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.
When it comes to boneless short ribs, braising them low and slow with red wine and fresh herbs is one of the best ways to enjoy them. Simple and delicious.
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 for Red Wine Braised Boneless Short Ribs
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.
Shop this Recipe
I picked up one of these a while back and I’ve been loving it for dishes like this one to hold the fresh herbs. Simply fill and drop it in the pot, where it simmers away infusing flavour. Then it’s easy to pull out at the end! Great for soups, stews or braises.
Stainless Steel Spice Seasoning Strainer Tea or Herb Infuser Ball
Red Wine Braised Boneless Short Ribs
Boneless short ribs braised low and slow with red wine and fresh herbs. Cooked with vegetables for an easy and delicious one-pot meal.
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
Vegetables:
- 8-10 mini potatoes halved
- 1 large carrot peeled, halved and cut into 2-inch slices
Instructions
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Preheat oven to 350F.
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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.
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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.
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After 1 1/4 hours in the oven, remove from oven and stir in the large pieces of carrots and potatoes, if using. Return to the oven, covered, for another 1 1/4 hours or until meat pulls apart easily and vegetables are tender.
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Remove from oven. Remove herbs and discard. 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.
Recipe Notes
*Pick a red wine you enjoying drinking, for best results. I love a Cabernet Merlot. Cabernet Sauvignon works nicely as well.
Be sure to read the "Cook's Notes" in the original post, for more tips, options, substitutions and variations for this recipe!
Hi Jennifer! Great recipe and thanks for sharing! The recipe card calls for both diced carrots and carrots cut into 2 inch pieces – are the diced ones supposed to go in with the diced onions? And then the larger chunks later with the potatoes?
Hi Winnie, And yes, sorry I omitted the diced carrots in the instruction, but yes, they should go in with the diced onions. You’ll want to dice the carrots fairly small, about the same size as you onion or just a bit larger. That way they will break down and flavour the sauce as it cooks. Thanks for pointing that I. I have fixed the recipe card accordingly :)
Could you include recommended quantities of dried herbs if one doesn’t have fresh available, please? Thanks so much.
Hi Carol, I will add the equivalent of dried to the recipe card, but the basic conversion is to use 1/3 the amount of dried herbs instead of fresh.
Hi – Question, i’m confused. In step four it says to stir in carrots and potatoes but it never says to remove the carrots that were added in step 3. Am i supposed to leave the carrots in and then just add the potatoes in step 4? Or do I remove the carrots from the pot after cooking them with the onions in step 3?
Hi Rebecca and sorry, the carrots shouldn’t have been listed in step 3, but should be added with the potatoes in step 4. I have fixed the recipe card to correct. Thanks for pointing that out!
Hi Mary, I am not sure! With 3 cups of liquid and all the fat in the short ribs, there should have been lots of liquid (gravy) in the pot. Just to be sure, you did cook it covered in the oven, right?
This recipe was awesome! Thanks for sharing
So glad you enjoyed it, Kristen! Thanks :)
Fantastic dinner. It was not as cold as in Canada now that we live in Texas but it was very good. The flavors were fantastic, I add some mushrooms but oh so good.
So glad you enjoyed it, Cathy :) Thanks!
I love these flavors, what a perfect winter comfort meal!
Thanks Laura!
Truly comfort food and yours love delicious. I miss being able to get boneless short ribs since we moved to Florida…they all all bone in ones here.
Thanks so much, Karen :)
What a wonderful meal for a dinner party or date night! It looks amazing!
Thanks so much, Chris :)
Happy New Year, Jennifer!! For some reason it has been unseasonably warm for winter here, but it has been non-stop rainy and making me want ALL the comfort food! I love short ribs and these wine braised ribs are screaming my name! Looks amazing! Cheers!
Thanks so much, Cheyanne :)
Short ribs is one of our favorite comfort food meals Jennifer! I’m sure this wouldn’t disappoint. It look delicious!
Thanks so much, Mary Ann!
Mmm, so tempting! I might buy some short ribs tomorrow for the weekend. We have just the red for this recipe – earthy and peppery, I think they will taste great:)
Thanks so much, Milena. Sounds like you are set :)
I haven’t had beef short ribs in a long time, but they’re on my list! I love them with mashed potatoes but your version looks fantastic. Great recipe – and so comforting. Pinned!
Thanks Tricia :)