Can I substitute another cut of meat for short ribs?

If you can’t find short ribs (bone-in or boneless) in the grocery store, you can use chuck roast cut into two-inch pieces.

Braising is a cooking technique where meat is cooked slowly in liquid in a closed pot. Both easy and delicious, braising can transform an inexpensive meat or sturdy vegetable in wine or broth into something much greater than the sum of its parts. Time is arguably the most crucial factor: low and slow.

Short Ribs Braised with Peanuts and Spice

Short Ribs with Spiced Peanut Sauce — Photo:
Chris Simpson / Food Styling by Julian Hensarling / Prop Styling by Thom Driver

Active Time:

1 hr 15 mins

Chill Time:

6 hrs

Total Time:

11 hrs 15 mins

Servings:

Look no further than these saucy short ribs as your perfect main for a holiday dinner or another special meal. In fact, Mashama Bailey, chef and owner at The Grey in Savannah, Georgia, developed this recipe — a play on her grandmother’s pot roast — as the centerpiece of her restaurant’s celebratory 10th-anniversary holiday menu.

The short ribs are melt-in-your-month tender with a seasoned crust and flavorful sauce that gets its flavor and body from peanut butter. Fresh turmeric, which is thinly sliced and stewed with the meat, offers earthiness. Spices — ranging from green cardamom pods and cloves to chiles de árbol and fenugreek seeds — add layers of warm flavor. Fresh ginger, which normally delivers sharp spiciness, mellows during the long cooking time.

As you cook the short ribs, patience is a virtue. It’s important to leave plenty of room between the short rib pieces to allow for even browning. If the pot is overcrowded, the ribs will just steam, preventing the caramelization needed for flavor development.

Serve the short ribs over rice, mashed potatoes, creamy grits, or any other starchy side dish that can soak up all that delicious sauce.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I substitute another cut of meat for short ribs?

If you can’t find short ribs (bone-in or boneless) in the grocery store, you can use chuck roast cut into two-inch pieces.
What is braising?

Braising is a cooking technique where meat is cooked slowly in liquid in a closed pot. Both easy and delicious, braising can transform an inexpensive meat or sturdy vegetable in wine or broth into something much greater than the sum of its parts. Time is arguably the most crucial factor: low and slow.

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

Placing the spices in a cheesecloth sachet allows the flavors to infuse into the sauce without the need to pick them out individually later. If you don’t have cheesecloth, you can use a mesh tea infuser.

The sauce here is a real winner, and easy to adapt for other bone-in cuts of beef, such as oxtail, or rich and fatty boneless cuts, such as beef cheeks.

Suggested pairing

Pair this luscious holiday main with a blackberry-scented Cabernet Sauvignon, like Đô`i Đá Napa Valley.

Make ahead

Store the short ribs, submerged in the sauce in an airtight container, in the refrigerator for up to four days. Alternatively, you may freeze them in an airtight container for up to three months. Gently reheat the short ribs and sauce in a deep pot on the stove over low heat until warmed through.

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Ingredients

6 leaf bay leaves
6 green cardamom pods
5 whole cloves
4 whole allspice
4 dried chiles de árbol
2 teaspoons fenugreek seeds
2 teaspoons neutral oil (such as canola oil)
5 pounds bone-in English-cut beef short ribs, patted dry
1 tablespoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon black pepper, plus more to taste
2 large yellow onions, peeled and sliced into 1-inch rings
2/3 cup turmeric, peeled and thinly sliced (from 4 [3-inch] pieces)
2 tablespoons fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced (from 1 [2-inch] piece)
1/2 cup creamy peanut butter
6 tablespoons tomato paste
6 cups chicken stock or veal stock
1 pound extra-large carrots (about 3 carrots), peeled and cut into 3-inch pieces

Directions

Preheat oven to 300°F. Toast bay leaves, cardamom, cloves, allspice, chiles, and fenugreek in a small skillet over medium, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Cut a 4-inch square of cheesecloth, and place toasted spices in the center; tie with kitchen twine to form a small sachet. Set aside.
Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium. (If short ribs are especially fatty, use less oil.) Sprinkle short ribs evenly with salt and black pepper. Working in 2 batches, cook short ribs in Dutch oven, turning occasionally, until browned on all sides, about 12 minutes. Transfer short ribs to a plate; set aside.
Reserve 2 tablespoons beef drippings in a small bowl; drain and discard remaining drippings. Return Dutch oven and 1 tablespoon reserved drippings to heat over medium. Add onions, turmeric, and ginger; cook, stirring occasionally and adding more reserved drippings as needed to prevent burning, until onions are translucent, 10 to 12 minutes. Stir in peanut butter and tomato paste; cook, stirring often, until tomato paste starts to caramelize and stick to bottom of pan, about 3 minutes. Add stock; bring to a boil over medium-high, stirring and scraping bottom of Dutch oven to loosen browned bits.
Add short ribs and spice sachet; return to a boil. Cover and bake in preheated oven until meat is fork-tender, 2 hours and 30 minutes to 3 hours. Nestle in carrots; continue baking until carrots are tender and short ribs are very tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour, basting occasionally to glaze carrots.
Remove from oven; discard spice sachet, and let short rib mixture cool slightly, about 45 minutes. Transfer to refrigerator, and let cool completely, about 6 hours.
Scrape off and discard any fat that solidifies on the surface. Warm ribs in the braising liquid over medium until heated through, adding additional salt and pepper to taste, if desired. Serve on or off the bone.