Garlic Braised Short Ribs was the first “ wow” dish tom ever made, and should be a staple recipe to everyone reading this. It’s not a dish that will be ready in twenty minutes so be prepared for the waiting game, but the flavors and texture are a testament to the art of slow cooking.  I love being able to focus our lifestyle on real foods because not only is it a healthier way of living but the flavors in the food taste that much better.

The meat of this dish takes on a melt-in-your-mouth tenderness that has been stewing in garlic, fresh thyme and vegetables for hours. If you are serving this dish to family or friends and want to sound extra fancy, explain to them that they should be tasting deep undertones of beef broth or red wine as they take their first bite. We love to serve this dish with creamy mashed potatoes but my dad always swears by polenta. 

Garlic Braised Short Ribs

Tender bone-in ribs seasoned and browned, then slow-cooked with garlic, onions, celery, carrots, tomato paste, beef broth, thyme, and bay leaves. Serve over mashed potatoes or polenta

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Serves: Dinner

Serves: 8

Phase: Luteal

Prep Time: 25 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Ingredients

• 6 bone-in short ribs
• Kosher salt
• Fresh Pepper
• 1 tbsp Olive oil
• 2 medium yellow onions chopped
• 2 celery stalks chopped
• 2 carrots cut into 1 inch piece
• 2 heads of garlic halved crosswise you can leave the skin on
• ½ cup tomato paste
• 3 to 4 cups beef broth OR red wine
• 1 bunch of fresh thyme tied with kitchen string
• 2 bay leaves

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Season short ribs generously with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium high heat. Working in batches, brown short ribs on all sides, about 2-3 minutes per side.
• Add onions, carrots and celery to the pot and season with salt. Stir often for 4 minutes. Add garlic facedown (so the exposed garlic is on the bottom of the pan). Cook for another 2 minutes then add the tomato paste. Stir constantly until well combined and the paste begins to toast but not burn. 4 to 5 minutes. Add your broth or wine and scrap any bites that stuck to the bottom of the pan.
• Add you short ribs back into the pot. Be sure they are completely covered with liquid, add more liquid if needed (this can be water in a pinch as the liquid is extremely flavored and will cook long enough that the water won’t ruin the integrity of the dish). Add thyme and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, cover and move to the oven
• Cook until the short ribs are tender, 3-3:30 hours. Transfer the short ribs to a platter (try and keep them on the bone for serving). Strain the sauce and reserve the carrots to serve with the meal.
• Serve over mashed potatoes or polenta. You can use the strained sauce or you can put it in a sauce pot on medium heat and cook it down until it thickens into a gravy texture, stirring it often.

Notes

If you have the time after 1 hour in the oven take the oven temperature down to 250 and cook for 6 hours.