Braised Beef Short Ribs (VIDEO)

How to Buy Beef Short Ribs

When going to the grocery store, you’ll often find short ribs sold in different ways. When choosing your short ribs, here are a few key things to know:

• Choosing the right cut: You’ll typically find beef short ribs cut two ways – English Cut and Cross-cut (also called Flanken-style). Flanken style ribs are perfect for grilling because they are cut much thinner and across multiple bones, and great for my Korean Marinated Short Ribs. For this red wine braised short ribs recipe, choose the English cut. These are cut between the bones, so each thick piece has a single bone attached, and they hold up beautifully in the braising liquid.
• Bone-in or Boneless: I recommend bone-in short ribs because the bone adds tons of flavor to the stock and final sauce. However, readers have successfully swapped thick cut boneless short ribs in this recipe! If using boneless ribs, start checking for tenderness about 30 minutes earlier than my recipe instructions.
• Marbling: Marbling is the streaks of fat in between the meat of the short rib. Ensure that the short ribs you are buying have a good balance of red meat to streaks of fat dispersed throughout the ribs. The photo below shows a good balance of marbling that you should look for.

Key Ingredients for Red Wine Braised Beef Short Ribs

• Short Ribs: Look for thick, English cut short ribs with balanced marbling and plenty of meat on the bone (the final ribs will shrink in size dramatically!)
• Avocado Oil: We give the short ribs a hard sear in oil to promote flavor, so you want a high temperature neutral oil in the pot. Refined avocado oil has a smoke point of over 500°F which is perfect for searing.
• Aromatics: Onion, carrot, celery, shallot and garlic – a rough chop on these is totally fine, because their purpose is simply to flavor the braising liquid before being strained out to reduce the sauce.
• Tomato paste: don’t skip this! The concentrated tomato adds savory depth and color to the sauce. Cooking it with the aromatics for 2 minutes before adding the red wine only deepens the flavor.
• Red Wine: go for an inexpensive bottle of dry red wine like Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot (I like the Trader Joe’s Charles Shaw brand – cheap and effective!). Stay away from “cooking wine” which often has added salt. For a non-alcoholic substitute, simply use 2 cups of low-sodium beef stock and 2 tbsp of red wine vinegar.
• Low Sodium Beef Stock: Using low-sodium beef stock is essential for this recipe. Because the braising liquid will be strained and reduced down, using regular beef broth (which has lots of salt), will make the sauce too salty. Stick to low sodium stock!
• Cold Unsalted Butter: Cold butter whisked into the reduced sauce gives it that silky, glossy texture. Use unsalted butter so your sauce doesn’t get too salty – you can always adjust with more salt later, but you can’t take it out!

How to Make Braised Beef Short Ribs

Sear and Braise the Short Ribs: Season the beef short ribs on all sides with kosher salt and black pepper, then in a 7 quart (or larger) Dutch oven, sear the short ribs in oil over medium high heat until deeply browned on all sides (in batches if necessary), then remove and set aside. Add the onions, carrots, celery, shallots, and garlic in the same pot, season with salt and pepper, then sauté for 2 minutes until softened. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 2 minutes. Deglaze with red wine, scraping up the flavorful brown bits, reduce the wine, then add back the beef short ribs along with beef stock, thyme, and rosemary before covering with a cartouche and partially covering with the lid and simmering until the short ribs are fork tender.

Reduce and Fortify the Sauce: Once the short ribs are fork tender remove them to a plate and strain the sauce and skim off any excess fat. Return the braising liquid to the pot and reduce it over high heat until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, then whisk in cold butter for a glossy finish. Spoon the rich sauce over the braised beef short ribs and serve with mashed potatoes, rice, or your favorite side with the delicious sauce!

What Is a Cartouche (and Why Use One?)

A cartouche is just a fancy French word for a parchment paper lid! I lay one on top of the short ribs and braising liquid (above in photo 5) before partially covering the pot with the lid. It’s a simple step that makes a BIG difference. Here’s why it works:

• No dry, tough spots: the parchment ensures contact between the braising liquid and top of the short ribs. So as the beef stock reduces, the broth-soaked parchment keeps in contact with the short ribs, keeping them covered and moist the whole time.
• Controls evaporation: the parchment slows how fast the liquid cooks off, so you don’t end up with a scorched pot or short ribs sitting in too little stock!

Serious Eats has a great guide on how to make one, but I’ve found using 10-inch parchment paper liners with holes (the same ones you use for steaming) works just as well!

If you tried this Braised Beef Short Ribs or any other recipe on my website, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments below!