Full disclosure: this is the most expensive recipe on this entire site. I'm publishing it anyway, because thrifty does not mean joyless — it means knowing exactly what things cost and choosing where the money goes. When boneless short ribs drop to $5.99 a pound (they cycle onto sale like everything else — watch the case), six dollars a pound of beef becomes six servings of the kind of dinner restaurants charge $28 a plate for. At $2.97 a serving, this is my anniversary dinner, my company's-coming dinner, my "it's raining and I deserve it" dinner.
What it costs
| Ingredient | Amount | Cost |
|---|---|---|
| Boneless short ribs (at the $5.99/lb sale — the whole game) | 2 lb | $11.98 |
| Crushed tomatoes | 1 big 28-oz can | $1.49 |
| Cornmeal for polenta (plain yellow, not the fancy tube) | 1½ cups | $0.75 |
| Yellow onion | 1 | $0.60 |
| Carrots | 2 | $0.40 |
| Celery | 2 stalks | $0.40 |
| Garlic | 6 cloves | $0.40 |
| Dry red wine (from the $12 box that makes 20 dinners) | ½ cup | $0.60 |
| Parmesan | a real handful | $0.60 |
| Tomato paste, olive oil, bay, thyme, salt, pepper | pantry | $0.60 |
| Total — 6 servings | $17.82 → $2.97 each |
How to make it
- Sear like you mean it. Cut the short ribs into fist-size pieces, salt hard, and brown them deeply in a little oil in your Dutch oven — 3–4 minutes a side, in batches, no crowding. This crust is where the $28-plate flavor lives. Set the beef aside.
- Build the base. In the beef fat: diced onion, carrot, and celery with a pinch of salt, 6–7 minutes. Add the garlic and 2 tablespoons tomato paste; cook until the paste darkens. Pour in the wine and scrape up every browned bit.
- Braise and forget. Add the crushed tomatoes, a cup of water, bay leaf, and a teaspoon of thyme. Beef back in, liquid should come about two-thirds up. Lid on, into a 300°F oven (or lowest simmer) for 2½–3 hours, until a fork meets zero resistance.
- Shred and reduce. Pull the beef apart with two forks right in the pot. If the sauce is thin, simmer it uncovered 10 minutes. Taste — it will want salt and maybe a pinch of sugar.
- Polenta. Whisk the cornmeal into 6 cups of simmering salted water and stir now and then for 25–30 minutes until thick and creamy (do this during the last stretch of the braise). Finish with the parmesan. Ladle, spoon ragu over, black pepper, done.
Thrifty upgrade: chuck roast at $4.49/lb makes a ragu that is 90% as glorious for two-thirds the price — same method, same time. And the leftovers freeze like a dream: portion them flat in bags and you have banked two future dinners.
Swap freely
No polenta? Serve it over any short pasta, mashed potatoes, or thick toast. No wine? Use a splash more water plus a teaspoon of vinegar at the end. A parmesan rind simmered in the braise is the single best free-ish upgrade in Italian cooking — I keep mine in the freezer like tiny savings bonds.
If a three-hour braise sounds like a lot, start with the black bean chili — same low-and-slow magic, half the price. But some Sundays deserve the good pot.