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Beef Short Ribs Sauerbraten

See how to make tender beef short ribs, German-style.

By allrecipes · From Open Recipes · 23 ingredients
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Why it works: Beef and onion are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 3% of all ingredient pairs, and 17,091 recipes mention both. Both carry 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine, which smells earthy, pea. The science ↓

The recipe

6 servings
Prep30 min
Cook3 hr 35 min

Ingredients

Contains: milk (auto-detected from the ingredients and method; we can miss things, so check labels)

Directions

Method written by CompKitchen from the ingredient list. Not the original author's method, not kitchen-tested.

  1. Season the short ribs with salt and ground black pepper. Heat the vegetable oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and brown the ribs on all sides, about 10 minutes total. Set aside.

  2. Combine 1 1/2 cups water, cider vinegar, red wine vinegar, juniper berries, whole cloves, bay leaves, 1 tablespoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper in a saucepan. Bring to a boil, let cool, then stir in 1 cup cold water.

  3. Place the ribs in a non-metal dish, pour the cooled marinade over them, cover and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning the ribs once.

  4. Preheat the oven to 325°F (163°C). Remove the ribs from the marinade, pat dry, and strain the marinade into a bowl, discarding the solids.

  5. Melt the butter in the Dutch oven over medium heat. Cook the chopped onion, celery and carrot for 8 minutes, then add the garlic and cook 1 minute more.

  6. Return the ribs to the pot. Add the strained marinade, 1 cup water and the chicken broth. Bring to a simmer, cover, and braise in the oven for about 2 hours 30 minutes, until the ribs are fork-tender and at least 145°F (63°C) inside.

  7. Transfer the ribs to a plate and keep warm. Strain the cooking liquid into a saucepan and skim off the fat.

  8. Add 2 tablespoons sugar and the crushed gingersnaps to the liquid. Simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes until thickened. Stir in the balsamic vinegar, then season with salt, pepper and more sugar to taste.

  9. Serve the short ribs with the sauce spooned over the top.

By allrecipes. Recipe from Open Recipes.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much aroma chemistry they share, and how many recipes mention both.

  1. Beef + oniontop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together17,091 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

  2. Pepper + clovetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together13,144 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  3. Cider + red winetop 3% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together18 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl 2-methylbutyrate (fruity, apple).

  4. Red wine + clovetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapmoderate
    Mentioned together636 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl cinnamate (sweet, balsamic).

  5. Vinegar + red winetop 4% of all pairs
    Aroma overlapstrong
    Mentioned together569 recipes

    Shared aroma: sotolon (curry, maple).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

Flavor stand-ins for the onion

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (beef, pepper, cider, vinegar, red wine, clove, butter):

  1. Capsicumbetter flavor fit
  2. Tomatobetter flavor fit
  3. Potatoabout as good a flavor fit
  4. Onionthe original

Fit is the average pairing score against beef, pepper, cider, vinegar, red wine, clove, butter. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes. This compares flavor only: it does not check the job the ingredient does in the dish (bulk, moisture, acidity, structure).