These intensely flavorful, perfectly spiced and sticky Coke braised Beef Short Ribs fall apart from being so tender! Highly addictive and delicious, you will want to eat these everyday of the week. If you love other slow cooked recipes, you can try these Chipotle Short Ribs, Neck Bones, Pomegranate Braised Short Ribs, Beef Ribs, Jamaican Oxtails, Perfect Pot Roast, Beef Stew and Italian Pot Roast.
Disclosure: I am excited to announce I work with Coca-Cola however all opinions expressed here are my own.
Perfectly Tender Coke Braised Beef Short Ribs
A few weekends ago, I had the pleasure of attending my first NYCWFF, the Food Network & Cooking Channel New York City Wine and Food Festival. It was truly a foodie’s dream come true, which means I was in absolute heaven.
Thanks to NYCWFF sponsor Coca-Cola, I was up front and personal with one of the best food and wine festivals in the country. I have attended many food festivals in my day, and this one is seriously one of the very best.
One dish I ended up enjoying at three different booths was a classic short rib. First of all, I LOVE short ribs. They taste magical and melt in your mouth. And secondly, I loved seeing braised short ribs served in several different capacities with a classic braised preparation. Whether they were served with mashed potatoes or polenta, I fell in love with the short rib once again and couldn’t wait to make a fun NYCWFF inspired dish when I returned home.
Coke Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe Ingredients
After some thought, I decided it would be wonderful to bring Coke and Short Ribs together for a lovely collaboration. By braising my short ribs in a Coke laden liquid and adding a few additional flavors such as soy sauce and brown sugar, the ribs really brought out that signature Coke essence we all know and love.
The flavors that truly enhance this recipe are the following:
- Beef Short Ribs (definitely the most crucial ingredient in this recipe)
- Onion
- Bacon
- Garlic
- Coca Cola
- Soy Sauce
- Brown Sugar
To make the best short ribs, you need to start with high quality short ribs. Those should be very meaty with some nice marbling of fat in there. But not too much fat! Fat is essential for flavor in short ribs so it must be there but you don’t want a ton of fat on the surface there.
Tip 1: I selected boned beef short ribs for this recipe (you can use boneless) but you can replace with chuck roast if it isn’t available.
For more flavor building, I use bacon, onion, and garlic. They are essential to developing an incredible essence to your dish. The bacon grease adds a wonderful base to the liquid that the meat will be braised in. Adding that foundation ensures that you don’t have to add much more flavor towards the end of cooking.
Now let’s get to the other key ingredient: Coca Cola. Coke has so many incredible features that make it sensational for this dish. A ting of sweetness, depth of intense flavor and refreshing nature make it key here.
Tip 2: You can pick any Coke flavor you want! Grab a cherry coke or vanilla to switch up the flavor even more in this dish!
Finally the addition of brown sugar and soy sauce take this over the edge. It makes the sauce almost sticky on the beef ribs and absolutely irresistible too!
How To Make Braised Beef Short Ribs
Braising truly begins browning your meat. These short ribs are seasoned with salt and pepper then seared until brown in oil. This begins the flavoring process. The onions, garlic and bacon also help with this.
Tip 3: Deglaze!!!!
Deglazing is crucial for additional flavor. Make sure that everything on the bottom of the pot gets right back into your food.
Once the meat is seared, we begin the second part of braising with cooking in the oven with liquids. Coke is the most important component, followed back beef stock, soy sauce and brown sugar.
Just a note to the wise: Braising takes several hours! Exercise some extreme patience here. It will be worth it when you pull apart that tender meat on your dinner plate.
Tip 4: Make this dish ahead!
I love to make this dish ahead even the night before a dinner party or holiday. Stick the meat in the fridge and let the fat solidify on the top and you can scrape it off and then heat them through again.
These Braised Beef Short Ribs will taste even better the NEXT DAY!!
What To Serve with Braised Beef Short Ribs Recipe
The results are a sweet yet savory short rib recipe that is the perfect dish to serve for any special occasion or holiday around the corner.
What should you serve these with?
- How about GRITS or polenta? This will provide a nice change of pace!
- These Garlic Mashed Potatoes are always a win!
- Serve with these Collard Greens for a nice veggie!
- For a Caribbean twist, try these with Rice and Peas!
- For a myriad of veggies, try this Succotash as a lovely compliment!
Coke Braised Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 pounds beef short ribs about 4-5 bone in short ribs
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 slices bacon cut into smaller pieces
- 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 1/2 cups Coca-Cola
- 1 1/2 cups beef stock
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/2 cup light brown sugar packed
- 3 thyme sprigs
- Fresh parsley for garnish
- Optional: Serve over polenta and sauted kale
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
- Add olive oil to large pot or dutch oven over medium high heat. Next add short ribs to the hot pot. Liberally season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Sear ribs on all sides until golden brown. Once beef is finished searing, remove from pot, drain on paper towels, and place to the side.
- Next add chopped onion and bacon to pan and brown until onion is tender.
- Add garlic and only cook for 30 seconds.
- Sprinkle in flour and stir together and cook for about 2 minutes.
- Pour in Coca-Cola, beef stock, and soy sauce then stir in brown sugar and whisk until everything is smooth.
- Add thyme sprigs then bring the braising liquid to a boil.
- Once boiling, return beef short ribs to liquid, cover with top and place in the oven for 2 - 2 1/2 hours or until ribs are completely tender (easily separated with a fork) and the liquid has thickened into a gravy that has stuck to the ribs.
- Serve with polenta and sauteed kale if desired and enjoy.
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Amazing favor! Prepared the ribs night before.
I browned the ribs under the broiler . Put all the ingredients in slow cooker and cooked in low heat setting. After work, dinner ready, served with boiled potatoes which slightly mashed and mix veggies. My family loved it. Jocelyn, thank you so much for this yummy recipe.
So, I made this recipe this weekend with one substitution – Cheerwine. My husband had a version of short ribs that used Cheerwine. I don’t eat beef and felt bad that I could taste it before serving. Needless to say, everyone loved and my family can’t stop talking about it!
Just shared this with my Aunt!