Mexican Style Braised Short Ribs Recipe

scooping out some tender shredded short ribs meat mixed with chili sauce out of a bowl.

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Mexican Style Braised Short Ribs Recipe

These Mexican style braised short ribs are cooked low and slow in a rich sauce of dried guajillo and ancho chiles, fresh jalapeño, orange juice, and warm spices until the meat is fall-apart tender and ready to shred. Serve it as a main dish smothered in the silky blended chili sauce, or use the shredded meat all week in tacos, quesadillas, nachos, and more. Make it once, eat well all week.

Prep Time15

Cook Time3 30

Total Time3 45

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American, Mexican

Diet: Gluten Free

Servings:

Calories: 371kcal

Author: Lyuba Brooke

Ingredients

4-4.5 lbs bone in short ribs with about 1.5 inches of meat on it
2 tbsp avocado oil or another neutral oil
1 white onion
2 jalapeno peppers
6 garlic cloves smashed
3 dried guajillo chili peppers
3 dried ancho chili peppers
4 cups beef broth or stock
2 tbsp tomato paste
3 tbsp low sodium soy sauce
1 Naval orange - juice only
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
2 dried bay leaves
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tbsp ground cumin
1 tbsp ground coriander
1 tbsp coarse kosher salt more or less to taste

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Prepare Ingredients:

Dice onion. Take seeds and membrane out of jalapenos and slice them. Smash garlic cloves. Take the stems off and take out seeds from dried chili peppers. Squeeze out orange juice. Measure remaining ingredients.

Sear short ribs:

Preheat the Dutch oven over medium heat and add oil.
Season short ribs with salt and pepper on all sides. In batches, sear the seasoned short ribs on all the sides until deep golden brown and set them aside.

Prepare sauce and cook short ribs in the oven:

Preheat the oven to 325℉ and remove the middle rack in needed, to be able to fit the Dutch oven in the center.
Add diced onions and jalapenos to the same pot and sauté until golden brown.
Move veggies over in a pot and add smashed garlic. Let it sauté for a few seconds, until fragrant.
Add in dried chili peppers and sauté for a minute or so.
Pour in beef stock and deglaze the pot by scraping the bottom with the wooden spatula as you pour.
Add in remaining ingredients and stir well. Let the mixture come to a simmer, taste to make sure you have enough salt, and add the seared beef short ribs back in. Nestle them well so they are just covered in liquid.
Cover the Dutch oven with the lid, transfer the Dutch oven into the preheated oven and cook for 3 hours.
Tip: make sure to check the liquid every hour or so and if too much is cooking out, add some more broth. Note that about half will cook out.

Blend the Sauce and Shred Short Ribs:

Take the pot out of the oven.
Carefully take the ribs out of the pot and set them aside in a mixing bowl. Take out the bones if they haven't fallen off and discard. Use two forks to shred the short rib meat.
Tip: go through the meat and take out the membrane that holds the bone and chunks of fat, if any.
Excess fat tip: you will see a deep orange layer of grease/fat on top of the liquids in the pot. You can carefully strain it off or spoon it off. OR, the easiest way to get rid of it, is to refrigerate the sauce and then simply take off the solidified fat from the pot. This will take planning ahead though.
For the sauce: take the bay leaves out and discard! Then, transfer everything from the pot into a blender that is safe to use with hot liquids and blend until smooth.
Add about 1/2 to 2/3 cup of the blended sauce to the shredded short rib meat and mix it well. Reserve the rest of the sauce for topping or dipping of the dishes you make with short rib meat.

Notes

Soy Sauce: trust me on this one! This ingredients will enhance the umami flavor but blend perfectly together with other ingredients.
Want more spice? If you want spicier results, leave the seeds and the membrane in the fresh jalapeno and for even spicier results, you can substitute hotter fresh chili peppers like habanero or serrano. (Note, still take out the seeds from dried chilis as they are not spicy and will not add more heat.)
Check on the Dutch oven while cooking: remember to check the liquid amounts in the pot while it's in the oven about every hour. If liquid is cooking out too much, add a some more broth.
How to use the shredded short ribs: the shredded short ribs are perfect to serve as a main protein but also great in quesadillas, tacos, nachos, taquitos, huevos rancheros, and so many more dishes!
Save the sauce: you will have a good amount of sauce leftover, save it to use as a topping and for dipping. You can also freeze half of it and keep some in the glass jar in the fridge.

Nutrition