Instant Pot Short Rib Ragù

This Instant Pot Short Rib Ragù is everything you want in a Sunday pasta sauce: Rich, decadent, and zero percent fussy. It was made for Pappardelle, but Gnocchi or Polenta go just as well with the sauce. And it was made for leftovers, because it tastes even better on the next day!

Can you really resist a lush, thick, simmered bowl of Ragù over pasta? I definitely can’t. The making, the eating, the feeling of actually having my life together and being a good adult/mother/person… Just an all-around wonderful dish.

And while short ribs are most definitely a food that needed redemption from my childhood days, I’m happy to report that this is it. And I would gladly eat it any day of the week.

Ingredients you’ll need

Here is a visual overview of the ingredients in the recipe. Scroll down to the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for quantities!

Ingredient notes

• Short ribs: If you can’t source short ribs, this also works great with beef shank or oxtail.
• Red wine: I recommend a hearty red wine for this recipe. I used a Merlot because that was a decent one I had on hand (and it works great!), but a Chianti would be great.
• Pecorino cheese: This is for serving, feel free to use parmesan in place of the pecorino, if you can’t find any.
• Fresh herbs: I absolutely recommend you use plenty of fresh parsley on the finished dish – it adds a nice freshness and cuts the richness of the sauce. If you don’t have dried thyme, however, feel free to substitute 1 teaspoon dried.
• Pappardelle: This sauce really works with any robust pasta shape – rigatoni or Mafaldine are great. But like I said, it’s also great over creamy polenta or with gnocchi.

How to make Short Rib Ragù

1. You start by seasoning the short ribs with salt and pepper.

You can trim off the fat, but I find it’s easier (and more flavorful/the meat is more tender) to leave it on for the pressure cooking, and then skim most of the fat off the top once the pressure cooking is done. Your call!

2. Then, brown them in your instant pot on sauté until they’ve got that lovely crisp on them. The meat doesn’t have to be cooked through at this point, it just has to be browned on the outside.

You’ll want to do the browning in two batches, to give the meat enough space.

3. Once you remove the meat and set it aside, you’ll sauté this whole onion/celery/carrot situation.

4. Then, you’ll want to stir in the tomato paste until it’s coating the vegetables (don’t burn it though!), then pour in the red wine and simmer until the wine has reduced while scraping any browned bits off the bottom of the pan.

This is called deglazing if you want to get all fancy with your cooking terms.

5. Finally, stir in the tomatoes and beef broth. Add the short ribs, you’ll want to make sure they are mostly submerged in the liquids. Add the bay leaves and thyme and you’re ready for the pressure cooking!

6. We’re in the home stretch now! You’ll want to get every last bit of meat/bone/beefy thing out of the instant pot.

Then, skim the fat off the top if you didn’t trim it off beforehand (I remove between 1 and 1.5 cups of oily fat from the top with the help of the ladle that came with the instant pot – it’s easy peasy and works very well).

7. Set the instant pot to sauté to allow the sauce to reduce and thicken as you remove the bones from the meat and shred it.

8. You’ll want to stir the sauce from time to time to keep it from burning. It will take about 10-15 minutes to reduce to a thick, luscious sauce you add the shredded meat to.

9. Finally, very important if you’re serving your Short Rib Ragù with pasta: You must toss the almost-done pasta in the sauce with the instant pot on sauté. Keep tossing that pasta in the sauce for 1-2 minutes until it’s coated. Perfection!

Recipe tips

• You don’t need to cook through the short ribs when you brown them, they will fully cook during the pressure cooking time. You just want to get a nice color and a crispness on them.
• If you want to avoid alcohol, replace the wine with additional beef broth (you’ll also want to reduce the 1 cup of beef broth you’re using in place of the wine first before adding the crushed tomatoes and additional broth).
• Leftovers keep well in the fridge for up to 3 days. I reheat them as a pasta casserole with some added tomato sauce if needed (eg if the pasta feels dry) and add some cheese on top. Bake for 20 minutes at 400°F, or until fully heated.
• You can also freeze the Ragù without the pasta for up to 3 months. Defrost in the fridge overnight and then reheat gently on the stove with some extra broth added.

Other cooking methods

Oven: Prepare the recipe in a large Dutch oven. Instead of pressure cooking, place it in a 325°F oven for 2-3 hours.

Finish the recipe on the stove (the reducing etc).

Be VERY careful when removing the Dutch oven from the oven. It’s hot, and so is the lid. Always use oven gloves while handling it afterwards, and keep kids and pets at a safe distance (eg do not serve the Ragù from the pot on the table).

Slow cooker: Do all of the sautéing and wine reducing in a Dutch oven or large pot on the stove. Transfer everything to a large (about 6 quart) slow cooker.

Instead of pressure cooking, cook on LOW for 6-8 hours.

You can either reduce the sauce by switching the slow cooker to HIGH and leaving the lid off, or transfer the sauce VERY carefully to a pot to reduce and simmer on the stove.

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