Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

There is nothing more satisfying on a chilly fall evening than hearty stews and braised dishes, like this red wine braised short ribs. Rich, savory, and meltingly tender, this comfort food will warm you up from the inside out.

As I mentioned in my previous post, we recently celebrated my husband’s birthday. Our choice of entree for the night was red wine braised short ribs, paired with creamy mashed potatoes and butternut squash soup. Keeping up with the fall theme, we ended the dinner with my spiced carrot cake.

Low and slow

Since I had work meetings for most of that day, I decided to slow cook the short ribs using my Le Creuset Dutch oven. Braising it low and slow in the oven (3 hours at 300 degrees) enabled me to just set it and forget it. The result is worth the wait, as it’s succulent, flavorful, and full of intense beefy notes. What I also love about this dish is that it pairs well with a lot of side options. Depending on your preference, you can eat it with mashed potatoes, polenta, or even rice!

Don’t have 3 hours? Try pressure-cooking in the Instant Pot!

Alternatively, if you don’t have three hours to wait but can at least spare 40 minutes, you can use this same recipe to pressure cook in the Instant Pot. However, you’d probably want to cut the ingredients in half as all the short ribs won’t fit in a standard Instant Pot. My Dutch oven is pretty spacious and we had seven folks for the dinner, so it was better for me to use that. Don’t worry, halving the recipe will still feed about 4 people.

Do the same initial steps of seasoning and browning the short ribs, sautéing the vegetables, and deglazing with red wine in Sauté mode. Then add all the other ingredients except for the cornstarch and set it to High Pressure for 40 minutes and then Quick Release once it’s done cooking. When you’re ready to add your cornstarch to thicken the liquid a bit, temporarily remove the short ribs and set the Instant Pot back in Sauté mode. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add back your braised short ribs into the pot. And that’s it!

Red Wine Braised Short Ribs

Serves: 7-8 Prep Time: 20 minutes Cooking Time: 3 hours 3 hours

Nutrition facts: 200 calories 20 grams fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 7 voted )

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Ingredients

• 12-15 bone-in beef short ribs
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 3 tbsp garlic, minced
• 2 medium carrots, chopped
• 2 celery sticks, chopped
• 1 cup red wine (I used Cabernet Sauvignon)
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/4 cup cornstarch

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven at 300 degrees.
2. Heat up 2 tbsp of olive oil in a large oven-safe pot or Dutch oven. Pat dry your short ribs and season all sides with salt and pepper. Then, brown all sides of your short ribs once your oil is hot. Don't crowd them too much--you may have to do this in batches. Once you're done browning all of the short ribs, take them out of the pot and set them aside.
3. Sauté your aromatics (onion and garlic) until the onions have softened a bit. Next, add in your veggies for sautéing as well (3 minutes should suffice). Make sure to season your veggies and aromatics with salt and pepper as you sauté. This will ensure that your flavor really builds throughout the cook.
4. Deglaze your pot with the red wine, making sure to scrape all those delicious brown bits at the bottom of the pot. Let it reduce to about half of its original volume.
5. Add all the other ingredients (except for the cornstarch) and mix thoroughly. Then, add the short ribs back in, and make sure that all ribs are covered in the braising liquid as much as possible.
6. Cover the pot with an oven-safe lid and place in the oven to cook for 3 hours. About 30 minutes before the time is up, remove the lid and gently stir. Let it continue to cook without the lid for the rest of the cooking time--this is to let the braising liquid reduce a bit more.
7. Once done in the oven, remove the braised short ribs from the pot and set aside temporarily. Set the oven on the stove on medium heat. In a very small bowl, mix your cornstarch with some of the braising liquid (maybe about 1/2 cup) until you get a homegenous liquid mixture without any cornstarch lumps. Once you're sure it's smooth, pour it back into the pot on the stove and simmer for 2 minutes until your braising liquid has thickened up. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Put the short ribs back in the pot.
8. Serve with your choice of sides! For this particular dinner, I paired it with creamy mashed potatoes.

Notes

Don't have 3 hours? Try pressure-cooking in the Instant Pot!

Alternatively, if you don't have three hours to wait but can at least spare 40 minutes, you can use this same recipe to pressure cook in the Instant Pot. However, you'd probably want to cut the ingredients in half as all the short ribs won't fit in a standard Instant Pot. My Dutch oven is pretty spacious and we had seven folks for the dinner, so it was better for me to use that. Don't worry, halving the recipe will still feed about 4 people.

Do the same initial steps of seasoning and browning the short ribs, sautéing the vegetables, and deglazing with red wine in Sauté mode. Then add all the other ingredients except for the cornstarch and set it to High Pressure for 40 minutes and then Quick Release once it's done cooking. When you're ready to add your cornstarch to thicken the liquid a bit, temporarily remove the short ribs and set the Instant Pot back in Sauté mode. Season with salt and pepper to taste, and add back your braised short ribs into the pot. And that's it!

• // ON THE SCENE

  • Bottom backdrop: Woodville Workshop — Amsterdam
  • Props: oven mitts