Braised beef short ribs have become one of my signature comfort dishes after years of testing and refining this recipe in my kitchen. The secret to incredible short ribs is layering flavor at every step. The result is fall-off-the-bone beef that’s deeply flavorful and will have your home smelling amazing! Whether you’re cooking for a special dinner or simply craving something cozy, these braised short ribs are the kind of meal everyone remembers.
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In this recipe, I decided to cook my short ribs in my dutch oven. Some people enjoy smoking their short ribs, making them in a pressure cooker, or crockpot. But I find that insulating the meat and slow cooking them for 2.5 – 3 hours, releases the ultimate reward of flavors. This short rib recipe also pairs perfectly when served over a bed of mashed potatoes.
Why You’ll Love This Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe
If you’ve never made braised beef short ribs before, you’re in for a treat! This is one of my all-time favorite comfort meals for cozy nights or a dinner party. Each bite is bone tender, full of rich flavor, and coated in the most delicious sauce made right in your own kitchen. With a little patience and the right cooking method, you’ll turn a tough cut of meat into a fall-apart masterpiece. This dish is perfect for serving over creamy leek mashed potatoes.
Whether you use a large Dutch oven, slow cooker, or even a pressure cooker, this short ribs recipe always delivers restaurant-quality flavor with minimal effort and maximum depth of flavor. Prior to trying the recipe below, I will share a few cooking tips to ensure you have the juiciest braised short ribs to serve for your family, guests, or even yourself! To get started, here are some of my favorite tools to use when cooking braised beef short ribs:
What Do Braised Beef Short Ribs Taste Like?
Imagine tender beef that melts in your mouth, surrounded by a rich red wine sauce that’s layered with tomato paste, beef broth, and fresh herbs. The flavor deepens as the browned bits from the bottom of the pot blend with aromatic vegetables, creating a glossy, savory sauce that clings to every bite. The hint of Worcestershire sauce and a touch of sweetness from caramelized onions give it a comforting balance that’s perfect for a Christmas dinner or a cozy weekend meal.
Ingredients for Braised Beef Short Ribs
Here’s everything you’ll need to make this flavorful short ribs recipe:
- 8 Beef Short Ribs – bone-in short ribs (or boneless short ribs if preferred) create the best flavor and texture.
- ½ tsp Garlic Powder – enhances the savory base of the ribs.
- ½ tsp Onion Powder – adds depth and complements the fresh onion.
- Kosher Salt & Black Pepper – season generously to build flavor at every stage.
- ½ tbsp Light Olive Oil – helps achieve a perfect sear on medium-high heat without burning.
- 1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion, sliced – the start of any good homemade stock flavor base.
- 2 tbsp Butter – adds richness to your sauce ingredients.
- 4–6 Garlic Cloves, minced – the key step for deep aroma and flavor.
- 3 Celery Stalks, sliced – aromatic vegetables that build your braising liquid base.
- 1 cup Shredded Carrots – adds color, sweetness, and a lot of flavor.
- 1 heaping tbsp Tomato Paste – thickens your sauce and adds umami depth.
- 2 cups Red Wine – for a rich red wine sauce (use beef broth or veal stock instead if you prefer no alcohol).
- 2 cups Beef Broth – creates a lot of sauce for braising and keeps the ribs moist.
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce – adds tang and savory balance.
- 2 Bay Leaves – infuses subtle herbal notes during slow cooking.
How to Make Braised Beef Short Ribs
STEP 1: Preheat oven to 350°F (176°C). Take your beef short ribs out of the refrigerator and let them come to room temperature for even cooking. Pat dry, score the surface, and season all sides with salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
STEP 2: Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Sear the ribs for 2–3 minutes per side until browned short ribs form a light crust. Use a slotted spoon to remove them and set aside. Reduce to medium heat and sauté onions, garlic, celery, and carrots in butter, stirring with a wooden spoon to scrape up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Stir in tomato paste and cook for 1–2 minutes to deepen the flavor.
STEP 3: Pour in red wine (or substitute beef broth if preferred) and let it simmer until reduced by half. Add Worcestershire sauce, bay leaves, and the seared ribs back into the pot. Pour in enough beef broth to nearly cover the meat. Note: You want plenty of liquid but not a flood. This flavorful braising liquid will transform your ribs into bone tender perfection.
STEP 4: Cover with a tight-fitting lid or aluminum foil and transfer to the oven. Slow cook for about 3 hours, or until the meat easily pulls away from the bone. Skim off any layer of fat, then simmer the cooking liquid on medium-low heat until the rich sauce thickens. Serve your short ribs over creamy mashed potatoes, egg noodles, or creamy polenta, and finish with fresh parsley for a comforting, restaurant-quality meal.
Shopping and Prep Tips for Beef Short Ribs:
- Look For Marble – When shopping for short ribs, I try to pick the pack of ribs that have marble throughout. As the fat renders during the cooking process, the marble will release amazing flavor!
- Allow Beef To Come To Room Temp – When cooking with beef, it’s always best to allow each cut of meat to come to room temperature before searing so each piece of beef will cook evenly and quickly.
- Score Meat For Ultimate Flavor – One personal hack I always do when cooking my short ribs is after washing and patting the ribs dry, I will make slits or scores onto each side of the rib so the seasoning can penetrate deeper into the ribs during the cooking process.
Seasoning Tips Braised Beef Short Ribs:
- Marinate Beef Short Ribs If You Have Time – If you have time, I recommend seasoning your ribs with the 4 dry ingredients below at least 2 hours before cooking. The salt will start to break the beef down, resulting in a more tender dish.
- Rub Seasoning Into Ribs – I know chefs on some cooking shows may sprinkle their seasoning onto their meat like Salt Bae, but with these ribs, you should show love and RUB the seasoning into your meat.
- Sear and Brown Ribs – Before braising your beef short ribs in the oven, always sear and brown them first. If not, your ribs will have an undesirable brownish-gray color at the end of the cooking process. Searing them will give the ribs flavor, color and texture.
- Remove Extra Fat – After searing, there may be a lot of liquid fat left in the dutch oven. I normally drain some of the extra fat off, reserving about 1.5 tablespoons of leftover fat and fond in the dutch oven.
Cooking Beef Short Ribs:
- Don’t Toss The Fond – What is fond you may ask? In French cooking, “fond” means base. The little dark brown bits of seasoning you see at the bottom of your dutch oven after searing is called fond. It is full of flavor and can be transformed into an amazing sauce.
- Cook Your Onions First – In the recipe below, you will notice I allow a few extra minutes for cooking the onions prior to adding other ingredients. Sweating out the onions releases great moisture and flavor. I recommend adding your garlic and other ingredients after the onions have a chance to soften so the garlic does not cook too quickly.
- Use Dry Wine For Red Wine Reduction Sauce – If you choose to use wine in this recipe, please do not use sweet red wine. Always cook with a non-expensive dry red wine. Red wine reduction sauces go great with beef stew, steak, pot roast and other red meat recipes.
- You Can Replace Red Wine with Beef Broth – If you do not like cooking with alcohol, you can simply replace the two cups of wine listed below in this recipe with 4 cups of beef broth.
- Stir Your Beef Ribs Occasionally – I like to occasionally base my ribs while they’re cooking in the oven. This ensures the seasoning and juices are constantly distributed throughout the cooking process. This is totally optional, but sharing as part of my personal cooking process.
- Making Your Sauce – You can serve the juices and vegetables as is at the end of this recipe, or thicken it by removing the short ribs, taking 2 tbsp of corn starch and 2 tbsp of water, stir in a cup, pour into your dutch oven, and stir over low-medium heat until thickened.
How to Store Braised Beef Short Ribs
Store any leftover beef in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. The flavor actually deepens the next day, making it even more delicious. For longer storage, freeze cooled short ribs and sauce in a freezer-safe container or wrap tightly in aluminum foil to prevent freezer burn. Reheat gently over medium-low heat or in a covered pot until warmed through.
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FAQ
What’s the best wine to use?
A dry red like Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Pinot Noir gives the rich red wine sauce the best balance. You don’t need an expensive wine, just one you’d enjoy drinking.
What liquid is best for braising short ribs?
The best braising liquid combines beef broth, red wine, and Worcestershire sauce for the perfect balance of savory, acidic, and rich flavors. If you prefer not to use alcohol, you can replace the wine with extra beef broth or good homemade stock. The key is using a flavorful liquid that enhances the depth of flavor and keeps your short ribs juicy and tender.
Braised Beef Short Rib Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 Beef Short Ribs
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Onion Powder
- Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste
- 1/2 tbsp Light Olive Oil
- 1 Large Sweet Yellow Onion, sliced
- 2 tbsp Butter
- 4-6 cloves Garlic, minced
- 3 Celery Stalks, sliced
- 1 cup Shredded Carrots
- 1 heaping tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 cups Red Wine you can replace 2 cups of red wine with beef broth if you do not want to cook with alcohol
- 2 cups Beef Broth
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
- 2 Bay Leaves
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F (176 C). Take beef short ribs out of refrigerator, clean, pat dry and allow meat to reach room temperature so they can cook evenly in when searing. Score meat so seasoning will penetrate meat during cooking process. Season all sides of short ribs with: Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder. Show your meat some love by rubbing your seasoning into the meat!
- Take a dutch oven or cast iron pot. Add about 2 tbsp of light olive oil and bring up to temperature on low medium heat. Place seasoned meat in heated dutch oven with oil and sear all sides until a light crust is formed.
- Once searing process is complete, remove short ribs from the dutch oven, lower heat, and add sliced onion, allow onion to soften. Once onions are soft, add butter, minced garlic (Around 2 tbsp), sliced celery, and carrots. Stir until vegetables begin to sweat (Around 2 minutes). Next add 1 heaping tablespoon of tomato paste. Stir and allow tomato paste to cook for 1-2 minutes. This will lessen the bitter flavor of the tomato paste.
- Next add 2 cups of dry red wine (like a Cabernet). Reduce down by allowing mixture to come to a slight boil. Upon slight boil, turn off heat. NOTE: If you do not like cooking with alcohol, you can skip this step and add 4 cups of beef broth to your dutch oven instead.
- Once wine or beef mixture comes to a slight boil, turn off heat and add Worcestershire sauce, 2 bay leaves and stir. Add short ribs back to the red wine reduction sauce you just made. Add a few sprinkles of salt to taste. Cover with lid and allow to slow cook for 3 hours or until desired tenderness is achieved. Occasionally stir mixture and add salt to taste. Ribs are ready once they fall off the bone 😉. Enjoy!
Nutrition
WATCH – How To Make Braised Beef Short Rib
This looks so good and something my entire family would love. The beef looks so tender and just melt in your mouth. Yum! It’s perfect for lunch and dinner.
Maureen | http://www.littlemisscasual.com
Braised short ribs are just about the best thing in the world. They’re so tender and juicy, and yours look fantastic!
Yum! Perfectly created braised short ribs! An excellent recipe that is easier to make than I would have thought.
These instructions to make braised beef short ribs are amazing. The tip to use dry red wine is helpful. Looking forward to making it.
This looks delicious, especially slow-cooked like that in the Dutch oven. We are about to split a whole cow with a few friends, and ribs are one of the meats I don’t cook with often, and am not sure what to make. I am definitely going to give this recipe a try once we have the meat!
Yummy! I love steak. I was planning on having regular steak dinner tonight but thank you for sharing this, I will have this instead.
I haven’t made this before, and it actually doesn’t sound too difficult. Sounds like a great recipe to make over the holidays!
This dish is so yummy! I love beef with onions. My husband is very special about beef ribs, but I would like to make this meal for weekend dinner.
I haven’t ever attempted making this dish before as I wasn’t sure how. I am loving the sound of this recipe. It sounds like a dish my husband and I would love with plenty of flavour.
Garlic and onion are integral ingredients
to this recipe, which IMO is preferred over garlic and onion powder ( also used in the recipe ).
Curious why both are used.
Hi Carolyn! Great question! I recommend using garlic powder and onion powder in this recipe (in addition to the already fresh ingredients) because this creates an amazing fond at the bottom of your pan when cooking. This enhances the flavor from just using traditional salt, and compliments the other fresh ingredients in this recipe. The fat rendered from the beef short rib and caramelized bits of fond, creates a more robust flavor base when the pan is deglazed with wine or beef broth. Let me know how this works for you!
It would be a toss up between the beef broth and red wine for me.Both are great choices to use in the cooking.
Nnniiiccceeee…thank you for the tip of scoring the meat, for the ingredients to sip into the ribs further. The lover of ribs in me, thanks you too.
This looks so yummy, ever tried to cook this recipe before. would love to try it. Thank you for sharing!
I usually let the beef cooking to my husband. However, I definitely think I could follow your recipe and make this!
I just cooked Braised Beef Short Ribs last night. I will definitely try your recipe. It looks so yummy!