Instant Pot Short Ribs
These Instant Pot short ribs are melt in your mouth delicious! The meat is fall off the bone tender and so hearty. This recipe is great for family dinners, holidays, entertaining, meal prep and leftovers. Such an easy and straightforward way to make short ribs. Only about an hour needed! It is pure comfort food made with wholesome and nutritious ingredients!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- These Instant Pot short ribs are so tender and flavorful.
- No need to turn on the oven or slow cooker.
- This is the quickest and easiest way to cook short ribs.
- Only about an hour needed. These Instant Pot Carnitas take only an hour too!
- This recipe is great for family dinners, leftovers and meal prep.
- Delicious with carrots and mashed potatoes.
- They taste like all day long braised short ribs.
- The meat is fall off the bone tender.
- This recipe is Whole30 friendly, Paleo, gluten free, dairy free, egg free, nut free and refined sugar free.
- Check out these Paleo Braised Short Ribs or these Beef Back Ribs for another hearty dinner recipe!
Ingredients & Substitutions
These are the main ingredients and substitutions for Instant Pot short ribs. Scroll down to the recipe card for full ingredients list and instructions.
Olive oil helps cook the carrots and onion. Feel free to use vegetable oil or coconut oil instead.
Carrots and onions add flavor and nutritious benefits.
Both bone in and boneless short ribs can be used. For best results, use bone in. Bone in short ribs are more flavorful than boneless.
Sea salt and pepper add flavor. Feel free to add even more for additional flavor.
Tomato paste helps thick and flavor the gravy sauce.
Beef broth adds a hearty flavor to the sauce. If needed, use chicken broth.
Pomegranate juice or red wine add flavor. For Whole30 and Paleo, use unsweetened pomegranate juice.
Lastly, create a slurry using liquid from the pot and tapioca flour. Cornstarch works well too.
What are Short Ribs?
Short ribs are a cut of beef that come from the plate or rib area of the cow.
They are shorter than spare ribs and typically have more meat and less bone.
Short ribs are a popular cut for slow cooking because they have a lot of connective tissue. This breaks down over time and results in a tender, flavorful meat.
In this recipe, the Instant Pot quickly and efficiently cooks the short ribs. Pressure cooker short ribs are much quicker than slow cooker short ribs.
I have not tried this Instant Pot short ribs recipe with pork ribs, but they should work just fine. Beef ribs are more common.
What is an Instant Pot?
An Instant Pot is a multi-cooker that is designed to replace several kitchen appliances. These include a slow cooker, pressure cooker, rice cooker, and more.
It works by cooking food quickly and efficiently under pressure. This results in tender and flavorful meals in a fraction of the time it would take to cook them traditionally.
Taste & Texture
Instant Pot short ribs have a rich and robust flavor. They are hearty, savory and flavorful. The beef broth and pomegranate juice (or red wine) create a delicious gravy sauce.
The meat is fall off the bone, melt in your mouth tender. The carrots also become soft.
How to Make
Step 1
First, turn Instant Pot on and press the Sauté setting. Add in the olive oil. Once oil is hot, add in onions and carrots. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Then, remove veggies from pot.
Step 2
Pat dry short ribs with paper towels. Season on both sides with sea salt and pepper. If needed, add another drizzle of olive oil to the pot. Add short ribs to pot. Brown for 2 minutes on each side.
Step 3
Add in all remaining ingredients except tapioca flour. Stir to combine. Press cancel.
Step 4
Secure lid on top. Set top valve to Seal. Press the Pressure Cook button. Set timer for 45 minutes.
Step 5
Once timer goes off, allow pot to naturally release pressure for 15 minutes. Then, carefully turn valve to Vent. Release remaining pressure.
Step 6
Press Sauté. Remove ¼ cup of the liquid from the pot to a small bowl. Stir in the tapioca flour.
Step 7
Then, pour this slurry back into the pot. Stir until sauce has thickened.
Step 8
Finally, serve Instant Pot short ribs and carrots!
Expert Tips & Tricks
Brown the short ribs before cooking them in the Instant Pot. This step helps to develop a deeper flavor and color.
Use unsweetened pomegranate juice or a good quality red wine for this recipe. The wine should be dry and full-bodied, such as a Cabernet Sauvignon or Merlot.
Let the Instant Pot release pressure naturally for about 15 minutes before manually releasing the remaining pressure. This helps to prevent the meat from becoming tough or dry.
The tapioca flour slurry thickens the sauce. Continue stirring and cooking until sauce reaches desired thickness.
How to Serve & Store
Serve these Instant Pot short ribs hot and fresh from the pot. They are great served over mashed potatoes. Or, serve with air fryer baked potatoes.
Spoon some of the carrots and gravy on top.
Discard all bones.
Try this Instant Pot Chocolate Cake for dessert!
Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freeze for up to 2 months. Thaw fully before consuming.
Frequently Asked Questions
Yes, short ribs become more tender as they cook.
It usually takes several hours for short ribs to be tender. The pressure cooker speeds up this process considerably.
Yes! Use pomegranate juice instead of wine.
Braising is the process of quickly frying or pan searing something then letting it cook slowly. In this case, the meat is seared then pressure cooked until tender.
For the best flavor, use bone in short ribs. Bone in short ribs are more tender and flavorful than boneless.
Equipment Needed
Instant Pot: The Instant Pot is a great kitchen appliance. It can make meats, soups, stews, veggies and more. Great for these Instant Pot short ribs.
Pyrex Glass Measuring Cups: Use these glass measuring cups for cooking, baking and measuring.
You May Also Like
- Korean BBQ Sauce
- Air Fryer Ribeye Steak
- Best Dutch Oven Ribs
- Whole30 BBQ Ribs in the Oven
- Oven Tri Tip
If you make this Instant Pot short ribs recipe, I would really appreciate a review! You can find me on Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest. Join my exclusive Facebook Group for a behind the scenes look. I would love for you to follow along! For more ideas, see these Lunch and Dinner Recipes.
Get the Recipe: Instant Pot Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 large carrots, chopped
- 1 yellow onion, finely diced
- 4 beef short ribs
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp tomato paste
- 1 cup beef broth
- ⅔ cup pomegranate juice, or red wine
- 2 tbsp tapioca flour, or cornstarch
Instructions
- First, turn Instant Pot on and press the Sauté setting. Add in olive oil. Once oil is hot, add in onions and carrots. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Remove veggies from pot.
- Pat dry short ribs with paper towels. Season on both sides with sea salt and pepper. If needed, add another drizzle of olive oil to the pot. Add short ribs to pot. Brown for 2 minutes on each side.
- Add in all remaining ingredients except tapioca flour. Stir to combine. Press cancel.
- Secure lid on top. Set top valve to Seal. Press the Pressure Cook button. Set timer for 45 minutes.
- Once timer goes off, allow pot to naturally release pressure for 15 minutes. Then, carefully turn valve to Vent. Release remaining pressure.
- Press Sauté. Remove ¼ cup of the liquid from the pot to a small bowl. Stir in tapioca flour.
- Then, pour this slurry back into the pot. Stir until sauce has thickened.
- Finally, serve short ribs and carrots!
Notes
- For best results, use bone in short ribs. They have more flavor than boneless.
- Both pomegranate juice and red wine work well in this recipe. If necessary, replace with more beef broth.
- The tapioca flour slurry will thicken the sauce. Continue stirring until sauce has reached desired thickness.
- Store leftovers in the fridge for up to 5 days.
- Freeze for up to 2 months.
Love these healthy Instant Pot short ribs? You can sign up here to receive healthy meal plans, exclusive new recipes and updates!
5 Comments on “Instant Pot Short Ribs”
Amazon melt in your mouth short ribs recipe! Making this in the instant pot is my favorite method of cooking short ribs.
These short ribs are wonderful! The meat came out so tender and perfectly shreddable. I usually braise my short ribs in the oven, but this method was so convenient, and I loved the results.
I love how juicy these ribs came out! And cooking them in the instant pot made is SO much faster, great weeknight dinner!
I recently tried the Instant Pot Short Ribs recipe and it was a huge hit with my family! We served it with some delicious potato salad and roasted brussels. My boys absolutely loved the tender and juicy meat, while I was amazed by how easy it was to make.
What’s even more surprising is that my husband is not much of a cook, but he was able to follow the recipe with ease, while I prepared the side dishes. The flavor was incredible, and we all enjoyed every last bite.
I highly recommend trying out this recipe for yourself, especially if you’re looking for a quick and easy meal that’s sure to satisfy everyone at the table. The Instant Pot really does make a huge difference and ensures that the short ribs come out perfectly cooked. Overall, this recipe is a must-try for any meat lover!
Delicious!!
So much flavor, tender fall off the bone meat and really really easy.
We loved this recipe, the kids said it was the best short ribs I had made!
I used merlot like you suggested and then drank the rest while the dish cooked 🙂
We had it with mashed potato and green beans…YUM!