These Italian Braised Beef Short Ribs are cooked to melt-in-your-mouth perfection in a tomato and wine based sauce. Serve them over polenta or mashed potatoes for a hearty meal.
Ingredient Notes
Short ribs- Go for bone-in, English cut beef short ribs.
Wine- The wine is optional, but a medium to full-bodied, dry red wine works best.
Tomatoes- I like to use either canned, whole tomatoes which I blend before cooking, or passata. You can also used crushed tomatoes. I also add tomato paste for more concentrated tomato flavor.
Broth- The beef broth is optional but does add a lot of depth to the sauce. Simply use water instead, if preferred.
Recipe Steps
First, season the short ribs with salt and pepper and brown in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes per side. Set aside on a plate (1).
Then, sauté the onion. After it softens, add the celery and carrots and sauté a few more minutes. Then stir in the garlic, followed by the tomato paste. Cook until slightly deepened in color (2).
Add wine wine and reduce by half (3). Stir in the tomatoes, broth and herbs. Nestle the short ribs into the braising liquid (4). Bring to a simmer, cover and transfer to a preheated 350F oven. Cook for 2-3 hours or until tender, checking every 30-60 minutes (5). Add extra broth or water, as needed, so the liquid line remains approximately ¾ of the way up the ribs.
When the short ribs are tender, remove them from the sauce. Reduce the sauce, if needed, to thicken it to your desired consistency (6). Skip this step if the sauce is already thick enough. Serve the ribs over polenta or mashed potatoes for a well-rounded meal.
Recipe Tips and FAQs
- Simplify the ingredients to save time or money shopping. You can easily omit the wine and/or broth and substitute with a little water. The result will still be delicious.
- If you have leftovers, try shredding the extra meat and tossing with the sauce. Serve this ragu with pasta like my recipe for Short Rib Ragu with Pappardelle.
- If you don’t want to make pasta with the leftovers, you can also freeze extra short ribs and sauce in an airtight container and store them in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Braised short ribs are the perfect type of food to cook ahead of time. You can prepare them up to a 2-3 days before serving. Simply reheat over the stove or in the microwave before serving.
Depending on the size of the short ribs and the temperature of the cooking liquid, they can take anywhere from 2 to 3 hours to cook through.
Braised short ribs can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat braised short ribs, place them in a small pot with their braising liquid and a few extra tablespoons of water. Partially cover with a lid. Bring to a simmer and cook until warmed through.
Related Recipes
- Short Rib Ragu with Pappardelle Pasta
- Instant Pot Short Ribs in Tomato Wine Sauce
- Braised Short Ribs with Sunchoke Puree
- Italian Instant Pot Meatballs in Sauce
- Creamy Parmesan Polenta
- Garlic Mashed Potatoes
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Italian Braised Beef Short Ribs
- Total Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
These Italian Braised Beef Short Ribs are cooked to melt-in-your-mouth perfection in a tomato and wine based sauce.
Ingredients
- 2 ½ to 3lbs bone-in, English cut short ribs
- ¼ cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped
- 2 ribs celery, sliced into ½ inch pieces
- 3 medium carrots, peeled, sliced into ½ inch pieces
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup tomato paste
- 1 cup dry red wine
- 14oz (1 ¾ cups) tomato passata or whole canned tomatoes
- 1 cup low sodium beef stock, or more as needed
- 1 bundle fresh thyme
- 2 bay leaves
- Kosher salt and black pepper, to taste
- ¼ cup parsley, finely chopped, for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Preheat oven: Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Sear short ribs: Heat a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high-heat. Pat short ribs dry and season with salt and pepper. Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to the pan, followed by the meat. Sear ribs about 3-5 minutes per side. Transfer ribs to a plate. Discard any excess oil from the pot so there’s only 1-2 tablespoons remaining.
- Cook soffritto: Reduce heat to medium and add remaining 2 tablespoons of oil to the pot. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and sauté about 5 minutes, until translucent. Add the celery and carrots and season with salt and pepper. Sauté another 5 minutes or until vegetables start to soften. Add garlic and sauté about 30 seconds.
- Add tomato paste and wine: Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until slightly darkened in color. Deglaze the pan with the wine, scraping up any brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Increase heat to high and reduce wine by half, stirring occasionally.
- Braise: If you’re using whole canned tomatoes, puree them in the blender and then add to the pot. Season with salt. Stir in one cup of broth, thyme and bay leaves. Return the short ribs to the pot. Bring to a simmer, cover with a lid and transfer to the oven. Cook for a total of 2-3 hours or until meat is very tender, checking liquid level every 30-60 minutes. Try to maintain the liquid at about ¾ way up the short ribs, adding additional stock or water, as needed.
- Thicken sauce and serve: After the short ribs are fork tender, assess the thickness of the sauce. If the sauce is too thin for your liking, remove short ribs from pot, transfer to a plate and cover to keep warm. Heat the sauce over the stove and simmer until thickened to your desired consistency. If the sauce is already thick enough, you can skip this step. Serve with polenta or mashed potatoes if desired. Top with chopped parsley. Enjoy.
Notes
You can prepare the short ribs up to a 2-3 days before serving. Simply reheat over the stove or in the microwave before serving.
Braised short ribs can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to a week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Omit the wine and/or broth if desired and substitute with water.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Category: Main
- Method: Braise
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 2 ribs with sauce
- Calories: 500
- Sugar: 10g
- Sodium: 365mg
- Fat: 25g
- Saturated Fat: 9g
- Unsaturated Fat: 16g
- Trans Fat: 0g
- Carbohydrates: 19g
- Fiber: 5g
- Protein: 42g
- Cholesterol: 150mg
Keywords: Italian short ribs, Italian braised short ribs, braised beef short ribs
WOW. Just made this recipe and it was fantastic. My guests loved it. I just followed the menu, point by point, substituting rosemary for thyme, and serving it over wide noodles. Left it in the oven just over two hours.
I’m so happy your guests enjoyed it 🙂
Sabrina I will be making these, love this recipe thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
WOW. Cant wait to try this recipe.
Thank you 🙂
A little late getting to the party but must say that these ribs look electrifying ( I’m a electrician ) and that’s half the battle. If it looks good it’s going to taste good. I love short ribs and can’t wait to make these. Thank you for sharing!
Haha, thank you, Vincent!! Hope you love them 🙂
Can you cook this recipe in a crock pot?
Hi Emma! Sure you could! For the best results, I would still do steps 2-4 (brown meat, cook aromatics, add tomato and wine) in a separate pot before putting into the slow cooker to cook through. A lot of flavor development occurs in those first few steps.
Why throw out b the celery and csrrots?
I just used them to flavor the braising liquid and discarded them, so I’d be left with a nice smooth sauce. Very French and wasteful-sounding, I know haha. I’ve made the short ribs the same way without putting the sauce through a sieve and getting rid of the veggies. I’ve also pureed everything together before and then ran it through a sieve at the end. You can really do it any way you prefer 🙂
But then do you pick them up to get the meat off the bone? Or do you just squish the potatoes all around trying to cut the meat off the bone? Can you tell I am a boneless meat kinda girl?
Once the short ribs are cooked, the bone separates very easily (or may literally fall off). So I usually just remove it and dig in 🙂
But if there is a bone I can’t pretend there was never an actual animal . . . . 🙂 (Perhaps I am a vegetarian disguised as a meat eater?)
Just found your blog via instagram and i will be enjoying looking at your recipes…I am a horrible cook but not my sweet sister she looks to me to give her ideas and this short rib dish will be a wonderful menu item for our Easter gathering.
Aw, thank you so much! I hope you she makes the short ribs and I’m sure you’re not as bad as you say 🙂
Short ribs are my absolute favorite. Yours look divine.
Thank so much, Ai! They’re my favorite too 🙂
AiPing’s my first name. 🙂
Sorry for the mistake! I appreciate that you corrected me, AiPing 🙂