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, the leftovers are excellent if you reheat them gently.
These delicious ribs are oven-braised. Rich, fatty, tender beef - a true comfort food! And they are more affordable than ribeye roast, another deliciously fatty cut of meat.
In this easy recipe, I simply place the seasoned ribs in a pan and bake them for three hours at 300°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 recipe. The exact measurements are included in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:
- Boneless short ribs: I get them at Whole Foods or Costco.
- Apple cider vinegar: Red wine vinegar works, too.
- Hot pepper sauce: It doesn't make the ribs spicy. It merely adds an interesting layer of flavor.
- To season: Kosher salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and dried thyme.
Variations
- Add ½ to 1 cup of beef broth to the bottom of the pan. This will help ensure the ribs don't dry in the oven, although using a doubler layer of foil is enough, in my experience.
- You can add more spices. The ones I tried and liked are ½ teaspoon of onion powder and 1 teaspoon of chili powder.
- As mentioned above, red wine vinegar is an acceptable substitute for apple cider vinegar, but in my experience, apple cider vinegar tastes better in this recipe.
Instructions
Scroll down to the recipe card for detailed instructions. Here are the basic steps for making this recipe:
Cut the ribs in half and arrange them in a lightly greased 13-by-9-inch baking dish. Season them with salt and pepper.
Add the vinegar, hot pepper sauce, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and thyme in a small jar. Whisk or shake 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, for 2.5 hours.
Remove the foil (carefully - hot steam will escape). Baste the tops of the ribs with the braising liquid and continue baking them for 30 more minutes, allowing their tops to brown.
An optional step is thickening the cooking liquids and brushing them on the ribs. Alternatively, you can simply serve the ribs with the cooking liquids for dipping.
Expert Tip
Covering the pan tightly with a double layer of foil is very important. If your pan has a lid, you can use it, but only if it seals the pan completely. Not sealing the pan will allow liquids to evaporate, resulting in the meat drying out.
You can add a cup of beef stock to the pan if you like. I find that as long as the baking dish is tightly covered with a double layer of foil, there's enough liquid, as 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.
Recipe FAQs
These ribs don't actually come from the rib area of the animal. They come from the shoulder (chuck), right next to the ribs. That's why they're boneless.
No! I tried it both ways, and they are just as good when you don't go through the extra step of browning them first in a skillet.
They are best cooked low and slow, so 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 tenderizes the meat, and the spices impart lots of flavor. So there's no need for a marinade.
Serving Suggestions
This is a saucy dish, so I like to serve it on top of something that would absorb the sauce, such as mashed cauliflower, mashed butternut squash, mashed pumpkin, cauliflower rice, zucchini noodles, or baked spaghetti squash.
I also like adding a vegetable side such as steamed broccoli, microwave broccoli, sauteed spinach, cauliflower fritters, or butternut squash souffle.
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, at 50% power.
This is 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
Braised Boneless Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 6 boneless short ribs - 4 pounds
- 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt - or 2 teaspoons of any other 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°F. Cut the short ribs in half 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 (carefully - 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 the ribs 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: thickening the cooking liquids into gravy
- When the ribs are fully cooked, transfer them to an oven-safe dish and cover them. Lower the oven to the "keep warm" setting (170°F) and place the ribs in the oven to keep them warm.
- 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.
- Brush the ribs with the gravy and serve.
Video
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 grateful when I realized I could skip this annoying step.
- It's very important to cover the pan tightly with a double layer of foil and ensure it's completely sealed. Otherwise, the ribs will dry out in the oven.Â
- You can add a cup of beef stock to the pan if you like. 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.Â
- The nutrition info is for "Beef, chuck, arm pot roast, separable lean and fat, trimmed to â…›" fat, choice, cooked, braised." 6 ounces should be about one boneless rib (two halves).
- You can keep the leftovers in the fridge, in an airtight container, for 3-4 days. Reheat them gently in the microwave, covered, at 50% power. This is one of those dishes where the leftovers taste great, as long as you take care not to dry them out when you reheat them.
Nutrition per Serving
Disclaimers
Cup measurements refer to the standard American cup, which is 240 milliliters. Most of my recipes are low-carb (or keto) and gluten-free, but some are not. Please verify that a recipe fits your needs before using it. Recommended and linked products are not guaranteed to be gluten-free. Nutrition info is approximate, and the carb count excludes non-nutritive sweeteners. Nutrition info may contain errors, so please verify it independently. Recipes may contain errors, so please use your common sense when following them. Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using any of my recipes.
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. 
Katie Wade
I added two heaping tablespoons of Korean gochugaru and it is *chef's kiss* amazing. Thank you.
Vered DeLeeuw
Yay! I'm so glad you enjoyed these ribs, Katie! I love the idea of adding gochugaru.
Krisanne
Hi Vered. I plan on making this recipe on the weekend. I’d like to add carrots to the dish so they bake with the ribs and take on some of that beefy flavor. Any tips on adding carrots to the dish? Thanks!
Vered DeLeeuw
Hi Krisanne,
I would add the carrots to the baking dish for the last 30 minutes of baking, after removing the foil. Make sure the carrots are covered in the cooking juices.
Lisa
I have a one year old. Are the ribs spicy with the hot sauce or does it cook out?
Vered DeLeeuw
I don't find them spicy, but it's been many years since I had to feed a small child. To be on the safe side, replace the hot sauce with unsweetened ketchup.
Red
Would a casserole dish with a tight fitting lid work instead of the foil?
Vered DeLeeuw
Only if the lid is truly tight-fitting, and most aren't.
Lincoln
I scaled down the recipe for only 1 pound of short ribs (for two to split), and it came out wonderful. I simmered the cooking juices over medium-high heat, and it came out wonderfully with a small cornstarch slurry added.
Vered DeLeeuw
I'm delighted that you enjoyed this recipe, Lincoln!
Karen
So good. Made for two. Didn't use proportional salt, used less and it came out salted enough. Since it was two servings, I reduced covered cooking time to 2 hours.
Vered DeLeeuw
So glad you enjoyed this recipe, Karen! Thank you for the tips about making this recipe for two.
Marcel
Absolute perfection.
Made this over and over for my family and some to friends who were on sugar free diet and they were completely blown away how tasty it is. Thank you!
Vered DeLeeuw
I'm so glad you enjoy this recipe, Marcel!
Krystal Rodriguez
Question - I have 5.5lb of short ribs to cook for a larger group, how would I adjust the recipe?
Vered DeLeeuw
Increase the ingredients by about 50%. If you use a salt other than Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, use 1 tablespoon.
Pattie
I made these short ribs last night and the meat was very similar to brisket... it just fell apart when you chewed it. Fortunately, I was impatient and didn't cook them the entire 3 hours, but maybe my short ribs were smaller than yours and didn't need it, because the outside was a little more charred and dried out than I prefer.
I did cover it with foil twice and spooned the juice over the meat twice, and served the juice for dipping. I forgot to cut the ribs in half, but I'm wondering if they would have dried out more.
Next time I'll try adding my homemade veggie broth to the pan before cooking. My husband LOVED them. Thank you for sharing a recipe with no oil and no sugar!