The Kitchn: Braised short ribs cooked multiple ways
Short ribs are the quintessential caveman cut, straight out of Fred Flinstone's larder, with their hunks of rich meat on the bone, looking primal and carnivore-ready. They're a rich winter meal, too, easy and forgiving to cook under their sleek caps of fat, melting into tender chunks of pull-apart beef in the oven.
If you're feeling like a hibernating caveman and want a delicious, comforting, beefy meal, here's a step-by-step recipe to help you take short ribs and turn them into a dinner with almost no work. Hunting not required.
Buying Short Ribs
In the past, short ribs have been a favorite meal of mine for another reason, besides their incredibly rich taste: They are inexpensive. Well, that may have changed a bit in the last few years. This formerly cheap cut, found with the stew beef and other tough braising meats, has become so trendy and spotlighted that prices (at least in my grocery stores) have risen accordingly. Have you noticed this, too?
But they're still a deal compared to a steak or tenderloin, and perhaps your butcher isn't as sensitive to trends. The tradeoff in this price hike is that it's easier to find them. A few years ago, I would always have to ask at the butcher counter for short ribs; these days I often find them in the meat case with other cuts of beef.
I usually buy short ribs with the bone still attached, which is cheaper. The more expensive boneless cuts are convenient, though, and easier for serving, but I think the bone adds flavor in cooking, too. Sometimes the short ribs will be chopped into short chunks, with one or two bones apiece. Other times you may find longer strips, like I have here. It really doesn't matter either way since the meat is going to fall off the bone after it is cooked, and the meat becomes so tender that it's easy to separate into individual servings.
The Method: Oven, Stovetop or Slow Cooker
This method is very straightforward -- it's the way that I nearly always cook short ribs. Season and brown the ribs, then add some onion and aromatics plus liquid to the pot and cook low and slow. It's Braising 101.
For the low and slow step, I prefer the oven as it is more forgiving (no checking to make sure the bottom doesn't scorch), and I think it cooks more evenly.
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