Red Wine Braised Short Ribs is my comfort meal for any rainy day. Just add a glass of wine, a cozy couch, and a big bowl of these short ribs. With Spring in Montana it brings lots of rainstorms and today we’ve had nothing but this weird on and off again stormy weather. So this is totally appropriate and necessary for a day like today.
Not to mention it might be the last time I make them for the season. I always try to cook with the season and for some reason a big pot of braised short ribs just don’t have the same appeal in the middle of Summer like it does on a snowy cold day in the Winter.
I typically braise my beef short ribs in beer, it deserves something a little heartier and Guinness gets the job done. If you haven’t already tried my Guinness Braised Short Ribs you need to get on that. But not before you try this recipe first. I do love that recipe and it is my go to for company in the winter months. It’s comforting and impressive, but every once in a while I like to switch it up and I had an open bottle of Bordeaux to use up. Yes, sometimes there is such a thing as leftover wine at my house. This doesn’t happen often though.
I like to add the sauteed mushrooms last, I always feel like if it all cooks together the mushrooms get overcooked and soggy. When you saute them last they maintain their structure and meatiness. My favorite mushrooms to use in this recipe are cremini, baby bella or even chanterelles. It all depends on what I have on hand.
This dish is so simple and so delicious to put together. Serve with some creamy mashed potatoes or even on top of some pasta.
Wine Pairing Recommendation: I highly suggest drinking what you cook with and you always want to cook with what you would want to drink. A French Bordeaux or California Cabernet Sauvignon would be perfect to cook with and to drink. Remember choose something you’d want to drink and in that $10-15 price range, you don’t want to cook with something too nice.
So pour yourself a glass and get to cooking! Cheers!
Red Wine Braised Short Ribs
Cooking with a hearty wine like Bordeaux leaves you with a velvety and flavorful sauce. I highly suggest you pair your dinner with what you cook with. Serve on top of creamy mashed potatoes and enjoy to your heart's content.
Ingredients
- 4 pounds Beef Short Ribs, about 6 large short ribs
- Kosher Salt and Ground Black Pepper, for seasoning
- 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoons Butter
- 1 whole Onion, chopped
- 3-4 whole Carrots, peeled and sliced on bias
- 6 whole Garlic Cloves, minced
- 2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 1 can {14.5 ounces} Diced Tomatoes
- 1 cup Red Wine
- 2 cups Beef Stock
- 2 whole Bay Leaves
- 1 package {8 ounces} Baby Bella Mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tablespoon Cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons Cold Water
- Parsley, chopped for garnish
Directions
- Step 1 In a large heavy bottomed pot, heat olive oil over medium high heat. Liberally season the short ribs with kosher salt and pepper. Sear all sides of short ribs in pot, about 2 minutes a side. Remove to a plate and set aside. Pour oil out of the pot and turn heat down to medium.
- Step 2 Add butter to the pot, chopped onions and carrots. Saute for about 3-5 minutes until veggies are slightly tender. Add garlic and tomato paste. Stir to combine and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.
- Step 3 Add the can of tomatoes with juice to pot. Stir in red wine. Deglaze and scrap any brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Step 4 Add beef stock and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer. Add short ribs back to the pot and cover. Simmer on a consistent low temp for 3 hours.
- Step 5 Every stove varies, but for me I have to keep it on a higher low setting. You want a continuous simmer so short ribs can braise and break down.
- Step 6 Remove short ribs to a serving platter and continue to simmer the sauce while assembling. Fish out bay leaves and discard. In a separate pan heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium high heat. Add mushrooms and saute for 5 minutes until browned and tender. Top sauteed mushrooms on short ribs.
- Step 7 Whisk together cornstarch and cold water in a small bowl until dissolved. Add cornstarch slurry into the sauce and stir until sauce is thickened. Turn heat off and spoon sauce over short ribs.
- Step 8 Serve on top of mashed potatoes and garnish with chopped parsley. Enjoy!
My mashed potatoes consist of a combination of 5 lbs. red potatoes and gold potatoes, quartered. I cut off any eyes, scrapes or scummy bits off the potatoes, but keep most of the skin, this is purely preference. I like the texture it adds, that, and I hate peeling potatoes, but feel free to peel away if that’s your jam. I boil the potatoes with a whole head of garlic, cloves separated and skins removed {I love this method because you get a mild garlic flavor that isn’t harsh or overpowering}. Drained and mashed into 1 whole stick {1/2 cup} of melted unsalted butter, 1/2 cup heavy cream and 1 {4 ounce} package of room temperature cream cheese. Mash together until creamy. {There was a key word there, MASH, do not whip your potatoes with a mixer, this makes them tough and glue like.} Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt and 1 teaspoon ground black pepper.
Savor and Enjoy!
Can I use a cast iron pan for this?
Hi Nina,
You can, however it would require a lid or some sort of makeshift foil lid for braising. I often use my shallow Le Creuset pan and it works great. But lid is key to braising. Let me know how it turns out!
Cheers,
Victoria
Hi, I’m making this for 10 people. Double ingredients and how many pounds of short ribs should
I buy?
Hi Nina, I like preparing this dish for one short rib per person, you can ask your butcher to cut the short ribs in half if they’re too large. They say rule of serving meat is 1/2 pound per person. I have done this dish for a crowd before and it does get rather expensive. Hope that helps! Cheers!
How many pounds of potatoes do you use for your mashed potatoes?
Hi Conor, I use the rule of 1/2 pound per person so a 3 pound bag will feed 6 people. Hope that helps!
Delicious! Was a big hit at family dinner tonight.Thanks
I’m glad you enjoyed, this is a big hit with my family gatherings as well. Cheers!
Hi! Looks like a great recipe!
Can I do it in my slow cooker?
Thanks! :)
Hi Sanna,
You absolutely can! Just make sure you sear the short ribs first and saute the veggies before placing everything in the slow cooker on low for 8 hours. Save the cornstarch slurry for the last 30 minutes to thicken the sauce. Enjoy!!
I made this for dinner it was delish. I am going to be making this again for company. Must I add the carrots as I am making another dish that has carrots. I am afraid it will be over load
Hi Debbie, I’m glad you enjoyed! You can definitely omit the carrots for this dish. Let me know if you have any other questions. Cheers!
I am making these tommorow. I plan to slow cook them should I first do the sauce in a pot then transfer everything?
Hi Debbie, No need to do the sauce first because everything cooks together. Follow the instructions up to the point where you are sauteeing the veggies and just transfer seared short ribs and sauteed veggies to your slow cooker and cover with remaining ingredients through the mushrooms. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Finish the last half hour with the cornstarch slurry to thicken the sauce. Serve as instructed and enjoy!
I’m making this tonight and could only find boneless short ribs. I’m curious how that affects the cooking time. Thanks! Will let you know the results.
Hi Beth, While I’ve never personally made cooked them bone out. I would think it wouldn’t affect the cooking time too much maybe adjust a half hour less but I would check them to see how tender they are. Cheers!
Hello! I made this for Christmas dinner last year and it was such a hit that it has been requested again this year. I would love to simplify this and do the searing ahead of time if possible so I don’t have to be in the kitchen for as long on Christmas Day. Any ideas?? Thanks!
Hi Katie, You can prep this all the way up to step 4 and store in your fridge overnight. Just allow for time for it to get back to temp, so to speak, add about an extra hour to your cooking time. Hope this helps and Merry Christmas to you and yours!
Thank you! Merry Christmas!
Can this be done in the oven, if so what temp and how long? Thanks!
Hi Barbara, It most certainly can be, just make sure you bring everything to a simmer in your dutch oven before covering and placing in a preheated 350 degrees F oven for 2 1/2 – 3 hours. Cheers!
Question on your mashed potato recipe: you boil the potatoes with a whole head of garlic – do you mash the garlic in or remove it before mashing? Thanks!!
Hi Deanna, Yes you leave in the garlic cloves that cooked with the potatoes. They will be soft and will just melt into the potatoes as you mash the whole mixture, making deliciously garlicky potatoes! Enjoy!
I made this for dinner tonight and it’s so delicious I just had to thank you for sharing . The mashed potatoes are the best I’ve had! I will be making with the cream cheese from now on. I used boneless beef ribs and followed your recipe to a T! This will be my go to beef recipe on cold winter days. I’m having witb a Mondavi Cabernet sauvignon!
Hi Sharon! I’m so glad you enjoyed! Thank you and cheers!!
I made this dish Saturday night for a dinner party. Everyone loved it! I omitted carrots as I had a separate carrot dish, I substituted celery instead. FABULOUS!
That’s great Reenie! So glad you all enjoyed! Cheers!
Mashed Potatoes Question: What is your ratio for red to gold potatoes? I just want to make sure I have the portions correct so I don’t lose out on the creamy garlic flavor! TYIA!
Hi. I’m going to attempt this in my Instant Pot and cook on high pressure for 30 minutes. I’m just wondering about the sauce. Does the liquid typically reduce on the stove top? Because it won’t reduce in the IP. Will that leave too much liquid for the sauce? Or is there usually still the three cups of liquid after cooking? Thanks!
Hi Tarrah, Yes the liquid does reduce a little bit during the cooking process, but not much. Keep me updated on how it turns out using an Instant Pot. Cheers!
It came out great! So tender and juicy. I seared the meat in my cast iron skillet, reserved the oil for the mushrooms, and did everything else in the instant pot, sautéing the veggies, and cooking the meat and sauce. I did have to add more corn starch to get the sauce to thicken up because there was still a lot of liquid. But this was a fast and easy way to make the dish and it tasted amazing! Thanks for the recipe!
Aw I’m so glad it turned out delicious! Thank you!
For people in the group who don’t eat red meat, could you add chicken thighs (browned first) to the short ribs in the Dutch oven? So they would both be cooking in the same sauce.
Hi Bonnie, You could definitely make this recipe with chicken thighs too. Although, I would check first with the people who don’t eat red meat, sometimes people are particular with cross contamination if you’re cooking them together. This would be delicious with just chicken thighs, that would make it Coq Au Vin! Just use chicken stock as a substitute for beef stock. Enjoy either way!
I want to make this recipe for a dinner party where the group will be out all day. If I made the entire recipe two days earlier and stored in fridge, can it be reheated and served successfully? I will not have time the day of the party to braise the short ribs then.
Hi Carolyn, I personally have never made it that far in advance and reheated it, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t turn out just fine. My only tip would be to stop at ‘Step 5’ and bring the pot back to a simmer before continuing ‘Step 6-8’ until ready to serve. Let me know how it turns out! Cheers!
Thanks so much for your advice about preparation well in advance. I had houseguests with plans for two days of sight-seeing and wanted to serve this dish on Tues evening. I seared the short ribs on Sunday afternoon and prepared the recipe through Step 4, then stored the ribs with the deglazed wine sauce. On Tues afternoon, I moved them to my Dutch oven, added the beef stock, then braised in a 350 degree oven for 3 hours. The short ribs were delicious and everyone loved the dinner. In the interest of time, I used instant potatoes and microwaved some green beans and they were perfect with the short ribs. Thanks for advising me. It worked well to do them 2 days in advance. Delicious recipe…
That’s perfect! I’m so glad it all turned out delicious! Happy Holidays and cheers to you and your family!
Hi! I’m planning on making this recipe but only have 2.5lbs of short ribs on hand. I was just curios if you’ve made this recipe with less meat than what the recipe called for and if reduce the amount for liquid you use while it’s simmering?
Hey Ashley,
I personally have not made this recipe with less meat, but yes you should adjust the liquid accordingly. Half the whole recipe if you’re halving the amount of meat. Let me know how it turns out. Cheers!
How much would you adjust the cooking time for this?
Hello, I made this dish for 2021 New Years Day dinner for 2. I cut the recipe in half which was easy enough. For such a simple recipe this dish turns out fantastic. I love all of the other comments for various options to use the oven or InstandPot and searing the meet a day or two ahead. Thanks for sharing this recipe. It’s a keeper!
Hi Dawn, I’m so glad you enjoyed! Happy New Year!