Recipe · Bar 7 Beef
Oven-Braised Beef Short Ribs
Short ribs are rich, flavourful and full of connective tissue — which means they reward patience. A few hours of gentle oven braising melts that tissue into gelatin, giving you meat that falls off the bone and a sauce worth sopping up.
About 25 minutes prep · 2½–3½ hours in the oven · serves about 4.
Ingredients
- 1.5–2 kg (3–4 lb) beef short ribs, thawed
- 1 tsp salt, plus more to taste
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
- 1 onion, roughly chopped
- 2 carrots, roughly chopped
- 3 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 250 ml (1 cup) red wine or additional beef broth
- 500 ml (2 cups) beef broth
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 tsp dried
- 2 bay leaves
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 160°C (325°F). Pat the short ribs dry and season all sides with salt and pepper.
- Heat the oil in a heavy oven-safe pot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Brown the ribs in batches, 2–3 minutes per side, then set them aside. Don't crowd the pot — browning builds the flavour of the whole dish.
- Lower the heat to medium. Add the onion and carrots and cook 4–5 minutes, scraping up the browned bits. Stir in the garlic and tomato paste and cook 1 minute more.
- Pour in the wine (or broth) and simmer 2–3 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot clean.
- Add the beef broth, thyme and bay leaves. Return the ribs to the pot — the liquid should come about two-thirds of the way up the ribs, not cover them completely.
- Cover with a tight-fitting lid and transfer to the oven. Braise for 2½–3½ hours.
- Check at 2½ hours: the ribs are done when a fork slides in easily and the meat pulls away from the bone with little resistance. If they're still firm, cover and continue cooking, checking every 30 minutes.
- Rest the ribs in the liquid for 15–20 minutes. Skim the fat from the surface of the braising liquid, then simmer it on the stove to reduce into a sauce if you like.
Tenderness Matters More Than the Clock
Short ribs pass the safe internal temperature long before they're actually enjoyable to eat. The connective tissue needs time to break down — that's why the test is tenderness, not temperature: a fork should slide in easily and the meat should pull from the bone without resistance.
If the ribs are still chewy at 2½ hours, they simply need more time. Keep the lid on, keep the oven low, and check every 30 minutes. Cooking times vary with the size of the ribs and your oven, so treat the range as a guide, not a guarantee.
Serving Suggestions
- Serve over mashed potatoes, creamy polenta or buttered egg noodles with the reduced braising liquid spooned over top.
- Add a simple green vegetable — roasted carrots, green beans or a crisp salad — to balance the richness.
- Short ribs reheat beautifully and many cooks find them even better the next day.
Food safety: Health Canada recommends whole-cut beef reach a minimum internal temperature of 63°C (145°F) — braised short ribs cooked to fork-tender will be well past this. Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and use within 3–4 days. See Health Canada's safe internal cooking temperatures and our beef cooking temperatures guide.
Short Ribs from Our Ranch
Short ribs and other braising cuts come in our beef boxes — raised on our Cariboo ranch near Quesnel, BC.