Description
Hearty Instant Pot Short Rib Ragu brings Italian comfort to your dinner table with meltingly tender meat and rich, complex flavors. Warm, robust sauce clings to pasta, promising a soul-satisfying meal that you’ll crave again and again.
Ingredients
Scale
- 2 ½ lbs (1.1 kg) bone-in beef short ribs
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- ½ cup (120 ml) dry red wine (optional but recommended)
- 1 (28 oz/794 g) can crushed tomatoes
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 carrots, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 2 tbsps tomato paste
- 1 tsp dried thyme or Italian seasoning
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp sugar (optional, to balance acidity)
- ½ tsp red pepper flakes (optional for heat)
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar (stirred in at the end for brightness)
- Salt & black pepper, to taste
- Fresh parsley or basil, for garnish
- Pasta, polenta, or mashed potatoes, for serving
- Grated Parmesan cheese (optional, for topping)
Instructions
- Meat Preparation: Thoroughly pat short ribs with paper towels, generously season with salt and pepper. Activate Instant Pot’s sauté function, heat olive oil, and meticulously brown ribs on each surface until deep golden, approximately 3-4 minutes per side.
- Aromatic Foundation: Transfer browned ribs to a holding plate. Introduce diced onions, carrots, and celery into the pot, sautéing until vegetables become translucent and tender. Incorporate minced garlic and tomato paste, stirring continuously for one minute to develop rich flavor profiles.
- Liquid Integration: Deglaze the pot with red wine, scraping accumulated browned bits from the bottom. Allow liquid to reduce and concentrate flavors. Add crushed tomatoes, thyme, bay leaf, sugar, and optional red pepper flakes. Gently reintroduce seared short ribs, ensuring they’re nestled within the liquid.
- Pressure Cooking: Secure lid, program Instant Pot to high pressure for 45 minutes. After cooking completes, permit natural pressure release for 10-15 minutes, then manually release remaining pressure.
- Meat Transformation: Extract short ribs, methodically remove bones and excess fat. Shred meat using two forks until uniformly pulled. Reintegrate shredded meat into sauce, enhance with balsamic vinegar, and adjust seasoning to taste.
- Serving Presentation: Elegantly ladle ragu over preferred starch like pappardelle, rigatoni, polenta, or mashed potatoes. Garnish with freshly chopped herbs and grated Parmesan cheese for final flourish.
Notes
- Choose well-marbled, bone-in short ribs for maximum flavor and tenderness, ensuring a rich and succulent ragu.
- Brown meat thoroughly to develop deep, caramelized flavors that enhance the overall depth of the sauce.
- Use a good quality red wine to scrape up browned bits, which add complex, concentrated taste to the ragu.
- Remove excess fat after cooking to prevent the sauce from becoming overly greasy while maintaining rich, robust flavors.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Dinner, Lunch
- Method: Slow Cooking
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 7
- Calories: 350
- Sugar: 5 g
- Sodium: 600 mg
- Fat: 18 g
- Saturated Fat: 5 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 10 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 30 g
- Cholesterol: 90 mg