Instant Pot Colombian Beef Rib Soup (Caldo de Costilla)

Instant Pot Colombian Beef Rib Soup (Caldo de Costilla) is a simple, hearty soup from the Andes mountains, perfect for the meat-and-potatoes eaters in your life. Bone-in beef short ribs are pressure cooked, both cooking the ribs and making a rich broth. Add some potatoes, season with garlic, green onions, and cilantro, and you have a fantastic way to warm yourself up on a chilly day.

Jump to:

• Ingredient Notes and Substitutions
• How to make Instant Pot Colombian Short Ribs in Pictures
• Tips and tricks
• De-fatting the broth
• Instant Pot Colombian Beef Rib Soup (Caldo de Costilla)
• Scaling
• Make-Ahead
• Storing Leftovers
• What to Serve with Beef Short Rib Soup
• Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

I found out about Columbian Beef Rib Soup thanks to Kenji Alt, and it was such a straightforward soup that I had to try it. There are only six ingredients - beef short ribs, onion, garlic, cilantro, potatoes, and green onions. (Plus water, salt, and pepper). It's a great example of the art of simple cooking, where humble ingredients come together in a warming bowl of soup.

(And, also, when you plop that bowl down with the big piece of short rib in there, bone and all, you will really impress your guests.)

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Can I use boneless short ribs or cubes of chuck roast? I don't recommend it. This soup is making its own beef broth as it cooks, and you need the bones to add body to the broth. That is...unless you already have homemade Instant Pot Beef Broth, you can get away with it: replace all the water with broth, cut the boneless beef into 1½-inch cubes, and pressure cook for only 30 minutes at high pressure. Then continue with the "pressure cook the potatoes" step.
• Can I use different beef cuts? I don't recommend it, for the same reasons I don't want to use boneless ribs. Short ribs give the best combination of bones (to add body) with big pieces of meat for this recipe. Beef back ribs don't have enough meat.
• What potatoes should I use? Yukon Gold potatoes (aka Yellow Potatoes) are my favorite for this recipe, but any waxy potato (Red potatoes or white potatoes) will work. I don't recommend russet potatoes; they don't hold together when cooked and will crumble and fall apart in the soup. You can substitute baby potatoes for the potato chunks, but don't bother peeling them. (See the next note...)
• Do I have to peel the potatoes? It is traditional to use peeled potatoes in this recipe, but you can skip peeling if you want. The soup will be a little more rustic, but it will still taste great.
• Why no cumin? Kenji Alt included cumin in his recipe, but I skip it. I am not a fan of cumin - it tends to overpower other flavors - and lots of versions of this recipe didn't have it, so I felt fine with leaving it out.
  

How to make Instant Pot Colombian Short Ribs in Pictures

Short Ribs and Aromatics into the pot

Put the short ribs, onion, garlic, and cilantro stems into the pot. Sprinkle with 1 ½ teaspoons of fine sea salt and pour in 6 cups of water.

Pressure Cook the short ribs for 45 minutes

Pressure cook the short ribs for 45 minutes with a 15 minute natural release.

Add the potatoes to the pot

(Optional - not shown - strain the broth: scoop the short ribs out with a slotted spoon, then pour the broth through a fine mesh strainer to strain out the aromatics. Put the strained broth and ribs back in the pot.)

Add the potatoes to the pot and stir in 2 more teaspoons of fine sea salt.

Pressure cook the potatoes for 5 minutes

Pressure cook the potatoes for 5 minutes with a quick release of pressure. Serve the soup, sprinkling each bowl with minced green onions and cilantro. Enjoy!

Tips and tricks

• Adjust the cooking time to the thickness of the short ribs: The cooking time depends heavily on how thick the pieces of short rib are. If you get flanken-cut ribs, cut ½-inch thick and sliced through multiple bones, they will only need 25 minutes at high pressure. Short ribs that are cut with one flat piece of bone on the bottom will depend on how long they are. I recommend smaller pieces of short rib, about 3-inch cubes, because they cook more quickly, with about 45 minutes under pressure. However, in the pictures, I had some really big pieces of short rib - a couple of them were 4+ inches long - and I had to cook them for 1 hour to get them tender and falling apart.
• Brown the short ribs: This is an extra step that is not traditional for this recipe. If you want to add some browned beef flavor to the soup, set your Instant Pot to sauté mode (high), add 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil, and brown one batch of short ribs on the meatiest side of the rib. (Don't crowd the pot or the ribs will steam, not brown.) Continue with the recipe as written, adding the remaining ribs, water, and aromatics to the pot, then continue with pressure cooking the broth.
• Tie the cilantro stems into a bundle: If you have kitchen twine, tie the cilantro stems into a bundle so they are easier to remove when the broth is done.

De-fatting the broth

This tip got too long, so I had to break it out into its own section.

There is a LOT of fat in short ribs. You want some of that fat because it adds body and flavor to the broth, but the first time I made this recipe, I didn't trim the fat off the top of the short ribs, and the soup was too fatty for me.

Here are a few ways to de-fat the short rib broth:

• Skim after pressure cooking: After pressure cooking the ribs, and before adding the potatoes, use a ladle or large spoon to skim the fat from the top of the pot. Try to skim only the fat from the top, don't take too much of the broth, but also, don't worry about being perfect about it. Continue with the "Pressure Cook the Potatoes" step.
• Use a fat separator (or two): If you have a fat separator - or, preferably, two 4-cup fat separators - you can use them to defat the broth. After pressure cooking the ribs, scoop them out of the broth and set them aside. Pour the broth into the fat separator, let it sit so the fat rises to the top, then pour the defatted broth back into the pot. Continue with the "Pressure Cook the Potatoes" step.
• Make ahead and refrigerate: This is the easiest way, if you have the time to make the broth at least a day ahead. After pressure cooking the ribs, remove the pot liner from the pot and let it cool with the ribs still in the liquid. Cover the pot liner - the non-pressure lid is good for this, or use plastic wrap. Let the covered pot liner sit in the refrigerator overnight, or for up to 3 days. The fat will rise to the top and harden into a fat cap. A fat cap is easy to scoop out of the pot - I make a game of it and try to get it in one big piece. (Or, as few pieces as possible.) Put the pot liner back into the Instant Pot base and continue with the "Pressure Cook the Potatoes" step.
  

Adapted from: Caldo de Costilla, J. Kenji Lopez-Alt

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Scaling

You can double this recipe if you have an 8-quart pressure cooker. Cut all the ingredients in half, and this recipe will fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker. The cooking time does not change; it takes the same amount of time to cook each piece of short rib through and extract flavor into the broth.

Make-Ahead

If you want to make this a quick weeknight soup, make the broth and cook the short ribs ahead of time. Finish the recipe through the "strain the broth" step, then refrigerate the short ribs in the broth for a few days. (Or, freeze for a few months). To make the soup, put the broth and short ribs back in your Instant Pot and continue with the "pressure cook the potatoes" step.

Storing Leftovers

This soup makes great leftovers. Whole short ribs don't fit well in my preferred 2-cup storage containers, so I shred the meat from the ribs, discard the bones, and return the shredded meat to the soup. Leftovers will last up to 3 days in a sealed container in the refrigerator or up to 6 months in the freezer.

What to Serve with Beef Short Rib Soup

This soup is hearty enough to be the main dish, with a salad or vegetable on the side and a loaf of bread for dipping.

Related Posts

For some other Instant Pot beef soup ideas, try my Instant Pot Beef and Barley Soup (Pressure Cooker), Instant Pot Chinese Beef Noodle Soup with Short Ribs, or Instant Pot Beef Brisket Soup. For Instant Pot beef ribs, try my Pressure Cooker Short Ribs, Instant Pot Boneless Short Ribs, Instant Pot BBQ Braised Short Ribs, or Instant Pot Beef Ribs (Texas BBQ Style).

If you're looking for something else, here is my index of Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes.

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