OH HI I'M EXCITED CAN YOU TELL?? I've been dying to share the main dish for our Easter dinner this year. Ready? Ready ready?? Ok here it goes...mole braised beef short ribs!!!
Are you shocked it's not a ham? Easter ham honestly goes to waste in our house. We would each have a small slice because Easter ham right? The rest would just sit there...So instead of wasting a lot of perfectly good (but not our thing) food every year for this holiday, we decided to start trying something new.
We've done the occasional roasted chicken and a pot roast here and there but I wanted something really fun and different this year. Ergo, mole braised beef short ribs!
First and foremost, I would like to say these are mole inspired braised beef short ribs. For word count reasons and google algorithms 🙄 I had to shorten the title. To clarify, traditional mole is a thing. A big, long recipe with tons of ingredients that can take quite a while to make. If you have the time (it can take literally all day), making the classic version is completely 100% worth it...but who has the time?? Aka mole inspired.
Basically, mole is a wonderful, amazing blend of roasted chilies, spices, nuts, and chocolate all ground up and simmered for ever and a day. It's awesome.
However, I don't have all day to make a sauce especially when this beef needs to slow cook! Here are my cheats to get some delicious mole flavor without taking all day to make the classic sauce:
First, those chilies. I don't roast anything. In fact I buy them canned and throw them in the pot. Boom.
Second, I did not toast and grind any of the spices. I just used regular ground up ones plus a cinnamon stick in my pantry. Not as much flavor as a traditional mole sauce but pretty snazzy for a 10 minute whisk together in the pot version!
Third, those nuts. I use natural peanut butter 🤣. It helps thicken the sauce and gives it the right flavor.
Fourth and final, no melting of chocolate necessary. Just throw in some cocoa powder and call it a day!
I'm so in love with this sauce. We had some of it leftover and threw it in one of those kitchen sink tamale pies...SO GOOD!
Oh and also the mole braised beef short ribs themselves aren't too bad 😎. Seared in the pot and slow cooked away in the oven until they're so tender they fall right off the bone and melt in your mouth...yes please!
PS. For those of you that don't have the time to watch an oven, I've included the slow cooker version in the recipe below. Now pick your cooking method and enjoy!
Mole Braised Beef Short Ribs
- Total Time: 2 hours 55 minutes
- Yield: 3-4 1x
Description
Oven braised in a Mexican mole inspired sauce, these beef short ribs are so tender they fall right off the bone! (Slow cooker version also included).
Ingredients
- 4 lbs beef short ribs, cut into 2-3 inch pieces
- ½ white onion, diced
- 1 large carrot, quartered and thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- ¼ cup salsa verde
- 1 chipotle in adobo, chopped*
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoona cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon coriander
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground oregano
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup red wine
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- Coarse salt, ground black pepper
Get Recipe Ingredients
Instructions
For Oven Braising Method
- Preheat oven to 300°F. Toss ribs in 1-2 teaspoons of coarse salt, pinch of pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the flour until evenly coated.
- In a large dutch oven or braiser, heat olive oil over medium high heat and sear ribs, 1-2 minutes on each side. Remove the ribs from heat to a plate and let rest.
- Add the onion and carrot to the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes, stirring frequently, until somewhat softened.
- Add garlic and saute 30 seconds to 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add tomato paste, cocoa powder, remaining flour, and peanut butter to the pot. Cook 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently, until fragrant and starting to deepen color.
- Pour wine into the pot, cook 1 minute, until it has somewhat reduced. Scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Stir in remaining ingredients. Cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Turn off heat and add the seared ribs back to the pot. Cover and place on a middle rack in the oven. Cook for 2 to 2 ½ hours, until ribs are tender and falling off the bone. They should slide right off the bone when done!
- Remove ribs from sauce. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Skim fat from the sauce and using either an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender, blend until smooth. Add salt to taste.
- Drizzle ribs with sauce and garnish with fresh parsley as desired. Serve over your favorite mashed potatoes or roasted veggies!
For Slow Cooker Method
- Turn a 5 quart slow cooker on high. Toss ribs in 1-2 teaspoons of coarse salt, pinch of pepper, and 2 tablespoons of the flour until evenly coated.
- In a large skillet, heat olive oil and sear ribs, 1-2 minutes on each side. Remove the ribs from heat to a plate and let rest.
- Add the onion and carrot to the skillet and cook for 4-5 minutes, until somewhat softened. Remove from heat and add to the slow cooker.
- Whisk the rest of the ingredients into the slow cooker. Place seared ribs in the liquid.
- Cook 4-5 hours on high or 8-9 hours on low, until ribs are tender and falling off the bone. They should slide right off the bone when done!
- Remove ribs from sauce. Remove and discard the cinnamon stick. Skim fat from the sauce and using either an immersion blender or in batches in a regular blender, blend until smooth. Add salt to taste.
- Drizzle ribs with sauce and garnish with fresh parsley as desired. Serve over your favorite mashed potatoes or roasted veggies!
Notes
Add another chipotle in adobo or a little of the sauce for more heat and flavor!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours 45 minutes
David Carlson says
I love mole so really want to try this recipe. Do you recommend English or Flanken cut short ribs for this?