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.
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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!
Wonderful recipe! Added one diced shallot to mirepoix.
So glad you enjoyed it, Rose :) Thanks so much!
Hi, I’m making this now and since it’s just me, I cut it in half. Do I still cook for the same amount of time in the oven?
Hi Tammy and sorry, just seeing this now, so I’m thinking it’s done by now. It would cook about the same time, as long as it is cooked in a smaller pot. If it is halved ingredients, in a large pot, it would cook more quickly.
Made this tonight and they turned out soooooo delicious with some mashed potatoes. I had to add a little extra liquid but I am sure I had more meat than the recipe called for. Anyway, so awesome, I’ll definitely use your recipe again when I catch these on sale locally. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it, Melissa :) Thanks so much!
I loved this recipe great flavor. Only thing I did different was to add celery to the chopped vegetables to complete the mirepoix, the three aromatics create a beautiful flavor. I’ve never made short rib before and the were perfect thanks so much!
Sounds lovely, Matt! So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks :)
I’m looking forward to trying your recipe for company
Q. How far in advance can I make the short ribs ?
Q Should I store the ribs in the sauce in the pot in the refrigerator over night OR separately??
Hi Judi, For best results, I would make it same-day, if possible, perhaps making in the morning to serve that night. I would store the ribs with the sauce and gently re-heat, adding a bit more broth to loosen the sauce, if needed. You could maybe do the night before, but I haven’t tried that myself, so I’m not sure how well it holds up, especially for company.
do you put a cover on your pot when you simmer the wine reduction. I plan to make this in the next few days
Hi Denise and no, it should be uncovered when reducing the wine, but once the broth etc is added, it should cook covered. Enjoy!
Wow! This is amazing! A restaurant quality meal from my own kitchen! I have never made short ribs before so this was an experience and it was DEFINITELY a winner.
So glad you enjoyed it, Cathy :) Thanks so much!
making this for the 2nd time. absolutely delicious. i also used Costco short ribs boneless
So glad you are enjoying it, Karen :) Thanks so much!
This recipe was excellent. Used a nice Coppola Cabernet and beef broth. Had less than a pound of short ribs, and left out the potatoes and exta carrots, so 1 and 1/4 hours were perfect. Gravy had great flavor. Wondering how these would be if I made them with a nice bold Porter or stout beer.
So glad you enjoyed it, Charlie! And as for the Porter or stout, I do a beef pie braised in beer and it’s awesome, so I imagine this one with beer would be nice, as well :)
A question..after you have added the wine and let it cook down, how much liquid there be in the pot? Should it be almost dry? Thanks
Hi Dallas and no, it shouldn’t be dry. If you find it is, you should add more wine. Also, if you find it all evaporated, you may need a tighter pot. You can try covering the top with foil, then putting the lid on to see if that helps.
Used chicken bone broth and served over zucchini noodles. Also used Costco prime boneless short ribs cut into 3 inch pieces. Found I cooked in oven for 3 hours.
Fantastic recipe
Sounds great, Robin! Glad you enjoyed it :)
I almost never leave reviews but this was outstanding and credit must be given where it’s due. I made the recipe as-is in my Dutch oven except omitted the potatoes (because I made latkas to go with it – a recommended combo) and substituted 1 tsp herbes de provence for the parsley (because I had the former but not the latter on hand). Amazing. Teenage sons wolfed it down too. Thank you
Sounds lovely, Phil! So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks so much :)
Second time making it. I loved your advice on making sure the wine reduction time was allotted for. I think that makes the difference. I used the boneless ones Costco sells in my area and trim a lot of fat so there is not a lot that rises to the top. This is company worthy! love your recipe so much and I have tried so many.
So glad to hear, Karen :) Thanks so much!
Hi Jennifer, I made this minus the potatoes and carrots and found once I removed it after 2.5 hrs the wine and beef broth already were reduced to almost no liquid, was the absence of the vegetables what caused it to dry out? I followed everything else I believe. Otherwise the meat was very tasty.
Hi Paul and no, I wouldn’t think the absence of vegetables would cause it to be drier, but I haven’t tried it, so can’t say for sure. It could be that your pot wasn’t as tight (so a lot of evaporation). Or your ribs were quite lean (less fat). Hard to say exactly, but one thing to try is to check it half way through and add more broth/wine or both to the pot at that point.
Followed the recipe exactly and it was delicious!! It was so easy and everyone loved it! Will definitely make it again!
So glad to hear, Ashley :) Thanks so much!