I Made Ina Garten’s Go-To Winter Dinner Party Entree—The Sauce Was So Good, I’d Eat It by the Spoonful

After devouring every page of her memoir, Be Ready When the Luck Happens, I’ve been on a serious Ina Garten kick. I’ve snacked on several batches of her “luxuriously silky” hummus, have introduced several friends to her brilliant risotto hack, and have upgraded my pantry to include most of the “store-bought is fine” staples she swears by. (A splash of that “good vanilla” makes my morning Greek yogurt taste like such a treat!)

I’m hosting a couple dinner parties coming up, and was scrolling through Instagram recently; craving a dose of inspiration. The cookbook author, TV host, and entertaining extraordinaire popped up right on cue to help me answer, “what’s for dinner?”

“My Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs is not just one of my favorite winter recipes but it’s one of the most searched recipes on our website—in fact, I’m making it this weekend. The sauce is thick and rich and absolutely amazing,” Ina says in the clip from her show, which she shared on Instagram earlier this year.

This is far from the first time Ina has shared her adoration for this saucy and cozy comfort food recipe. Last fall, the folks at TODAY asked Ina to dish about her dream dinner party. The guest list would include “Jeffrey [her husband of 56 years], Julia Child, Eric Ripert; there’s so many to choose from.”

As far as the menu goes, Ina says no matter what, this is “not when you should experiment…Pick whatever you like to eat and make them a few times on your own. And then when you have a dinner party, you’re ready to make it well and not, like, have your hair on fire while you’re doing it.”

Instead of attempting a project recipe and trying to impress your guests, Ina suggests turning to the tried-and-true. When she’s hosting a gathering during winter, she told TODAY that “I like to make red wine-braised short ribs on polenta.”

What Makes These Braised Short Ribs Special?

If you peek at the photo of this Dutch oven dish in the 2018 cookbook the recipe debuted in, Cook Like a Pro, or on the Barefoot Contessa website, you might think, “that looks like a pretty standard short rib recipe.”

But two small details make all the difference:

• Roasting instead of searing the short ribs. Many braised meat recipes call for searing the protein before adding it to the pot or slow cooker to take advantage of the magic of the Maillard reaction. This natural chemical reaction triggers browning, richer flavor, and tempting aromas. But searing also often results in oil that splatters all over the stovetop (and sometimes the surrounding counters, floor, appliances…and the cook). When developing this recipe, Ina dreamed up a brilliant workaround: she roasts them on a sheet pan in the oven instead. This reduces the amount of hands-on cooking time, creates more even browning on the surface of the short ribs, and trims down on the mess.
• Braising them in a sauce made with wine and beer. If you’ve cooked slow-simmered meat recipes in the past, you’ve probably been instructed to round up some wine or beer to add complexity to the sauce. Ina’s mindset is why choose? Her braised short rib recipe calls for a full bottle of dry red wine (for acidity and earthiness) and a bottle of Guinness beer (for malty and caramel notes). Besides the flavor, these boozy components also team up to help denature the proteins in the meat, causing it to be succulent and fork-tender.

How to Make Ina Garten’s Red Wine-Braised Short Ribs

Although it takes some time (about 3 hours), it’s not complicated to make Ina’s short ribs for your next gathering or Sunday dinner. Bonus: Just like with Ina’s stovetop chicken stock, the aroma along the way is priceless.

• Roast the short ribs. Brush small pieces of bone-in short ribs with oil, season with salt and pepper, then roast for 20 minutes.
• Start the sauce. As the ribs roast, in a Dutch oven, add a glug of olive oil and sauté chopped leeks, celery, onions, and carrots. Add the garlic, then the wine. Allow this mixture to reduce, then pour in beef stock, canned crushed tomatoes, a bottle of Guinness, fresh thyme, and more salt and pepper.
• Braise, baby, braise. Use tongs to transfer the baked short ribs to the pot, then pour in any juices that remain on the bottom of the sheet pan. Bring the sauce to a boil once more, add the lid, then cook in the oven for 1 hour. Remove the lid and cook for 1 more hour. 
• Reduce the sauce. Once the meat is very tender, use tongs or a slotted spoon to remove them to a plate. Dig around to remove the thyme and any bones that have separated from the ribs, then allow the sauce to simmer on the stove and reduce for 20 minutes. Skim off the fat, then place the ribs back in the pot to reheat for 5 minutes more.

Tips For Making Ina’s Short Rib Recipe

True, the time involved might make this seem like a labor of love. It tastes like it, but this dinner party main dish idea is actually quite simple to bring to the table. A few tricks along the way make it a stress-free experience:

• Outsource the rib prep. Ina calls for “5 pounds very meaty bone-in beef short ribs, cut into 2-inch chunks.” No need to bust out the cleaver. Instead, ask your butcher to cut the meaty bone-in short ribs into two-inch pieces.
• Season wisely. It’s easy to overlook Ina’s note about using “kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper,” rather than table salt. Due to its smaller grain size, table salt tastes about twice as salty as kosher, which is helpful to note as you season to taste. Ina’s go-to is Diamond Crystal Kosher Salt, if you want to follow suit. If you only have table salt handy, use about half as much she calls for in the recipe.
• Pop bottles. As you buy your wine and beer, or snag some from your collection, know that you have several options. For the vino, Ina suggests “Burgundy, Côtes du Rhône, Chianti, or other dry red wine.” Zinfandel, Cabernet Sauvignon, or Malbec would also work wonderfully here. On the beer side, Guinness is the most widely-available Irish Stout, but other similar dark beers like Murphy’s Irish Stout, O’Hara’s Irish Stout, or Breckenridge Brewery’s Nitro Irish Stout. If you prefer an N/A option, reach for a spirit-free red wine and replace the 11 ounces of beer with more beef stock.

The Verdict on Ina Garten’s Short Ribs

I agree wholeheartedly with a Barefoot Contessa fan who chimed in on the Food Network site to say, “although a bit time consuming to make, this dish was SO good and the depth of flavor was phenomenal! It is worth the time to make.” Most of the time required is hands-off, and Ina confirms on Instagram that “you can make the short ribs a day in advance,” and simply reheat them before your guests are about to arrive. 

Other home cooks chimed in to declare that this short rib recipe is “a keeper” and is “by far the best short ribs we ever made.” Although I’ve only cooked one or two other short rib recipes myself, this certainly jumps to the top of the list—and delivers restaurant-quality results that had the entire table swooning and swiping our plates with a spoon (or some bread) to ensure none of that savory sauce was left behind. Since the flavors were allowed to meld for an extended amount of braising time, the thyme, aromatic vegetables, and meat drippings really infused the sauce. And the leftovers? They’re even better the next day, so I will definitely be following Ina’s recommendation and making this a day in advance of my next dinner party.

To act as a base for that sauce, Ina suggests serving these short ribs over polenta and alongside broccolini. I also imagine they would be dreamy spooned over a bed of silky Chantilly Potatoes or paired with a slice or two of Classic Sourdough Bread. And for dessert? Ina Coffee Granita, which reminds me a bit of a frozen Espresso Martini. Cheers to a party well-hosted—and another winning dinner from Ina.