Wine Braised Short Ribs over creamy polenta rivals the best restaurant meal. The beef ribs cook low and slow in wine and aromatics that create an insanely flavorful gravy. Put away your knife, this beef is fork tender!
Wine braised short ribs is the ultimate schmancy dinner.
Yes, short ribs are pricey, but I dare you to find a more delicious cut of beef. To me they’re more luxurious than steak, and the meat is meltingly tender. This is a meal made in heaven and absolutely restaurant quality.
I made these the other night and was reminded why short ribs are my favorites. I served them on a buttery, cheesy, polenta, but I could have just as easily done mashed potatoes, noodles, quinoa, or cauliflower rice.
What you’ll need:
- short ribs ~ you can use bone in, or boneless. Mine were bone in.
- aromatics ~ onion, carrot, garlic, bay leaves, and herbs like thyme and sage
- red wine ~ something you would drink, but nothing fancy. Mine was an $8.99 Merlot. Yes, two buck Chuck will work.
- beef broth
- flour, salt, pepper
It’s a simple lineup, but by the time it’s all done cooking you’ll be left with meat that yields to your fork and a powerfully flavored gravy that tastes like it came from a fine restaurant. When you start with red wine, you’re getting a HUGE head start in the flavor department. That’s what makes the difference in this recipe.
Short Ribs are the ideal meal prep recipe
It’s a cliche, but some dishes really are better the next day, and short ribs are definitely one of them. The flavors seem to mingle and develop overnight. Especially for the cook, whose senses are blunted to all the complexities of the dish while they cook. You can appreciate it so much better the next day.
Decisions, decisions…what to serve short ribs over:
These short ribs are so fully flavored that you really want to pair them with something neutral.
- mashed potatoes
- polenta
- noodles
- winter squash or root vegetable puree
- white beans
- wilted spinach or kale
- or all by themselves, with a vegetable side and crusty bread
I clearly have a weakness for short ribs
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Wine Braised Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 3 lbs bone in short ribs
- olive oil
- salt and fresh cracked black pepper, to taste
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 medium carrots, peeled and diced
- 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour, or gluten free flour
- 1 heaping Tbsp tomato paste
- 1 1/2 cups red wine , (this is half a bottle)
- 1 small bunch fresh thyme
- 1 small bunch fresh sage
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 head garlic, cut in half horizontally
- 2 cups beef stock
Polenta
- 3 cups water
- 2 cups milk
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 cup polenta, or yellow cornmeal
- 2 Tbsp butter
- 1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Season the ribs all over with salt and pepper.
- Lightly coat the bottom of a heavy braising pot with oil. Heat to hot and then, working in batches, brown the ribs on all sides. Give them a few minutes per side to make sure they get nice and brown. Remove the ribs to a plate.
- Add the onions and carrots to the pot and saute for a few minutes until they start to soften. Stir often, scraping up the browned bits from the bottom of the pan.
- Add the flour and tomato paste and continue to cook and stir. It's ok if it starts to stick to the pan, but stir constantly for a minute or two and don't let it burn.
- Add the wine to the pan and then the short ribs. Bring to a boil, scraping the bottom of the pan as it heats. Lower the heat and gently boil for about 15 minutes, or until the wine has reduced by about 1/3.
- Add the herbs, garlic, and beef stock to the pot stir well. Bring up to a boil, then cover, and transfer the pot to the oven and cook for 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Tip: after about 30 minutes I check the pot, if it's gently simmering, great. But if it's rapidly boiling, turn down your heat to 325F.
- Remove the ribs, carefully, from the pot and set on a plate. They should be falling off the bone and fork tender.
- Strain the gravy and discard the solids.
- Serve the ribs, 2 per serving, on top of hot polenta and ladle with gravy. Garnish with fresh thyme (or parsley.) Tip: the gravy should be thin, but if you'd like it thicker, just boil it down in a saucepan until it reaches your desired thickness.
To make polenta
- Bring the water, milk, and salt to a boil in a saucepan. Slowly sprinkle in the polenta, whisking constantly.
- Lower the heat and cook, stirring often, for about 15 minutes, or until thick. You can partially cover the pot to protect against eruptions!
- Remove from the heat, add in the butter and cheese and stir until melted. Check the seasonings.
Notes
Nutrition
I served this last night and it was AMAZING. The sauce/gravy had such wonderful flavor. I only used a small individual bottle of cab as that was the only wine I had at the time. (Don’t judge..LOL) AND…I cooked it in the crock pot due to my lack of time later in the day.
Flavors were great and meat fell off the bone but it was very oily. I’d want to figure out how to strain without losing flavor before making this recipe again.
I made this last week with babyback pork ribs that I had on hand, delicous, next time I will try this with short ribs, but, I believe any meat with bone in will work here. I kept the sauce light while cooking at a lower tempature, takes longer, but, worth it.
I used some of the sauce to make a roux making a thicker sauce which can be used on anything.
Thanks Sue
Glad you enjoyed them Don!
I made this for Christmas dinner at my sister-in-law’s house, for the family. Once again, you have delivered perfection, even after I botched the process in two different ways… Had I said nothing, no one would have even thought I’d screwed up. Everything I’ve ever done from your site has exceeded expectations! Thank you!
I think I forgot to comment the first time I made these short ribs. They were excellent! I’m making again on Sunday. I had never cooked short ribs before this and I was surprised when you said they were pricey. I buy beef from a local producer via a middle person several times a year. Several cuts are available in the package but the seller has extras of some things. When I inquired about what was available, she mentioned short ribs and I decided to try them. They were free! She said the producer considers them throwaway! I don’t want to be greedy but I’ll take all she has in the future.
Hi Sue, I want to make the short ribs Saturday then take to my Mother’s on Sunday. Do you suggest completing through step 8, then refrigerate meat and sauce separately? Then once at my mom’s combine and reheat? Thank you, Valerie
Hey Valerie ~ in this case I’d say go ahead and make the whole dish. Meat like this just gets better the second day, and it will reheat fine. The only thing you might need to do is add additional liquid if necessary.
Thank you! Sunday was the first time I’ve been able to visit my 88 year old in months, followed recipe exactly and it was a huge success!
I’m so glad Valerie, I haven’t seen my dad in over a year, but now that I’m vaccinated I’ll be visiting, what a relief!
Made it tonight. Never made them before. Served over Greek yogurt mashed potatoes. Have a pic but not able to cure out how to upload. Great recipe!
Oh Kim those mashed potatoes sound delish!
Very excited to try this recipe today. But why does it say cook time 3 minutes? 😀
That’s 3 hours, corrected.
This was fantastic! Thanks for the recipe. I put most of the carrots back into the gravy. Next time I make this I’ll peel the garlic cloves so I don’t have to deal with straining out the peels.