Pressure cooker short ribs recipe with frozen or fresh beef is a quick dinner with an amazing sauce. Made as one of our easy Instant Pot recipes or in a Ninja Foodi, thee come out fall-apart tender that youโll love.
I wasnโt sure how good these pressure cooker short ribs were going to turn out but wow! So good I tried two different sauces and will share them both here today. Fabulous Ninja Foodi recipe you can make easily too. (affiliate links present)
Instant Pot Frozen Short Ribs Recipe
Any brand of pressure cooker pot will do to make this meal, we arenโt bias. ๐ You only need the high pressure function really and they all have that one. Use our homemade sauce and timing for fork tender meat even your kids will love.
We share above how to cook all sorts of frozen meat in this multi-cooker pot above, this was the last one I needed to add. I had a bunch of short ribs left from buying meat in bulk online and wanted to make them fork tender.
in Ninja Foodi
I had tried them before but they just werenโt right, but I kept trying. For me, Ninja Foodi ribs of any kind need to be so tender that they almost fall off the bone. This cook time was perfect.
Then I moved on to testing how long to cook frozen ribs in Instant Pot. It took a little longer but turned out just as good. Youโd never know when finished they were rock hard an hour before.
Ingredients
- Beef short ribs separated from one another, if frozen you can run under cool water to separate
- Salt and pepper are the basic seasonings but use what you love
- Olive oil will help you saute the meat first, only if fresh
- 1 onion diced for the sauce
- 1-2 carrots cut into large chunks
- 2 tbsp minced garlic and garlic salt
- 1 c beef broth but could swap some out or use half red wine
- 1/4 tsp oregano and jarred basil
- 1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce for a pop of deeper flavors
- 2 tbsp hoisin sauce is sweet and thick
Substitutions
With Pressure Cooker Beef Ribs you can swap out the liquids for anything really but it will affect the flavor. Red wine will be super deep, broth is better than water for a bit of sodium and flavor. Chicken stock works but typically beef is better for Instant Pot short ribs.
I have TWO different sauces, the one below has more Asian inspired flavors. The other is in the recipe card below and tastes more like stew flavors. Both are excellent!
Ingredients for Sauce Recipe #1
You can try them both or read the ingredients and decide which you think youโd like more. One is more of an Asian sauce, the other is more like a thick gravy youโd find over a roast.
How to Pressure Cook Short Ribs
Step 1 โ We will start with 2 lbs. defrosted and/or fresh ribs. If they arenโt frozen you can saute them to get a little sear on the outside at the beginning. Skip if theyโre rock hard, theyโll still be delicious.
Step 2 โ Season the outsides with at least salt and pepper but really you can sprinkle on whatever you want. If youโre new to pressure cooking you need to learn how to deglaze your Instant Pot. I have a photo below showing you how little bits will get stuck on once you take the meat out. Just use a bit of broth to scrape that off once the pot is set to cancel/off.
Use 1/4 c of your beef broth or wine to deglaze the pot well by scraping stuck on meat off bottom of pot. Here is a picture showing you how this is done. It is something you must do so you donโt get the burn notice.
I like to then add carrots and diced onions are great to put in now using the juices left in pot. You just want them to soften slightly. Pour remaining liquids into your pot, with your meat on top of veggies. Sprinkle seasonings of your choice in there at this time.
You want to seal the top completely and set pot to high pressure with a natural release of about 15 minutes at the end which is recommended for all proteins to keep them moist. Ribs should be fall off the bone tender at this time when you remove them.
How to thicken the sauce
If you want gravy to be thicker, set to saute and then whisk together 2 tbsp of cornstarch with some liquid in a small bowl. When liquid is hot then add and stir. Continue stirring and turn pot off so you can spoon sauce over meat when serving. You can see the end result above. This is a rich teriyaki like sauce that is amazing.
Frozen Short Ribs in Pressure Cooker
But if you have rock hard frozen meat youโll skip the saute process. NO worries, they will still turn out amazing. I used a different sauce combination this time, just because. I will share how to make that below.
Electric pressure cooker short ribs recipe #2 can use fresh or frozen. Both turn out melt in your mouth tender. The only difference is a slight change in cook times by 10 minutes, that is it.
What is a good side dish with short ribs?
Mashed potatoes are probably the most common with any sort of braised short ribs. Ninja Foodi rice is a close second for us, and easier if I really want a quick side.
- Looking for veggies, try some pressure cooker carrots or a batch of mixed air fryer vegetables with this.
- You can make a bunch of things under 35 minutes to go with it including garlic rolls or tender Ninja Foodi green beans.
I meanโฆ.they look amazing right?? Want to try this with the โother meatโ, give our country style pork ribs Instant Pot recipe a whirl.
Pressure Cooker Short Ribs Recipe
Equipment
- 1 pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 2-3 lbs beef short ribs, frozen or fresh, separated from one another
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 3 tbsp olive oil, if your ribs are thawed, if frozen omit
- 1 onion, diced
- 1/4 c wine, used Syrah, could use marsala wine
- 1/4 c beef broth
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp thyme
- 1/2 tbsp ginger, minced
Instructions
- *If ribs are thawed โ Add olive oil into pot and set to saute. Season both sides of ribs well with salt and pepper. Put into pot and get a GOOD sear on both sides of rib pieces. Then remove.
- Use your beef broth to deglaze the pot well by scraping stuck on meat off bottom of pot.
- Then add garlic, and diced onions into pot and saute in juices left in pot (still set to saute) until they soften slightly. Then turn pot off. Put seared ribs back in. If using frozen ribs add meat, onions and garlic at this time.
- In a bowl whisk together your wine, brown sugar, thyme and minced ginger. Pour this on to your meat in your pot.
- Close lid and steam valve and set pot to high for 40 minutes (for thawed bone in 2 -3 lbs., if using a lot more time needs to be increased) *If frozen set to 50 minutes
- Allow pot to naturally release steam for 15 minutes.
- Ribs should be fall off the bone tender at this time when you remove them.
- If you want sauce to be thicker, set pot to saute again. In a small bowl whisk together 2 tbsp of cornstarch with some of the hot liquid from your pot until smooth.
- When liquid is bubbling add this thickener into pot and stir. Will thicken in a few minutes, then turn pot off and spoon over meat to serve.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
They are like their name, shorter than the other. About half as long they donโt have as much meat and are cut from either the chuck or plate with rib meat.
I mean I guess you could if you cooked it like twice as long but this is different than typical beef pieces. Unlike steak this cut actually gets more tender the longer it is cooked.
In the oven it is recommended that theyโre down. In a pressure cooker it really doesnโt matter, theyโll be cooked under high pressure all the way around.
What are the beginning steps if my short ribs are frozen?