Instant Pot Short Ribs will knock your socks off when it comes to flavor! Braised in a rich sauce, this easy recipe for Instant Pot Short Ribs delivers the most delectable, restaurant-quality, fall-off-the-bone short ribs!
Serve these wine-braised short ribs with Instant Pot mashed potatoes, stovetop mashed potatoes, or creamy grits to soak up all the delicious gravy.
The Best Beef Short Ribs
For years, I reserved short ribs as a meal to be enjoyed only when dining out, as they traditionally take hours to braise and become fall-apart tender. As a busy mom, it was just not something I had the margin of time to make often.
However, with the Instant Pot, it is now possible for me (and you!) to enjoy beef short ribs at home easily and with much less cooking time.
And I have to say, my recipe for Instant Pot Beef Short Ribs delivers the most flavorful short ribs I have ever enjoyed. The combination of wine, balsamic, and soy sauce adds the most nuanced layers of flavor, resulting in a rich decadent braising liquid that infuses the short ribs with incredible flavor.
Instant Pot Short Ribs are not only the most succulent, best-tasting short ribs, but they are also the easiest to prepare and will deliver a restaurant-quality meal effortlessly at home.
Notes on Ingredients
- Short Ribs: You can use boneless, or bone-in short ribs, but I highly recommend bone-in beef short ribs for the most flavor. The bones will add so much richness to the dish.
- Red Wine: Use a dry red wine that is suitable for drinking, such as Pinot Noir, Merlot, or Cabernet. While the wine adds a significant amount of flavor to the dish, feel free to use additional beef broth in place of the wine, if desired.
- Balsamic Vinegar: The richness and balance the balsamic vinegar adds to the braising liquid is insane. Do not skip this crucial ingredient.
- Soy Sauce: The soy sauce will add incredibly umami flavor to the short ribs. Be sure to use reduced-sodium soy sauce to control the sodium in the dish.
- Brown Sugar: A little bit of sugar goes a long way to balance out the acidity and saltiness in this recipe.
- Corn Starch: To thicken up the braising liquid to make a rich, irresitible gravy.
How to Make Short Ribs in the Instant Pot
- Turn the Instant Pot to saute. Adjust more is lit up and add in a bit of oil.
- While the oil is heating, generously season the short ribs with salt and pepper on every side.
- Sear the short ribs in two batches. This will let the short ribs have room to brown and caramelize on each side. Once browned on each side, remove the short ribs form the inner pot and repeat the process.
- After searing the short ribs, add in the onions, carrots, and celery. Saute for 3-4 minutes or until the onions begin to soften. Once the onions are softened, add in the garlic and saute for just 30 seconds. We don't want to burn the garlic, so be sure to watch closely.
- With the Instant Pot still on the saute function, add in ½ cup of red wine, or broth, and scrape up the browned bits of the bottom of the inner pot. Let the wine cook for just a minute or two to allow the alcohol to cook off. Turn the Instant Pot off.
- Add the beef broth, thyme, bay leaf, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, and soy sauce to the inner pot and give it a good stir. Add in the browned short ribs into the liquid, arranging them so that they are all evenly submerged in the liquid.
- Seal the lid on the Instant Pot and set to cook on high pressure for 45 minutes on high pressure.
- Once the cook time has elapsed, allow the pressure to release naturally for at least 15 minutes. This is key to keeping your short ribs really tender.
- Open up the inner pot and remove the short ribs to a serving platter. It is okay if the meat falls of the bones--that is exactly what we want!
- If you would like to thicken the sauce, which I highly, highly recommend, turn the Instant Pot back to saute and let come to a boil.
- Mix together a cornstarch slurry and then slowly whisk into the cooking liquid. Let that cook for 2-4 minutes, or until thickened, whisking contantly. If deisred, finish the sauce with a tablespoon or two of butter to really amp up the lusciousness of the braising liquid.
- Dish up the short ribs with a generous serving of the gravy. I highly recommend serving over mashed potatoes, grits, or polenta to soak up all the liquid.
Recipe FAQs
I typically plan on 2 short ribs per person, but they are very rich, and most often I personally only eat one short rib. However, leftovers never hurt!
I highly recommend using celery, onions, and carrots, otherwise known as a Mirepoix, as it helps to develop a really rich braising liquid and rich gravy.
Absolutely! Simply omit adding the butter to the gravy. It is completely not necessary.
Step-by-Step Video
If you learn better through visual videos, be sure to check out my YouTube video where I will walk you through how to make these Instant Pot Short Ribs in detail.
More Instant Pot Beef Recipes
If you enjoyed these Instant Pot Short Ribs, I would love for you to leave a comment and review below.
Instant Pot Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon olive oil divided
- 8 bone-in short ribs
- salt and pepper
- 2 onions chopped
- 2 carrots chopped
- 2 ribs celery chopped
- 2 tablespoons garlic minced
- ½ cup dry red wine see note
- 1 cup low-sodium beef broth
- 2 sprigs fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves, not ground thyme
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon reduced-sodium soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 3 tablespoons cold water
- 1-2 tablespoons of butter optional
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot to saute and be sure it is adjusted for more lit up. If it is not, hit adjust to saute to change to more. Add in ½ tablespoon of oil and let heat.
- Season the short ribs generously with salt and black pepper on each side. Add half of the seasoned short ribs into the heated oil and brown on each side, about 4-5 minutes per side. Remove the seared ribs from the inner pot and place them on a plate. Repeat the process with the remaining short ribs.
- Add in the onions, carrots, and celery and saute until softened about 3-4 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute for just 30 seconds.
- Pour the red wine (or additional beef broth) into the inner pot and scrape up the browned bits on the bottom of the inner pot. This will prevent a burn notice and add flavor to the sauce. Let the wine simmer for 1 minute to let the alcohol cook off. Turn the Instant Pot off.
- Add the beef broth, thyme, bay leaf, balsamic, brown sugar, and soy sauce into the inner pot and give that a good stir. Nestle the seared ribs into the cooking liquid, being sure each rib is evenly submerged into the liquid.
- Seal the inner pot and set the cooking time to 45 minutes on high pressure.
- Once the cooking time has elapsed, allow the pressure to release naturally on its own for at least 15 minutes--SUPER important for tender beef.
- To thicken the cooking liquid, remove the short ribs and place them on a plate and tent them with foil to keep warm. Turn the Instant Pot to saute and let the liquid come to a rapid bubble. Mix together the cornstarch and water until dissolved and then slowly whisk into the braising liquid. Cook until thickened, about 2-4 minutes, whisking constantly. Whisk in the butter if desired and turn off the Instant Pot.
- Serve the ribs with the gravy.
Stacie Wagle
First time making short ribs, they came out perfect. Thank you
Kristen Chidsey
Wonderful! Thank you for sharing Stacie!
Aann
Delicious, wouldn’t change a thing!,
H
This is one of the tastiest beef recipes I have ever made! Easy, regular ingredients, that turn into a flavorful sensation! This recipe will enter my regular winter rotation!
Kristen Chidsey
I absolutely LOVE LOVE hearing that!
Gina
In the future, you might mention to new users of IP that they need to build in time for the IP to come to pressure. For me, it took over 30 minutes. By the time I started and waited, it was way too late for my husband to eat because he must wake up at 4am. Please give your readers a heads up. On a different note, the recipe was wonderful. Thank you.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Gina! I am sorry that your husband was unable to enjoy the short ribs last night, I hope that he can enjoy them today 🙂 As for the timing, in every recipe card I do have a spot that includes time to build up pressure and time to release and I add that to my total time. I understand the need for planning 🙂
Renee
Making tonight! Easy to put together, excited for how it’ll turn out! I Only had 3 ribs, not 8 so I reduced time to 35 using the “meat” cooking feature on the IP. I hope this works out ok doing that.
Can’t wait for dinner! Thanks for the recipe!
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Renee! I am so excited for you to enjoy. In the future, I would keep the cooking time the same, regardless of how many ribs you cook. The cooking time is per rib, not total ribs. You may find out you need to add an additional 10 minutes for super tender results.
Lorinda Phillips
Can I use cooking wine instead of going and buying drinking wine?
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Lorinda! I would recommend using additional beef broth over cooking wine. Cooking wine leaves a very acidic artificial taste. But using extra beef broth will work just perfectly. Enjoy!
Richard Woodruff
Is there any way to make this ahead of time? I would like to use this as a meat course within a 7 course dinner. It would be very difficult to to integrate this in a complicated menu if all the preparation must be ala minute.
Kristen Chidsey
Hi Richard! Yes, you can prepare the short ribs ahead of time. You have two options. You can prepare as directed up to 3 days in advance, allow to cool, and store in airtight container in the refrigerator. Reheat on low in a crockpot until just warm to the touch, whisking in up to 1/2 cup of additional beef broth if needed. Turn to "warm" and hold warm as you wait to serve guests. Alternatively, you can prepare as directed up the pressure releasing. Once pressure has been released, allow to cool, and store in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. When ready to serve, transfer the mixture to a large dutch oven. Bring the mixture to a simmer. Once simmering, remove the short ribs to a plate and tent with foil. Thicken the gravy by turning the heat to high, and whisking in the cornstarch slurry, whisk until thickened and then serve the ribs with the gravy.
Mona
Fantastic short ribs. Made for a brunch menu and it was a hit! Thanks for the recipe.
Kristen Chidsey
I love hearing you enjoyed, Mona!
Ella
This is one of the best Short Rib Recipes that we have ever made. We have mad many, braised, slow cooker, pressure cooker etc, this is the BEST! Highly recommend this! The sauce is sooooooo GOOD, we saved it to made Salisbury Steak that will simmer in the leftover sauce. I know already it will be great! Thank you so much for this recipe!
Kristen Chidsey
Thank you so very much Ella! I am so happy to hear you enjoyed the short ribs so much!
Sharmi
Your directions made everything so simple! The ribs were cooked to perfection! I thought my husband was going pour the gravy in a glass and drink it! It was that good! Lol.
Kristen Chidsey
LOL! Love it! Thank you for sharing, Sharmi!
Emily
I made these tonight without celery (I didn't know I didn't have it). I added extra carrots, and that turned out pretty great - I think it probably made the end gravy a little sweeter. The ribs were perfect; bones fell out of two of them before I removed them from the pot. The gravy thickened really well. I served them over instant Idahoan garlic mashed potatoes made with milk, butter, and crumbled goat cheese (the details here make the difference in how good IMPs taste I think). This was a great recipe even for a Monday after work.
Kristen Chidsey
Sounds perfect--and what a FABULOUS Monday dinner! Thanks for sharing Emily!