Braised Beef Short Ribs in Red Wine Sauce

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. 🙂

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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

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Slow Braised Beef Short Ribs
Watch how to make it

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 😂