Hachette Book Group. Photography by Erin Scott.
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