These Mexican short ribs are bold, rich, and totally unforgettable. With just a few simple steps and a little patience, you’ll be rewarded with the most tender, flavorful short ribs ever. Let the oven do the heavy lifting while you prep your favorite sides and get ready for the delicious aroma that will fill your kitchen.
Oriana’s Thoughts On The Recipe
If you’ve ever been intimidated by cooking short ribs, I totally get it—I used to be right there with you! But once I figured out how to make these Mexican short ribs, there was no going back. This recipe is surprisingly simple, and the result is incredibly flavorful, fall-off-the-bone tender meat that melts in your mouth. It’s a comforting, satisfying dish that tastes like you’ve been cooking all day… but with barely any hands-on time!
What I Love About This Recipe
Ingredients You’ll Need
Amounts are included in the printable recipe below (scroll down). You’ll need:
- Taco seasoning — try my homemade taco seasoning for this ribs recipe.
- Brown sugar
- Tomato sauce
- Chilies chipotle in adobo sauce
- Beef short ribs
- Oil
- Garlic
- Red wine – Use a red wine of your choice, but remember, don’t cook with a wine you’re not willing to drink. If you don’t want to use alcohol, substitute with more beef stock + 1 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce
- Beef broth – store-bought or homemade beef broth.
- Cilantro leaves to garnish – this is optional.
Food Allergy Swaps
- This recipe is naturally egg, dairy, nut, peanut, and sesame-free, making it suitable for most dietary needs. However, always check labels for hidden allergens.
- Soy-Free: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, beef stock, and store-bought taco seasoning may contain soy additives; make sure to check labels before using.
- Gluten-Free: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, beef stock, and store-bought taco seasoning may contain gluten or wheat-based thickeners, use gluten-free versions or make them at home from scratch. Also, check that your red wine is gluten-free, as some brands may use gluten-containing fining agents.
How To Make Mexican Short Ribs
Detailed instructions are included in the printable recipe below (scroll down). Here’s how to make Mexican Short Ribs.
Step 1 – Prepare The Sauce And Marinade The Ribs
In a large mixing bowl, combine taco seasoning, brown sugar, tomato sauce, pureed chilies, and adobo sauce. Add ribs and toss to coat with sauce. Cover and refrigerate to marinate for at least 2 hours or overnight.
Step 2 – Preheat the Oven
Preheat the oven to 325º F (165 º C) when ready to cook the ribs.
Step 3 – Sear and Sauté
Heat oil in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Sear the ribs for 5 – 8 minutes, or until brown on all sides. Transfer browned ribs to a plate.
Pour wine into the pot, scraping up the bits at the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add a halved garlic head (cut side down) and the reserved marinade. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes to reduce. Then add beef stock; simmer for 2-3 more minutes.
Step 4 – Cook
Return ribs to the pot. Cover with the lid and bake in the preheated oven for 2 – 3 hours, basting occasionally, or until the meat is tender and falling away from the bone. When the meat is tender, uncover and cook for 15 – 30 minutes, basting the juices one more time.
Transfer ribs to a serving plate. Cover with foil to keep warm, if desired.
Spoon off any excess fat from the cooking juices and then strain it through the sieve. Squeeze garlic out of their skins and pass them through a sieve too. Mix cooking juices and purred garlic well. Pour sauce over the ribs.
Step 5 – Serve and Enjoy!
Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with Mexican rice, green rice, or Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice, if desired.
How Do You Know When Short Ribs Are Done?
According to USDA, ribs are “done” when they reach 145° F internal temperature, but they may still be tough as ribs need some extra cooking to get them tender. You can allow them to cook up to 200 – 205°F instead, or check for when they’re fork-tender and fall off the bone.
Quick Recipes Notes
If you don’t want to turn your oven on during hot Summer days, you can also make these in the slow cooker. Just make sure to brown the ribs before transferring them to a crockpot to finish cooking (on low for 6-8 hours).
This recipe only calls for 2 to 3 chipotle peppers and 2 tablespoons of the sauce. If you do not have immediate plans to use the rest of the can, you can freeze the leftover peppers and adobo sauce for the next time you plan on making this carnitas recipe.
I highly recommend you cook this in a Dutch oven or a cast iron skillet, as it can go from stovetop to oven.
Make sure you sear the ribs ALL over for the best flavor.
Before you sear the ribs, shake off excessive marinade, so it doesn’t cause your ribs to steam. You want them to get a nice brown sear to them!
Other Cooking Methods
Slow Cooker: Follow the same steps and cook in your slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours until the meat is tender. If your slow cooker does not have a saute function, you can do this step over the stovetop and then transfer it to your slow cooker.
Pressure Cooker: Follow the same directions on the recipe card. Pressure cook for 1 hour on high, depressurize naturally for 10 minutes, and then release the valve.
How To Serve Mexican Short Ribs
There are so many delicious ways to enjoy short ribs! Here are a few of my favorite serving ideas:
- Easy Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice
- Easy Instant Pot Mexican Green Rice
- Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Easy Pressure Cooker Mushroom Risotto
- Easy Cheesy Garlic Hasselback Potatoes
- Easy Eggless Cornbread Muffins
Storing & Freezing Instructions
I love making extra so we can have leftovers to enjoy for later. There’s no extra work to double the recipe, so it’s worth making extra Mexican short ribs. Here’s how to store the extra servings of short ribs.
Leftovers
I feel like these Mexican short ribs taste even BETTER the next day. These braised short ribs will stay good in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. You can heat them in the oven or on the stovetop alongside the cooking juices to reheat them. Storing and reheating it with the juices prevents the short ribs from drying out.
Freeze
How I like to freeze my cooked short ribs is by shredding them once they’ve cooled. Then transfer them to a freezer-safe container with the cooking liquid and freeze for up to 3 months. This way, they stay moist when you thaw and reheat your short ribs! It also takes up less space to remove the meat from the bones. Thaw in the fridge the night before and reheat until heated through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Absolutely! Follow the same steps and cook in your slow cooker on low for 6-8 hours, until the meat is tender.
Whatever you can find will work out just fine in this recipe.
Yes, you can! Follow the same directions on the recipe card. Pressure cook for 1 hour on high, depressurize naturally for 10 minutes, and then release the valve.
According to USDA, ribs are u0022doneu0022 when they reach 145° F internal temperature, but they may still be tough as ribs need some extra cooking to get them tender. You can allow them to cook up to 200 – 205°F instead or check for when they’re fork-tender and fall off the bone.
More Recipes You’ll Love
- Slow Cooker Chipotle Carnitas
- Easy Eggless Salisbury Steak
- Slow Cooker Spicy Pork Carnitas
- Easy Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Chicken
- Mexican Pork Tenderloin Adobo
- Quick and Easy Enchiladas Suizas
- Easy Ground Beef for Tacos Recipe
Recipe Card
Mexican Short Ribs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons (28 g) taco seasoning (see notes)
- 1/4 cup (50 g) brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (120 ml) tomato sauce
- 2 chilies chipotle in adobo sauce + 2 tablespoons of the sauce, pureed
- 6 beef short ribs (about 500 g)
- 2 tablespoons (15 ml) vegetable oil, for searing
- 1 large head of garlic, cut in half horizontally
- 3/4 cup (180 ml) red wine
- 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) beef broth
- Cilantro leaves to garnish (optional)
Important
Don’t forget to check out the step-by-step photos above in the post—they’ll guide you through the process and make everything super clear!
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, combine taco seasoning, brown sugar, tomato sauce, pureed chilies, and adobo sauce . Add ribs and toss to coat with sauce. Cover and refrigerate to marinate for at least 2 hours to overnight.
- When ready to cook the ribs, preheat the oven to 325º F (165º C).
- Remove the ribs from the marinade, shaking off the excess. Reserve the marinade.
- Heat oil in a dutch oven over medium heat. Sear the ribs for 5 – 8 minutes, or until brown on all sides. Transfer browned ribs to a plate.
- Pour wine into the pot, scraping up the bits at the bottom with a wooden spoon. Add halved garlic head (cut side down) and the reserved marinade. Bring to a boil and cook for 5 minutes to reduce. Then add beef broth; simmer for 2-3 more minutes.
- Return ribs to the pot. Cover with the lid and bake in the preheated oven for 2 – 3 hours, basting occasionally, or until the meat is tender and falling away from the bone. When the meat is tender, uncover and cook for 15 – 30 minutes, basting the juices one more time.
- Transfer ribs to a serving plate. Cover with foil to keep warm, If desire.
- Spoon off any excess fat from the cooking juices and then strain it through the sieve. Squeeze garlic out of their skins and pass through a sieve too. Mix cooking juices and purred garlic well. Pour sauce over the ribs.
- Garnish with chopped cilantro and serve with Mexican rice, green rice, or Cilantro Lime Cauliflower Rice, if desired.
- This recipe is naturally egg, dairy, nut, peanut, and sesame-free, making it suitable for most dietary needs. However, always check labels for hidden allergens.
- Soy-Free: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, beef stock, and store-bought taco seasoning may contain soy additives; make sure to check labels before using.
- Gluten-Free: Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, beef stock, and store-bought taco seasoning may contain gluten or wheat-based thickeners, use gluten-free versions or make them at home from scratch. Also, check that your red wine is gluten-free, as some brands may use gluten-containing fining agents.
- If you don’t want to turn your oven on during the hot summer days, you can also make these in the slow cooker. Just make sure to brown the ribs before transfer to a crockpot to finish cooking on low for 8 hours.
- This recipe only calls for 2 to 3 chipotle peppers and 2 tablespoons of the sauce. If you do not have immediate plans to use the rest of the can, you can freeze the leftover peppers and adobo sauce for the next time you need it.
- I highly recommend you cook this recipe in a Dutch oven or a cast-iron skillet as it can go from stovetop to oven.
- Make sure you sear the ribs ALL over for the best flavor.
- Before you sear the ribs, shake off the excessive marinade so it doesn’t cause your ribs to steam. You want them to get a nice brown sear to it!
I appreciate your feedback, and it helps others, too!
Nutrition
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
This recipe was originally published in June 2016. The recipe remains the same, but more notes, tips, photos, and information were added to the post in April 2025 to make it as helpful as possible!
Looks great. Can’t wait to try it. Short ribs can be very pricey. This would work with chuck too.
Hello Rsp! Good idea. Thanks for your interest in my recipe. Please come back and let me know how you like it =)
Thank you so much for the recipe. I liked the Mexican spices. I changed a few things. Instead of tomato sauce, I added 10 fresh san marzano tomatoes. I do not like wine in my food but I did add the beef stock and 1 small onion. At the end I threw all but the meat in the food processor and it made an unbelievable sauce. Next time I will make the time to marinate the meat. The chipotle in adobo are a must. They add a nice bite to the sauce. Thanks again. I will try some of your other recipes.
Hello Dot Paulo! Sounds like you nailed it. Thanks so much for trying my recipe and for taking the time to come back and let me know!
Hi! I really want to make this mexican short ribs recipe! But could you please tell me what you mean by “2 in chilies chipotle adobo sauce pureed”? Thank you!
Hello Naomi! Sorry about that. The recipe card got misconfigured for some reason. It’s 2 chillies (pureed). Thanks for your interest in my recipe. Please come back and let me know how you like it. ?
This was absolutely delicious. I have recommended it several times. I’m about to make it again. Thank you!
Thanks for your feedback, Colleen!