Beef Short Ribs Braised in Red Wine
Grass-fed short ribs braised low and slow in red wine until the meat falls from the bone into a deep, glossy sauce – the most generous of the slow cuts.
Few cuts reward a slow oven quite like beef short ribs. They are the pot roast’s more decadent cousin – big, marbled knuckles of meat on the bone that start out firm and unyielding and, given a few unhurried hours in a red-wine braise, collapse into something spoon-tender, rich and glossy. As the first cooler evenings of late summer creep in and the kitchen windows begin to steam up again, this is exactly the sort of dish you want on the stove: a pan that fills the house with the smell of browned beef and reduced wine, and asks almost nothing of you once it is in the oven. It is unashamedly generous cooking, deeply savoury and built for sharing, and the sauce alone – dark, sticky and spooned over mash – is worth the price of admission.
Short ribs come from the lower forequarter of the animal, where the ends of the rib bones meet the belly and plate. Each one is a thick block of well-marbled meat sitting on a section of rib bone, run through with seams of fat and the collagen-rich connective tissue that makes this cut so special. There are two common butcher’s cuts: the ‘English’ cut, where the ribs are sawn across the bones into short, chunky pieces, and the ‘Jacob’s ladder’, a long strip cut along a single rib bone that can be roasted whole or divided into individual ribs. Either works beautifully here.
When you are buying, look for ribs with a good depth of meat over the bone and plenty of visible marbling – those fine white threads of intramuscular fat that melt as the meat cooks and keep it succulent. A generous cap of firm, creamy fat is a good sign, not something to shy away from; it renders down and enriches the sauce. Grass-fed beef, raised slowly on pasture, carries a deeper, more mineral flavour and a firmer texture than grain-finished meat, and a spell of dry-ageing concentrates that taste further. Avoid thin, lean ribs with little meat on the bone – they have nothing to give up over a long braise. Ask for pieces of even thickness so they cook at the same rate.
- 1.5kg grass-fed beef short ribs, bone in (about 4 thick ribs, or a Jacob’s ladder cut into individual bones)
- 2 tbsp plain flour, for dusting
- 2 tbsp olive oil (or beef dripping)
- Sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
- 2 onions, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 2 celery sticks, roughly chopped
- 1 bulb garlic, halved across the middle
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 500ml full-bodied red wine (Rioja, Syrah or Côtes du Rhône)
- 500ml good beef stock
- 2 bay leaves, a few sprigs thyme, 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 tbsp redcurrant jelly (optional)
- A knob of cold butter
- A small bunch flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
- Zest of 1 lemon
- 1 clove garlic, finely grated
- Season and dust. Take the ribs out of the fridge an hour before cooking so they lose their chill. Pat them dry, season all over with salt and pepper, then dust lightly with the flour, shaking off the excess.
- Sear hard. Heat the oven to 150°C (fan 130°C). Warm the olive oil or dripping in a heavy casserole over a medium-high heat and sear the ribs, in batches, until deeply browned on every side – 8 to 10 minutes a batch. Don’t crowd the pan. Lift the ribs out and set aside.
- Soften the aromatics. Turn the heat down to medium. Add the onions, carrots and celery to the same pan and cook for 8 to 10 minutes, stirring, until softened and just starting to colour, scraping up the browned bits from the base as you go.
- Build the base. Add the halved garlic bulb and the tomato purée and cook for a further 2 minutes, stirring, until the purée darkens and smells rich rather than raw.
- Reduce the wine. Pour in the red wine, turn up the heat and let it bubble hard for 4 to 5 minutes, scraping the base again, until reduced by about half and no longer smelling of raw alcohol.
- Assemble the braise. Pour in the beef stock and add the bay, thyme and rosemary. Return the ribs to the pan, nestling them bone side up so the meat sits in the liquid; it should come about two-thirds of the way up. Bring to a gentle simmer.
- Slow and low. Cover with a tight lid (or a sheet of baking parchment pressed onto the surface, then foil) and transfer to the oven. Braise for 3 to 3½ hours, turning the ribs once halfway, until the meat is spoon-tender and pulling away from the bone.
- Rest the ribs. Lift the ribs carefully onto a warm plate and cover loosely to keep warm. Strain the braising liquid into a wide pan, pressing the vegetables to extract every drop, then discard them.
- Reduce the sauce. Skim the fat from the surface of the sauce, then boil it hard for 8 to 12 minutes until reduced to a glossy, spoonable sauce that coats the back of a spoon. Whisk in the redcurrant jelly, if using, and the cold butter, and season to taste.
- Finish and serve. Make the gremolata: mix the chopped parsley, lemon zest and grated garlic. Return the ribs to the sauce to warm through and glaze, then serve scattered with the gremolata.
Short ribs are one of the toughest cuts on the animal in their raw state, and yet they become one of the most tender on the plate – the whole trick lies in what happens over those slow hours in the oven. The cut is packed with collagen, the connective tissue that holds hard-working muscle together. Cook it fast and that collagen simply seizes and toughens; hold it at a low, gentle heat for hours in a moist braise, though, and it slowly dissolves into gelatin. That gelatin is what gives properly braised short ribs their unctuous, lip-sticking richness and their spoon-tender texture, and what gives the sauce its glossy body.
The searing at the start matters too, and not just for looks. Browning the meat and the tomato purée triggers the Maillard reaction, building the deep, roasted, savoury flavours that no amount of simmering alone can create – it is the difference between a sauce that tastes of beef and one that tastes merely of stock. Reducing the wine before the long cook drives off its raw alcohol and sharpens it into a concentrated, fruity backbone. Then the low temperature does the patient work: kept at a bare simmer rather than a rolling boil, the muscle fibres stay relaxed and moist while the collagen melts around them. It is slow cooking at its most rewarding – a little effort at the stove, then time does the rest.
A different cut. No short ribs? Beef shin, cheek or a chunk of well-marbled chuck all take to the same red-wine braise and give you that same melting texture, though shin and cheek are leaner and cook a little faster. Oxtail is a wonderful, gelatinous alternative if you have the time. Whichever you choose, keep the low temperature and the long, gentle cook.
Change the liquid. If you would rather cook without wine, use an extra 300ml of good beef stock with a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar and a splash of dark, strong stout for depth. A spoon of port or Madeira at the end adds a sweet, rounded richness in place of the redcurrant jelly.
Play with the flavours. A few dried porcini and a splash of their soaking liquid make the sauce earthier and deeper still; a star anise or a strip of orange peel dropped into the braise sends it in a fragrant direction. For a smokier, more warming version, stir a little smoked paprika and a square of dark chocolate into the finished sauce.
Braised short ribs are one of those rare dishes that are genuinely better made ahead. Cook them fully, then cool and keep them in their strained sauce in the fridge overnight – the flavour deepens and the fat sets on top, ready to lift off cleanly before you reheat. Warm them gently in the sauce at 150°C for 30 to 40 minutes until piping hot, then reduce the sauce a little if needed. They keep for up to three days in the fridge and freeze beautifully for up to two months; defrost fully and reheat gently. The sauce, in particular, only improves with a day’s rest.
- Rushing the cook. If the ribs are still tough, they need more time, not less. Collagen only melts after hours of gentle heat – simply keep braising until the meat surrenders.
- Boiling instead of simmering. A hard, rolling boil toughens the muscle and can dry the meat out. Keep the braise at the barest simmer, which is why a low oven is more reliable than the hob.
- Skimping on the sear. Pale, un-browned ribs make a pale, flat sauce. Take the time to colour the meat deeply on every side before it goes into the braise – it is where half the flavour comes from.
Ask for the short ribs cut into individual bones rather than a whole rack if you want more surface area to brown – more crust means a deeper, richer sauce. And keep any trimmed fat: rendered down, it makes superb dripping for roast potatoes.
Wine: a full-bodied Northern Rhône Syrah or a Malbec, with the dark-fruited weight to stand up to the meat. Also: a robust Rioja Reserva echoes the slow-cooked beef. Non-alcoholic: a dark, malty alcohol-free stout has the body and gentle bitterness to match the richness.
This is a dish that begs for something soft and starchy to soak up the sauce. A mound of buttery mashed potato is the classic choice, but creamy polenta, celeriac mash or a slick of soft Parmesan risotto all do the job beautifully. Balance the richness with something green and a little bitter – buttered cavolo nero, wilted spinach or a sharp watercress salad – and add a spoonful of horseradish or grainy mustard on the side for bite. A hunk of proper bread to wipe the plate is non-negotiable. Serve the ribs on the bone for drama, or slip the bones out first for an easier, more elegant plate.
What are beef short ribs and where do they come from?
Short ribs are cut from the lower forequarter of the animal, from the ends of the rib bones where they meet the belly and plate. Each piece is a thick nugget of well-marbled meat sitting on a section of rib bone, laced with fat and connective tissue. Cut across the bones you get chunky ‘English cut’ ribs; cut along a single long bone you get the ‘Jacob’s ladder’. It is a hard-working, flavoursome cut that is tough when cooked quickly but turns meltingly tender with long, slow braising.
How long do beef short ribs take to cook?
For meltingly tender short ribs, plan on 3 to 3½ hours at 150°C (fan 130°C) once they are in the braise. They are ready when the meat is soft enough to pull from the bone with a fork and offers no resistance. Short ribs are very forgiving, so an extra 20 to 30 minutes won’t hurt – they simply keep getting more tender. Rushing them at a higher temperature only tightens the meat and dries it out.
Can I make braised short ribs ahead of time?
They are actually better made a day ahead. Braise the ribs fully, cool them in the strained sauce, and keep everything in the fridge overnight. The flavour deepens and the fat sets on top, so you can lift it off cleanly before reheating. Warm the ribs gently in the sauce at 150°C for 30 to 40 minutes until piping hot, then reduce the sauce if needed. They will keep for up to three days and freeze well for two months.
What wine should I use for braising short ribs?
Use a wine you would happily drink – a full-bodied, dry red such as Rioja, Syrah, Malbec or a Côtes du Rhône. Avoid anything labelled ‘cooking wine’, which is thin, salty and sour, and steer clear of very sweet or very tannic bottles. The wine reduces right down and becomes the backbone of the sauce, so its quality matters. A splash of port or a spoon of redcurrant jelly at the end adds a lovely gloss and roundness.
Why are my short ribs tough?
Almost always because they haven’t cooked long enough. Short ribs are full of collagen, and that only softens into silky gelatin after hours of gentle, moist heat. If they are still chewy, they need more time, not less – simply return them to the oven and keep braising. The other culprit is too high a temperature: a hard boil toughens the muscle fibres, so keep the braise at a bare, gentle simmer throughout.
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