Instant Pot short ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender in less than an hour under pressure, and the best part is the mashed potatoes cook AT THE SAME TIME in the Instant Pot!
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Braised short ribs usually are baked for at least a few hours. A pressure cooker does the job in much less time with the same delicious results.
How long it takes: 45 minutes to prep, another hour to pressure cook
Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot, a shallow round pan that fits inside the Instant Pot
Servings: 4
I’m really excited to share this recipe with you. It’s the perfect special occasion dinner (think Valentine’s Day!). Pour a glass of wine and enjoy some time in the kitchen with your special someone. It’s a delicious weekend meal, too, when you want to take a little more time to savor and enjoy the process of cooking.
These short ribs are much faster to make than traditional beef short ribs but this is still a recipe you want to pour a little love and time into. It’s a special cut of meat, a little pricier, a little richer and more indulgent than other cuts. The ribs will melt in your mouth!
About these Instant Pot Short Ribs
Typically, short ribs take hours and hours to cook. You want to braise them: brown the ribs and then slowly cook them so the meat becomes tender and will fall off the bone.
Sometimes I do like to cook a pot of short ribs all day. There’s just something about the leisurely act of preparing a meal that you work on for hours, with the lovely aroma wafting through your house all day (be sure to take a look at my oven-baked red wine braised short ribs).
However, there are occasions when you want the same delicious result in a fraction of the time. Thankfully, the pressure cooker works perfectly to achieve tender, melt-in-your-mouth meat. It’s the same concept as Instant Pot Ribs, Instant Pot pulled pork, Instant Pot pot roast, and Instant Pot beef stew. Meals that are normally slow cooked can be pressure cooked in much less time.
It’s really kind of amazing. Even more amazing is that the potatoes cook AT THE SAME TIME. In the SAME POT. (Sorry for yelling, but this is very exciting to me.)
I can’t take total credit for this idea, it’s one I saw on Pressure Cook Recipes. Once you have the short ribs and all the other good stuff in the Instant Pot, you place a small bowl or cake pan on top of it all, and add your potatoes there. They cook in a similar manner to my Instant Pot mashed potatoes but at the same time as the short ribs!
I feel like every time I make a new Instant Pot recipe, I fall in love with it a little more.
How to make Pressure Cooker Short Ribs
Honestly, at first glance, the ingredient list and instructions look a lot longer than some of my recipes. But read through it, measure things out ahead of time, and put some good music on. You can totally, 100%, definitely handle this!
Begin by browning the meat. This is probably the most time consuming part but it’s a step you don’t want to skip because it adds a ton of flavor. Get the pan good and hot and sear all sides of the short ribs. Get them nice and brown. It takes a bit of time because you’ll need to do the ribs in batches. Thankfully, you can do this right in the Instant Pot! Jack of all trades, this thing. And possibly, master of all trades, too.
Sauté vegetables. Once you have the ribs browned, place them on a plate. Next, cook your onion, celery, and carrots in the hot Instant Pot. And garlic, of course.
Deglaze pan. Add a nice dry red wine and scrape all those yummy brown bits off the bottom of the pot. “Deglazing” the pan will ensure you don’t see that annoying “burn” warning on the Instant Pot but also adds great flavor to what will eventually be your gravy or sauce.
Add broth and seasonings. When the wine has reduced a bit, you add even more flavor to the gravy and the ribs with beef broth, balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, bay leaf, thyme, and paprika.
Arrange short ribs and potatoes in Instant Pot. Once you have all those yummy flavors added, place the short ribs back into the broth mixture. Add the potatoes to a stainless steel bowl or a small cake pan right on top of the ribs!
Pressure cook. Now it’s time for the pressure cooker to work its magic. Set the timer for 42 minutes. It will take about 10 additional minutes to come to pressure. When the timer goes off, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes.
Mash the potatoes and make the gravy. When the ribs have finished cooking, carefully remove the potatoes and mash them. The short ribs get removed from the pot one more time so you can thicken up the gravy with a slurry of cornstarch and beef broth. Once the sauce has thickened, put the short ribs back in to get them shiny and glazed in that delicious gravy.
What to serve with Beef Short Ribs
- Potatoes: I like short ribs best with mashed potatoes, which in this recipe you can make right at the same time! If you’re a two Instant Pot kind of household, you could also do a larger batch of Instant Pot mashed potatoes, or you could do slow cooker mashed potatoes. Mashed red potatoes are excellent, too.
- More choices: Short ribs also pair well with rice, or a low-carb mash like cauliflower mash or rutabaga mash. Creamy polenta or grits are a good choice.
- Vegetables: Simply cook your favorite vegetable. Pretty much anything goes with beef short ribs. I like to keep it simple. As you can see in the photos, asparagus is always one of my first choices. Whole roasted carrots are beautiful or roasted green beans.
More Instant Pot Meals
Instant Pot Short Ribs & Mashed Potatoes
Ingredients
For the short ribs:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 4 pounds bone-in beef short ribs (about 8 short ribs)
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon coarsely ground black pepper
- ½ cup diced onion (1 small onion)
- ½ cup finely diced celery (2 stalks celery)
- ½ cup finely diced carrots (2 small carrots)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup dry red wine (we recommend Cabernet Sauvignon)
- 1 cup + 4 tablespoons beef broth, divided
- 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
- 1 tablespoon packed brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
For potatoes:
- 3 to 4 russet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1-inch slices
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- ½ cup milk
- Fresh chives or parsley for garnishing
Instructions
- Heat Instant Pot to Sauté and add oil.
- Use a paper towel to wipe short ribs dry and also to remove any blood or bone fragments.
- Season all sides of the short ribs with 1 teaspoon salt and pepper. Working in batches, place 3 to 4 short ribs in hot Instant Pot and brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to plate and repeat with remaining short ribs. (takes about 30 minutes total)
- If there is a lot of oil/fat in the pan at this point, carefully remove all but about 1 tablespoon. Add onion, celery, and carrots and cook, stirring constantly for about 3 minutes, or until onions are translucent. Add garlic and cook for about 1 minute, stirring, or until fragrant.
- Add wine and scrape bottom of the Instant Pot, making sure to remove ALL brown bits (will prevent a burn notice later). Cook for 2 to 3 minutes or until wine is reduced by about half.
- Add 1 cup beef broth, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire sauce, bay leaf, paprika, thyme. Stir to combine and then carefully add short ribs back into the pot, as well as any juices that have collected on the plate.
- Place a small stainless steel bowl (or cake pan) on top of short ribs and add potatoes to bowl. Sprinkle with ½ teaspoon salt.
- Secure lid and turn valve to seal, if necessary. Set to Pressure Cook (or manual, high pressure depending on model) for 42 minutes. Let pressure naturally release for 10 minutes before releasing remaining pressure.
- Carefully remove pan of potatoes, drain if needed, and transfer to a larger mixing bowl. Mash with butter and milk until desired consistency is achieved.
- Remove short ribs from Instant Pot and place on a plate. Turn Instant Pot to Sauté mode. In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 2 tablespoons beef broth. Pour into sauce in Instant Pot and stir to combine. Let the sauce simmer until thickened. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
- Turn Instant Pot to warm and place short ribs back in sauce to keep warm until ready to serve over mashed potatoes.
- Garnish with chopped fresh chives or parsley, if desired.
Notes
- If a thicker sauce is desired, add an additional 2 tablespoons broth, mixed with 1 tablespoon cornstarch.
- If desired, you can cook the short ribs without the potatoes. Cook time remains the same; it will take a bit less time to come to pressure.
- Nutrition information includes mashed potatoes.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
We had an Instant Pot Party, I made the short ribs, and my guests were WOWED! Best thing they’ve ever eaten. I concur. Sooooooo wonderful, perfect ingredients!
That’s the best compliment! I’m so glad you all liked them. Thank you for leaving a review!
Fall apart short ribs. Fell right off the bones when I took them out. Gravy was extremely flavorful. Next time, I may try leaving out the brown sugar and Worcestershire Sauce or reduce it by half. Excellent dinner!
So glad you liked them! Thanks for leaving a review!
This was delicious with a rich gravy and meat was tender. I didn’t have red wine so omitted it but added a tomato and a carton of fresh mushrooms because, well they make everything yummier. Made potatoes separately as I typically make a lot. I also used a bit of smoked paprika. It was a hit. Thank you for sharing, will use it often.
So glad you enjoyed! Thanks for taking the time to leave a review!