Short ribs, braised until they are melt-in-your mouth pieces of beefy goodness, are one of my favorite meals. But they are a little finicky for a home cook.
*I had Michael Symon's short ribs at Lola's, years ago. It is one of the best meals I've ever had at a restaurant, and I've been working on my short ribs at home ever since.
Part of why they are so delicious is they are loaded with fat. When cooking short ribs, there has to be a plan to get rid of the fat, or the ribs and the sauce will be much too greasy. Once again, the pressure cooker comes to the rescue.
Why pressure cook short ribs? First, they're done with 45 minutes under pressure, instead of the 3 to 4 hours of simmering they would need. Pressure cooking seems to break down the collagen in the meat better as well - I like how tender the ribs are after pressure cooking.
*Thanks to the pressure cooker, all the collagen from the bones winds up in the sauce as well. The sauce, once it is defatted, is rich, luxurious, and full of beef flavor.
Finally, there is the fat issue. The best way to get rid of all the extra fat is to cook the short ribs, then refrigerate them overnight in their sauce. The fat will come to the surface and congeal into an easily removed fat cap. This is where the shortened cooking time from the pressure cooker really comes in handy. I can make my short ribs in about an hour, end to end, the night before I want to serve them. I make them while I clean up tonight's dinner, and they are ready to go for dinner tomorrow.
*Don't have a pressure cooker? No problem. See the Variations section for non-pressure cooking options.
Video
Video: Pressure Cooker Short Ribs - Time Lapse [YouTube.com]
Recipe: Pressure Cooker Short Ribs
Equipment:
- Pressure Cooker (I use a Instant Pot Duo electric
pressure cooker)
- Fat separator (You need a big one
, at least 4 cups in size).
Pressure Cooker Short Ribs
- Total Time: 1 hour 25 minutes
- Yield: 6-8 1x
Description
Pressure Cooker Short Ribs recipe - meltingly tender short ribs from the pressure cooker - replace hours of simmering with minutes of pressure cooking.
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon vegetable oil
- 4 pounds beef short ribs, each rib about 2 ½ inches thick
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1 onion, chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, peeled and smashed
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ½ teaspoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- 1 cup red wine (Preferably a fruity blend, like a Cote du Rhone)
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme (or 1 teaspoon dried)
- 1 ½ cups water (or chicken broth)
Instructions
- Season and sear the ribs in two batches: Trim the fat on the top of the short ribs. Season the ribs with 2 teaspoons salt and 1 teaspoon pepper. Heat 1 teaspoon of vegetable oil over medium-high heat in your pressure cooker pot (sauté mode in my electric pressure cooker). Brown the ribs in batches without crowding the pot. (4 pounds of ribs is three batches in my electric pressure cooker). Sear each batch of ribs on three sides - skip the bone side - until well browned, about 3 minutes a side or 9 minutes for each batch. Remove the browned ribs to a bowl. Once all the ribs are browned, pour out the extra fat, leaving 1 tablespoon of fat in the bottom of the pot.
- Saute the aromatics: Add the onion, garlic, and tomato paste to the pot, and then sprinkle with ½ teaspoon of salt. Saute until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes, scraping the bottom of the pot to loosen the browned bits of meat into the onions. Add the wine to the pot, bring the wine to a simmer, and simmer for 1 minute. Scrape the bottom of the pot one last time, to make sure nothing is sticking. Add thyme sprigs, the ribs and any juices in the bowl, and the water to the pot.
- Pressure cook the ribs: lock the lid on the pressure cooker. Bring the pressure cooker to high pressure and pressure cook at high pressure for 45 minutes in an electric PC, or 35 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure to come down naturally, about 15 minutes more.
- Prepare the sauce: Remove the ribs to a serving platter with a slotted spoon. Pour the sauce into a fat separator, let it rest for a few minutes to let the fat rise to the surface. Pour a little of the the defatted sauce over the ribs and serve, passing the rest of the sauce at the table.
Notes
If you have the time, refrigerate the ribs overnight to help remove the fat. After cooking, let the ribs cool to room temperature, then refrigerate overnight, or up to 3 days. This will let the fat rise to the surface and solidify. To serve, lift the solid fat from the ribs, then reheat the ribs over medium heat on the stove.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Category: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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Notes:
- Don't have a pressure cooker? Replace step 3 with: Put the ingredients in a dutch oven and bring to a boil. Cover the dutch oven, and move to a 325°F oven. Cook in the oven for 2 to 3 hours, until the ribs are tender. Remove from the oven, and continue with step 4.
- If you want to speed up the browning, use two pans. I brown one batch in the pressure cooker while I brown another batch in a fry pan. Then, I saute the onions in the pressure cooker, while I heat up the water (or chicken broth) in the fry pan. This loosens up the browned bits in the fry pan, so I get their flavor in the final stew.
- Thin ribs: My grocery store usually sells ribs that are 2 to 2 ½ inches thick...but sometimes they are thinner, more like 1 to 1 ½ inches thick. When this happens, I cut the time under pressure down to 30 minutes electric PC/25 minutes stovetop PC.
What do you think? Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts:
Pressure Cooker Chinese Pork with Plum Sauce
Pressure Cooker Chicken Stock (the best way to get chicken stock for this recipe)
My other Pressure Cooker Recipes
Adapted from:
Lorna Sass Pressure Perfect
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Milana says
Hi, Question for you. Would the cooking time be longer for 6 - 7 lbs of short rib? Thank you so much!!
Mike Vrobel says
Nope. Same time - cooking time is determined by the thickness of the individual ribs.
Pam says
I discovered short ribs about 10 years ago, and made them several ways, including other pressure cooker recipes. This was the best!!! I used my homemade beef bone broth, and couldn't find cote du rhone at my grocery store so the wine manager helped me find a good substitute. The wine is not something I would drink, so I froze another two cups to use when I make this again, and I will, at least twice! I did use grass-fed beef, and it did take longer to cook. My husband, who likes nothing, loved this too. Thank you. I've frozen the bones, along with other beef bones, to make your two-part beef barley soup. Autumn: bring it on!
Tricia says
Absolutely perfect short ribs! I used a cote du rhone and what a great flavor. Thank you for sharing.
Robin says
I've been making these ribs for years - I owe you some feedback!! Thank you for an amazing, easy, and quick recipe. The only thing I change is the addition of BBQ sauce and a few minutes under the broiler. Thank you Mike!
Ann says
YUM! Definitely five stars! The idea to make them a day (or two) ahead was brilliant. The meat soaks up the flavor even more and removing the fat cap is a breeze.
We enjoyed them as ribs AND we enjoyed them when I deboned the ribs and cut the meat into pieces for the next day to finish off the broth and everything as a soup. Saving those bones to use to make your beef broth.
The only difference I made to this recipe was that I used some merlot I had handy instead of a more fruit-forward wine.
Thanks again, Mike!
Ann says
Oops forgot to put the star rating in.
Done!
Ann says
Mike, wow!!!
I just have to heap highest praise on you for the technical aspects of this recipe. You covered ALL the bases electric/stovetop, thin ribs/thick ribs, fresh spices/dried spices, options for defatting the sauce, and even how to reheat the dish (at the bottom of the recipe. To find such a technically user-friendly recipe is rare. Did you work at America's Test Kitchen, perhaps? 🙂
I'm SOOOO looking forward to making this recipe today...AND checking out your other pressure cooker recipes!
Thanks so much for this!
Mike Vrobel says
You're welcome! ATK is an obvious influence on me...but no, I've never worked there. I'm an enthusiastic home cook, not a professional chef.
Ed Blanton says
Mike, I'm planning to use boneless short ribs to make your beef carbonade recipe, which I made about a month ago, with hanger steak and it was delicious. If I cut the short ribs the same way, would you recommend lengthening the cooking time?
Jenn says
Sooooo delicious!!!
Sandra B Williams says
Do you think this would still turn out well without the tomato paste? I am avoiding nightshades. Thanks!
Mike V says
Yes, it will be fine.
Chris says
Made this last night, but used white wine since that was what was open. Turned out great, and I will do it again.
The real time user is browning the meat. I'd be curious to know if anyone has tried it without browning and how much difference there was in flavor. Might make a good experiment post. Have a blind tasting panel try browned and unbrowned.
Kat says
I brown for the enhanced flavour and appearance meat stays that grey colour if not browned
Kevin says
I've tried both and no longer brown thanks to Lorna Sass. I find no difference and browning kind of defeats my time saving pressure cooker.
LaurenCooks says
Thank you both, Mike for this recipe and reinforcing my affection for my own Fagor, and Lorna, for your awesome cookbook Cooking Under Pressure! I had to throw out all my books because we got mold in our house, and this is one of the cookbooks I'll have to buy back since it was indispensable. I am with you on the why bother browning it question! Looking forward to having these ribs for dinner tonight. And it's already 5:14 and the ribs are still frozen! But am I worried? No! What a joy the pressure cooker is.
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Extra ribs won't affect the cooking time. Because of the extra meat and liquid, it will take longer for the pot to come up to pressure, and longer for the pressure to come down naturally once it's done cooking.
But, once the cooker is up to high pressure, it will cook for the same amount of time (25 minutes for ribs that are 1 1/2 inches thick at their thickest part). Cooking time is determined more by the thickness of the individual ribs than the amount of ribs in the pot - if you have extra thick ribs (say, 2 1/2 inches thick or more at their thickest part), increase the cooking time by about ten minutes - go 35 minutes under pressure.
Dan cooks dinner says
What kind of adjustments if any do I need to make to the cooking time if I double the amount of ribs?
Mike V @ DadCooksDinner says
Great! I'm glad you liked it.
Use whatever herb you like instead of the thyme - rosemary, oregano or parsley are the first ones that come to mind.