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!
Excellent recipe and method! Just delicious.
So glad you enjoyed it, Jenifer :) Thanks so much!
I made this recipe as an experiment before serving it to company. WOW, it is fantastic. I like that it freezes well and I thawed & served it to a friend (again, as part of the experiment). I am making it tomorrow for company coming on the following day, because yes, it is deeper and richer with an overnight in the fridge. I agree whole heartedly about using very good wine in cooking!!!
So glad to hear, Mary :) Thanks so much!
Good recipe. Only change I would make is to season the meat with salt and pepper before browning. I did that and this recipe is exceptional.
So glad you enjoyed them, Glenn :) Thanks so much!
This recipe is amazing. The best short ribs and no bones! Will be making many more times. Thank you!
So glad you enjoyed it, Deborah :) Thanks so much!
Love this recipe. This is my third time making this dish. I always fallow this recipe to the letter. This is my family favorite dish.
So glad you are enjoying it, Genese :) Thanks so much!
Can you make this the day before and reheat in oven?
Hi Sandy and yes, it should do fine made a day ahead and reheated. Enjoy!
Would you separate the sauce from the meat overnight in fridge? What is the best way to reheat 6lbs of short ribs the day of serving for our Xmas dinner Thanks for your input!
I don’t think you need to separate, Sandy. To reheat, I would cover with foil and re-heat in a 350F oven until warmed though. If you take it out of the fridge a bit ahead, so it isn’t as cold going into the oven, it would best, as it will heat more quickly. Also, using a larger, shallow pan, so it isn’t as deep, will help it to re-heat more quickly and evenly. If it seems to be drying at all (it shouldn’t really, if it’s covered), add a bit of broth to loosen it up.
Made this for dinner tonight and it was amazing. Followed the recipe as it was, except did only carrots with the meat and served over mashed potatoes with roasted asparagus on the side. Not only was it delicious but the whole house smelled amazing. Perfect for a cold late fall evening. Thank you for the great recipe.
So glad you enjoyed it, Gaby :) Thanks so much!
These were so easy to make and turned out delicious!
So glad you enjoyed it, Louann :) Thanks so much!
This was absolutely delicious, and so easy! I did add celery to make a mirepoix, and then, after removing the shortribs and later carrots, I used my immersion blender to make a nice smooth gravy. This recipe is now on the rotation. Thank you for posting this!
Thanks so much, Sarah :) So glad you enjoyed it!
Followed the recipe as well and came out perfectly. I’ve since made this a couple of different ways, I’ve done the similar process but instead of the oven did it in the slow cooker for about 5hrs on high and then 3hrs on low. I’ve also made them similarly using stout beer instead of wine. The flavour becomes a little more mellow and more stew like, equally fantastic.
So glad to hear, Chris :) Thanks so much!
Followed the recipe pretty much except for the parsley, bay leaf, thyme & rosemary, didn’t have it in my pantry but, it was still amazing! I did however season my ribs a little more, used 2 1/2 large onions cut in large pieces instead of chopped, a bag of peeled baby carrots, 9.5oz bone broth and 2 stalks of celery and added baby medley potatoes and the 1/2 onion half way through. I used 3 full cups Cabernet Sauvignon (maybe more), 2 Tbsp tomato paste and only 1 Tbsp flour. I also added a skinned plum chopped very fine after adding the wine & broth for a little sweetness. I served it over rice but next time will try over polenta. It was delicious, definitely will keep this recipe and cook again!
Sounds lovely! So glad you enjoyed it. Thanks!
It’s in the oven as I type this…Short Ribs are my favorite thing to order out…saw them in the butcher shop and decided to make them for my daughter and her boyfriend when they get home they have something delicious to eat, it smells AMAZING!!!
Enjoy, Renee :)
Hi. This sounds so good. I am planning on making for tonight but do not have an oven safe pot. Can I do the braising and the vegetables in a pot and then transfer it all to a pyrex and cover with foil in the oven? Thank you.
Hi Perri-Anne and yes, you absolutely can do that :) Just make sure you get a nice tight seal on your foil so the liquid doesn’t evaporate. (You can even place a baking sheet over the top of the foil to keep it nicely flat). Enjoy!
Great recipe, and delicious results! Followed the recipe to the word the first time. Second time, I tossed in a cinnamon stick with the bouquet garni. The cinnamon gave it a Greekish flavor. Yummy!
So glad you enjoyed it, Chris and like the sound of the cinnamon :) Thanks!
Well, the ’15 minute prep time’ might be accurate if you have a sous-chef living at your house, but this is a common malady of all online recipes. Well worth the time it takes.
Glad you enjoyed it, Doug :) Thanks so much!