The Best Short Ribs For Toddlers (And You)
Description
Short rib is the ideal toddler meat: when braised low and slow until fork tender, it barely requires teeth; it can take on any sort of flavor your child likes. But you’d be hard-pressed to find many short rib recipes out there that oblige your kid’s palate; instead, nearly everything on the interwebs is geared toward the adult and/or European palate. And, sure, you can totally serve a red wine-braised number to a toddler–I have, and it works–but let’s give him or her a piece of meat he/she can really crave, a beef dish you can return to again and again.
The solution, as it always is for us, is already in your pantry and/or fridge: orange juice, honey, soy, hoisin (or equivalent)--force multipliers for making foods taste sweet and savory. The flavor profile leans Chinese; the cooking method will remind you of northern Italian cuisine. The results: all good–for everyone.
(Note: if wanting to make these for an infant or toddler younger than 18 months, see ‘Adapt’ section for how to convert the recipe. If you'd like to cook in a Slow Cooker, see the Notes section at the end of recipe for instructions.)
Ingredients
Instructions
Prep
- Preheat your oven to 300. Be sure and remove an oven rack or two to clear space in the center of your oven.
- Peel the ginger, garlic, and onion; chop into large pieces. (No need to worry about pieces being uniform.)
- Salt and pepper both sides of your short rib pieces.
Cook and Assemble
- Heat a bit of cooking oil over Medium High heat in a Dutch Oven. Sear the ribs until browned on all sides, roughly 60 seconds per side. Remove short ribs and any juices from pan and set aside.
- Add in a tablespoon of oil, plus the onion, garlic, and ginger; heat until the onions are soft and translucent, roughly 4-5 minutes.
- Add in the chicken broth, soy, half a cup of water, a big pour of orange juice, and a big spoonful of hoisin; drizzle honey all around the pot. Stir to mix contents of the pot together.
- Once boiling liquid is boiling, add the short rib pieces back to the pot; cover the pot and turn off heat. Place the Dutch oven in your oven.
- Cook for three hours, checking every hour to make sure enough liquid remains in the pot for the short ribs to bathe in; if running low, add water or broth. Remove the cover of the pot for the last 30 minutes of cooking.
- When cooking is complete, remove the pot from oven and short ribs from the pot. If your meat pieces have a good deal of fat on them and/or your kiddo is not going to want onions on the plate, pour the remaining liquid in the pot through a strainer to thin the sauce; pour that remaining liquid back into the pot.
- Return the pot to your stovetop and turn the heat to Medium Low. Add in another big splash of orange juice and the cornstarch; mix until blended. Allow sauce to cook until thickened, roughly 1-2 minutes. Taste test the sauce–should it be too salty, add a bit of honey at a time until palatable; if too sweet or watery, mix in a splash of soy or a pinch of salt until right.
- Add short ribs back to pot and toss in sauce.
Serve
Take a cue from the Italian/European approach and serve the meat over or sided by something soft: polenta, mashed potatoes, spaetzle (as shown in pic). If this is your first time serving this recipe and/or short ribs generally, offer your child a “meat treat”--a small hand-holdable sample–before sitting down to dinner in order to get them acquainted with and excited about what’s ahead. (Pro tip: give ‘em an edge piece so the bite has some crispy edges and is tender inside.)
Adapt
You can convert this to an infant- or early toddler-friendly dish by using no-sodium broth (or water) and replacing the soy sauce with cherry or prune juice. To get some vegetables in here, add carrots or other root vegetable (e.g., parsnips, celeriac, potatoes) to the pot before placing in oven.
Note
If using a slow cooker, follow the directions for the Prep section and the first three steps of the Cook section; once everything has been blended in your pot, transfer the liquid to your slow cooker and add the short ribs; cook on your "Low" setting for six hours. Follow the last three steps to complete the sauce.
