These oven-braised boneless short ribs are so tender and flavorful. It's an easy recipe - there's no need to brown them first, and the delicious sauce is sugar-free!
As is often the case with slow-cooked meat, leftovers are excellent, as long as you reheat them gently.
Slow-cooked meat is amazing. It's such an easy cooking method that yields fabulous results.
I especially love these oven-braised boneless short ribs. Rich, fatty, tender beef - a true comfort food! And they are more affordable than ribeye roast, another fatty cut of beef which I also adore.
In this easy recipe, I simply place the seasoned ribs in a pan and bake them for three hours at 300 degrees F. Yes, it's as easy as it sounds, and the result is superb.
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Ingredients
You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this tasty main dish. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
Boneless beef short ribs: I get them at Whole Foods or at Costco.
Kosher salt and black pepper: If using fine salt, you might want to reduce the amount you use, or the dish could end up too salty.
Apple cider vinegar: Red wine vinegar works too.
Hot pepper sauce: It doesn't make the dish spicy. It just adds an interesting layer of flavor.
Spices: Smoked paprika, garlic powder, and dried thyme. Make sure they are fresh! A stale spice can easily ruin a dish.
Instructions
So how exactly do you cook boneless short ribs? I was wondering that too before I made them for the first time.
The recipes I found looked overly complicated. There was no way I was going to brown the ribs first, make an elaborate sauce, check on them every 30 minutes... I wanted to just put them in the oven and forget about it.
So I was grateful to find this easy recipe for oven-braised boneless short ribs on the Food Network. Obviously, I wasn't going to use the sweet sauce since I'm on a low-carb diet. But I really liked it otherwise. It seemed tasty and very doable.
So I made my own marinade, baked the ribs slowly in a slow oven, and was rewarded, three hours later, with very flavorful, super tender ribs.
Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps for making this recipe:
You start by cutting the ribs in half and arranging them in a rimmed baking dish. Season with salt, pepper, and a mixture of the remaining ingredients.
Cover the baking dish tightly - I use a double layer of foil - and bake the ribs in a 300°F oven for 2.5 hours.
Carefully remove the foil. Baste the ribs, then continue baking them, uncovered, for 30 more minutes, to allow them to brown. Serve them with the braising liquid for dipping.
Expert tip
When the ribs are fully cooked, you can turn the pan juices into tasty gravy.
Lower the oven to the "keep warm" setting and place them in there, covered. Pour the cooking liquids through a strainer into a saucepan and cook them over medium-high heat, whisking often, until the sauce thickens, 5-10 minutes.
The ribs are excellent even without this gravy, but it certainly enhances them and adds to the experience.
Another option is to simply strain the pan juices and serve them alongside the ribs for dipping.
Frequently asked questions
They don't actually come from the rib area of the animal. They come from the shoulder (chuck), which is right next to the ribs. That's why they're boneless. 
No! I tried it both ways, and I think these are just as good when you don't go through the extra step of browning them first in a skillet. I was VERY grateful when I realized that I can skip this annoying step.
They are best cooked low and slow, which is why I cook them in a slow oven, tightly covered, for three hours, until the meat is very tender.
You could, but it's unnecessary. The slow cooking process tenderizes the meat and the spices impart wonderful flavor. So there's really no need for a marinade.
Serving suggestions
This is a saucy dish, so I like to serve it on top of mashed cauliflower, with a side of a simple green vegetable such as steamed broccoli (or microwave broccoli when I'm especially lazy).
Storing leftovers
You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days. Reheat them gently, in the microwave, covered, on 50% power.
This is actually one of those dishes where the leftovers taste great, as long as you take care not to dry them out when you reheat them.
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Recipe card
Oven-Braised Boneless Short Ribs
INGREDIENTS
- 6 boneless beef short ribs (4 lb.)
- 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon hot pepper sauce
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
INSTRUCTIONS
- Preheat your oven to 300 degrees F. Cut the short ribs in half as shown in the photo above and arrange them in a lightly greased 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Season them with salt and pepper.
- In a small jar, add the vinegar, hot pepper sauce, smoked paprika, garlic powder and thyme. Whisk or shake well to combine. Pour the sauce over the ribs and use your hands to toss and coat all the pieces.
- Cover the pan tightly with a double layer of aluminum foil. Bake the ribs until cooked through and tender, 2.5 hours.
- Remove the foil (careful - hot steam will escape). Baste the tops of the short ribs with the braising liquid, and continue baking them for 30 more minutes, allowing the tops to brown.
- Serve with the braising liquid. I like to place a small bowl filled with the braising liquid on each plate. This allows the diners to dip their meat into the yummy liquid.
Optional step: thickening the cooking liquids
- When the ribs are fully cooked, you can transfer them to an oven-safe dish and cover them. Lower the oven to the "keep warm" setting and place the ribs in the oven.
- Pour the cooking liquids through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium saucepan and heat them over medium-high heat, whisking often, until they thicken, 5-10 minutes.
- You can speed this process up by mixing in a cornstarch slurry (1 tablespoon cornstarch mixed with 1.5 tablespoons cold water). Heat, whisking, over medium heat. Remove from heat as soon as the sauce thickens.
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NOTES
- There's no need to brown the ribs in oil before baking them. I tried it both ways, and I think these are just as good when you don't go through the extra step of browning them first in a skillet. I was VERY grateful when I realized that I can skip this annoying step.
- It's very important to cover the pan tightly with a double layer of foil and make sure it's completely sealed. Otherwise, the dish will dry out in the oven.
- You can also add a cup of beef stock to the pan if you like. Personally, I find that as long as the baking dish is tightly covered with a double layer of foil, there's enough liquid. The meat releases liquid as it bakes. But it's fine to add more liquid to the pan before you cover it and place it in the oven.
- The nutrition info is from fitday.com for "Beef, chuck, arm pot roast, separable lean and fat, trimmed to ⅛" fat, choice, cooked, braised." 6 oz should be about one boneless rib (two halves).
ADD YOUR OWN NOTES
NUTRITION PER SERVING
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Vered DeLeeuw, LL.M., CNC, has been following a low-carb real-food diet and blogging about it since 2011. She's a Certified Nutrition Coach (NASM-CNC), has taken courses at the Harvard School of Public Health, and has earned a Nutrition and Healthy Living Certificate from Cornell University. Her work has appeared in several major media outlets, including Healthline, HuffPost, Today, Women's Health, Shape, and Country Living. 