Beef Short Rib Chili

Almost every single food blog on the internet has at least one, often several chili recipes, but I’m going to tell you why it is my Beef Short Rib Chili you need to be making this weekend. For years, I made chili either vegetarian with just beans, or using hunks of stewing steak. But by using short ribs, we’re infusing all the flavour from the bones into the chili, as well as getting the most delicious fork-tender shreddable beef to mix with jarred beans, not canned for a super-tender finish. I know ‘traditional’ chili doesn’t actually contain beans (or tomatoes either, but I find they round out the flavours in chili nicely!), but they make this a cosy one bowl meal and soak up all the flavours so well.

For years I also flavoured my chili with Cajun spice mix, and possibly some added cocoa powder. A very unorthodox, yet delicious shortcut I stand by. However, as we’re going the extra mile here and using short ribs, I’ve gone for a heady mix of dried chillies (don’t worry, I’ve included instructions on buying and preparing them if you’ve never done it before below!), spices and stock.

The result is a surprisingly simple, yet very complex short rib chili recipe that I love, my in-laws loved when they were lucky enough to come for dinner the night I finally nailed the recipe (there were some earlier versions that contained way too much allspice to the point where we could still taste it hours later – there is a reason it did not make it into the final recipe!) and which J gets excited by when he can smell it slow cooking in the oven ready for dinner.

Using Dried Chillies

I’m afraid this isn’t a ready you can do all your shopping for at the supermarket, but the dried chillies you’ll need, as well as cans of chipotle in adobo sauce^ad (see my FAQs below if you do want to substitute this) can easily be found online. Dried chillies add a wonderful depth of flavour the way pastes and powders don’t often manage, and they’re really easy to use – you just need to soak them before chopping or blitzing them into your chosen recipe. The dried ancho and guajillo chillies I use in this recipe are both available on Sous Chef as well as on Amazon^ad, and all three products also appear in my recipe for Lamb Birria which makes the most delicious slow cooked lamb tacos, so you can be safe in the knowledge you won’t just be buying them for this recipe!

Choosing Your Short Ribs

Don’t make the mistake I made buying short ribs one time developing this recipe and ask your butcher to see them before they’re packaged up – you need to make sure they’ll actually fit in your cooking pot, as the bones will be be practically impossible to cut though in your own kitchen – trust me, on that occasion I tried! If you do find yourself in this situation, simply cut the meat off the bones. You’ll be sacrificing a bit of flavour, but you’ll still make a delicious chili! And, as you won’t have been able to get the roast off the bone, you can still use them to make stock. Roast them until golden and the meat is caramelised in a 200 degree oven, inside a deep roasting dish. Then fill the dish with cold water and a few aromatics (what you have on hand, a halved onion, celery sticks, black peppercorns and bay leaves are all good ideas) and cover tightly with foil. Return to the oven for 3 hours at 150 degrees – if you roast the bones first, you can make the stock at the same time as cooking the chili. Then, just cool it, strain it, and freeze for later!

Frequently Asked Questions

You Might Also Enjoy

• Rich and Delicious Beef Shin Ragu
• Slow Cooked Mexican Beef Wraps
• Mexican Lamb Birria Recipe
• Slow Cooker Chilli con Carne Recipe
• Beef Stew and Thyme Dumplings

Beef Short Rib Chili

• Author: Rachel Phipps
• Prep Time: 25 minutes
• Cook Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
• Total Time: 3 hours 45 minutes
• Yield: Serves 3-4 1x
• Category: Dinner
• Method: Slow Cooking

Print Recipe

Pin Recipe

---

Description

This rich, slow cooked Beef Short Rib Chili recipe takes everything you love about a bowl of beef chili and turns it up to max! Serve with tortilla chips, diced avocado, sour cream and pickled red onions for the perfect dinner! 

---

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 3 dried guajillo chillies
• 1 dried ancho chilli
• 750–800g beef short ribs 
• 1 tbsp flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt, plus extra for seasoning the short ribs
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 brown onion
• 2 chipotle in adobo sauce + 1/2 tbsp of sauce from the tin
• 4 large garlic cloves
• 350ml chicken or beef stock
• 1/2 400g tin finely chopped tomatoes
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1/2 tbsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 4 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 x 570g jar queen kidney beans

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

---

Instructions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 150C. In a shallow dish, pour 150ml of just-boiled water over the dried guajillo and ancho chillies and set aside to soak for at least 10 minutes. 
2. Season the short ribs well with salt and dust them lightly all over with flour. 
3. In a large casserole dish, heat the oil over medium. Once it is shimmering, brown the short ribs all over; you’ll most likely need to work in batches. Set them aside on a plate as you go. Meanwhile, chop the onion and mince the garlic cloves.
4. Turn the heat down to medium low, and add the onion, along with a splash more olive oil if there is not much left in the bottom of the pot. Fry gently for 5-6 minutes until soft and slightly golden. Then stir in the garlic, and cook for a minute more.
5. While the onion is cooking, remove the stems from the chillies, and along with their soaking juices, the chipotle in adobo sauce, and 1/2 tbsp of their sauce blitz them in a bullet blender until smooth.
6. Stir the blitzed chilli sauce into the pot, followed by the stock (use it to wash any residual chilli paste from the blender), chopped tomatoes, brown sugar, cumin, cocoa, oregano, coriander, cinnamon, cloves, and apple cider vinegar.
7. Once the mixture has reached a simmer, arrange the short ribs in the sauce, in a single layer if possible. Spoon sauce over any exposed tops before putting in the oven for 2 hours, turning the ribs over in the sauce halfway. 
8. Remove the short ribs temporarily from the pot. Drain and rinse the kidney beans before stirring them into the pot. Return the short ribs and cook for a final 1 hour. 
9. Skim what fat you can off the top of the chili with a spoon and then, using tongs, remove the short ribs. Return the pot to the (switched off) oven to keep warm.
10. When they’re cool enough to touch, using forks or your fingers remove chunks of the tender meat, discarding the bones and sections of rubbery cartilage. 
11. Stir the meat into the beans, and serve.

---

Notes

Make sure when you’re buying your short ribs they’ll all fit in your cooking pot!

• Pin
• Tweet
• Share