Braised Beef Short Ribs are slow cooked for hours in a red wine, beef stock, and rich tomato sauce. Perfect served over mashed potatoes, risotto, rice, or noodles. Full of tender, fall off the bone, meaty goodness!
This braised beef short rib recipe is one of my all-time favorite comfort food dishes. There is nothing more comforting to me than a meal of red wine braised short ribs served over mashed potatoes. So rich and flavorful!
Braised beef short ribs for restaurant quality food at home
Slow cooked beef short ribs are super easy to make, yet exceptionally impressive. It’s a fantastic family dinner or a great romantic date night at home kind of meal.
For extra convenience, the ribs can also be made the day before and heated right before serving for a quick meal. Trust me when I tell you, they are even better the next day, so plan on making a double batch!
How to reheat ribs:
- Can leave the short ribs and sauce in the cooking pot and place directly in the refrigerator.
- Take the pot with the ribs out of the refrigerator 20-30 minutes prior to reheating to take the chill off.
- Reheat on the stove-top over medium-low heat for 30 minutes.
- Can also reheat in a preheated 300F/149C degree oven for 30 minutes.
Difference Between Flanken and English Cut Short Ribs
- Flanken style is a thin cut (1/2 inch thick) of short rib that is cut across the bone, so each piece is a mixture of bone and meat. This type of short rib is most often found in a Korean BBQ recipe called galbi. They are also typically cooked quickly over a charcoal fueled high heat.
- English style is cut between the rib bones, so each bone has a thick meat on top. This recipe uses the English style and it’s also the cut that’s used for boneless short ribs. Due to their thickness, they are typically cooked by a slow and low method, like this recipe.
Use grass fed beef for the best flavor
Just take a look at those grass fed short rib beauties in the picture above that I bought at a local holistic organic farm. Cooking with farm-to-table ingredients and buying from farms who honesty care about their animals, the land, and providing healthy food for the community is so rewarding.
If you want to start buying from your local farms, look them up on Eat Wild and get some good grass fed beef ribs for this recipe.
Easiest slow cooked beef rib recipe with minimum preparation
It starts with beef ribs being seared and browned over high heat in a dutch oven, then topped with some fresh garlic, onion, red wine, beef stock, and a little tomato paste. Cover and bake for up to 3 hours for bone-in or 2 1/2 hours for boneless. SO EASY!!!
After cooking, it’s all transformed into a glorious sauce that is perfection poured over mashed potatoes, polenta, or noodles. Or go the low carb way with cauliflower mash, sweet potato mash, or roasted winter squash.
The sauce will thicken on it’s own, so there’s really no need to use flour to thicken, just uncover the pot and serve. Be sure to make double sauce because there’s never enough gravy.
Try these easy side dishes to serve with the braised beef ribs:
- Mashed Potato Pancakes
- Fresh Ginger and Shallot Green Beans
- Lyonnaise Potatoes
- Sriracha Roasted Broccoli
- Instant Pot Butternut Squash Soup
- Loaded Sweet Potato Soup
Looking for bread or dessert recipes?
- French Bread
- Sweet Potato Rolls
- Garlic Cheddar Angel Biscuits
- Easy Fruit Cobbler
- Mini Red Velvet Cupcakes
- Cranberry Lemon Biscotti
- Creamy and Easy Butterscotch Pudding
- Chocolate Hazelnut Rice Dream
Did you enjoy these Braised Beef Short Ribs? Let me know by leaving a comment below and please don’t forget to share the recipe with your family and friends.
Braised Beef Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 3 1/2 pounds meaty English style cut short ribs, bone-in (preferably local farm raised and grass-fed),
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup diced onion about 1 medium
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1/2 cup good quality red wine
- 2 cups good quality beef stock homemade or store bought (can substitute chicken broth)
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 12 oz mushrooms, cleaned and quartered (optional)
- fresh fresh flat-leaf Italian parsley, chopped (optional)
Instructions
- Take the beef short ribs out of refrigerator and let come to room temperature before cooking (about 1/2-1 hour).
- Preheat oven to 325F/162C degrees.
- Heat a large dutch oven over high heat. Add tablespoon of olive oil and sear short ribs on all sides until brown, adding additional olive oil as needed. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Add onion and garlic to the pan and sauté until lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add wine and cook until reduced by half. Add beef stock, tomato paste, and thyme. Stir well and bring to a boil.
- Return short ribs to pan, cover, and place in the preheated oven. Braise for 2 1/2-3 hours, or until beef is fork tender.
- If using mushrooms, add them to the pot with the short ribs the last 30-45 minutes of cooking time.
- Place cooked ribs on serving dish. Skim excess fat off top of the cooking liquid and reduce over high heat to thicken into a sauce, if necessary. Spoon sauce over short ribs and sprinkle with chopped parsley.
Recipe Notes & Tips:
- If using boneless short ribs, braise for 2 1/2 hours, until fork tender.
- Store leftovers in a tightly covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
- Double the sauce ingredients for extra sauce.
- Can make the day before and reheat the next day (In a covered dutch oven, reheat for 30 minutes over medium-low on the stove top or in a preheated 300F/149C degree oven)
- Leftovers are even better the next day, so make a double batch!
- Want to freeze the short ribs for later? Let completely cool, then put in a tightly covered, freezer proof container and store for up to 6 months. Defrost in the refrigerator for 1-2 days, then reheat as usual.
Tiffany Spiekerman says
I need to make this for 16 people any suggestions on best way to tackle that? I have two Dutch pans I plan to use?
karrie @ Tasty Ever After says
Hi Tiffany, if the dutch ovens are large enough, you can split the recipe in half (once adjusted to 16 servings using slider on recipe card) or just make a double recipe in each pot. You can also make the short ribs a day ahead of time too and reheat when needed (reheat instructions are in the recipe tips). They can all be reheated at once in a high sided large baking pan. Please let me know how you and everyone likes them!
Jennifer Finer says
Great recipe. Made it twice now. First followed the instructions exactly and the second time, made a few changes to suit my tastes. After I seared the meat and got the sauce going, I dumped it all into a slow cooker (low for 6 hours). I added the mushrooms after the onions were mostly done sauteing. I added a few grates of nutmeg and two dashes Worcestershire sauce. Of course, I doubled the sauce both times! Served over roasted small potatoes. Thanks for the recipe. It was flexible enough to make those changes easily!
Karrie says
Thank you so much for your review Jennifer and happy you like the recipe! The slow cooker is a great idea and I’m going to try that next time I make them!
Denise sheridan says
What isn’t design best way to heatt 9f you make a day ahead. ?. Don’t want to dry them out.
Karrie says
Here’s how to reheat them Denise: You can leave the ribs with the sauce in the pot when refrigerating them. Take the pot with the ribs out of the refrigerator 20-30 minutes prior to reheating to take the chill off. Reheat on the stove-top over medium-low heat or in a preheated 300F/149C degree oven for 30 minutes. Don’t worry about drying them out. They will be just as tender and moist as when they were freshly cooked. Please let me know how you like them!
Jim H says
I’ve made short ribs many times, this is best, simple but emphasis on good quality, fresh ingredients, good quality ribs, wine, I use a HESS Cab or CLINE Zin, reasonable prices excellent quality, goes great with the meal too. I’d enjoy seeing your take on short ribs with a mustard based sauce!
Thanks, Jim
karrie @ Tasty Ever After says
Many thanks Jim for your kind comment! Yes, yes, yes on the wine!! I’ve had Hess with this, but checking out that Cline Zine at the store for next time. Great idea on a mustard based sauce and going to start developing a recipe on that now!
Keith Watson says
Fantastic. First time I’ve ever cooked beef short ribs, so it was an experiment. Read other comments, and did increase the sauce by adding more stock.
Now I will be able to cook it again, and serve it up to my wife and guests.
Thank you.
karrie @ Tasty Ever After says
Thank you Keith and feeling pretty honored you picked my recipe for first time cooking short ribs!! Soooo happy you liked it and please let me know how your wife and guests like it when you cook them again.
Ema says
5 STARS!!!! I tried this recipe and surprised my husband. He couldn’t get enough of the ribs. Thank you very much.
Karrie says
Thank you so much Ema and glad your husband enjoyed it!!
Sandra says
How long do cook the ribs if it’s boneless
Karrie says
If using boneless ribs, braise for about 2 1/2 hours, until fork tender. Hope you enjoy the recipe Sandra!