How To Make The Best Instant Pot Short Ribs

These Instant Pot Ribs are a delicious & easy dinner recipe! For another amazing variation, try my instant pot chicken thighs with honey soy. I first owned a pressure cooker in 2011, when I first moved into my own apartment. Instant pots weren’t around at the time, and it was simply called a “multi cooker”. Thanks to my lack of proper meal planning, I quickly learned to appreciate the pressure cooker function on my multi cooker. The fact that you can get a kick ass meal made in less than 30 minutes, starting from frozen meat was a god send to me! I think I’ve come quite far now in terms of meal planning, but the Instant Pot is still a beast! 🙂 This Best Instant Pot Short Ribs recipe is one I’ve used countless times, and I’ve used this same recipe for lamb chops, and routinely make instant pot chicken thighs as well. It works beautifully for any kind of red meat, really, but it’s just perfect with beef short ribs. The flavors here are simple but robust, and complement each other well. Plus, I’ve got a secret ingredient that makes these pretty much the BEST instant pot short ribs in the world! 🙂

So what’s my secret ingredient?

BOURBON WHISKEY! You can use Scotch whiskey if you prefer as well, but bourbon is my choice over Scotch. The taste that it leaves behind is subtle, but it really adds to the depth of flavor in these instant pot short ribs.

Can I skip the alcohol?

If you’re worried about the alcohol content, you need not be. Since the alcohol in this recipe is being used to deglaze, it does evaporate a lot. However, if you prefer the alcohol to be completely gone, cook it a little longer before adding the other liquids. You can also add less burbon. I have also had readers who substituted the bourbon with wine (which has less alcohol), and even coffee. These pressure cooker short ribs are braised in my own homemade beef and chicken stock, but you can braise them in a good quality beef stock instead too. These instant pot short ribs are cooked to perfection in a slightly sweet and slightly spicy base. I added cayenne pepper and paprika to give these short ribs a little spicy kick. I usually add up to 2 tsp of cayenne pepper (even then, it’s only slightly spicy for us). But I’ve adjusted it to a milder level in this recipe. But feel free to adjust the level of spice to your liking. The first step to making these instant pot short ribs is preparing the short ribs. This step is all the labor required for this recipe on your part!

Soak the beef short ribs in COLD WATER for just a couple of minutes to wash off any excess blood and bone dust. Pat dry each rib with paper towels. Wet short ribs take AGES to sear and to form that beautiful golden crust, so make sure they are dry. Season GENEROUSLY. You can even cover the short ribs and leave them to marinate for about one hour if you wish. But honestly, you don’t have to. The instant pot (or pressure cooker) will take care of that! SEAR each short rib in the instant pot. This step is important!

Searing the meat will caramelize the surface of these short ribs. The caramelization adds another layer of flavor to these braised short ribs. Make sure to do this in batches, so that you don’t overcrowd your instant pot. If the bottom of the pan is too crowded, you’ll end up “boiling” the short ribs instead of searing them. Not good. So this caramelization step requires a bit of patience and time on your part, but I promise the result will be deliciously tender, succulent, fall off the bone, braised short ribs! After this step, everything else is hands-off. So while these pressure cooker short ribs are cooking, you can prepare the rest of the meal.

How do I serve these braised instant pot short ribs?

I served these with garlicky, creamy, mashed cauliflower. But here are some more ideas!

Mashed potatoes Cheesy polenta (like these cheesy mushroom polenta stacks) Roasted root vegetables Roasted sweet potatoes Potato medallions Toasted crusty bread

What to do with leftovers?

I guarantee you will LOVE these instant pot short ribs! 🙂 What I cannot guarantee however are any leftovers! But just in case, here are some great options for leftover instant pot short ribs,

AMAZING beef tacos Southwestern omelets Grilled cheese sandwiches with beef (replace the curried beef in this curried beef grilled cheese sandwich) Steak and eggs with toast (for breakfast) Beef fried rice (replace the bacon in this breakfast fried rice)

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