Guinness Braised Beef Short Ribs

Short ribs are tougher than the longer beef back ribs but once they are braised, they will fall off the bone and melt in your mouth.  

You want to choose the meatiest short ribs and make sure that the meat is beautifully marbled with fat for tenderness.  Boneless ribs are also available but they are usually more expensive and they lack the flavour that comes from the bone.

I like to prepare this dish using a dark ale such as Guinness but any dark beer or stout would work great as well.  

You can sear the ribs and chop the vegetables ahead of time and freeze all the ingredients below in a large resealable bag.  Simply thaw the bag before cooking in the slow cooker.

Guinness Braised Beef Short Ribs

yields 4 portions

Ingredients

• 4 pounds short ribs
• 2 tablespoon of olive oil
• 2 onions, sliced
• 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
• 2 celery stalks, diced
• 6 garlic cloves, sliced
• 5 to 6 springs of fresh thyme
• Salt & Pepper

Day of cooking:

• 1 can Guinness Beer (440ml) or any other dark beer or stout.

Directions

Heat the oil in a large pan on medium high heat.

Season the ribs generously on all sides with salt and pepper. 

Working in batches, sear the ribs in the pan until golden brown on each side.

Transfer to a plate to cool down.

Place the vegetables and spices at the bottom of a large resealable bag.  Add the seared short ribs on top, label and freeze.

Day of cooking

Transfer the short ribs and vegetables to the slow cooker and add the Guinness beer.

Cover and cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. 

Transfer the ribs to a large dish and cover to keep warm.

For the sauce:  using a large spoon, skim the fat off the cooking liquid in the slow cooker. 

Using an handheld immersion blender purée vegetables directly in the slow cooker until you obtain smooth sauce.

Enjoy!

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