Guinness Braised Short Ribs are fall off the bone tender and juicy! Cooked slowly in stout beer, beef broth, tomatoes, onions, and thyme.
This hearty and comforting weeknight Dinner Recipe is perfect to serve for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s a change from traditional Corned Beef, but the Irish stout gives it plenty of authentic Irish flavor that everyone is sure to love! Be sure to try our Guinness Stout Corned Beef and Guinness Pot Roast for the delicious bold flavor on a classic Beef Dishes.
Table of contents
- Sabrina’s Guinness Braised Short Ribs Recipe
- Ingredients
- Kitchen Tools & Equipment
- How to Make
- Can this be made ahead of time?
- Nutritional Facts
- Cooking Beer Braised Short Ribs Tips
- What to Pair With Braised Short Ribs
- How to Store
- Alternative Cooking Techniques
- Frequent Questions
- Recipe Card
- Variations
- Related Recipes
Sabrina’s Guinness Braised Short Ribs Recipe
Guinness Braised Short Ribs are an easy one-pot dish that starts on your stovetop and finishes in your oven. Seared beef short ribs are slow braised in the oven with Guinness beer, beef broth, and warm seasonings. The final flavor is wonderfully savory and comforting. It’s great to serve for St Patrick’s or any time you want a hearty, warming dinner recipe.
You’ll need a few hours to get beef short ribs perfectly fork tender, but the extra time is so worth it! This is a great meal for Sunday dinner or special occasions where you can cook the meat low and slow. However, if you want to speed up the process, there is an Instant Pot version in this post. For more amazing, flavorful fall-off-the-bone beef short ribs recipes try our BBQ Beef Short Ribs and Red Wine Braised Short Ribs.
Ingredients
- Short Ribs: Short ribs are great for low and slow cooking methods like braising! They have a lot of fat and connective tissues which makes them less expensive and cooking them slowly draws out the flavor and makes them super tender.
- Flour: The flour serves a couple different purposes. It helps the meat from browning too quickly and it also helps the salt and pepper stay for more flavor. It also locks in the juices so the meat doesn’t dry out with the longer cooking time and thickens the sauce naturally.
- Veggies: Chopped and sauteed vegetables that make up the base of a dish’s flavor are sometimes called mirepoix vegetables. For this recipe we use a classic trio of celery, carrots, and yellow onion.
- Guinness: The toasty, almost smoky caramel flavor of Guinness Stout perfectly compliments the ribs and brings out an even more savory, beefy taste.
- Beef Broth: To balance out the stout and add more beefy flavor, you use a good quality beef broth as the other cooking liquid.
- Tomatoes: The crushed tomatoes add a bit of tangy flavor and help balance all the strong savory meaty flavors in the dish.
- Thyme: Dried thyme adds a bit of herby, woody flavor that works perfectly with this rustic beefy dish.
Kitchen Tools & Equipment
Dutch Oven: Sear and slow braise the short ribs in a dutch oven or another large heavy oven proof pot. That way once the ingredients are prepped you can put it in the preheated oven in the same pot instead of transferring it all to a roasting pan.
Mesh Strainer: Beef short ribs have a lot of fat so you will want to strain it out when you finish cooking the meat. This gives you a rich sauce that isn’t greasy.
How to Make
Time needed: 3 hours and 30 minutes.
- Prep for Cooking
Preheat the oven. Season the short ribs with salt and pepper, then coat in flour.
- Sear the Meat
Heat the oil in a large dutch oven or heavy bottomed pot over high heat. Add the floured ribs in batches so they cook evenly. Sear about 4-5 minutes per batch, turning to brown on all sides.
- Saute the Veggies
Once it’s browned, set the meat aside in a separate dish. Reduce to medium heat and add the celery, carrots and onions to the same pot. Stir and cook until the onions are soft and translucent.
- Add the Braising Liquids
Add the beef broth to the pan, scraping up any browned bits. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, Guinness beer, and thyme until combined.
- Cook the Short Ribs
Return the short ribs to the pot and stir so the braising mixture covers all the meat. Cover the pot and cook in the preheated oven for 2 ½ to 3 hours. The meat should be fork tender.
- Finish the Sauce
Once the ribs are fork tender, remove them and set aside. Strain the fat from the liquid then return the liquid to the pot. Blend the veggies and broth until it is smooth.
- Simmer and Serve
Return the cooked short ribs to the sauce and bring the mixture to simmer. Cook for 5-6 minutes until the meat is warmed through. Serve the ribs and sauce over mashed potatoes or rice.
Can this be made ahead of time?
You can prep all the ingredients ahead of time or fully cook the dish and then reheat it the next day. However, do not sear the ribs and then cook the dish later, it needs to be cooked fully before storing.
Nutritional Facts
Cooking Beer Braised Short Ribs Tips
Scrape the Pot
After you’ve put the ribs in the pot to brown and they’re seared on all sides, take them out of the pot. Use a wooden spoon to scrape any browned bits off the bottom of the pan with a little bit of the beer. The browned bits are called the “frond” and have tons of flavor plus it keeps them from burning.
Cooking with Beer
Cooking with Guinness brings out the rich flavor of the meat and adds a rich caramel-like flavor. Beer also helps to tenderize the meat so by the time it’s done in the oven the meat will just melt in your mouth!
What to Pair With Braised Short Ribs
If you do serve Guinness Braise Short Ribs for St. Patrick’s Day or another big dinner, be sure to make your favorite sides. Mashed Potatoes or Creamy Garlic Mashed Potatoes make the perfect pairing. Serve the juicy ribs on top of the mashed potatoes. The thick, rich Guinness sauce will pool in the mashed potatoes while they soak up the amazing flavor. You can also serve up some potato rolls, Classic Dinner Rolls, and Roasted Root Vegetables.
How to Store
Store: Let the ribs cool down before sealing them in an airtight container with the veggies and broth, or covering the pot with plastic wrap then the lid. Put it in the fridge to store for 3-4 days.
Reheat: It’s best to reheat these ribs in the oven or the stove top in the liquid at a medium high temperature or 350 degrees. You risk the texture by reheating too slowly at a low temperature or drying them out by reheating them too quickly.
Freeze: You can also freeze your short ribs for up to 6 months. After they are cooled, store them in some of the braising liquid. This way when you thaw them later, they can reheat in the same flavorful broth.
Alternative Cooking Techniques
Instant Pot Guinness Short Ribs
- To make Instant Pot Guinness Short Ribs start by setting your pressure cooker to its saute function. Put oil in the base and sear the ribs on all sides in batches.
- Remove the ribs with tongs, and add in the vegetables while the pot is still on its saute function.
- After cooking the vegetables add the liquid ingredients and mix them all together.
- Place the ribs back in the pressure cooker.
- Switch the instant pot from its saute function to pressure cook.
- Let the Guinness Ribs cook on high pressure for 20 minutes then allow the pressure to release naturally.
Frequent Questions
All the alcohol cooks out of this recipe, so it’s completely family-friendly!
No, you cannot partially cook the beef ribs, chill them and finish cooking this dish later. Always fully cook your meat to food safe temperatures before eating or storing.
If you don’t have Guinness you can use another kind of stout as a replacement. Essentially any dark porter or stout will do nicely to flavor and tenderize the meat.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
- 4 pounds short ribs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 4 stalks celery , thinly sliced
- 2 carrots , finely diced
- 1 yellow onion , finely diced
- 2 cups beef broth
- 14.5 ounces crushed tomatoes
- 1 bottle Guinness Beer
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
- Season short ribs with salt and pepper and toss in flour.
- Add oil to a large dutch oven (that you have a lid for) on high heat.
- Sear the short ribs on all sides, 4-5 minutes per batch.
- Remove the short ribs, reduce heat to medium, add in the celery, carrots, and onion.
- Cook, stirring occasionally, for 6-8 minutes or until translucent.
- Add in the beef broth, crushed tomatoes, beer and thyme, stirring well.
- Add the short ribs into the pot, cover, and cook for 2 ½ to 3 hours until fork-tender.
- Remove the short ribs from the pot carefully.
- Remove liquid from the pot, strain out the fat.
- Add liquid back to the pot.
- Using an immersion blender blend the liquid and cooked vegetables until smooth.
- Add short ribs back to the pot and cook for 5-6 minutes until short ribs are warmed.
Nutrition
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Variations
Seasonings: Try mixing in some fresh bay leaves, minced cloves garlic, onion powder, oregano, basil, or chili powder. If you add fresh bay leaves be sure to take them out before serving the Guinness Short Ribs. You could also sweeten the recipe by adding some brown sugar to the mixture.
Liquid Ingredients: You can replace the 24 ounces Guinness with 3 cups of beef stock. If you just want to use less beer, but still have some, you can use a cup of beef stock to make up for part of it. You can also replace beer with chicken broth, apple juice, or root beer.
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