This Instant Pot Short Ribs recipe is my family‘s all-time favorite comfort meal. Seasoned in a savory Japanese sauce, the marbled boneless beef cooks to tender perfection in just 30 minutes under pressure. It‘s hearty, delicious, and so satisfying! {Gluten-free adaptable}
When my family and I are in the mood for some warm comfort food, I often turn to this Instant Pot Short Ribs recipe. I mean, who doesn’t love melt-in-mouth marbled beef and perfectly cooked carrots, sweet daikon, and onions all nestled in a flavorful sauce? Serve it with steamed rice and you have the most soul-satisfying dinner on a weeknight. With the pressure cooking function in the Instant Pot, this beautiful dish comes together in just 30 minutes. It’s magical!
If you have only tried and loved the western-style short ribs, the ones that are braised with red wine and served with mashed potatoes, I guarantee that you’re going to enjoy this Japanese version as well. It’s on the lighter side but bursts with sweet-savory flavors.
Table of Contents
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Easily accessible ingredients. I can get all the ingredients in my local American grocery stores. I hope you can find them as well.
- Time saving and so easy to prepare. A one-pot meal for the win! Toss in the vegetables, sear the meat, hit the button, and viola, dinner is done in 30 minutes.
- It goes well with any Japanese and Asian dishes. Enjoy as it is with steamed rice, or serve alongside with miso soup and a salad for a well-balanced meal.
- So delicious! …is what everyone who tried this recipe has said.
- Tiff said: “I keep coming back to this recipe because it is just SO delicious and easy!”
- Arlene said: “The Short Ribs were so unbelievably, melt-in-your-mouth delicious.”
- Lyn said: “This was most delicious and tender.”
How to Make Instant Pot Short Ribs
The Ingredients You’ll Need
- Boneless beef short ribs – I used boneless ribs for my recipe, but you can use the bone-in short ribs and cook a little longer. See substitution info below.
- Onion
- Daikon radish – It absorbs all the juices and adds sweetness to the sauce. Substitution info is below.
- Carrot – It adds sweetness to the sauce.
- Ginger
- Garlic
- Green onion/scallion
- Salt and black pepper
- Roasted sesame oil – Use it to add a nutty aroma and flavor.
- Seasonings: salt, black pepper, brown sugar, sake, mirin, and soy sauce
The Cooking Steps
- Prepare the ingredients. Cut the onions, carrots, and green onions. Cut the beef short ribs into smaller bite-size pieces and season with salt and pepper.
- Sear the beef in an Instant Pot and transfer it to the plate.
- Add the onion and water, scraping off the bottom of the pot. Then, add the ginger and garlic and sauté.
- Add the beef and all the seasonings. Pressure cook on high for 35 minutes.
- Release the pressure and serve hot.
Ingredients Substitute
- Beef short ribs – I usually have to ask the butcher to remove the bone for me. I really like this cut for this recipe because the fat and collagen in a beef short rib run evenly throughout the meat, producing that juicy texture. If you can’t find short ribs, you can also use the tender part of beef brisket or chuck roast.
- Daikon radish – I don’t recommend skipping it, but you can substitute with turnips, parsnips, or jicama.
- Brown sugar – You can use white granulated sugar, but brown sugar adds more depth and flavor.
Cooking Tips
- Cut the daikon radish and carrot into bigger chunks. As we cook the meat and vegetables all together in the pressure cooker, you want slightly bigger chunks of vegetables so that they don’t get too soft and disintegrate easily.
- Season the beef well with salt and pepper. Salt helps draw out water and enhance the meat’s natural taste. It also makes the piece of meat more delicate and richer in flavor.
- Don’t skip searing. Searing the beef so that the surface becomes caramelized. This enhances the savoriness and complexity of the taste (this is called the Maillard Reaction). I believe it’s worth spending extra time for the best flavor!
- You can increase the amount of meat. This recipe is good for 3-4 people. If you or your family are big meat eaters, you can increase the short ribs up to 2½ lb (instead of 1¾ lb written in the recipe). I’ve tried that amount and the dish still came out great. If you increase the vegetables, however, more moisture is released from the vegetables, which will dilute the flavor a bit. So cautiously increase the amount of veggies, or slightly increase the seasonings ahead of time.
What to Serve with Instant Pot Beef Short Ribs
These short ribs are perfect to enjoy alone with rice, but here are some suggestions if you wish to serve it with a more elaborate meal:
- Rice: White Rice, Brown Rice.
- Soup: Vegetable Miso Soup, Kabocha Miso Soup.
- Salad: Asian Cabbage Salad, Harusame Salad, Japanese Potato Salad.
- Side Dishes: Kinpira Gobo, Tamagoyaki, Chrysanthemum Green Salad.
Why I Love Pressure Cooking
An Instant Pot (I have this and this) has both slow cooker and pressure cooker functions, but I almost always use the pressure cooker as I don’t prepare dinner early enough to slow cook.
Since I work from home, I try to get as much work done as possible while my children are at school. By the evening, I usually have about 30-45 minutes to prep dinner before driving them around for after-school activities.
To make these short ribs, all I need is to chop up the vegetables and sear the beef. After all the ingredients go into the pressure cooker, I hit the start button and leave the kitchen. By the time we get home, the food is all cooked and ready to be enjoyed.
I also schedule my rice cooker to finish at dinner time so we have freshly cooked rice at the table. While the family is settling down, I quickly prepare miso soup and salad.
Thanks to the electric pressure cooker, my family gets to sit down together for a home-cooked meal despite everyone’s busy schedule.
More Instant Pot Recipes
Cooking with an Instant Pot has been a real timesaver. It’s hard to believe that I can cook up a luxurious meal for the family on a busy weeknight! If you’re looking for more comfort foods that you can cook with an Instant Pot, here are some of our favorites:
- Instant Pot Pork Belly
- Instant Pot Slow Cooker Chicken Wings
- Instant Pot Sticky Asian Ribs
- Instant Pot Asian Pulled Pork
- Instant Pot Honey Spare Ribs
- Instant Pot Takikomi Gohan (Japanese Mixed Rice)
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Instant Pot Short Ribs (Pressure Cooker)
Video
Ingredients
- 8–10 slices ginger (peeled and sliced from a 1-inch, 2.5-cm knob)
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 onion (8 oz, 227 g)
- 3 inches daikon radish (10.5 oz, 300 g)
- 1 carrot (5 oz, 140 g; or use 2 thin carrots)
- 1 green onion/scallion
- 1¾ lb boneless beef short ribs (fat and collagen run evenly through this cut for a juicy texture; you can ask the butcher to debone English-style short ribs; or substitute the tender part of a beef brisket or chuck roast)
- ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
Instructions
- Gather all the ingredients.
To Prepare the Ingredients
- Peel the ginger knob and cut thinly into 8–10 slices ginger. Mince or crush 2 cloves garlic (I use a garlic press).
- Cut 1 onion in half. Slice each half into 5–6 wedges.
- Peel 3 inches daikon radish and cut in half lengthwise, then slice it ½ inch (1.3 cm) thick. Tip: If you prefer a firmer texture, cut the daikon into bigger pieces.
- Peel and cut 1 carrot into bite-size pieces. I use the rangiri Japanese cutting technique to slice the carrot diagonally while rotating it a quarter turn between cuts. This makes an ideal shape for stews and simmered dishes and increases the surface area to help absorb the seasonings. Tip: If you prefer a firmer texture, cut the carrot into bigger pieces.
- Cut 1 green onion/scallion into thin rounds. Set aside for garnish.
- To promote searing, pat dry all sides of 1¾ lb boneless beef short ribs with paper towels. Then, cut it into 1-inch (2.5-cm) pieces.
- Season with ½ tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt and ⅛ tsp freshly ground black pepper.
To Cook
- Press the Sauté button on your Instant Pot (I use a 6-QT Instant Pot Ultra) and heat 1 Tbsp toasted sesame oil.
- Now, sear the meat in batches (do not crowd the pot to avoid steaming). When the inner pot is hot, sear a single layer of meat, 1 minute per side. Don‘t touch the meat while it‘s searing. When a beautiful crust forms, the meat will release naturally from the pot. When this happens, flip it over.
- When seared, transfer the first batch to a plate. Continue with the next batches.
- You might sear 3–4 batches for about 8 minutes total. Transfer the last batch to the plate. Deglaze the pot with a bit of water and wooden spatula to release any flavorful bits stuck to the bottom.
- Add the onion and 2 Tbsp water to the pot. Sauté while scraping the bottom of the pot with the spatula for 2 minutes.
- Add the garlic and ginger and sauté for a minute.
- Add the short ribs and their juices back to the pot.
- Add 2 Tbsp brown sugar, 2 Tbsp sake, 4 Tbsp mirin, and 4 Tbsp soy sauce.
- Mix it all together.
- Then, add the daikon and carrot. Mix it all together.
- Cover and lock the lid. Point the steam release handle at Sealing and not Venting. Press the Keep Warm/Cancel button to stop sautéing. Select the Pressure Cooking mode or switch to the Manual mode and cook under high pressure for 35 minutes.
- For a stovetop pressure cooker: Cook on high heat until it reaches high pressure. Then, reduce the heat to low and maintain pressure for about 30 minutes. For a standard pot on the stove: Cooking under pressure will yield the best results, but you could cook this in a heavy-bottomed pot with a tight-fitting lid. Add enough beef stock to just cover the sides of the meat, then place the lid tightly and simmer on low to medium-low heat for 3 hours or until the meat is tender; add more stock or water if the sauce evaporates.
- When finished, the Instant Pot will switch to the Keep Warm mode. Let the pressure release naturally (ideally) for 15–20 minutes or quick release it using the pressure release button. Unlock the lid and stir.
To Serve
- Transfer to a serving dish. Garnish with the sliced scallion/green onion. Enjoy!
To Store
- You can store the leftovers in the airtight container and keep in the refrigerator for up to 3 days or 2 weeks in the freezer.
Nutrition
Editor’s Note: The post was originally published on December 3, 2015. It has been republished with a new video, new step-by-step and final images, and updated content on November 3, 2023.
I wanna make this dish but I don’t have the pressure cooker. Can I make this by using iron pots such as Le Creuset? Anything I need to change in your recipe and cooking time? Many thanks.
Hi Elsie! Yes you can do that. The stovetop method will evaporate more, so you will need to adjust the liquid in the pot, and will need to cook for a longer time. Hope you enjoy!
Thanks Nami for your quick response.
Hi,
I have frozen short ribs (bone-in) I would like to cook for dinner tonight. How much time would you increase in the instant pot?
Also, we do not eat daikon – will it change the flavor a lot if we omit it?
Thank you.
Hello Wendy! I am not familiar with frozen meat in pressure cooker, and I would always defrost first. Sorry I’m not sure.
Daikon usually gives out some juice as it contains lots of water. The flavor wise it won’t change much, BUT it might not dilute enough the sauce. How about reducing some soy sauce so you can add it if the flavor is still weak? 🙂
Hi Nami, I’m thinking of making a similar stew Cantonese style but maybe with a brisket like cut of beef and with daikon. Do you think daikon can withstand about 50 minutes of pressure cooking in the instant pot?
Hi YC! Daikon doesn’t get too mushy, but I haven’t tried cooking for 50 minutes. With 35 minutes, it’s pretty tender already, and I wouldn’t cook for a longer time… but compared to carrots, for example, daikon is not too “mushy” and withstand better. Give it a try and let us know how it goes! 🙂
I made this tonight using chuck roast. Cooked for 50 minutes. And I added a package of shimeji mushrooms. It turned out well. Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Karrie! Chuck roast works too. I made a beef stew with chuck roast tonight and my family preferred it over stew meat (leaner). I’m happy to hear you enjoyed this recipe! Shimeji is great for this recipe. Thank you for your kind feedback. xo 🙂
This looks so yummy!!!! I don’t have a pressure cooker. Can you tell me how to achieve the same dish with a regular pot? Thanks
Hi Anna! Pressure cooking helps the meat become tender. You can achieve the same result by cooking on low heat for longer time. Since pressure cooker doesn’t let escape the moisture/steam, we don’t lose the amount of liquid inside the pot. However, with stovetop method, you will need to add more liquid/sauce since it escapes from the pot. Hope this makes sense. 🙂
hi nami,
i’m interesting in making the recipe but when i have cooked onions, carrots, and other vegetables in my instant pot in other long braise recipes (e.g., beef stew, braised turkey thighs), the vegetables are extremely soft and mushy when cooked for the same amount of time as the meat. have you ever paused the meat cooking toward the end and just thrown in the vegetables for the last 5 minutes? would have affect the meat cooking process?
love your website!
Hi Lori! I’m “lazy” and I usually don’t have the time to be in the kitchen for the interval to depressurize and pressurize… So, if you enjoy more texture in vegetables, like you said, you can do that, and I do not believe it affects process for the meat (don’t change the cooking time for it). You just need to add additional vegetable time. 🙂
If you’re okay with soft/tender vegetables (my vegetables are not “mushy” texture and it still maintain the shape when you pick up), then you can try with cutting vegetables into bigger pieces.
Hope this helps? Thank you so much for reading my blog!
hi.
may i know if i can substitute the beef with pork spare ribs?
Hi Ben! Yes, you can! I haven’t tried it with pork myself, but I remember some JOC reader told me he/she tried with pork spare ribs. Hope you enjoy!
Do you think this will work in a crockpot?
Hi Anna! I think so – I’ve never tried it with slow cooker for this one yet. You’ll need more liquid in slow cooker (vent is open) compared to pressure cooker (vent is closed). Hope you enjoy! 🙂
Thank you so much for electric pressure cooking recipes , so hard to find most are for stove top
Pressure cookers . Please keep recipes like thes coming.
Hi Linda! I’ll add more recipes soon! Thank you for your kind feedback! 🙂
Is it kind of too sweet? The sugar and mirin combined with the natural sweetness of carrots and daikon sounded like it might come out too sweet or is that the supposed flavor of this dish? Perhaps I could jay omit the brown sugar?
Hi Vi! Over all flavors are balanced to me or my taste. I always test recipes several times before I post to my blog. So if you’re asking if the measurement is mistake, then no, it’s correct measurement. Please feel free to adjust to your liking. 🙂
I have a question, for this beef-short-rib
in the instantpot. Only the seasoning,
no need to add any broth(or liquid).
I am a little bit puzzled.
Thanks
Dominica
Hi Dominica! Correct. The liquid is about 3/4 cup with soy sauce and other seasonings. Also daikon and veggies give some liquid too. 🙂
HI Nami,
Thank you for this recipe! It looks great and I can’t wait to try it – it actually makes me want to get an InstantPot. I was wondering, do you think a great recipe like Morimoto’s Hayashi Stew can be fit to use the InstantPot? If so, what kind of changes do I make, for example, instead of simmering for 1.5 hours and the 30 minutes more, how would I adapt to InstantPot?
http://bennydoro.com/chef/recipes/hayashi-stew/
Thanks,
Alex
Hi Alex! In general, pressure cooker seals the lid and steam won’t escape, so if you use a regular recipe, you have to consider that the broth/soup won’t be reduced. So you will need to work on the amount of liquid that goes in. Hope that makes sense. 🙂
Can I use pork for this recipe..if yes what type of pork do you suggest?
Hi Angie! I’d say pork shoulder or pork belly since they have good fat and give some nice tender texture. 🙂
Is it possible to use chicken and cook it on stovetop?
Yes you can do that. 🙂
Hi Nami,
Great receipe! Just a couple questions:
1. Any suggestions about reducing the oil the beef makes when cooking? I understand short rib is a fatty cut so there is a lot of oil/grease.
2. After releasing the pressure, there is a lot of liquid in my pot. Do you use heat to reduce it?
Thanks again for the awesome recipes
Hi Matt! Thank you! Here’re my answers:
1) If you can cook ahead of time, I recommend putting the pot into the refrigerator and cool so that you can scoop up the fat. Then reheat to eat. Honestly I love the 2nd day because it tastes so good!!!
2) At 2:55, you see how much liquid I have in the pot. Did you have more than that? Honestly, it’s not necessary to reduce it. I pour “some” sauce, but not all of it. If you are going to remove fat, it’s easy to have some liquid above ingredients too, so fat goes above the ingredients. If you like, you can reduce, but if you do that in the same pot, the other ingredients will overcook, so you can take out some sauce into a small saucepan and then reduce too. 🙂
Hope this helps! Thanks for reading my blog!
Hi Nami! I was wondering if I double the amount of beef to serve 6-8 is that possible with An 8-quart Instant Pot and do I double the aromatics and sauce? What about time? Thank you!
Hi Dana! I only have a 6-QT so I can only guess how big an 8-QT looks like… I have increased my recipe slightly before in my 6-QT (probably 1/2 more), so having 8-QT, maybe it’ll work? You may not need to double the seasoning since your pot is slightly bigger… so how about 1/2 more to start? The cooking time should be the same as you have a bigger pot. I’m so sorry, I can only “guess”… I truly hope it will work. Please keep me posted. xoxo
Hi Nami, thank you for this super easy recipe. I just finished cooking the beef ribs following your exact recipe and it came out perfectly delicious! My only issue was that the daikon tasted a tad bitter. I wonder if perhaps I cut the pieces too small or the cooking process took too long? My pressure cooker is Primada brand and the whole cooking process took 27 minutes.
Hi Mpchan! I’m so happy to hear you liked this recipe! I think it’s the daikon itself was bitter. The green part (top part) of daikon is the only sweet part. So look for those parts. Japanese daikon tends to be more juicy and moist (Korean daikon too), but whenever I see daikon elsewhere it seems very dry and no green parts… From the look of it, it looks bitter… Hope you can find some good daikon!
Hi Nami. I made it last night and we love it – so juicy and tender. But there was a bitter taste and somewhat too oily. The only difference from your recipe is that I used bone-in (so it was bigger cuts) and asian jumbo carrot. What can I do to get rid of the bitter taste and less oil? Thanks.
Hi Julia! Thanks so much for trying this recipe! Bitter taste comes from Daikon, I believe. I recommend using the top (green) part of daikon rather than the skinner root side as this is the source of bitter daikon. Regarding oily – maybe your cut had more fat or in general, these short ribs have more fat (which makes it tender). You can cut down on short ribs and mix with other cut like stew meat (less fat, but chewy). 🙂