Beef short ribs are the absolute best cut of beef for slow cooking! The most tender and succulent fall apart beef you will ever have, you’d pay top dollar at fine dining restaurants for a plate of these Braised Beef Short Ribs.
Cooked long and slow in a rich red wine sauce, these beef ribs are easy enough for midweek, and most definitely impressive enough for company. (And after you’d tried these, try the BBQ Beef Ribs next!)
Braised Beef Short Ribs – easy and luscious!
It looks like a lump of coal. Or, as one RecipeTin Family member said, hot chocolate fudge cake. 😩
Photograph challenges aside, this is one of the most luscious slow cooked recipes that I know. The sort of food you will find at fine dining restaurants and quality steakhouses (albeit served alot more elegantly than the “rustic” approach I take 😂).
They’ll charge you top dollar for a single plate of Beef Short Ribs when you can make it at home for a fraction of the cost – and it’s very straight forward.
The red wine sauce in this recipe is amazing. The depth of flavour and the richness you can achieve with so few ingredients is incredible!
Introducing – Beef Short Ribs
But before we dive into how to make it, I just want to show you beef short ribs because it’s a cut of beef that’s not as widely known as others.
Beef Short Ribs are the beef equivalent of pork ribs – but way meatier. They’re called “short ribs” in reference to the part of the cow they are taken from, not because they are “short” (though they certainly are far shorter than full length beef ribs!).
What are beef short ribs used for?
Beef short ribs are a prized cut for slow cooking. Cooking them slowly breaks down the tough connective tissues and the meat becomes fall apart tender. And because they are beautifully marbled with fat, they are more succulent and juicy than other slow cooking cuts of beef such as chuck and brisket.
In Asian cuisine, beef short ribs are sliced thinly so they can be cooked quickly rather than long and slow. Korean beef ribs is a popular example – – marinated thinly sliced beef rib meat cooked on tabletop grills. Any fans of Korean BBQ here? 🙂
Beef short ribs are usually cut into rectangle blocks, as pictured, though sometimes they are more square depending on the width of the bone.
They are also sometimes sold as a rack rather than pre cut individual pieces. In that situation, just cut between the bones to make individual beef short ribs.
How to make Braised Beef Short Ribs with Red Wine Sauce
1. Brown – As with most slow cooked dishes like Beef Stew and Pot Roast, we start by aggressively browning the beef short ribs. This is where we get a ton of flavour on both the beef and in the sauce (from the brown stuff – fond – left on the base of the pot).
2. Soffrito – After that, we slowly sauté garlic, onion, carrot and celery. The longer you take here, the better the flavour base! This is called a soffrito.
Then add tomato paste (to thicken the sauce + a touch of sour) and cook that off for a bit to take the raw edge off.
3. Braising liquid – then add the beef broth/stock, red wine, thyme (optional) and bay leaves (essential).
4. Add ribs – Carefully return the ribs into the pot. Arrange them so they are fully submerged as best you can. If some bits stick out, don’t worry – they will cook just fine too, and the steam keeps those bits nice and juicy.
5. Slow cook – Plonk the lid on and then either slow cook in the oven (my favourite), stove, slow cooker or pressure cooker!
6. After cooking – The liquid will be reduced and the meat should be extremely tender. Check with two forks to ensure it is fall apart. Then carefully remove using a slotted spoon, keeping the meat as attached to the bone as you can (but it will not be attached because if the meat is fall apart, this means the ligaments holding the meat to the bone must be melted).
7. Strain the sauce & adjust – this is optional, to take out the chunks and make the sauce super smooth and glossy, like you get at fine dining restaurants. Strain it back into the pot, then reduce to thicken if needed, and adjust the salt and pepper
8. Transfer ribs onto serving plates, spoon over sauce and serve!
Cheap or expensive wine?
I do not use expensive wines for SLOW cooking. I do not believe you can tell the difference if you made this with a discount end-of-bin $5 bottle or a $50 bottle – and the New York Times agrees…. 🙂
Maybe you could tell the difference using a $100 bottle. But that’s not within my budget!
Non alcoholic sub?
Added to the notes – involves a combination of water, Worcestershire sauce and a bit more beef broth. 🙂
How long does it take to braise beef short ribs?
The time it takes for the beef to become fall apart tender varies depending on what cooking method you use:
-
Oven – 3 hours at 160C/325F
-
Stove – 2.5 hours
-
Pressure Cooker – 1 hour on high
-
Slow cooker – 8 hours on low, 5 hours on high
My favourite method is to braise using the oven because you get extra flavour from the beef and surface of the sauce caramelising in the oven, even though it’s cooked covered the whole time.
You’ll see in the video when I take the lid off after it comes out of the oven – it looks like a big pot with lumps of coal swimming in a pool of tar that is impossible to photograph nicely.😩
As unattractive as it might look, it’s a big pot of serious deliciousness. Just touch it with a fork, and THIS is what you see ↓↓↓
That’s my dinner right there. Literally my dinner – I made it this afternoon and I’m eating it tonight. Can’t wait!! – Nagi x
Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs
Watch how to make it
Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.
Braised Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce
Ingredients
- 5 - 6 beef short ribs , 300-400g/10-14oz each (Note 1)
- 1.5 tsp each salt and pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves , crushed
- 1 large onion , chopped (brown, yellow or white)
- 2 celery ribs , chopped
- 2 carrots , chopped
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 2 cups (500ml) dry red wine (Note 2)
- 2 cups (500ml) beef stock/broth, low sodium
- 2 sprigs thyme (optional)
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 160°C/325°F.
- Sprinkle beef all over with salt and pepper.
- Heat oil in a large ovenproof pot over high heat. Add half the ribs and brown aggressively all over (~5 - 7 min in total). Remove and repeat with remaining ribs, then remove.
- Turn heat down to medium. Add onion and garlic into the same pot and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add carrot and celery, cook for 5 minutes until carrot is softened and sweet.
- Add tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
- Add wine, broth, thyme and bay leaves. Stir until tomato paste is dissolved.
- Return beef into liquid, arranging them so they are submerged (Note 3).
- Cover with lid and transfer to oven for 3 hours, or until the meat can easily be pried apart with forks. (Note 4 Other cook methods)
- Remove beef carefully, keeping the meat on the bone. (Note 4) Cover to keep warm.
- Strain all liquid in the pot, pressing juices out of the onion, carrot etc. (Optional - can skip if you don't mind chunky sauce) Return sauce into pot, bring to simmer and stir. Adjust as necessary - simmer to reduce/thicken, add water to thin, season with salt and pepper if needed.
- Place beef on serving plate, spoon over sauce. Serve!
Recipe Notes:
- Stove - 2.5 hours on low simmer, lid on
- Slow cooker - 8 hours on low, 5 hours on high. Sear beef and sauté vegetables in a skillet, add the liquid, bring to simmer then tip it all into a slow cooker. When beef is fork tender, strain liquid into a large skillet and simmer liquid rapidly for 10 minutes or until it reduces down to a syrup consistency. Optional: spray beef lightly with oil and grill/broil on high for 5 minutes to brown.
- Pressure cooker - 1 hour on high, follow slow cooker directions above. Depressurise naturally for 10 minutes, then release valve.
- Instant Pot - Follow slow cooker directions above but do the searing in your Instant Pot. Cook using slow cooker or pressure cooker function using above times.
- Sauce: reduces by half so should be thickened to syrup consistency. If not, simmer on stove for a bit.
- Sauce excess fat: If the sauce is too fatty for your taste, pour it into a jug and leave for a bit so the fat rises to the surface, then scoop it off.
- Bone attachment: In order for the meat to be fork tender, it needs to be cooked far enough so that the connective tissue holding the meat to the bone becomes tender. So the meat is not really attached. But if you handle it carefully, it stays together.
- Remove bone: At some fine dining restaurants, beef short ribs are served without the bone. The bone is removed, the fatty bit on the underside of the meat that was attached to the bone is cut off and the meat is served by itself. It looks quite posh! 6. Nutrition assumes all sauce is consumed which it probably will not be. Does not take into account any fat discarded from sauce.
Nutrition Information:
More slow cooked fall-apart meat
I’m a big fan of slow cooked meats!!
-
BBQ Beef Ribs – slow cooked ribs in a sticky sweet BBQ sauce!
-
Osso Buco – traditional Italian slow cooked veal
-
Browse the Winter Comfort Food collection!
Life of Dozer
I returned home from grocery shopping to howling coming from the bedroom – the wind had slammed the door shut and trapped him in there (for a whole 30 minutes, max).
He was very relieved to be rescued – upon which I promptly shoved him back in there to re-enact it for this photo 😂
Adriana says
This is the first time I made one of your recipes.
Wow! I cooked it on Saturday and we enjoyed for Father’s Day lunch. Everyone commented on how tasty, flavoursome, rich and tender the ribs were.
Thank you. 😉👏
Nagi says
Wahoo, I’m so glad they were a hit Adriana!
veronica says
wow fanntastic recipe the ribs were so tasty and succulent thanks again
Nagi says
I’m so happy you loved them Veronica!
Derrick J Rich says
Great recipe!!!
Nagi says
Thanks so much Derrick!
Sianzilla says
No pressure, but this is tonight’s dinner – one of the few time I’ve made a recipe EXACTLY as written. This is more due to the serendipity of having a 500g bag of Maggie Beer beef stock in the fridge (thanks Aldi). I’m looking forward to the results 🙂
Lisa Kelly says
Wow Nagi – the flavours on this one were out of this world. So rich and yummy (some people may have liked their bowls, not me but some people lol).
I hadn’t ever cooked with this cut of beef before so it was an exciting challenge and it came out pretty much as pictured. With that said, I think next time I may try a cheaper cut of meat just purely because of the shrinkage/cost factor when feeding two hungry boys.
Such a winner!!!
Kin says
I made this amazing dinner for hubby’s birthday tonight, and to say he loved it would be an understatement. He practically licked his plate! Good thing I doubled the recipe, because he wants it again tomorrow night. Everything came together perfectly. The only thing I did different was to add an extra cup of beef broth and only used 1 cup of Merlot, which was all we had left after the birthday boy had a sip or two. HA!!. It was still a gorgeous, delectable dish! You hit it out of the park with this one, Nagi! YUM!! (Dozer must have been drooling!) 😍
Nagi says
Wahoo, that’s great Kin! I’m so glad you loved it – N x
Shawna V. says
Hi, I could only find boneless beef short ribs, is the cooking time the same?
Nagi says
Hi Shawna, no they will cook quicker off the bone! – N x
Daphne C says
Hi there, if we transfer the contents to a casserole dish, does it need to be covered? With foil? Thanks
Nagi says
Hi Daphne, are you meaning to transfer and cook? – N x
Steven says
Nagi. I’m binging on your recipes this week. I made your sunny eggs on portobellos and for dinner the stuffed mush pizzas. Omg yum. However this is probably my top 5 of your recipes and have made it so many times. Superb recipe. 😍
Steven In fl.
Nagi says
Thanks so much Steven, that’s great to hear!!
Agnes says
Hi Nagi,
You mentioned non alcoholic wine, can I use non alcoholic sparkling red grape juice cocktail?
Nagi says
Hi Agnes, I don’t see why not, as long as it’s not too sweet – N x
John says
Hi Nagi
Can you please tell me a really good red and white cooking wine to buy as have never cooked with wine before. Thank you xxx
Nagi says
Hi John, I never cook with good quality wine! I usually buy from the discount bins!
Kristen Downie says
Thanks Nagi for the amazing recipe. I have made this twice now and it is so tasty. The meat just falls off the bone. We paired it with your Paris Mash recipe. Suffice to say there were full bellies and big smiles all around the dinner table.
Nagi says
That is the ultimate combo! I’m so glad you love it Kristen!
Sally says
Hi Nagi,
Looks so tasty. Can this recipe be may ahead. I’m planning on making for 18 people.
Sally
Nagi says
You sure could Sally, I’d just reheat in the microwave to put back in a slow cooker on the keep warm setting
Angela says
This recipe is really fantastic! I did 1.5 x the sauce to ensure my ribs were submerged. The meat was fall-apart delicious. My dad was in heaven, and my husband had a second huge plate! I served this with roasted pumpkin mash to which I added some tahini and lemon juice. Nagi, I am so glad I came across your site a couple of months ago. Since then I have been trying all your recipes and every single time I am so pleased with the result. I love that your recipes are unfussy, and that they are really flavourful. Congratulations on a wonderful collection of amazing recipes!
Nagi says
That’s so great to hear Angela, thank you so much ❤️
Bertha A. Butler says
Could you add beef broth instead of the wine.
Nagi says
Hi Bertha, non alcoholic subs are in the recipe notes – I hope you give it a go!
Francis says
This look so delicious and attractive, and I would like to know how to prepare them.
Nagi says
Hi Francis – It’s all in the recipe 🙂
Michele Kissel says
Made the braised short ribs for dinner tonight. It was amazing and very easy to make. My husband said it was fantastic. Great for a company dinner
Nagi says
Wahoo, sounds like you nailed it Michele!
Kelsey says
I made this last night and my family couldn’t stop raving about it. My husband said it was restaurant quality, and even my kids had two helpings each. It was delicious!
Nagi says
Woah that’s such a great compliment Kelsey!!
Peter says
With all that great cooking how do you stay slim and even Dozer is looking good.
Nagi says
Slim??!!! Ba ha ha! My family would fall over with laughter if they saw this message! 😂 I have an excuse, Dozer does not. He exercises a LOT!! N xx
A-Jin says
Better than any restaurant. It’s simple but labor-intensive, especially if you make mashed potatoes to go with it. But totally worth the effort. I used chicken stock and Shiraz because it’s what I had on hand and it came out delicious! (I also added a tablespoon of flour mixed with water to the strained sauce to thicken it.) Wonderful recipe, will definitely use it the next time I make braised short ribs.
Nagi says
Sounds like you nailed it A-Jin!! – N x