Honey Garlic Braised Beef Ribs

Pan-seared beef ribs are braised in a honey garlic sauce prepared with red wine. These moist and tender ribs are perfect for a cold winter night’s dinner. Serve with hearty polenta or mashed potatoes and be sure to ladle on some of that thick, glossy, sweet, and garlicky sauce!

From the very first moment I tasted a braised beef short rib, I knew there was no turning back. If they are cooked properly – which is slowly and in a pot with a heavy lid – the meat becomes super tender and moist. Once done, it’s actually hard to pick up the rib without the bone sliding right out of the meat! At least, that is the case with these Honey Garlic Braised Beef Ribs! They are so tender and succulent; they almost melt in your mouth!

Braising might seem a little intimidating, but I assure you, Dear Reader, it’s one of the easiest cooking methods. Unlike other methods, such as roasting or grilling, where it is easy to overcook something, braising encourages overcooking to a point. Braising is the cooking of meat or vegetables by heating them slowly with oil and moisture in a tightly sealed vessel. Whenever I braise beef ribs, I always use a Dutch oven. Le Creuset and Staub have wonderful, heavy-duty, cast-iron pots that keep moisture locked in while cooking.

Braising differs from stewing, because in braising the food is immersed in liquid. It is covered tightly, which means it is unlike roasting too. Also, it is hard to find a recipe in which something is roasted in liquid! Think of braising as a combination in which the beef ribs are covered so that they are roasting and steaming at the same time in a liquid.

WHAT ARE BEEF SHORT RIBS?

Before I tell you how to make Honey Garlic Braised Beef Ribs, I want to explain what they are, because they are not an ingredient that is widely used, so you might not know much about them. Basically, beef ribs (sometimes called beef short ribs) come from the beef chuck section of the cow. There are five short ribs that are too small to be used for steak, so they are packaged and sold as beef ribs.

Please note that short ribs are not just shorter and fatter beef back ribs. The rack of beef ribs that you see on most summer grills come from the prime rib section of the animal which is closer to the top. Beef short ribs come from the bottom section. Short ribs are much larger and meatier, which also makes them a little bit pricier, depending on where you source beef.

Beef short ribs are everywhere these days! They are a cut used for slow cooking. Slow cooking breaks down the tough connective tissues and the meat becomes fall apart tender. And, because they are beautifully marbled with fat, they are more succulent and juicy than other slow cooking cuts of beef such as chuck and brisket.

The beef ribs you see in my photos are quite large in comparison to what you might see in other parts of the world. In Asian cuisine, for example, beef short ribs are sliced thinly so they can be cooked quickly rather than long and slow. Some cuts do not have the extended bone like the ones I’m using. The longer bone, with one very thick and meaty end and a tapered opposite end, refers to an English-style cut.

INGREDIENTS NEEDED FOR THIS RECIPE

The following is a list of the ingredients needed to prepare this recipe. For exact amounts and measurements, refer to the printable recipe card located near the bottom of this post.

• Beef Ribs/Short Ribs – Do not use Asian style short ribs for this recipe. Those ribs tend to be sliced thinly across the bone and will most certainly completely fall apart in this recipe. Use larger cuts which typically weight roughly 10-12 ounces each.
• Soy Sauce – Use low sodium soy sauce, otherwise the sauce will be too salty. If you only have regular soy sauce, use half soy sauce and half water to dilute the salt.
• Honey – Regular honey will do just fine. Save your fancy organic honey for your tea. If you don’t have honey, you can use regular granulated sugar, but cut it back to 3/4 cup.
• Red Wine – You can use red or white wine, but red has much more flavour when braising. Non-alcoholic wine can be used too. See tips and trick section for more wine substitutions.
• Ground Black Pepper – Salt is not used in this recipe, because of the soy sauce, but you will need lots of ground black pepper.
• Water
• Garlic – Use fresh garlic for maximum flavour. You will need one full bulb of garlic. Most garlic bulbs have 10-12 cloves of garlic. Peel them and finely chop them all for this recipe.
• Olive Oil
• Parsley – Finely chopped for garnish.
• Toasted Sesame Seeds – These are for garnish are optional.
• Dried Red Chili Flakes – Add a sprinkling onto the warm ribs for a bit of heat and spice. This is optional as well.

HOW TO MAKE HONEY GARLIC BRAISED BEEF RIBS

1. Brown the Beef

I’m a huge fan of searing meat before braising it or even stewing it. Searing meat adds flavour and colour. And, contrary to popular belief, it does not lock in flavour or moisture. Moisture can still escape through the sear, and that means flavour can get in too. Personally, I like to sear beef ribs on all sides, because it melts down some of the fat, which helps to get rid of some of the excess grease. And, searing will cut down on the amount of beef/fat scum that accumulates at the top of the liquid while the ribs are braising.

To brown (or sear) the beef ribs, add two teaspoons of the olive oil to a large Dutch oven and over medium-high heat, sear the beef ribs on all sides for about two minutes. Make sure the pan is hot first! Don’t be tempted to overcrowd the pot. Cook the beef ribs two or three at a time in a single layer. Once seared on all sides, remove from the pot and sear the next batch.

Once all of the ribs have been seared, carefully drain the grease out of the pot and wipe out the excess with paper towel. Now, you’re ready to start on that gloriously delicious honey garlic sauce!

2. Create the Sauce

This is where you get to create a rich sauce that you will want to ladle all over the beef and whatever sides you serve with them. Add olive oil to your Dutch oven and turn the heat to medium-high. Add in the garlic and stir. Once the garlic begins to sizzle, continue to cook the garlic for exactly one minute, stirring the whole while to prevent it from burning.

Next, reduce heat to medium and add the soy sauce, honey, red wine, and ground black pepper. Whisk this mixture and bring it to a low boil. Once the mixture starts to bubble slightly, add the seared beef ribs into the pot. Add them all in and nestle them into the liquid as much as possible. Boil for 2 minutes.

Turn the beef over so that the beef that was previously sitting up out of the liquid is now covered. Boil for another two minutes. Next, pour in the water. Allow the liquid to come to a boil once again. Once boiling, if you see any “meat scum” forming on the surface of the liquid, you can remove it with a skimmer. Meat scum is completely safe and normal. It occurs when proteins in meat start to break down. You don’t have to remove it, but it does make the sauce look clearer and less cloudy. It’s completely a visual thing! Either way, boil the beef ribs for 20 minutes uncovered.

Finally, reduce heat to simmer and cover the pot with a heavy lid. Let the beef ribs simmer for one hour and twenty minutes. You can remove the lid at the 40 minute mark and skim off more scum if any more has accumulated. But, get the lid back on the pot as soon as you’re done skimming.

3. Finishing Up

At this point, the beef ribs are super tender, super moist, and probably falling off the bone. They are completely cooked and ready to eat. However, don’t just remove the beef ribs and discard that sauce. It’s a delicious that you can serve in a gravy boat and pour it over the beef and the sides once plated. However, I like a very thick sauce, so this is what I like to do. This next step is optional.

Carefully remove the beef ribs from the pot. Try to keep the bones in, because it looks better when presenting the ribs on a plate. I like to use metal tongs to coax the ribs – one at a time! – onto a large slotted spoon. Transfer them to a plate and tent them with aluminum foil. In the meantime, bring the sauce back to a boil over high heat. You can cook the sauce down until it reduces in volume, but the ribs will cool down too much while you wait for this.

Instead, stir together one tablespoon of cornstarch with one tablespoon of water. While whisking the boiling sauce, drizzle the cornstarch mixture in and the sauce will instantly thicken. Whisk well and turn off the heat. Ladle the sauce into a gravy boat and place it right on the table so that everyone can help themselves.

RECIPE TIPS & TRICKS

1. If you’re new to cooking in a Dutch oven, keep in mind that they can get really hot and will hold the heat steady for a while, even if you turn off the heat. That is why it is important to keep the garlic moving in step 2. It will prevent the garlic from burning. Burnt garlic is bitter and will not taste good at all. If you burn the garlic, let the pot cool, clean it out, and start with fresh garlic again. Don’t risk ruining those beef ribs with bitter garlic!
2. Use a full bodied wine, such as a merlot. But, do not use expensive wine. When braising with wine, you will need an extremely refined palette to tell the difference between beef braised with an expensive wine or a bottle that was less than $10 like I used.
3. If you would like a non-alcoholic version, you can use non-alcoholic wine, or replace the wine completely with an equal amount of beef stock with an added tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce.

SERVING SUGGESTIONS

Beef ribs are quite large and very meaty, so I would assume that one per person would be more than enough. However, please be fair warned that these Honey Garlic Braised Beef Ribs are so good that one might not be enough to satisfy you! Beef ribs can be expensive, depending on where you live, so a safe bet is to serve these with delicious and hearty sides.

There are two or three sides that I can think of that would work perfectly with these ribs. First, the most obvious is mashed potatoes or a creamy polenta or grits. I think those three would certainly please just about anyone. Another option would be noodles. A plainly seasoned chow mien would make a great bed for these ribs! Finally, how about just good old plain steamed rice? The key is to use a hearty side, but one with muted flavours so that the beef ribs are the star.

And, no matter what side you choose to pair the ribs with, be sure to ladle over lots of that deliciously garlicky and sweet sauce. It really is absolutely wonderful! Garnish according to your own tastes. I thought the toasted sesame seeds would pair well with the rice. Of course, you can’t go wrong with finely chopped fresh parsley too! Finally, I also added a sprinkling of dried red chili flakes to add a little punch of heat.

OTTAWA VALLEY MEATS

In the previous section, I mentioned that beef ribs can be pricey, depending on where you shop. I found the ribs you see in the photos at Ottawa Valley Meats. The beef ribs are grass fed and cut into the English Style that I previously mentioned. Each Beef Rib is hand-cut, quickly flash-frozen and vacuum packed, so they are always super fresh when they get to you. And finally, the beef is raised locally and perfectly dry-aged for 28 days to enhance the already full flavour.

If you are in Ontario, be sure to check out Ottawa Valley Meats. I absolutely love the quality of the beef, as well as the chicken and the seafood too! The prices are very competitive and they deliver right to your door! It’s a great way to stock up, especially with the upcoming colder months when everyone seems to cook heartier meals!