This Keto Short Rib Ragu is a fantastic tomato-based meat sauce that can be served over my keto gnocchi, zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash, my cheesy keto polenta, or regular pasta for your non-keto friends and family members. Make it in about an hour in your Instant Pot, or let it simmer all afternoon on the stove – either way the results are ultra satisfying and truly crave-worthy.
Cooking this Keto Short Rib Ragu in the Instant Pot is my favorite method of making it, because it renders all the fat and collagen out of the meat, resulting in a flavorful and velvety sauce that has a rich and pleasantly “beefy” flavor. Pressure cooking this keto short rib ragu also softens the bones and allows some of those nutrients to leach into the sauce, improving flavor, texture, and the vitamin content of the finished product.
All that being said, if you opt to simmer this keto short rib ragu on the stove for a few hours instead, your house will smell amazing, and you’ll still end up with a delicious and healthy keto tomato sauce that the entire family will enjoy!
No matter what method you use to cook this ragu, you’ll have to take a couple of minutes to remove the pieces of bone that usually come as part of your short ribs before serving. If you make this in keto short rib ragu in the Instant Pot, the bones will likely fully detach and sink to the bottom, making them relatively easy to fish out.
I labeled this keto short rib ragu with the SCKC tag so you can easily find it when searching, and to make it fully squeaky clean keto compliant all you need to do is replace the white wine with beef or chicken broth – which won’t impact the flavor that much. Obviously you’d also have to omit the cheese shown used to garnish it in the above image to keep it squeaky – I promise it will still be delicious though!
If not squeaky clean keto, I recommend following the recipe as-is and DEFINITELY serving with a heaping pile of freshly grated parmesan or Romano cheese on top!
Finally, I highly recommend serving this keto short rib ragu over my new cheesy cauliflower polenta recipe! As mentioned above, this tasty keto meat sauce would also go great with zucchini noodles or spaghetti squash – but if your tribe prefers regular pasta you can definitely do that for them, and serve it over any keto friendly pasta option for yourself!
Mangia!
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Keto Short Rib Ragu – Instant Pot, SCKC
- Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings 1x
Description
An easy and delicious keto short rib ragu (or sauce) that is delicious served over zoodles, spaghetti squash, keto gnocchi and keto friendly polenta! Can also be served over regular pasta for your non-keto peeps. Whole 30 and SCKC friendly by replacing the wine with chicken broth.
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1/3 cup chopped raw bacon (4 ounces)
- 1/2 cup chopped onion
- 3 cloves smashed garlic
- 3 pounds beef short ribs
- 1 tablespoon dried parsley
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/2 cup dry white wine (replace with chicken broth for SCKC or Whole 30)
- 28 ounce can peeled plum tomatoes
Instructions
Keto Short Rib Ragu Instant Pot Instructions:
- Heat the oil in the Instant Pot insert using the saute function.
- Add the bacon, onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, or until fragrant.
- Add the short ribs, parsley, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the outsides have browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add the wine (or broth if using) and entire can of tomatoes, to the pan.
- Set the Instant Pot to MANUAL / HIGH PRESSURE / 60 MINUTES.
- After cooking us done, use quick release to vent.
- Remove the lid and use a slotted spoon to transfer bones and meat into a separate bowl.
- Remove the bones and any connective tissue and discard.
- Return the meat back to the sauce and stir.
- Taste and season with additional salt if desired.
- Serve hot over zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash, keto gnocchi, or cauliflower polenta.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Keto Short Rib Ragu Stove Top Instructions:
- Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottomed pot over medium heat.
- Add the bacon, onion and garlic and cook for 2 minutes, or until fragrant.
- Add the short ribs, parsley, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until the outsides have browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add the wine and entire can of tomatoes, to the pan.
- Cover and simmer on low heat for 2 – 3 hours, or until the meat is tender and falling apart.
- Remove the lid and use a slotted spoon to transfer bones and meat into a separate bowl.
- Remove the bones and any connective tissue and discard.
- If you prefer a smooth sauce, blend with an immersion blender at this time.
- Return the meat back to the sauce and stir.
- Taste and season with additional salt if desired.
- Serve hot over zucchini noodles, spaghetti squash, keto gnocchi, or cauliflower polenta.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week, or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
Notes
Approximate total net carbs per serving = 4g.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Category: Keto Dinner Recipes
- Method: Instant Pot
- Cuisine: Italian
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 3/4 cup
- Calories: 387
- Fat: 33g
- Carbohydrates: 6g
- Fiber: 2g
- Protein: 16g
Keywords: Instant Pot, beef, short ribs, sauce, ragu, Italian, keto, dinner, tomato sauce, sckc
Jen F says
SO good, I can’t believe this is a healthy recipe! It’s tender, flavorful, and super easy to make in the Instant Pot.
★★★★★
Jenna says
Comfort in a bowl–absolutely delicious!
★★★★★
Kay Chapman says
made this tonight for the first time. I will say that my super picky in-laws loved it and, that’s really saying something – you have no idea! For me, I kind of related to those who described it as “greasy”. I definitely didn’t get the “ragu” as advertised. We don’t have an immersion blender at the in-laws but we did use a mixer to try and incorporate the whole tomatoes once we skimmed off close to a cup fat! I wasn’t a fan of not completely rendering out the bacon and draining off some of that fat before adding everything else. I think I will do that next time. There WILL be a next time because the flavors are terrific and we always love short ribs. The meat came out tender and easy to separate from the bone and tendons.
★★★★
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much for taking the time to rate and comment on the recipe Kay! I’m thrilled to hear that it got past the picky eaters test! I will say that when I made this is was living in Honduras and the meat there is a lot leaner than here in the states. It’s very possible that a much fattier cut of short ribs could result in a lot more fat in the end results for you and others. I’ll have to make it again now that I’m back in New York to test that theory and maybe add a note to remove the extra fat at the top if it’s not incorporated well into the sauce. Thanks again for the detailed feedback!
Victoria Schmidt says
Hi Mellissa. For some reason, I’m not able to add your recipes to Pinterest. So I always have to write them out by hand. Any idea why? Thank you for your wonderful recipes. I love them.
Mellissa Sevigny says
There is an issue that Pinterest is working on for me but this keeps happening on the site and it’s really frustrating I’m so sorry!
Kay Chapman says
I print and save as .pdf to Google Drive
ALP says
I thought this was rich and delicious. I bought 2 lbs of boneless short ribs at the store and came home in search of a keto recipe. I decided to try this one even though I didn’t have the exact right ingredients. I couldn’t find canned plum tomatoes at the store, but I did find Italian tomatoes with basil that were pear shaped, and an internet search revealed that might be a good substitute. I also used chicken stock instead of wine, and decided to rough chop my garlic as I didn’t like the idea of getting a whole smashed clove.
I decided to cook for 55 minutes in my instant pot since my meat was boneless and less than the recipe called for. The meat turned out amazing and tender. I fished it out and shredded it with a fork. BUT, the tomatoes were still whole, the sauce thin and looked a little greasy. I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to have cut up the tomatoes? Or maybe pear shaped tomatoes are larger than plum? I’m not sure! But I grabbed my immersion blender and pureed the sauce. It ended up fantastic! I’m not quite sure if this dish ended up like the creator intended, but I love it and will make it this way again. I served with pappardelle pasta for my family, and Keto Cheesy Polenta for me (great pairing!)
I love the pop of green garnish in your photos. I worked in restaurants for many years, so the visual is important. What do you recommend on top? Basil or parsley?
These short ribs and polenta are the first two recipes I’ve tried from this site, and I love them both. I am always looking for new keto and instant pot recipes. I look forward to trying more of your recipes.
Thank you for helping me eat healthy without sacrificing flavor!
★★★★★
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much for letting us know how this came out! I have found that my tomatoes are pretty well disintegrated after an hour in the IP, but your idea to blend them with the immersion blender is a great one if you want a smooth sauce. My husband would love this as he hates chunks of tomatoes anyway, so I may try that next time also. I will add this suggestion in the notes – thank you! As to the garnish, I’m pretty sure I used parsley on this one but either basil or parsley is a great addition for both color and a burst of freshness to cut through all the richness of the sauce.
Joyce says
Just wanted to say that this turned out great. I was working with the horizontal cut short ribs so I browned them off first in batches and removed them, then did the onion step and added them back in after deglazing and getting all that goodness off the bottom. It took a little more work at the end to get all those little bones out, but considering how easy the recipe is and the delicious result, well worth it. This yields a lot of food, so singletons like me should plan to freeze half if you use a full 3 lbs of short rib. (I also used fresh parsley and a generous scoop of those real bacon “bits” because that’s what I had. It was delicious.) Will 100% make again.
★★★★★
Amanda A says
Just wanted to say that this is one of my all time favourite keto recipes. I make it once a month with the creamy polenta recipe, which is also delicious. Ridiculously delicious combo. I make it on the stove top and simmer for the entire time suggested in the recipe (probably longer) and it comes out very tender and not rubbery. I think it really does depend on the length of simmer time. I put the lid slightly ajar to simmer off some of the liquid. So, so good.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Amanda!
Mellissa Sevigny says
If the meat was rubbery it just needed more time Mary – sorry it didn’t work out for you!
Ilyse says
This was AMAZING. Made On the stove, with the cheesy polenta and it really was one of the best things I’ve ever made! Next time, I will spend the extra $$ for boneless short ribs & trim all the fat. It got super-greasy and I ended up without a lot of meat once I trimmed it all up & got rid of the fat & bones. But awesome recipe!
★★★★★
Karyn says
Unbelievably delicious! I had to do some additional steps to make it how I want, but totally worth it. Of course I might have made too big of a batch. My pressure cooker was full!
I removed the meat and let cool. I skimmed a lot of fat. I blended the liquid in batches. I shredded the meat by hand. Then combined. Hubs loved it! He’s not keto. Delish and lots portioned out in the freezer for upcoming cold nights. I served it with homemade keto gnocchi for me, rigatoni for hubby.
★★★★★
Vanessa says
Made this last night and it was amazing! I love how the Instant Pot can quickly cook meat to “fall off the bone/I’ve been cooking for 8 hours” texture. Only difference was I used a cauliflower risotto instead of the polenta. Will definitely make again.
★★★★★
Heather says
We just finished eating this for Sunday dinner. I made it with the cheesy “polenta” and it was fantastic. Even my super fussy 9 year old loved it. It’s a keeper.
★★★★★
KELLY NATIONS says
I just made this in the Instant Pot, with a few tweaks. I thought it turned out great!
★★★★★
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks Kelly!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Sorry this didn’t turn out as you expected Jen! I never get rubbery results from my Instant Pot as long as it cooks long enough so hopefully yours did. I’m not sure why yours was more like soup – unless your brand of peeled tomatoes had more water in the can? After you break up the meat and add it to the sauce, it should be pretty substantial, though not thick. Also it’s not a stew to be eaten with a spoon, but rather a Ragu or sauce that you’d put on zoodles, spaghetti squash, or over my cauliflower polenta as shown. That being said, I’m always a fan of stovetop braising, and you’ll get a thicker result that way for sure! Thanks for the feedback!
Cassandra D says
I would have to try this recipe,because it looks nice.
★★★★★
kathy pease says
This looks so yummy and I will have to try out the recipe :)
Janice Flournory says
This one sounds easy to make and I have all the ingredients.
Zach says
These look very nice.