Instant Pot Tender Braised Short Ribs - Dump and Go Dinner

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Instant Pot Tender Braised Short Ribs - Dump and Go Dinner

Heather
The Cook
4 Servings
11 Ingredients
147 Comments

Cooked to fall apart tender perfection and infused with a rich red wine sauce, this version of our braised short ribs is prepared using the wondrous Instant Pot. Pair with creamy mashed potatoes or roasted brussels sprouts for a dinner to enjoy down to the last sumptuous forkful.

4 Servings
11 Ingredients
147 Comments

Ingredients

  • 2 pounds Beef Short Ribs
  • ½ teaspoons Salt
  • ¼ teaspoons Black Pepper
  • 1 ¼ cups dice Onion
  • 1 teaspoon mince Garlic, Cloves
  • ½ cups Red Wine
  • ⅓ cups Ketchup
  • 1 ½ tablespoons Soy Sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1 tablespoon Brown Sugar
  • 1 individual Thyme, Fresh

Containers

Supplies

  • Labels

Cooking Instructions

Freeze For Later Cooking Day Directions

Easy Assembly/Dump and Go

These directions help you cook or prepare this meal PRIOR to being frozen for serving later (see Serving Day Directions when you are ready to prepare it to eat).

Why would I want to freeze this?

  1. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper and cut into 3-4 inch segments. Divide among containers.
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Make From Frozen Serving Day Directions

Prog. Pressure Cooker

These directions help you cook or reheat this meal AFTER it's been frozen for when you are ready to eat it.

  1. Prep from frozen
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Make It Now Cooking Directions

These directions are for cooking this recipe to serve immediately and NOT to freeze for later.

  1. **Due to the nature of pressure cooking there is always room for inconsistency. The times given here are based on 4 servings fresh. If you are using more servings you may need to increase your cooking time.**
  2. Sprinkle ribs with salt and pepper and cut into 3-4 inch segments. Place in Instant Pot.
  3. Add onions and garlic on top.
  4. In a bowl, whisk wine, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce and brown sugar. Pour over ribs.
  5. Place sprigs of thyme on top of ribs.
  6. Lock cover into place and seal steam nozzle.
  7. Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes.
  8. Naturally release pressure for 10 minutes then quick release remaining pressure.
  9. Remove thyme sprigs.

Nutrition Facts

Servings Per Recipe
4 Servings
Serving Size
about 8 ounces
Amount Per Serving
Calories
466
Total Fat
23g
Saturated Fat
10g
Trans Fat
0g
Cholesterol
134mg
Sodium
876mg
Total Carbohydrates
13g
Fiber
1g
Sugar
9g
Protein
44g
WW Freestyle
13

147 Comments

Join the discussion
  1. Are the serving day directions for both frozen containers? Or is this making enough for 2 servings? 🙂

    1. Hi Britt. Each of our recipes are already doubled, so you will have enough for two servings of each meal. The serving day directions are for one of the 2 meals you have prepared. Hope that helps!

  2. Should this be manual release or natural pressure release? Mine ended up quite rubbery when manually releasing after the 35 minutes. Waste of $30 of meat.

    1. Hi Andy, So sorry about the wasted meat! We tested this recipe in our own OAMM kitchen, as well as user test kitchens with manual release. As you know, different meat thicknesses can really contribute to done-ness and over done-ness. The rubbery description makes me think these were slightly over cooked. I made short ribs in my IP last week and they were big, thick ones. The 35 minutes was just enough. A few days later I grabbed some of the smaller left over pieces from the freezer and cooked them about for 10 minutes less. I know this doesn’t make up for the disappointment of rubbery meat though, big bummer!

      1. My experience is beef in particular tends to “seize up” with quick release, try at least 15 minutes natural release…

    2. Same here… my ribs were not as tender as when I put them in the crockpot. I set the instapot for 35 minutes (manual) after browning the ribs. I am thinking next time I will set it to “meat/stew” and see how it turns out. For reference I had 4.02 pounds of bone in beef short ribs.

      1. Instructions have a NPR form5 min not NPR is when the juices redistribute and make it tender. I did an entire chuck roast cut into 2 inch squares for 35 min plus NPR for 15. Tender as could be!

    3. Made this recipe with 1 1/2 pound of boneless she rot rib.they came out delicious.This was so easy

    4. Before releasing the pressure put the setting on keep warm for a slow cool down for 15 minutes.
      Meat like ribs, roast gets rubbery if cooled down to quick.
      Once you pull the meat out of pot, let it sit for at least 8 – 10 minutes before cutting into it. The longer the rest time the better. Roasts and poultry need a lot of rest time.

    5. Before releasing the pressure put the setting on ‘keep warm’ for a slow cool down for 15 minutes.
      When you pull it out of pot, let it sit for 8-10 minutes before digging in.
      I just made it that way and it came out fork tender.

    6. Mine came out extremely tough. Very disappointing! The sauce was delicious, so we ate the mashed potatoes with the sauce & threw the meat away.

      1. I think 35 minutes is way too short a cooking time. You want to cook beef longer the more tender you want it. I cooked ours for 55 minutes and it was perfect. Had to fish the bones out of the bottom of the pot. Longer is better with beef.

  3. I made this last evening and it was super easy and sooooo very tasty! I just had some leftovers for lunch and I have to say it is even better than it was last night! What a hit!

        1. Thanks Jessica! In that case, yes, there should be 2 tsp garlic cloves and they would be added after cooking the onion. 🙂

  4. Once I took the ribs out I used the liquid to make a BBQ sauce! I heated the liquid in a small pot, made a slurry (corn starch and water) and slowly mixed it in. Place on ribs and use your ovens broil for like 3-4 mins. The sauce needed a little extra salt but was excellent overall 🙂

  5. Made this and the meat did not turn out nearly as tender/fall off the bone as when I use the Crockpot. Sorry but it’s back to that for me.

    1. Sorry to hear it didn’t turn out as well for you. As stated in the directions due to the nature of pressure cooking there is always room for inconsistency.

  6. The flavors were so good but the 35 min time didn’t work for me. I ended up having to slow cook for another hour and a half to get any tenderness. But then it was tasty…but it was 9pm 🙂

  7. Wonderful! I knew we would be gone for 2 hours, so before we left, I prepped then put it on stew setting, adding a few minutes making it 38 minutes total. It naturally released and was on ‘warm’ when we got home.
    I served this tasty, tender dish over wild rice (Uncle Bens ready rice packet works great for our busy schedule).
    I halved the recipe then pretty much followed as written.
    It will definitely be a do again. Thanks!

  8. I loved this. I decreased the sugar to one tablespoon and did a full natural release as I do for all meat. I did two pounds worth of meat but the full amount of liquid. Two Buck Chuck from Trader Joe’s makes a very tasty sauce. It wasn’t greasy at all, meat falling off the bone. Thanks!

    1. As a member, you would have the ability customize serving sizes. If you have questions about membership, we’d love to chat with you in the bottom-right hand corner! We include a disclaimer on all of our IP recipes that states what the original serving size was when we made it fresh and that if cooking different amounts the time might need to be adjusted. We encourage you to consult the Instant Pot Time Tables for reference: http://instantpot.com/cooking-time/ Enjoy!

  9. Way off on the cooking time – totally inedible after only 35 minutes. I ended up running it through 2 more cycles of 35 so over 100 minutes total. The sauce is amazing, but meat is not something to be wasted.

    1. Hi, Ann – So sorry about the wasted meat! We tested this recipe in our own OAMM kitchen, as well as user test kitchens with manual release. As you know, different meat thicknesses can really contribute to done-ness and over-done-ness. We know this doesn’t make up for the disappointment of wasted meat, though, big bummer!

      1. Maybe it would help if you posted the thickness of the ribs that you used, so people could adjust if they have thicker or thinner ribs?

        1. Good question Amanda. This recipe calls for short ribs, which are a little different than other cuts. I would suggest using the time given in this recipe (unless your ribs look very small). Because if they are bigger or not quite as tender as you like, you can always add another 5-10 minutes of cooking time. Better to undercook than over cook. Hope than helps!

  10. Tried this recipe to “freeze for late”r and it was not done at all in the 35 minutes. I did another 35 minute cycle and it was delicious! ! If you want “fall off the bone tender” I wold recommend defrosting it first or cooking for 70 minutes rather than 35.

    1. We did a little research, and our times for this are similar to other recipes. However, there could be a variance in the size of your ribs verses the ones that we tested. So you can always feel free to add time if needed. That said, we will be testing this recipe soon, and will update it if we find these times to be too short. Thanks for your feedback!

  11. Yum, this was delicious. I checked the ribs at 35 minutes and they were still a bit tough, so I put them on for another ten minutes and they were perfect. I buy grass fed beef and I find it always needs to be cooked a little longer. Thank you for the recipe, it’s a winner.

    1. Oh Sarah that is so great to hear, and such a good thought on this recipe! We have had similar experiences with grass fed beef, so thank you for the feedback! We really appreciate it and hope you continue to enjoy this recipe!

  12. I can’t eat anything with tomatoes and my father in law is diabetic & can’t eat sugar. Any idea how this would turn out if deleting both catsup & sugar?

    1. My sister makes hers without the ketchup and brown sugar but adds a can of diced tomatoes. If you don’t like tomatoes maybe just add some beef broth for some liquid?

    2. You can increase the red wine to 2/3-3/4 cups. You can also add 1-2 tbsp. of apple cider vinegar (tangy tenderizer). Sauce can be thickened at the end with flour or cornstarch.

  13. I doubled the recipe so I bumped up the cook time to 45 minutes and went 8 minutes on the slow release… hands down amazing. My husband and 2 year old were in heaven ❤

    1. The answer is no, Karin. As you said, in order for the Instant Pot to come to pressure, it needs liquid to get there. However, it doesn’t HAVE to be water! It can be your meals sauce, marinade, and so on! It just needs a type of liquid to get to pressure. That recipe has plenty of liquid in it to come to pressure.

  14. So amazingly tender & delicious flavor. I left out soy sauce due to an allergy & the thyme. I also did a 25 min natural pressure release. Thank you for this lovely recipe.

        1. Absolutely! You should see social buttons on the left-hand side of the screen when you’re on the recipe page. If you have more questions please pop into chat in the bottom right-hand corner!

  15. I always look at this recipe from my phone & I found the Pinterest button when I looked at it from my computer. Sorry, so silly. ? Thanks again for the great recipe.

      1. Thanks…actually I just read minced is just fine chopping of the clove. Can you tell I really don’t cook? 🙂 I’ve only made soup once in IP a few months ago. This will be my first “real” meal using the IP. Thank you for the recipe!

      2. Thanks! So I made it and it was better than expected! Even my husband, who doesn’t like garlic or onions (gasp!) ate it all and loved it. I pretty much followed the recipe, but also made some changes because of the comments. I used boneless ribs. They were actually fairly thin cuts because I sliced them in half (worried that they wouldn’t cook through). I cooked for 38 minutes with a full natural release. They couldn’t have turned out better. Made fresh mashed potatoes and green beans. A wonderful meal.

        Thank you again! I look forward to more recipes as I gain confidence and I may have to even check out membership. 🙂

        1. Oh Deborah that is so great to hear! Let us know if you have more questions or need more assistance in the future! We are more than happy to help! Happy Cooking!

  16. So I used 4 lbs. of bone in ribs and I used I added another half to the sauce. I cooked them on manual for 60 minutes with 20 minutes natural release. My husband says they were “slap your mama,” fantastic.

    Thank you so much for this recipe. I will definitely be doing this again soon.

  17. Super easy, super good! I cooked it under pressure for 35 minutes and did natural release. Fall off the bone tender and the sauce was excellent.

    No freezing… Fresh is the best!

  18. We made this the other day and loved it! We did thicken the sauce when it was done and that made it even better, in my opinion.

  19. Turned out really good and so tender. I increased the cooking time to 45 with complete NPR as we ament out it stayed on keep warm setting for a few hours. Came home and a delicious dinner was ready for us in half the time and no having to sit home over it.
    Family loved it too! Will definitely be making this again.

  20. This recipe does not state to fill pot to one of the water lines. This was only my second time
    using the pot and I need specific directions. Luckily, after 10 minutes of wondering why it wasn’t starting
    to work I realized what I had not done and turned it off, let it cool down, and put in the water and started
    again. I had some burned spots so I wasn’t able to use much of the juices. You should make sure your recipes state to add water or some liquid for newbies like me. This could have really been a disaster.

    1. This recipe does not need water filled to a fill line. It has enough liquid in it for the Instant Pot to come to pressure without added water. It would have been just fine without the added liquid.

  21. I had a mixture of beef short ribs and some pork ribs. I cooked for 35 minutes and did 5 minutes of NR then quick release. When I took these out of the pot I though, Oh Boy, these feel nice and tender. The pork ribs were tender and tasty but the beef ribs were a little chewy. The dogs will get the beef ones for lunch tomorrow while I enjoy the pork ones.

  22. This came out great. But needed an extra 5 mins in the pressure cooker than initially intructed. After putting back in for another 5 minutes it came out savory and tender.

    1. Hi Christy, We’re so glad this recipe turned out for you! Using beef stock sounds delicious, great suggestion. Happy Cooking! ~ OAMM

  23. I used 3 lbs of ribs.I did not cut them down at all. Followed the sauce recipe and increased by 1/2. I put on Meat/Stew for 45 minutes and left it on warm for 35 more minutes purely because I was baking other things and finally got around to dealing with it. Came out phenomenal. Fell off the bone. Sauce was delightful.

  24. I made this today and we loved it! I was worried because I just got my IP! But, I was able to make a great dish with the slow cooker function, so I was ready to “venture out”!
    Thank you so much!

  25. Made these tonight and while I did extend the pressure time 15 mins it was purely for convenience sake as my wife wasn’t home yet. Reduced the sauce after degreasing it and like I told my wife a show would taste good with that sauce

  26. This look delicious, would like to make this for myself tomorrow is the time different if you only use a pound of short ribs. Thank you 🙂

  27. I made this exactly as written tonight – so nice when you find a recipe and you have everything to make it ?. I used beef short ribs as is called for. Wow! It was sooooooo delicious! I used the stew meat setting and cooked it for the allotted time(35mins) and then let it sit naturally for 5 mins before venting steam. Fell of the bones! And the sauce -oh my!! This will be a make often dish!! ????

  28. Hi there! The gravy was lovely and the meat I got was tasty. Trouble was none of the fat really rendered. Should I have changed anything. I followed all the instructions with cooking time etc. thank you!

    1. Hi Natalie! We’re so glad you enjoyed it! The issue could have been the size of your short ribs that may have made the temp/timing a little off. We hope you try it again soon!

  29. Made these ribs tonight, they were amazing! I did make some changes since I was working with 3 lbs of meat (bone in). I added 10 more minutes for the extra pound of meat I had. I also rounded up each ingredient to compensate….EX: Instead of 1/2 cup red wine for 2lbs of ribs, I did 3/4 cups for 3 lbs. I also did as the comments suggested and let it naturally released for 15 minutes, then quick released for 5 minutes. I then took the ribs out of the pot and allowed them to rest for 10 minutes before digging in. the meat was so tender. I forwarded this recipe to members of my family. Thanks for the recipe!

  30. As many reviewers have said I followed the recipe exactly and found the meat to be quite rubbery, not as tender as the crock pot at all.

    1. Hi Sara, I’m so sorry this recipe gave you trouble. One our members said with short ribs, they put baking soda in their marinade for ribs to help tenderize them before putting them in the Instant Pot and it works like a charm. I will definitely pass your feedback on to our Menu Builder team to review though. Thanks for your feedback, we really appreciate it.

  31. Just made these exactly as per your recipe. Delicious ! Tender and fall off the bone. Perfectly cooked. Will be making these again !! Thank you

  32. Got this this recipe from a friend after trying how fabulous her’s came out. The only hitch- I don’t have an Instant Pot- just a Crock Pot… Does anyone know if I should use lo or high heat and how many hours?? Thanks!

  33. I have made these in the instant pot multiple times, multiple thickness, with or without the bone. 45 minutes, NPR only. Tender and perfect every time

  34. I enjoyed this at my daughter’s house and decided to try it with venison. Only thing I didn’t have was the fresh sprig of thyme. Deer had been marinating in milk for a few days, so it was tender and I cooked for 35 minutes and did natural release. Came out amazing!!!

    1. Nice Kim! Thanks for the adaption with venison! So glad the Instant Pot is a good appliance for cooking it and it turned out tender for you!

  35. Excellent recipe! I added a juice from a fresh lemon and used dried thyme, but it came out bright and tasty. My primary critic was impressed (she has high expectations).

  36. I left the meat in larger pieces. Like others, I increased the cooking time to 45 mins and allowed NPR. I thickened the sauce with cornstarch and served over potatoes with simple green beans on the side. Very good meal! Thanks so much!

    1. We’re so glad this recipe worked out for you Karen! And thanks for the feedback on your changes to make it work for you.

  37. I made these tonight with boneless ribs. I ended up just letting the steam release naturally while I made everything else.. They were soo good!! Whole family approved!

  38. These ribs came out absolutely wonderful. I used the “make it now“ directions. The ribs were about an inch and a half thick. They came out very tender. I removed the meat from the IP and let the rest while I thickened the gravy with 1 Tbls corn starch mixed with a small amount of cold water. Served it some egg noodles. Definite keeper.

  39. So, so yummy! Best short ribs ever! People need to realize that cooking times are dependent on weight….beef is 20 to 25 minutes per pound in the instant pot…if you follow that guidance, they will always be “fall off the bone” good! Best recipe ever!

  40. The ribs came out well and the meat fell off the bone. Next time I’m going to add some carrots and maybe some other veggies, then it’s truly a meal in itself. I let the steam release itself for about 20 minutes. It was delicious.

    1. So glad this recipe turned out for you Lillian! And great suggestions about adding veggies with it for next time!

  41. Made it tlnight. It was excellent. However i would have liked more meat. Since 2 lbs was already $30, what other meat could i add to the recipe so it would come up with same amoint of sauce but more meat… but reduce cost?
    In pot, i used “stew” button with default time of 30 minutes then NR for 15 minutes. Thanks

    1. Hi Valerie – a beef roast of any kind cut into 2 inch pieces or chunks would go in well and not be very expensive. You might give this a try.

  42. Made this tonight….3lbs short ribs……. used beef broth in place of red wine. Did sauce in pot after removing ribs, to deglaze then add ribs back in…40 mins high pressure 10 mins NPR… served over mashed potatoes….so delicious! Thank you

  43. Tried before following recipe and it it delicious. Any way to cook the potatoes at the same time? Maybe in steamer basket, not cut too small?

    1. Oh wonderful, Pam! And yes, using a steamer basket with the potatoes on top would probably work great. And yes, keeping them larger in size since it cooks for 35 minutes is smart. Let us know if you try it and how it turns out!

  44. My first time eating short ribs. This was delicious!! I wish I had more meat. My cuts were mostly bone. But every bite was to die for. I boiled down the left over sauce and served with the meat. Definitely a winner.

  45. Made this recipe tonight with 1.75 pounds of short ribs and cooked them for 32 minutes in the IP knowing that I had less than what the original recipe called for and they came out perfectly!

  46. This is my go to recipe for beef short ribs.

    I’ve made the recipe several times and have never had the problem of the meat coming out too tough as noted by several other cooks. I use 1.5 – 2 pounds of boneless beef short ribs from Costco. I’ve made a few tweaks to the cooking process:

    1) Brown the rib pieces using the Instant Pot saute function (medium setting). Cook about 3-5 minutes per side, until uniformly brown
    2) Remove the rib pieces and drain off the fat
    3) Turn off the pot, add the sauce mixture, and whisk to remove the brown meat residue from the bottom of the pot.
    4) Add back the ribs with the onions and garlic. (Shallots can be substituted for the onions). Add the fresh thyme or marjoram.
    5) Peel and cube 4-5 medium sized golden or butter potatoes. Place in metal bowl on top of the ribs and sauce.
    6) Pressure cook using manual setting, high pressure, for 35 minutes.
    7) Use natural release to release all the pressure, about 20-25 minutes.
    8) Remove potatoes and cooked ribs. While ribs are resting add 1/2 stick butter to potatoes and salt pepper. Mix and mash to uniform consistency and transfer to serving bowl
    9) Turn on saute function to low setting and slowly add 1/2 – 1 tbsp. Cornstarch. Allow sauce to bubble and thicken to desired consistency.

    This procedure takes more time but you get tender ribs, mashed potatoes, and a great sauce.

  47. I got distracted and forgot to whisk the wet ingredients before adding them. Is this going to affect the taste??

  48. I have to question why the cooking time is the same whether you are using the frozen-ahead ribs or the fresh, non-frozen ribs. That can’t be right unless you completely thaw the ribs first, which kind of defeats the purpose. From frozen, how long should they cook, in your opinion?

    1. A lot will depend on the thickness of your ribs. The cooking times are accurate in the recipe – though others have given their tips in the comments above.