Instant Pot Short Ribs Recipe

Last updated May 7, 2020•Published December 19, 2019 •by Olivia
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This Instant Pot Short Ribs recipe lets you enjoy the tender flavorful ribs without the hours of cooking time usually required. This set-it-and-forget it recipe makes it easy to cook the perfect meat. 

Instant Pot Short Ribs
Short ribs are a delicious way to get about half of your protein needs met for a day. They also delivered a large serving of B vitamins. This short ribs recipe has no gluten and is low in carbs. If you stick with sides like cauliflower and green vegetables, this entire meal will be keto and paleo friendly.

Short Ribs close up shot

What are short ribs?

Short ribs actually come from the beef chuck portion of the animal. They are the bottom five ribs that are too short to be used for steak.

However, they are muscles that are always in use while the animal is moving. Therefore, short ribs are not as tender as other meat portions, but are super flavorful.

There are two different ways you will find short ribs cut. The traditional method is English style. These are small chunks of meat around a single bone. There are also BBQ-style cuts. These are long strips with three bone sections. This is the kind I recommend for this recipe.

Short ribs with green beans and mashed potatoes

Other preparation methods

Making Instant Pot short ribs is a much quicker method of cooking ribs that are still tender and fall of the bone.

You can make this short ribs recipe in the oven as well. Use a Dutch oven or other heavy pan so you can catch all the drippings to make gravy. Cook short ribs low and slow in the oven. Give them three hours in an oven set at 300F. You’ll know they are done when you can easily pull the meat apart with a fork.

You can also make this short ribs recipe in the slow cooker. I recommend you still brown all sides of the ribs on the stove before putting them in the slow cooker. Cook them on low for eight hours or high for five hours.

Short ribs with delicious sauce on top

What do you serve with Instant Pot short ribs?

It’s easy to make gravy from the drippings that are left in the pot after cooking Instant Pot short ribs. Just whisk it with a cornstarch slurry for a few moments to thicken it to your perfect consistency. If you make gravy, the natural side dish to go with it is mashed potatoes. If you aren’t eating white potatoes, you can substitute mashed cauliflower. The gravy is a wonderful addition to the meat itself.

You can try lots of other side dishes as well:

Instant Pot Short Ribs Recipe

Yield: 4 people
Prep Time:
10 mins
Cook Time:
1 hr 20 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 30 mins
This Instant Pot Short Ribs recipe lets you enjoy the tender flavorful ribs without the hours of cooking time usually required. This set-it-and-forget it recipe makes it easy to cook the perfect meat. 
Print Recipe
3.75 from 28 votes

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric
  • 2 lb bone-in beef short ribs — 0.778kg
  • sea salt + pepper — to taste
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion — chopped (If you are folling keto diet replace onions ofr 1/2 of scallions)
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 2 garlic cloves — minced
  • 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
  • 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
  • 1 cup low sodium beef broth
  • 2 bay leaves
  • ¼ cup water
  • 2 tablespoons cornstarch — or arrow flour for low-carb and whole30
  • Chopped fresh parsley — optional

Instructions

  1. Set the instant pot to the sauté setting and add olive oil.

  2. Add the short ribs and brown all sides. It probably will take about 10 minutes. Then, remove the shot ribs from the Instant Pot and set aside.

  3. Add in onion and garlic. Sauté until onion is translucent. It's about 4 minutes. Don’t forget to scrap the browned bits from the bottom of the pot.

  4. Add thyme, tomato paste and balsamic vinegar. Stir everything very well. Then, season with salt and pepper.

  5. Turn off the sauté mode. Add in beef broth and bay leaves. Stir well. Transfer the short ribs back to the pot.

  6. Lock the lid and set pressure on high for 1 hour. When done, use Natural Release for 10 minutes, then release valve and remove the lid.

  7. Remove shot ribs carefully, keeping the meat on the bone.

  8. Pour about 1/4 cup of the cooking liquid into a small bowl. Add cornstarch and stir it very well. Set aside.

  9. Pour all the cooking liquid from the Instant Pot into a saucepan and heat on a high heat.

  10. Slowly pour the cornstarch mixture into the saucepan with the cooking liquid and whisk for about 2 minutes or until gravy thickens. Season with salt and pepper if you desire.

  11. Place short ribs on serving plate, spoon over sauce. Enjoy!

Recipe Notes

Other cooking methods:
1. Oven - Cook in a Dutch oven or heavy-based pan with at 300F for 3 hours or until the meat can easily be pried apart with forks.
2. Slow cooker – Cook it for 8 hours on low or 5 hours on high.
The nutrition facts don’t include mashed potato and green beans.
This recipe was slightly adapted from the blog Garden in the Kitchen.
Course: dinner
Cuisine: American, British
Keyword: instant pot shot ribs, short ribs
All text and images © Olivia Ribas / Primavera Kitchen.

Nutrition Information

Amount per serving (1/4) — Calories: 363, Fat: 16g, Saturated Fat: 4g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Sodium: 760mg, Potassium: 85mg, Carbohydrates: 24g, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 12g, Protein: 28g

If you make this recipe, follow @primaverakitchen on Instagram, snap a photo and hashtag it #primaverakitchen. I'd love to see what you're making!

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Instant Pot Short Ribs