Truly the best way to make boneless, fork-tender, fall-apart beef short ribs. These Slow Baked Boneless Beef Short Ribs will melt in your mouth with a luscious gravy that just begs for creamy mashed potatoes!
Sundays are meant to be lazy I think however sadly I rarely get a “do-nothing” Sunday or day for that matter. Working two full-time jobs (my day job and TKW) leaves very little downtime.
Most of you know I’m a girl on the go-go-go who pretty much never sits still let alone takes time for herself. Maybe I’m afraid I’m going to miss out on something awesome life has to offer or perhaps I’m just so used to it that it’s just become part of my ‘norm’.
If I had a dollar for how many times I heard “How do you do it? Just listening to what all you do makes me tired! Where do you get the energy??? Can I have some???”
We’re all so busy these days
Ever since I made a life choice years ago to live a healthier lifestyle that incorporated a better eating plan, exercise (trust me at one point in my life exercise was a 4-lettered word and punishment) and a more positive outlook that seemed to kick things off. Now I’ve always worked insane hours.
Again this stems from growing up as poor as we did. Truth be told, is that poor sucks, no one should go without even the little things in life but I’m not one to depend on others to help make my life better.
If I want my life better then *I* have to make the change and *I* have to make it happen. My parents always told me “Anything worth doing is worth doing the very best you can” and I have made that my mantra in life.
Ingredients needed to make the BEST Boneless Beef Short Ribs
Friday’s after work is when I hit up Costco I found the most gorgeous boneless beef short ribs. Honestly, they are the only place that has them, not even my local butcher does.
Now I’ve made this with bone-in and while bone-in has a deeper flavor I find them a pain in the butt as I want all meat, not just bone. Plus they are the same price (which I still don’t quite understand).
5 pounds of boneless beef short ribs does not equal the same amount of meat in 5 pounds of bone-in beef short ribs. I actually debated this with a butcher once and we left it as I said he was wrong and he disagreed. Am I wrong on this?
- Boneless Beef Short Ribs – if you only have bone-in, you can use those but they have to be the English cut *see below for differences
- BBQ Sauce – I used my bacon bbq sauce but any tangy bbq sauce would work.
- Liquid smoke – I use this to give it a smoky taste. You can omit if you want.
- Seasonings
- Ketchup
Difference between Flanken and English Short Rib Cuts
I use boneless English Short Ribs in this recipe as they are meatier and fatter
English Short Ribs
The English style cut is where the short rib is cut between the ribs leaving a thick piece of meat sitting on top of one piece of the rib bone. So in the images below, my ribs are English style cut where the piece of meat is cut off of the bone.
Flanken Short Ribs
The Flanken cut is the thin cut of short rib that is cut across the bones at about a 1/2″ thickness. In this piece of meat, you’ll see meat, bone, meat, bone, meat and so forth. This is a very popular cut in Korean bbq. I, personally, am not a fan of these as when I make short ribs, I want more meat than bone.
Making these Slow Baked Boneless Beef Short Ribs
These ribs I make in the oven but if you look at my site, you’ll see that I have several recipes where you can make short ribs in the Instant Pot. While I love the IP, there’s just something about a slow bake and this recipe.
- Mix together the ketchup, liquid smoke, brown sugar, minced onion, garlic powder, bacon bbq sauce and cook until thick and bubbly.
- Season the ribs and place them into a large baking dish.
- Add some of the sauce, cover and roast for a 2 1/2 hours.
- Remove the foil, flip, add more sauce and cook uncovered for another 30 minutes or until the meat is cooked through.
When I make these all I literally do is put them in a pan, cover them with some bbq sauce, cover with foil and slow bake. This is one of those dishes I’ll throw in the oven and take a nap.
The first time I made these,that’s exactly I did. Into the oven they went and off to bed I went to nap. Guys I had the most amazing dreams too and it’s funny as all I kept dreaming about was bbq and food.
However, I think those dreams were influenced by the fact that I had the most amazing beef and bbq sauce scents wafting throughout my house. Now I did have my alarm set however the smells from the oven woke up me. I knew dinner was close to being done as I could smell the ‘doneness’.
The most amazing BBQ Beef Short Rib Smell
The smells from this – if I could bottle it, it would be a a huge hit!
As I approached the kitchen the smells were just intoxicating! I removed the foil and let them bake another 30 minutes to get that deep caramelized char on top.
Once they were done I pulled them out of the oven and plated them.
Dear GOD they were GORGEOUS! I brushed them with some of the reserved bbq sauce and then with what was in the pan, I actually poured it into a fat separating container and let it sit for a bit.
Once it did, I poured out the good stuff into a pan and let the fat stuff stay behind. I brought that pan to a boil and thickened it up with some more bbq sauce and some cornstarch. No way was I letting those flavors go to waste!
By the time Mr. Fantabulous got home, I had made a pot of perfect mashed potatoes to go with these, some rolls and a nice Caesar salad.
As he walked in with his gear you could see him immediately perk up and start sniffing the air like dog.
Cutest thing ever when he does that! Immediately came his smile and I swear he ran to bring in the rest of his gear! Dinner was awesome and I was rested. That truly was a fantastic Sunday and one that I think I need more of!
Slow Baked Boneless Beef Short Ribs
- Prep Time: 3
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 30 minutes
- Category: Slow Baked
- Method: oven
- Cuisine: Beef
Truly the best way to make boneless, fork-tender, fall-apart beef short ribs. These will melt in your mouth with a luscious gravy that just begs for creamy mashed potatoes!
Ingredients
- 4 pounds boneless beef short ribs
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups ketchup
- 2 tablespoon liquid smoke
- 1/2–2/3 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 3/4 cup Bacon BBQ Sauce or any BBQ sauce
- 2 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 tablespoon water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300F with a rack in the middle. In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, add the ketchup, liquid smoke, brown sugar, minced onion, garlic powder, bacon bbq sauce and mix until combined. Cook until thick and bubbly; stirring occasionally. ~10 minutes.
- Season the short ribs all over with salt and pepper. Place in a 13×9″ glass baking dish. This will be a tight squeeze. Pour about 1/2 cup over the short ribs.
- Using tongs, flip the ribs over and spoon another 1/2 cup of the sauce over top. Reserve the remaining BBQ sauce to spoon over the cooked ribs. Cover the pan with foil and roast for 2 1/2 hours.
- Remove the foil and gently flip the short ribs. Spoon more of the sauce over top. Cook for 30 minutes more (uncovered), until the meat is tender and browned. Check the ribs every 10-15 minutes to ensure that they are coated with sauce and that the pan did not go dry. Transfer the short ribs to a serving platter. Baste the short ribs with some of the reserved BBQ sauce. At this point you can discard the cooking liquid or you can pour it into a fat strainer to allow it to separate. (This is what I did). Pour the juices into a medium sauce pan leaving the fat greasy part behind. Add in about 1/4 cup bbq sauce and bring to a boil. Make a slurry of the cornstarch and water and whisk into the liquid to thicken. Use this to thicken the sauce as a dipping sauce/gravy.
Keywords: boneless short ribs, beef short ribs, oven braised short ribs, best short ribs, bbq ribs
Can I make these in a Ninja 5 in 1 on roast? Thanks 🙂
Hi Michele,
I’m not familiar with that machine but if the roast functions acts like a regular oven then yes, it would work.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I use this sauce recipe most of the time when I make beef ribs, my family loves it. I do a dry rub on the ribs first though a couple hours before they go in the oven at 250 for about 5 to 6 hours. I generally double the recipe – big hungry family.
★★★★★
Hello! I’ve used only this recipe in the past and it’s always been a huge hit!! I’m planning on having a large dinner party soon and will be using more than a couple of pounds of beef ribs (5+ Pounds ).
Any suggestions on the time it’ll take to become soft and amazing like in this recipe?
★★★★★
Hi Ellen!
If you lay them in a single layer in a large baking pan, it should take the same amount of time. However, if you layer them, I’d increase the time by another 45minutes to 1 hour. The best advice is to check them after 3 hours to be sure.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
The best homemade sauce ever. These are amazing!!
★★★★★
Have you ever seen beef short ribs that makes you think of a thick slice of bacon.I don’t how to cook them.
That is what was brought in from grocery store.
Hi Dorothy!
Are you talking about Flanken ribs like those I mention above in the “Difference between Flanken and English Short Rib Cuts” section? What does the package say about what the meat is?
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I can’t wait to cook these!!!! Can you cook these in a crockpot? And if you can do they need to be sired first?
Thanks Deb
Hi Deb!
Yes and yes.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Good technique. I used prepared Korean Barbeque sauce/marinade for an hour before putting the ribs in, and thickened with some french onion soup and corn starch. You can go a lot of ways with this approach.
★★★★★
Can we use in crock
Yes you can but make sure to brown the short ribs first. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
I have made these three times now, they are fabulous every time.
★★★★★
So thrilled you love it!
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Hi, I have a oval dutch oven. Would it be ok the double layer the short ribs in a dutch oven while slow cooking or would it be best to single layer the meat in a 9 x 13 baking dish per recipe instructions?
Looking forward to making the dish; thank you for sharing.
You can stack it with no issues to bake.
Best Kitchen Wishes!
Trying this recipe tonight. Is 3 hours really long enough to cook?
Yes; provided your oven is working at the right temp. I’ve made these boneless ribs thousands of times and they are always done in 3 hours.
Best Kitchen Wishes!