Tender, melt in your mouth short ribs can’t get any easier than cooking them in your Instant Pot! Make this delicious and impressive dish in under an hour!
These perfect short ribs are juicy, flavorful and will practically fall apart with the touch of your fork! Place in over the top of some fluffy mashed potatoes and roasted vegetables and you have a scrumptious meal that your whole family will love.
Beef Short Ribs in the Instant Pot – So Easy!
If you are wondering what is the difference between short ribs and spare ribs, don’t worry lots of people wonder this same question. The quick answer is short ribs are beef and spare ribs are pork.
The long answer is that short ribs are cuts of beef from the brisket, chuck, plate or rib area of the cow. They consist of a short portion of the rib bone.
When cooked correctly, short ribs should fall apart and melt in your mouth! Traditionally braising short ribs take a really long time, but now with the Instant Pot, this savory dish can be made in less than an hour. And trust me – they’re delicious!
How to Make Instant Pot Short Ribs
Just follow these simple steps to make short ribs in the instant pot.
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Make the Sauce – Whisk ingredients for the sauce together in a small mixing bowl or glass measuring cup, set aside.
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Brown the short ribs in the Instant Pot – Turn Instant Pot on SAUTE mode. Once HOT, add oil. Season short ribs generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place 3-5 short ribs in the Instant Pot at a time, brown all sides. Place the short ribs on a plate and set aside.
- Note, you will want to do two batches if you are doing more than 5 short ribs. Crowding will steam the meat, not brown it.
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Saute veggies – Add onion, carrot, and celery. Saute for 3-5 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and saute for an additional minute.
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Deglaze the Instant Pot – Pour in the wine and chicken broth to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Scrape the bottom to remove any brown bits. Let simmer for 2 minutes, then return the short ribs to the pot. Pour in the sauce and add the bay leaf.
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Pressure cook the ribs – Place the lid on the Instant Pot and lock. Make sure the pressure valve is in the sealing position. Select MANUAL mode (high pressure) for 45 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally, this will take about 16-18 minutes.
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Enjoy – Remove the lid and serve short ribs on a bed of homemade mashed potatoes.
Recipe FAQs
Can I use frozen short ribs? Add about 5 minutes to the cooking time if your short ribs are frozen.
Are there boneless short ribs? Boneless short ribs aren’t actually ribs but are cuts from the chuck or shoulder area of the cow. If you really want boneless, I suggest using a less expensive chuck roast and cut it into chunks!
With or without alcohol If you are worried about using alcohol it all evaporates and the alcohol content completely disappears. If you don’t have alcohol on hand you can use good quality beef broth.
Slow cooker time: Cook on low in the sauce mixture for 8-9 hours. If you have the time it creates the same fall apart texture that the instant pot recipe does.
Variations/ Additions
There is a variety of ways to season and flavor your short ribs. Some of our favorites are:
- Braised: braising meat basically just means that you sear the meat and then cook it in a small amount of liquid in a tightly covered pan (basically this recipe!)
- Korean: The sauce is a mix of soy sauce, brown sugar, honey, garlic, red wine, and sesame oil.
- BBQ: include ketchup, rings of raw onion, garlic, liquid smoke, honey, and worchestershire sauce.
- Smoked: There is this super cool ingredient called liquid smoke which can give your food the flavor of being smoked in a smoker.
- With veggies: you can cook veggies like carrots at the same time that you cook the short ribs.
- With Potatoes: you can dice 3-4 potatoes and place them in a steamer basket and then place that on top of the short ribs. Cook for 42 minutes and natural release for 15 minutes. I love this because everything is done in one pot! Hurray for fewer dishes!
Like we said – so many variations and all are so yummy! Try them out and let us know which one you like best.
Storing + Side Ideas
I love that the Instant Pot has a Keep Warm feature! That means I can make my short ribs ahead of time but keep them warm while I am cooking all my other side dishes!
Leftover short ribs can keep in the refrigerator for 4 days if kept in an airtight container. Or you can freeze them for up to 6 months.
To reheat, thaw the night before and then reheat in the microwave until they are warmed through!
What to serve with it?
Short Ribs in the Instant Pot is a real game changer! I am not longer babysitting my meat for hours, yet I still get delicious, melt in my mouth short ribs! Give this recipe a try-I know you will love it too!
For more beef recipes, check out:
Instant Pot Short Ribs Recipe
Recommended Products
Ingredients
For the sauce:
- 1/2 cup beef broth - or au jus
- 1 1/2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp brown sugar - packed
- 1 tbsp soy sauce - low-sodium
- 1/2 tbsp fish sauce
- 1/8 tsp dried thyme
For the ribs:
- 3 tbsp vegetable, olive, or avocado oil
- 3-8 bone-in beef short ribs - about 2-inches thick
- salt and pepper
- 1 yellow onion - sliced
- 2 carrots - diced
- 2 stalks celery - diced
- 6 cloves garlic - minced
- 3 tbsp red wine
- 1/4 cup chicken broth
- 1 bay leaf
Instructions
- Whisk ingredients for sauce together in a small mixing bowl or glass measuring cup, set aside.
- Turn Instant Pot on SAUTE mode. Once HOT, add oil. Season short ribs generously with salt and freshly ground black pepper. Place 3-5 short ribs in the Instant Pot at a time, brown all sides. Note, you will want to do two batches if you are doing more than 5 short ribs. Crowding will steam the meat, not brown it. Place the short ribs on a plate and set aside.
- Add onion, carrot, and celery. Saute for 3-5 minutes or until soft. Add garlic and saute for an additional minute.
- Pour in wine and chicken broth to deglaze the bottom of the pot. Scrape the bottom to remove any brown bits. Let simmer for 2 minutes, then return the short ribs to the pot. Pour in the sauce and add the bay leaf.
- Place the lid on the Instant Pot and lock. Make sure the pressure valve is in the sealing position. Select MANUAL mode (high pressure) for 45 minutes. Let the pressure release naturally, this will take about 16-18 minutes.
- Remove the lid and serve short ribs on a bed of homemade mashed potatoes.
I love this recipe! It was so tasty and the meat was so tender I just followed the instructions and the end result is great!
Thank you for adding the tip about if using frozen short ribs. Totally saved me for dinner tonight!
Oh my gosh, these were so tender and flavorful!