Braised Short Rib Mushroom Sauce with Pappardelle
This braised short rib mushroom sauce is made with red wine and fresh herbs. It slow cooks in the oven until the short ribs are falling apart tender before it’s strained and reduced to a velvety smooth sauce. It takes some time, but most of it is hands-off time while the ribs braise in the oven. It’s decadent rich comfort food that’s perfect for a cold winter’s night.
Short Rib Pappardelle
This braised short rib mushroom sauce is how I do January. Short ribs cooked long and slow with mushrooms, fresh herbs, and red wine until they’re falling apart tender is the best kind of comfort food following the holidays. You know, when you’re slowly coming down from the holiday high, and you need a plate of pasta to soften the fall a bit.
I feel like a black sheep this time of year because pretty much everyone I know turns the dial to “healthy” eating as soon as January 1st rolls around, and here I am (oh, hi!) with my plate of decadent and rich braised short ribs.
Ingredients
- Olive oil
- Boneless beef short ribs
- Unsalted butter
- Cremini mushrooms
- Onion
- Garlic cloves
- Salt and pepper
- All-purpose flour
- crushed tomatoes
- Fresh parsley
- Fresh thyme
- Fresh tarragon
- Red wine like Pinot Noir or Cabernet Sauvignon
- Pappardelle pasta
This short rib pasta recipe is just perfect for mid-winter. It gives you the best excuse to hang around the house, it fills the kitchen with a savory aroma, and it will warm you through.
Recipe Highlights
The sauce is basically three things: mushrooms, red wine, and fresh tarragon, a somewhat anise-flavored herb that will leave people wondering what the secret ingredient might be. It’s distinctive but not overwhelming and a nice switch-up from other run-of-mill herbs.
The short ribs simmer in the sauce for a couple of hours until they’re so tender you can cut them with a fork.
I love a velvety smooth sauce, so I use the same trick I learned when I made beef bourguignon a few years ago: I strain the sauce and reduce it on the stove before adding the shredded beef back in. It’s an easy step and means you don’t have to be so careful prepping the veggies – a rough chop is all they need, and as they slowly simmer with the beef, they break down and infuse the sauce with all of their flavors.
I like pappardelle for the braised short rib mushroom sauce because it’s pretty to look at, and it holds the sauce in its own special way – like ribbons of saucy wonderfulness. It can be found at most major grocery stores, but if you have trouble finding it, substituting fettuccine or linguine will work just as well.
I think this braised short rib mushroom sauce is totally guest-worthy, and it’s the kind of recipe that can easily be made in advance. In fact, chilling it for a day in the fridge just enhances the flavor. To serve, gently warm it on the stove, thin it with a little water if it’s too thick, while you boil the pasta.
Happy winter, everyone. Let’s embrace the comfort.
Happy cooking,
More Short Rib Recipes
📣 Do you love this recipe? I would love to know! Leave a comment below the recipe, along with your recipe star rating.
PrintBraised Short Rib Mushroom Sauce with Pappardelle
This recipe takes time, but most of it is hands-off time while the short ribs braise in the oven. I like to take the extra step to strain the sauce and reduce it which gives you a velvety smooth sauce that clings to the pasta. The sauce is flavored with mushrooms, red wine and fresh tarragon – an anise-flavored herb – and pairs wonderfully with the tender short ribs. Make the sauce up to a day in advance and gently warm it on the stove, thinning it with water if it’s too thick, when you’re ready to serve it.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: 4 servings 1x
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Braise
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 pound boneless beef short ribs, seasoned with kosher salt
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter
- 8 oz whole cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
- 4 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 1 cup canned crushed tomatoes
- 4 sprigs fresh parsley (see note)
- 10 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1 tbsp roughly chopped fresh tarragon
- 2 cups red wine (like pinot noir or cabernet sauvignon)
- 8 oz pappardelle pasta (see note)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Heat the olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Brown the short ribs in the pot for about five minutes on each side. Remove them from the pan.
- Add the butter to the pot and once it’s melted add the mushrooms, onion, and garlic. Cook the vegetables for about ten minutes, stirring frequently. Add the salt, pepper, and sprinkle the flour over the top of the veggies. Stir to coat them in the flour and add the tomatoes, parsley, thyme, and tarragon. Add the wine and stir to combine. Place the short ribs back in the pot and add enough water to the pot so that they’re covered (I used 2 cups of water, but depending on your pot you may need a little more or less).
- Bring the pot to a boil. Turn the heat off and cover the pot with a lid slightly askew to allow steam to escape. Transfer the pot to the oven for two and a half to three hours, or until the short ribs shred easily with a fork.
- Remove the short ribs from the pot. Using a fine mesh strainer, strain the sauce into a large bowl removing all the vegetables from the pot. Press on the vegetables to extract as much liquid as possible before discarding. Pour the strained liquid back into the pot and bring it to a boil over high heat. Adjust the heat to medium to maintain a strong simmer for thirty minutes or until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. While the sauce reduces, cook the pasta according to package directions.
- Shred the short ribs and place them back in the sauce. At this point, taste the sauce and add more salt if you think it needs it. Simmer for a few minutes to warm the beef through. Serve with the pasta.
Notes
Because you will strain the sauce there’s no need to chop the parsley or thyme. You can toss them in the sauce – stems and all.
Pappardelle is a ribbon-like pasta that has a great texture. It’s available at most mainstream grocery stores, but if you can’t find it, substitute linguine or fettuccine instead.
Nutrition
- Calories: 707
- Sugar: 5.4g
- Sodium: 812.9mg
- Fat: 28.9g
- Saturated Fat: 12.7g
- Unsaturated Fat: 14.6g
- Trans Fat: 0.8g
- Carbohydrates: 58.5g
- Fiber: 4.5g
- Protein: 34.3g
- Cholesterol: 121.2mg
The nutrition is an estimate only. It was calculated using Nutrifox, an online nutrition calculator.
Looks like such a delicious recipe. This is the kind of food I want to eat after a long week, total comfort food! Yum!
This recipe is amazing! I love your tip for straining the sauce, it certainly makes things easy. Such delicious flavors!
This was so good and pretty easy to make. The sauce was so silky after straining. My picky 2 year old even ate a bowl. Will make again!
So glad you liked it, Nicole!
After the stove top, I would like to put everything in slow cooker! What do you recommend for heat setting and time?
I haven’t tested this in a slow cooker so my best guess is to cook it on low for six to eight hours or until the ribs are tender and easily shred.
Hi …this recipe looks great…instead of transfering to the oven could I just keep in the pot on the stove top for same amount of time? If so, medium heat or? Cant wait to try…Thank you!
I haven’t tested in on the stove, but I imagine it would work. Just be sure to monitor the heat so the bottom doesn’t burn – let me know how it goes for you!
Sounds soooo good. Going to be making this tonight or tomorrow. The grocery store meat guy told me since they didn’t have short ribs to use the rump tips they had. Do you know anything about substituting rump tips for short ribs. I would hate to take all that time to make recipe and have it not come outl 🙁
I haven’t used that cut before, but I did some research and it seems they should work fine. I would just be sure they are tender – you may need more or less time in the oven.
Thanks for your reply about the cut. The rump cut worked well. I took dish out of oven by 2-1/2 hours and it was easily shredded. This meal was really good!
My only comment would be is I didn’t find these amounts in recipe to have enough liquid to go with pasta. It was so good that WHEN I make it again for my husband and me, I would double recipe to get more sauce. Thanks for a great recipe.
I’m glad you liked it! I was thinking you could keep the lid on while it’s in the oven (instead of letting steam escape) the next time you make it – maybe it won’t reduce as much so you’ll have more sauce. I didn’t run into that problem, but every oven is different.
Made this recipe for my husband for Valentine’s Day since he loved something similar at a restaurant in NYC. It was super easy to follow and was even better than the restaurant.
Oh, that’s so great! So glad you like it!
Do you have any substitutes you recommend instead of mushrooms?
For this recipe I don’t think there’s a good substitute – you could probably just leave them out.
Can you recommend a substitute for alcohol?
I haven’t tested an alternative, but I would substitute 1 3/4 cup of beef stock plus 1/4 cup of balsamic vinegar. The vinegar will give it a bit of a tang to make up for the wine flavor. Hope that helps!
I served this over homemade herbed spaetzle and it was amazing! Thanks for a great recipe!
Oh, that’s great! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Do I use fresh tomatoes or tin.
Canned crushed tomatoes – thanks for pointing that out!
Hi there! Can’t wait to try your recipe. How big of a can for the crushed tomatoes? Small can 15 oz or larger can 28 oz? Thanks!
You only need 1 cup of crushed tomatoes so a 15-ounce can will work. Hope that helps!
Could you use a pressure cooker to cook the short ribs vs. the oven?
Hi Julie, I haven’t tried them in the pressure cooker so I’m not sure how long they would take and how you would need to adjust the ingredient amounts. Sorry I can’t be of more help!
Dead easy; used a cast iron “Puck” pot from stove-top to over to stove top. A really splendid dish.
So glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for letting me know and for the rating 🙂