Short ribs with pappardelle is the ultimate comfort food that is perfect for cooler nights when all you want to do is cozy up with a warm bowl of pasta. Beef short ribs are braised in a tomato and red wine sauce then tossed with pappardelle ribbons and topped with Parmigiano Reggiano. This is the ragu to end all other ragus.
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Editor’s Note: Originally Published on April 4, 2018. Updated with full process shots and expanded info.
As much as I love the summer, I do get a little excited when the weather cools down because that means heartier foods, like porchetta roast, baked butternut squash pasta, and this short rib ragu with pappardelle.
This is one of my most favorite dishes for a few reasons:
- Smells incredible. There is nothing quite like the smell of short ribs braised in red wine and herbs, or white wine and herbs like these braised short ribs. It smells like home, warmth, and family.
- It’s affordable. Mixing the beef with sauce and pasta allows you to extend the beef allowing you to get the most bang for your buck. I was able to get the short ribs on sale for $6.29 per pound but you can also use chuck or beef stew meat to make this even more affordable.
- Simple to make. But doesn’t taste simple. This is one of the easiest dishes to make as the prep is pretty basic and most of the cooking time involves braising in the oven, allowing you time to focus on other things. Because it braises for a few hours, the taste is deep and complex.
Variations and additions
Pappardelle is one of my favorite kinds of pasta.
Its ribbon-like shape and texture make it perfect for meat or cream-based sauces, like my Italian sausage pasta or creamy garlic mushroom pasta.
If you’re not able to find pappardelle, you can use tagliatelle, fettuccine, bucatini, or even rigatoni for this dish.
This also goes fantastically with homemade potato gnocchi or homemade pasta if you have the time.
This recipe calls for red wine. I almost always use a chianti when I’m making this dish, but really any bold red wine, such as a cabernet, super Tuscan, or Valpolicella would work well.
If you’re not able to find beef short ribs, you can opt for beef stew meat or use a 2-3 pound chuck roast cut into cubes.
One of my favorite additions to short ribs with pappardelle, in addition to the Parmigiano Reggiano, is to grate some bittersweet dark chocolate on top, right when I’m plating.
The chocolate adds another layer of flavor contributing to the complexity of the dish. I’d recommend using 80% cacao or higher and start with a little at a time to make sure you like it.
If you want to stretch the dish even further and add additional flavor, you could also add diced white button, baby Bella, or porcini mushrooms to this dish.
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How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Preheat the oven to 300f and set racks apart so that one large Dutch oven pot can fit in the middle of the oven. Finely dice 1 medium onion and a 2 medium carrots. Also, slice 2 cloves of garlic.
- Season the short ribs very well with a total of 2 teaspoons kosher salt and a 1/2 teaspoon black pepper on all sides.
- Heat a large Dutch oven to medium heat. Once the pot is hot add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to the pan, pat the short ribs dry with paper towels to remove any excess wetness, and place into the pot. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding, sear the ribs on all sides until well browned (should take about 10 minutes per batch). Set the seared ribs to the side and turn the heat down to medium-low.
- At this point, there will be a lot of beef fat in the pot. Add the carrots and onions to the pot and saute them until very soft (about 10-12 minutes).
- Next, add in the garlic and cook for 2 minutes longer.
- Add in the 3 ounces of tomato paste, mix around constantly and cook for 3 minutes more.
- Add 2 cups of dry red wine (Chianti, Cabernet, Valpolicella, etc) to the pot and turn the heat back to medium. Using a wooden spoon, scrape and dislodge all of the brown bits. Cook for 3 minutes.
- Add the plum tomatoes, thyme, and bay leaf, and bring the sauce to a simmer.
- Return the short ribs to the simmering sauce. Try to keep them all submerged, but don’t worry if parts of some are sticking out.
- Turn off the heat and cover. Cook in the oven for 2 hours, then remove and turn over any short ribs. Crack the lid, leaving it open by about 1 inch, and return the pot to the oven. Let the ragu cook for 1 hour more.
- After 3 hours the short ribs will be falling apart. With tongs or a slotted spoon remove all of the short ribs, bones, thyme stems, and the bay leaf. Discard the thyme stems and bay leaf.
- Discard all of the short ribs bones (or save for a bone broth). The membrane that holds the meat to the bone needs to be removed. Cut it away with a sharp knife. Once all of the membrane parts have been removed, shred the beef with two forks, or alternatively chop it up. Note: The membrane will have a hard texture, distinct look and feel, and will be easily noticeable. Just take your time to remove the membrane before shredding the short rib meat. The collagen-filled membrane or connective tissue can be eaten, but for the purposes of shredding the beef and to have a uniform texture, I recommend removing it. You can save it with the bones to make a stock if desired.
- Place all the shredded beef into the pot and keep the pot on low heat. Give the ragu a taste test and adjust salt and pepper if required.
- Bring a large pot of salted water (2 tablespoons kosher salt) to boil and cook the pappardelle to almost cooked (about 1-2 minutes less than al dente. While the pasta is cooking place about 2 cups of the short rib ragu into a large pan and turn the heat to medium-low.
- Before draining the pasta save 1 cup of pasta water. Place the pasta into the pan with the hot ragu and stir well to thoroughly coat the pasta.
- Finish cooking the pasta in the ragu for 1-2 minutes or until al dente then turn the heat off. If more ragu is needed, add it now. If the pasta is a bit dry use some of the reserved pasta water ( a couple ounces at a time) to loosen it up. Serve with grated Parmigiano Reggiano cheese and the extra ragu on the side. Enjoy!
Note: you’ll have about 1/2 bottle of wine left after making the sauce. If you’re so inclined, this meal pairs perfectly with a glass of chianti, super Tuscan, or a cabernet. Cin Cin!
Top Tips
- Sear the short ribs very well – Taking the time to put a great sear on all the sides of the shorts ribs will increase the ragu’s flavor tremendously. The maillard reaction whereby the protein and sugars of the beef are transformed by intense heat makes the flavor that much better.
- Sweat the veggies – Just as building the flavor with the seared meat, sweating the carrot and onion through slow cooking will impart a sweetness to the short rib ragu. Don’t rush this step.
- Fresh thyme – Thyme just goes so well with braised beef and red wine. It’s one of my favorite herbs to use for short ribs but feel free to experiment.
- Refrigerate overnight – You will get an even better flavor if you make this red wine short rib ragu one day in advance. It’s a great make-ahead dinner party recipe! An added bonus is the fat will come to the top overnight, and you can remove most of it the next day by scraping it off with a spoon before reheating. This makes the dish a tad healthier, but in the end, there is nothing too healthy about this dish ;).
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Short Ribs with Pappardelle
Ingredients
- 1 pound pappardelle
- 10 3-4" bone-in short ribs 3-4 pounds
- 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal Kosher salt plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper plus more to taste
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 medium carrots diced
- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic sliced
- 3 ounces tomato paste
- 2 cups dry red wine chianti, cabernet, etc
- 1 28-ounce can plum tomatoes hand crushed or blender pulsed
- 1 large bay leaf
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 cup reserved pasta water will most likely not need all of it
- 1/2 cup grated Parmigiano Reggiano for finishing
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Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F and move racks to make enough room to accommodate a large Dutch oven pot in the middle of the oven.
- Pat the short ribs dry and season with 2 teaspoons kosher salt and a 1/2 teaspoon of black pepper on all sides. Heat a large Dutch oven to medium heat. After the pot is hot add the olive oil. Give the short ribs one more pat to make sure they're dry, then add them to the pot and and sear on all sides. Work in batches and do not crowd the pan. Short ribs should take about 10 minutes to sear on all sides per batch.
- Set the seared short ribs aside and turn the heat down to medium-low. Add in the carrots, and onions and saute in the beef fat until very soft (about 10 minutes) then add the garlic and cook for 2 minutes longer.
- Next, add in the tomato paste and cook for 3 minutes stirring frequently. Add the wine and turn heat to medium. Using a wooden spoon scrape all the brown bits off the bottom of the pan.
- After cooking the wine for 3 minutes, add the plum tomatoes, thyme, and bay leaf and bring to a simmer. Once simmering add the short ribs to the pot, stir, then turn off and cover. Cook short ribs in the oven for 2 hours. After two hours, place the lid partially ajar and continue to cook for 1 more hour.
- Remove Dutch oven, then remove short ribs and place onto a large cutting board. Using 2 forks, shred the meat. Discard any hard parts of fat and the bones. Also, discard any thyme stems and the bay leaf. Return the shredded meat to the pot and keep warm over low heat. Taste test the ragu and season with salt and pepper to taste.
- Bring a large pot of salted water (2 tablespoons kosher salt) and cook pappardelle until al dente. Heat a large pan to medium-low heat and add in 2 cups of the short rib ragu. Add the al dente pasta to the pan and cook for 1 more minute mixing well to thoroughly coat the pasta.
- If the pasta needs more ragu, add more now. If the sauce seems a little dry add a bit of reserved pasta water to loosen it up. Serve plated with grated Parmigiano Reggiano and the remaining ragu on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
- Makes 6 moderate or 4 large servings.
- Making the ragu 24 hours in advance and refrigerating overnight will yield even better flavor. If doing so, you can remove some of the fat that will rise to the top with a spoon after being chilled.
- The collagen-filled membrane or connective tissue can be eaten, but for the purposes of shredding the beef and to have a uniform texture, I recommend removing it. You can save it with the bones to make a stock if desired.
- Leftovers can be saved for up to 3 days and can be reheated in the microwave.
- The leftover ragu can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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This recipe was originally published on April 4, 2018. It was completely updated on October 5, 2021.
Fantastic recipe! Was able to follow this pretty closely. Thank you for making such good food appear to be within my reach!
Hi Shell, thanks for the comment and so happy you enjoyed it!
Hi Jim,
I’m making this tonight for NYE and was wondering how important it is to heat the ragu in separate pan and add in the papperdelle? I was hoping to add the Al dente pasta to the original Dutch oven after I shred the beef.
Thanks!
Corrine
Hi Corrine, that’s fine. You might want to start by removing some of the sauce from the Dutch oven that way you don’t over-sauce the pasta. Hope that makes sense. Enjoy, and Happy New Year!
Made this with the idea that I’d be too hungover on Sunday (day after New Year’s)to cook anything. Added a few extra bay leaves as I love the flavor the impart. I can’t begin to tell you how flavorful and tender the meat is. Jim I gotta tell ya, I’ve never had such great success with recipes as I have yours. You know that feeling when you just get what somebody’s trying to teach you and you just “ get it”, well that’s what it’s like with me and your instruction.
Hi Pete, this comment made my day, thank you. So happy you’re enjoying the recipes and that you find my instruction to be helpful. Wishing you a wonderful New Year!
Wow! What a hit with the family. Thank you for sharing. Cooked for the last two days, I let the ragu cool and sit for 24hrs.
Holy wow!
Wish I could share the pictures of the end result… what a great winter dish.
Cheers,
CJ
Hi CJ, so happy you and the family enjoyed and thanks for the comment! If you’re on Instagram, feel free to tag us in the picture!
Jim, I made the short rib ragu a few months ago. It was a hit. I shared the link with my sister, she made it, hit again. We make homemade pasta as one of our Christmas traditions. Guess which sauce is in demand? Yup, will be making the short rib ragu in a couple of days.
Merry Christmas and I look forward to trying more of your ideas.
Hi Maurice, thanks for the awesome comment and I’m so happy to hear you’ll be having the short rib ragu again for Christmas! Hope you enjoy and here’s to a wonderful Christmas!
Hi Jim,
Always enjoy your recipes, comments, suggestions, and your kids’ input. We made several of your Christmas cookie recipes this week and have been getting great accolades from our neighbors that we’ve shared them with.
Question on the short rib pappardelle recipe video – at the end your son mentioned he liked it even more than your “rafiata” (?) recipe. What is that, and do you have a recipe of it you might share? Many thanks, and happy holidays!
Hi Dan, thanks for the comment and so happy you’re enjoying the recipes and that the Christmas cookies were a success! Yes, the dish he was referring to is arrabbiata which pasta in a spicy cherry pepper sauce. I have a recipe on the site for Spaghetti arrabbiata and one for shrimp arrabbiata. You can search the site for the term “arrabbiata” and both recipes will come up. Hope you enjoy!
So delicious! My family of five ate every last bit. I was thrilled to have enough sauce to refrigerate and get another pound of pasta sauced for another meal.
Hi Sarah, thanks for the comment and thrilled you all enjoyed this one! It’s definitely one of our favorites too.
Made this today, it was fantastic. This the 3rd recipe of yours we have made in the last week. All were very good, but this was the best. Looking forward to trying more recipes.
Hi Gary, I’m so happy you liked the ragu and the other recipes as well. Thanks for the comment!
fantastic recipe and explanation of the recipe. Highly reccomend!
Hi Alain, so happy you liked the recipe, thanks for the comment!
I have boneless short ribs. What adjustments do I need to make? I am planning on making these for Christmas Eve. Thank you!
Hi Jeanine, as far as cooking, you don’t need to make adjustments, however, you can get away with less than the 3-4 lbs my recipe calls for since mine accounts for the weight of the bones. 2 pounds should be enough.
Thank you so much! Looking forward to making this dish and will leave a review after 🙂
Thank you so much for responding to my question and for this recipe! I tripled recipe for a large crowd on Christmas Eve and every single person raved about the ragu. My brother is from food and wine country in California and said it was unbelievable and tastes like something you would get at a high end restaurant. I will definitely make this again and more recipes from you 🙂
Hi Jeanine, thanks for the awesome comment and so happy you all enjoyed this one!
Hi Jim – I was wondering if substituting something else for the red wine would be OK for this dish. Trying to make this as close to alcohol free as possible (I know most of it will be gone after several hours in the oven but need to be very careful). I was thinking of replacing the 2 cups of red wine with 1 cup of red wine vinegar and 1 cup of high-quality beef stock, but since there is already beef in the dish, that might be overkill. Any thoughts or suggestions?
Hi Scott, yes, you can definitely omit the wine from this dish and replace with low-sodium beef stock. I haven’t tested it with red wine vinegar so I can’t say how that will turn out, but for most of my recipes (Peposo being the exception), you can always replace the alcohol with something non-alcoholic. Hope you enjoy it!
Was looking for something spectacular to make for Thanksgiving dinner for my Italian boyfriend (dad from Sicily, mom from Abruzzo) and my “pasta addict” son, because no one likes turkey. This was absolutely amazing!! I was hopeful for leftovers….there weren’t any…lol.
Like many others here, I am BEYOND happy to have found this site. Looking forward to many more successful Italian meals. Keep up the amazing work Jim.
Hi Thomi, thanks so much for the comment and I’m happy you were able to enjoy this on Thanksgiving!
First night of Sip and Feast Fest and I made this because it takes so long and Sunday is generally when I have time for cooking all day. It seems very similar to when my husband makes boeuf bourguignon except served over pasta and with an Italian flavor profile. It is delicious and I’m so happy that I picked this one for this week. Definitely something people will be jealous of in the break room tomorrow. You absolutely have a fan at our house and I can’t wait to try the other two dishes I chose for this week.
Hi Tori, I’m so happy you enjoyed this one and that you started the Sip and Feast fest! I really appreciate the comment and hope you enjoy the other recipes in your line up as much as this one!
I am anxious to try this. We were in Italy for two weeks in September and I had a couple of different Tagus including wild boar. I found it so odd that none had the carrots in it that seem to be common in Italian American.
Absolutely delicious dish! I used short ribs, which definitely resulted in a ton of fat. I cooled it for several hours and scrapped the fat out. Next time I make it I’m going to try Chuck roast. Thanks for the delicious recipe.
Hi Andrea, so happy you liked the recipe and thanks for the comment!
Man this recipe really came together at the last minute for me.
First time making something like this.
I made some mistakes (mediocre short rib and wine quality, not simmering the wine before adding tomatoes) and was really worried about that fermented/cooked fruit aroma and flavor that I’ve had when cooking with wine in other recipes.
It literally boiled off in the final cooking with the noodles. Great recipe. Gonna try it again with some higher quality beef and vino. The thyme was a great touch. I’d already made your lentil stew and was impressed by that so it looks like I’m gonna start working through your catalog this winter. Love the vids and presentation. The coffee shop jazz, no bs approach and emphasis on cooking for family are all great touches. Many thanks!
Hi Mark, thanks for the comment and so happy you’re enjoying the recipes and videos!
Hey Jim! Love your videos and looking forward to making my first Sunday sauce this weekend and I’m curious if I can add the ribs in with sausages and meatballs? I’d love to end up with a big batch of sauce for ragu and multiple meals.
Keep up the great work!
Ben
Hey Ben, so happy you’re enjoying the videos and recipes! You can add short ribs to Sunday sauce. They tend to be very fatty so I’d suggest trimming them very well and skimming fat from the top as it rises. I hope this helps and hope you enjoy the Sunday sauce!
These were absolutely delicious! The meat fell right off the bone. Definetly would make again!
Hi Vikki, I’m so happy you liked this one! Thanks for the comment!
After trying many of your recipes I am hooked. Excellent common sense techniques and logical alternatives. The short ribs with pappardelle is so very delicious. And I cannot say enough about the vodka sauce. It has become a staple here in my humble southern home. Thank you so very much and the best to you and your family especially your unbiased taste tester James.
Hi Tom, I really appreciate the comment and am so happy you’re enjoying the recipes and videos!
I made this today, we were in Italy for 13 days and was inspired to try something new. This recipe was a huge hit, thanks so much! I’m looking forward to trying more of your recipes.
Hi Maureen, thanks for the comment and so happy you enjoyed the short rib ragu!