Braised Short Ribs
Braised short ribs are one of the best cold weather comfort foods out there. Extremely tender and flavorful, these short ribs are braised in a delicious red wine broth for hours. While typically thought of as a fancy dish, this recipe is quite simple to pull off. If you have 3-4 hours, then you can make this recipe and impress all of your guests.
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: brown your beef!
The first thing that you will want to do is generously season all sides of the short ribs with salt and pepper. If you have our Open Fire BPS Rub, you could use that as well. Once seasoned, it’s time to brown the short ribs. Heat a large Dutch oven or oven-safe pot over medium-high heat. Once heated, add the short ribs in batches (making sure not to overcrowd) and sear each side for 2-3 minutes. This browning process will result in short ribs with better flavor and color. Some fat will render out from the short ribs – make sure to leave this in the Dutch oven (we’ll be repurposing it). When the short ribs are browned, remove them from the heat and set aside.
Make the braising liquid.
The first part of making the braising liquid involves preparing vegetables. You’ll need to roughly chop the following:
- Onion
- Carrots
- Celery
- Garlic
Remember that rendered out fat from the short ribs that I told you to keep? You’re going to sauté these vegetables in it. After the vegetables have sauteed for a minute or so, add some tomato paste and continue to sauté. You’ll then add the following herbs:
- Parsley
- Thyme
- Bay leaves
I recommend putting these herbs in something like a large tea bag so that they are easy to remove at the end of the cook. After sauteing for a minute or two, add red wine and beef broth. Add the short ribs back into the Dutch oven (meat side down) so that the majority of each short rib is covered in the liquid. Bring everything to a boil, cover with a lid, and put in an oven at 275ºF for 3-4 hours.
The most difficult part: waiting.
There really isn’t a whole lot to do while the short ribs are in the oven. You’ll want to check on them at the halfway point to make sure they’re starting to get tender. Once they are tender enough to your liking (usually around 3-4 hours), remove the Dutch oven from the oven but keep the lid on. Allow the short ribs to sit in the Dutch oven another 30 minutes. After the 30 minutes is up, you can either serve the braising liquid as is with the vegetables, or strain it if you don’t want to include the veggies. Either way, I highly recommend serving the liquid over the short ribs (GREAT flavor!).
Leftovers are rare.
Enjoy this delicious and elegant dish. My favorite way to have these short ribs is to serve them over garlic chive mashed potatoes, with this braising liquid drizzled all over, and then garnished with more chives. The meat will be fall off the bone tender and the braising liquid / mashed potatoes bring everything together for an amazing bite. In my house, we’re usually fighting over second helpings and almost never have any leftovers. These really are delicious and easy to make. The perfect comfort food to help you get through these last weeks of winter. You’ll be licking your plate.
Braised Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 5 Short ribs bone in
- 1 Onion roughly chopped
- 2 Carrots roughly chopped
- 2 Celery ribs roughly chopped
- 8 Garlic cloves roughly chopped
- 2 tbsp Tomato paste
- 1 bunch Parsley
- 5 sprigs Thyme
- 3 Bay leaves
- 1 cup Red wine
- 6 cups Beef broth
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- Chives for garnish
Instructions
- Generously season all sides of the short ribs with salt and pepper. Alternatively, our Open Fire BPS Rub could be used as well.
- Heat a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the short ribs (working in batches – do not overcrowd) for 2-3 minutes per side. Remove from the heat and set aside. Repeat with the remaining short ribs. Do not discard of the rendered short rib fat in the Dutch oven.
- Light the oven to 275ºF.
- Sauté the onion, carrots, celery, and garlic in the rendered short rib fat. Lightly season with salt and pepper. Add the tomato paste and sauté for another minute or two.
- Add the parsley, thyme, and bay leaves and continue to sauté for another minute or two. If you are able to, I recommend putting these herbs in a tea bag so that they're easy to remove at the end.
- Add the red wine and beef broth. Add the short ribs bone side down, making sure they are mostly covered with the braising liquid. Bring this to a boil, cover with a lid, and put in the oven for 3-4 hours.
- After the first 90 minutes, check on the short ribs to see how far along they are with the cook. Once they are tender enough to your liking, remove the Dutch oven from the oven but keep lid on and allow the short ribs to rest in the braising liquid for 30 minutes.
- After the 30 minute rest, you could strain the braising liquid of the vegetables and herbs or serve it as is.
- To serve, put a short rib or two over some mashed potatoes or polenta and then drizzle braising liquid over everything. Enjoy!
