Can You Cook Short Ribs Fast?

Last updated on August 8th, 2022 at 07:39 am

Winter brings with it the want for comfort food. Something warm and filling is what you crave after your long day out in the cold and snow. Summer is the time for grilling ribs outdoors on a grill but when the weather gets cooler, short ribs are on the menu. 

When cooked right, short ribs are tender and fall easily off the bone. Most think this is all due to how long you cook them. Of course, this does help because short ribs are generally tough. You need to break down the meat to make it the tender and juicy meat that is so delicious. 

If you don’t want to plan a lot in advance but still enjoy short ribs, can you cook them fast?

Short ribs typically take several hours to cook so that they are tender and fall easily off the bone. But if you want to cook them faster, you can also try marinating them for longer. This can help to break down the meat before you begin cooking it, shortening the actual cooking time.

Short ribs just take a long time to cook. When braising short ribs, they usually take around 4 to 8 hours. This ensures they are nice and tender and more appetizing to eat. But there is a way to cut down on the cooking time by several hours. 

It involves them soaking for longer but will only take minutes to cook. First, start by slicing the meat diagonally and pushing on each piece as you cut. This can help break down some of the toughness. By breaking down the meat first, it will cook faster.

Don’t cut all the way through the meat so that it stays together. By cutting the short ribs this way, the marinade will soak through the meat better. This will give it more flavor. 

Now, after you are done scoring the pieces of meat, mix up your favorite marinade and let the short ribs soak in it for about 4 hours to as long as possible. When ready to cook. simply place them in a pan and after about 4 minutes you will have yummy and tender short ribs that took only minutes to cook. 

Another way to cook short ribs faster is to heat your oven to a higher temperature. This will cook the meat faster, but if you want really tender and flavorful short ribs, cook them on a low temperature for several hours for best results. 

So, yes, you can cook short ribs fast and the fastest way to do it is to let them soak longer in the marinade.

How Long Does It Take For Short Ribs To Get Done?

Short ribs are a savory entree that is comforting and filling. However, they do take a long time to cook. How long do short ribs take to cook?

On average, it takes about 3½ to 4 hours to cook short ribs in the oven. When you braise the short ribs, they need a long time to cook to make the meat tender. If you want to cut down on literal cook time then marinate the meat for longer.

The article, Easy Oven Baked BBQ Beef Short Ribs explains how to cook short ribs in the oven, “…Salt and pepper the bone in beef short ribs.  Simply lay the beef (bones down) in a baking dish, snuggle the ribs close together, cover tightly with aluminum foil, and cook in the oven. Bake bone in short ribs in the oven at 275F for 3 ½ – 4 hours. Go the extra mile.  3 ½ hours may be perfect in your oven, but most ovens need 4 hours. Ribs are done when the meat is visibly pulling away from /shrinking from the bone and they are fork tender.”

Short ribs that are cooked in the oven will take a lot of time to cook. This is because the meat is tough and when cooking them longer, they will become more tender. Short ribs should be cooked on a low temperature and since the temperature is so low, the meat has to cook for longer. 

You want to cook the ribs slowly so they become tender and juicy. The final result is worth the wait. So, short ribs normally take a long time to cook for somewhere around 4 hours in the oven. 

If you want a faster way to cook the meat, use the tips mentioned earlier in this article on how to marinate them for longer so you can throw them in a pan and cook them in a few minutes instead of a few hours. 

But, most of the time, short ribs take several hours to cook.

Why Do Short Ribs Take So Long To Cook?

Like I said earlier, cooking short ribs can be an all-day ordeal. They are delicious and worth the wait, but why do they take so long to cook?

Short ribs have a lot of fat and collagen in the meat making them tough. Since you have to cook the short ribs at low temperature to break down the meat, they take longer to cook all the way through. Cooking short ribs for a long time makes them more tender.

The article Beef Short Ribs Recipe – The Quick & Easy Method, has a great recipe for cooking short ribs in a couple hours. According to them, “There are countless ways to prepare beef short ribs, and all of them take time. The ribs are tough, and only extended cooking will break down the collagen in the muscle to yield that perfect bite. Some short ribs recipes, notably those that rely on low temperature smoking, can take five hours or more. The payoff is huge, but I don’t always have a full day to devote to babysitting a smoker. Most braises are quicker (in the two to four hour range), but some of them are pretty complicated affairs…”

And they are right. Short ribs just take a long time to cook. Unless you heat your oven to a higher temperature. They recommend heating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, braising the meat, and then adding beef stock to cover them. Then placing the short ribs in the oven and braising them for 2 to 2 ½ hours. 

There is no getting around the fact that short ribs will take at least this long to cook. If you want to cut down on that cooking time, then you will need to marinate the meat for hours before you cook it. Short ribs take so long to cook because they are tough. 

You can cook short ribs faster in an oven that has been heated to a higher temperature. But remember that, cooking them at low temperature for a long time breaks down the meat and makes it much more flavorful. The same is true with marinating them for longer. 

This can help break down the toughness of the meat. Short ribs are meant to be tender and juicy and in order for this to happen, you need to cook them for a long time.

Final Thoughts

Short ribs usually take hours to cook. But, there are a few ways to cook them faster. One involves marinating the meat for many hours which can break it down resulting in less cooking time. 

The other is to heat your oven to a higher temperature. But, keep in mind that short ribs will be more tender and flavorful the longer they are cooked. 

Even though they usually take a while to cook, by using other cooking methods, you can still achieve tender and delicious short ribs a bit faster.