When the weather is cold and rainy outside there’s honestly nothing better than a big plate of tender beef short ribs served over creamy mashed potatoes swimming in a rich, savory beef gravy! This is one of those comfort food meals that I remember my grandmother making when I was a young girl. I’ve been hankering to make short ribs for quite some time but the price for beef ribs has prevented me from making them until now. When I spied beef short ribs for $7.99 a pound I snatched up a couple pounds. That may seem expensive but I usually see them for anywhere between $14-$18 a pound. Why is it that they are so darn expensive? It’s mostly bones and fat, there’s really not much meat on them. But oh are they flavorful when cooked up just right. If you can get a good deal on them I urge you to make this delicious recipe.
Is there a more comforting old fashioned meal than a steaming hot bowl of beef short ribs served over a decadently creamy bed of mashed potatoes? I’ll wait while you think on it… As I watch yet another storm blow through, I’m enjoying the wonderful aroma that is filling the house as a pot of beef short ribs braises in the oven. I wish you could enjoy the wonderful smell of these ribs cooking away! Oh wait…you can, if you make this recipe.
Preheat your oven to 375°F. The oven is going to do most of the hard work for you with this recipe. The stew braises in the oven for a couple hours until the beef is so tender it literally falls off the bone.
No exotic ingredients here, just the basics.
Plus a couple pounds of beef short ribs. Ask the butcher to cut them into individual pieces for you if they are in long strips. We’re going to transform this into a spectacularly good meal!
Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven pot over medium heat.
Once the oil is hot add ribs and sear them until dark golden brown.
Do not crowd the pot, sear them in batches.
Sear them until they have a nice seared crust and look like this.
Once they are dark golden brown, transfer seared ribs to a plate. Set aside.
Add the sliced onions to the Dutch oven pot and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring often.
Add the tomato paste and stir to combine with the onions.
Add the beer to the pot and simmer until liquid has reduced by about half; about 3-5 minutes.
Use a stout beer or full flavored ale for this recipe. I used a Sierra Nevada Pale Ale which produces a delicious, rich gravy. The ale is critical in producing a flavorful gravy, I don’t recommend leaving it out. It produces a depth of flavor you won’t get with broth alone. You could use beef broth in it’s place but just know that you will be sacrificing flavor.
Add parsley and thyme sprigs.
Stir in beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to combine.
Return the seared ribs and any juices that have accumulated on the plate back into the pot.
Cover the pot and place it in the preheated oven. Be sure to use an oven safe pot.
Cook for 1 hour. Remove pot from oven and turn the ribs over.
Cover pot and return to the oven to cook for another hour.
After an hour, remove pot from the oven. You can turn off the oven now. Use tongs to remove ribs from the pot and place them on a plate. Let the ribs cool off a little while you address the gravy.
Carefully pour the sauce from the pot into a large bowl. Fish out the thyme stems and parsley sprigs and discard them. They have imparted their flavor and we no longer need them.
Use a ladle or spoon to skim off and discard any excess fat that’s formed along the top. Set sauce aside.
The ribs should now be cool enough to handle. Using a fork, pull the meat from the bones and shred the beef. Discard any tough gristle, excess fat, and the bones. Set the shredded meat aside.
Place the Dutch oven pot on the stove, add butter and heat over medium heat until melted.
Sprinkle flour into the pot.
Stir the flour to combine with the butter forming a roux. Cook for 2-3 minutes to cook off the raw flour taste, stirring constantly.
Ladle in the reserved gravy and stir to combine it with the roux. Keep adding gravy one ladle at a time until all of it has been added back to the pot. Stirring to combine with the roux in the pot.
Whisk vigorously until there are no lumps of flour in the gravy.
Add mushrooms (do not drain) and stir to combine with gravy.
Let the gravy simmer until it thickens, about 5 minutes or so.
Return the shredded beef to the pot and continue to cook over low heat until heated through.
Taste and season with salt and pepper.
Serve shredded beef with the rich gravy over a bed of creamy mashed potatoes.
Top with chopped fresh parsley to serve if desired.
Bake up some fresh buttermilk biscuits and use them to mop up all the delicious gravy that’s in the bottom of your bowl! Otherwise you will be tempted to make a fool of yourself and lick that bowl! Learn How To Quickly Make Buttermilk Biscuits. These come together in no time and they are oh so very, very good!
They’re the perfect accompaniment to this meal. Just take a good look at this skillet of biscuity goodness! Yes you can make these biscuits!!! Go on, give it a try! Got butter?
This Beef Short Rib recipe is for one of those lazy stay at home days when the weather outside is dreadful and you’re hanging out at home. We’ve sure had a lot of dreadful weather this winter! Your mouth will be watering as it cooks, it will make your house smell AMAZING! This recipe isn’t difficult to make. Yes it has several steps, but most of the time is letting everything simmer a good long time in the oven. The long cooking time in the oven tenderizes the beef until it’s fall-off-the-bone tender, and produces a flavorfully rich gravy that you will want to dive into and swim in. That gravy…oh my it’s so stinking good!!!
Don’t lose this recipe, if you make it you will want to make it every time beef short ribs go on sale! This will become one of those recipes you will be handing down to your kids.
Old Fashioned Beef Short Ribs
Equipment
- large, oven safe, enameled dutch oven pot
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 8 beef short ribs
- 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 4 tbsp tomato paste
- 12 oz stout beer or ale
- 4-5 sprigs fresh thyme
- 4-5 sprigs fresh parsley
- 6 cups beef broth
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- ½ stick butter
- ⅓ cup flour
- 6½ oz can of sliced mushrooms
- salt & pepper, to taste
- 1 tbsp fresh chopped Parsley, optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F.
- Heat olive oil in a large dutch oven pot over medium heat.
- Sear ribs until dark golden brown. Do not crowd the pot. Cook in batches and transfer seared ribs to a plate. Set aside.
- Add the sliced onions to the Dutch oven pot and cook until soft and translucent, about 5 minutes, stirring often.
- Add tomato paste and stir to combine with the onions.
- Add the beer to the pot and simmer until liquid has reduced by half; about 3-5 minutes.
- Add parsley and thyme sprigs, beef broth, and Worcestershire sauce. Stir to combine.
- Return the seared ribs and any juices that have accumulated on the plate back into the pot.
- Cover pot and place it in the oven.
- Heat for 1 hour. Remove pot from oven and turn ribs over.
- Cover pot and return to the oven to cook for another hour.
- Remove pot from the oven. Use tongs to remove ribs from the pot onto a plate. Carefully pour sauce from the pot into a large bowl. Fish out the thyme and parsley sprigs and discard them.
- Use a ladle or spoon to skim off and discard any excess fat that forms along the top. Set sauce aside.
- Using a fork, pull meat from the bones and shred the beef. Discard any tough gristle, excess fat, and bones. Set shredded meat aside.
- Return the Dutch oven pot to the stove, add butter and heat over medium heat until melted.
- Sprinkle flour into the pot and stir to combine with the butter forming a roux. Cook for 2-3 minutes to cook off the raw flour taste stirring constantly.
- Ladle in the reserved gravy and stir to combine it with the roux. Keep adding gravy one ladle at a time until all of it has been added back to the pot. Whisk until there are no lumps of flour in the gravy.
- Add mushrooms (do not drain) and stir to combine with gravy.
- Let gravy simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Return shredded beef to the pot and continue to cook until heated through.
- Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Serve shredded beef with the rich gravy over a bed of mashed potatoes.
- Top with chopped fresh parsley to serve if desired.
Did You Make This?
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