These Red Wine Braised Boneless Short Ribs and easy and delicious. Cooked low and slow, this is perfect Winter comfort food!
Happy New Year! Around here, the weeks following the new year are the coldest of the year. It’s the height of comfort food season and that’s definitely something to be happy about.
To celebrate, I picked up some beautiful boneless short ribs from the butcher and braised them low and slow with lots and lots of red wine and fresh herbs. There is just no competing with tender, wine and herb infused short ribs.
This time around, I added some mini potatoes and carrots half way through cooking, though I sometimes just use the carrots and serve these short ribs over mashed potatoes or polenta.If you are overdue for a pot of short ribs and a whole lot of comfort in a pot, I can’t recommend this dish more.
Cook’s Notes
When it comes to the wine, a dry red wine is where to start. Beyond that, chose the red that you would pick up to drink. In my case, that was a Cabernet Merlot. A Cabernet Sauvignon would be another great choice, if you enjoy that blend.
The reason short ribs are so lovely is that they are so fully marbled with fat. While that makes the meat beautifully tender, it also cooks off into the lovely gravy. So I like to get it out of the way after the dish is cooked. Here are a few ways to deal with the fat from the short ribs …
1) After taking out of the oven, remove the short ribs and vegetables to a separate bowl and let the pot sit undisturbed for 10-15 minutes. The fat will rise to the top, where you can spoon it off. Then simply return the ribs and vegetables to the gravy and reheat on the stove-top.
2) Remove the ribs and vegetables as above, then pour the gravy into a gravy separator and pour off the fat.
3) If you are making ahead, simply put the gravy in the fridge and the fat will solidify on the top, where you can scoop off and discard before reheating.
Top Tip! Tie your fresh herbs together with cooking-safe string or wrap in cheesecloth to make it easy to remove them all at the end of cooking.
Fresh herbs are lovely if you have them. If not, you can substitute with some or all dried herbs.
I prefer to use a good chicken broth, rather than beef broth, as I’m never happy with the flavour of store-bought beef broth. You can use either.
As noted above, you can add potatoes to the dish as it cooks, or skip the potatoes in the dish and serve this over potatoes or polenta instead.
Want to save this recipe?
Enter your email and I'll send it to your inbox. Plus, you'll get great new recipes from me every week!
By submitting this form, you consent to receive emails from Seasons and Suppers.
You can unsubscribe at any time.
Get the Recipe: Red Wine Braised Boneless Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 2 lb. boneless short ribs, about 4
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and quite finely diced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 Tbsp all purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups dry red wine, *see notes
- 1 1/2 cups chicken broth, or beef broth
- 5 sprigs flat-leaf parsley, or 2 tsp dried parsley
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme, or 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary, or 1/2 tsp dried rosemary
- 1 bay leaf
- Salt and freshly ground pepper
Vegetables:
- 8-10 mini potatoes, halved
- 1 large carrot, peeled, halved and cut into 2-inch slices
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F.
- In a Dutch oven or large, oven-safe pot with a lid, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add short ribs and sear on all sides until golden. Remove from pot to a plate.
- Remove most of the oil from the pot. Add the diced carrots and onions and cook, stirring, over medium heat until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes. Add the flour and tomato paste to the pot and continue cooking, stirring constantly, for another minute. Add the wine to the pot. Bring to a boil then reduce heat to medium low and simmer until wine reduces by half (about 20-25 minutes) *Don't rush this step! When the wine has reduced, add the broth and the herbs to the pot and stir to combine. Return the short ribs to the pot. Cover pot with lid and cook in preheated oven for 1 1/4 hours.
- After 1 1/4 hours in the oven, remove from oven and stir in the large pieces of carrots and potatoes (listed as "Vegetables" in the Ingredients), if using. Return to the oven, covered, for another 1 1/4 hours or until meat pulls apart easily and vegetables are tender. *Make sure there's a good bit of liquid in the pot at this point, to cook the vegetables. If not, add a bit more broth, wine or both.
- Remove from oven. Remove herbs and discard. Taste sauce and season with salt and freshly ground pepper, as needed. Remove short ribs and vegetables to a plate. Allow sauce to stand undisturbed for 10-15 minutes. The fat in the gravy should rise to the top, where you can spoon it off and discard. Return the short ribs and vegetables to the pot and re-warm on the stove-top with the gravy.
Notes
Hi! I’m Jennifer, a home cook schooled by trial and error and almost 40 years of getting dinner on the table! I love to share my favourite recipes, both old and new, together with lots of tips and tricks to hopefully help make your home cooking enjoyable, stress free, rewarding and of course, delicious!
This was delicious! I replaced the potatoes with whole cremini mushrooms and reduced the broth by a 1/4 cup and came out perfectly. Mushrooms exude liquid so I had to account for that.
To comment about not salting the ribs, I don’t salt meat when it’s going to be cooked for a long time. The salt concentrates and intensifies, so I always leave that to the end with bolognese, stews, soups etc. You can always add salt, but you can’t get it out of a dish. :-)
So glad you enjoyed it, Catherine! Thanks so much :)
Hi Jennifer, I made this last night and it was AMAZING. I noticed that the recipe doesn’t call for salting the meat before cooking, so I didn’t. It came out delicious, but I am wondering what difference it would make if you did salt the meat prior to searing it. Thank you!
Hi Jillian and so glad you enjoyed it! I’m always a bit wary of doing too much salting at the start for dishes that are going to cook low and slow. The longer cooking time seems to amplify the salt. I prefer to salt at the end of cooking myself. You could certainly do a light salting to start if you like.
I have some country-style boneless beef ribs. I know these are a different cut of beef, but could I substitute country-style ribs? And would I need to modify the recipe in any way?
Hi Kelly and I think they would work just fine. I haven’t tried it myself, but my feeling is it wouldn’t require any modifications if the weight is the same. Boneless can cook more quickly so it may be ready a bit earlier (but it won’t hurt it if it goes the full time).
Thanks for our great Xmas meal, this was made the day prior, and then slowly reheated. I whirled all the small veg into the gravy in my blender and it made just a lovely sauce/gravy! Wonderful recipe, really enjoyed with some mashed and green beans! Happy Holidays
So pleased you enjoyed it, Carol. Thanks so much!
Soo good.
I woud like to make this recipe for a 6 people using about pounds of beef.
do I just triple everything or need to adjust the amount of liquid ?
Thanks.
Hi Susan and yes, just triple everything.
So yummy and really easy. The leftovers are going to be even better!
So pleased you enjoyed it, Kelly. Thanks so much!
Outstanding! My husband is the chef in our home and I took on braised short ribs while he was out of town. I did cut them in half prior to searing and followed the directions precisely. The flavors married perfectly. Honestly, it was next level. My cooking time was reduced to 1 hour 45 with a 10 minute rest perhaps because my ribs were halved, and on the smaller side. I was short 1/2 cup of wine so I added 1/2 cup of water to ensure the liquid remained the same. All was good! Great recipe, easy to follow, and truly delicious. Thank you so much!
So pleased you enjoyed it! Thanks so much :)
This was terrific and I will definitely add it into the rotation.
So pleased you enjoyed it Sharon! Thanks :)
Jennifer- how many would this recipe serve??? Judy
Hi Judy, I’ve specified 4 servings (one short rib per person).
Didn’t see it… thx