Grilled Short Ribs

These easy grilled short ribs have a delicious Moroccan spice rub that you can make in 10 minutes. This makes for a great low carb dinner or even a fun appetizer in the summer time! A naturally high protein low carb dinner with 26.8g grams of protein and only 0.4g net carbs per serving.

You might also love these low carb BBQ smoked short ribs!

I learned about short ribs when I first visited the Certified Angus Beef® Culinary Center years ago. I learned so much about beef but it was the first time I had even heard of flanken short ribs. So when I came back I was excited to make them myself.

So I use some Moroccan spice rub came up with this easy grilled short ribs recipe. We just loved them because it was summertime and they only take 10 minutes to make. I personally loved that they were a high protein meal as well as being low carb.

They are fun to eat too. We at them as a meal but these flanken short ribs are a fun appetizer for a summer party as you can eat them with your hands and they aren’t very messing like traditional ribs. I made these bbq grilled flanken ribs more recently for a party appetizer. I used a nice sauce I made with store bought barbecue sauce and a couple other ingredients.

What are flanken short ribs?

You might have heard of flanken short ribs referred to Korean-style short ribs as you can often find them on the menu in Korean restaurants. They are thinly cut across the bones and grilled. You can also use marinade them to make a more tender meat. To learn more check out this post about flanken ribs. They have a lot of information about cuts of beef as well as delicious beef recipes.

Flanken short ribs vs English cut short ribs.

I’m fairly new to beef short ribs but I’ve already made them a few times because once I tasted them I was hooked!

The English style short ribs are what I tried first in this bbq smoked short ribs recipe. My husband I were floored at how good they were. The English style are cut parallel to the bone. They are often braised and look like a 3-4 inch chunk of beef on a bone. Slow cooking is the used with this cut and they seem to be the easiest for me to find at the supermarket. 

Flanken beef short ribs are cut across the bone. Each piece has a couple short sections of bones and a nice portion of meat around them. They are perfect for grilling as they take minutes instead of hours to cook.

Where to buy them.

When I first went to make this recipe I wasn’t sure where to buy beef flanken short ribs. I now know that Costco often has them in there meat section so that is my go to place.

However if you can’t find them in your regular grocery store reach out to the butcher in the meat section. Most larger grocery stores have a butcher working in the meat section and if you talk to them they will know what your are talking about and they can either order them in for you or they might have them on hand and will slice them for you.

I originally buy mine at Giant Eagle and the butcher was SO helpful. He went in back and found me a nice piece of meat and cut them for me right then and there. 

He also gave me some recipe suggestions. So the moral of the story is TALK TO YOUR BUTCHER! 

How to make the Moroccan spice rub.

The spices I used are: cumin, cinnamon, salt, paprika, ginger, cayenne and Swerve brown sugar sweetener. You just mix them altogether to make the rub. If cayenne pepper is too much heat for you, substitute with black pepper and add a bit more.

If you don’t care about carbs, you can substitute brown sugar for the sweetener. You can also use another brown sugar sweetener brand or even regular sweetener. Even if you use the regular brown sugar you won’t be adding many carbs to this dish.

This is the rub I use on my Middle Eastern slow cooker pork ribs. I love the extra flavor it gives the pork ribs and it’s a change a pace from barbecue sauce. My family really likes. So you might want to double the batch and try those sometime.

How to grill short ribs.

This is how to grill short ribs. Note we used a gas grill not a charcoal grill. Because these flanken style beef ribs are thin they only take 3 minutes of direct grilling on each side.

First mix up the Moroccan spice rub and add to the uncooked beef on both sides while the grill is heating up to medium high heat. If you want to make them appetizer size, use a sharp knife and cut into half or thirds before using the spice rub. 

Then place the uncooked beef on the preheated grill grate in a single layer and cook for 3 minutes. Flip them over for 3 minutes more. Take the off the grill and tent with foil.

Note cooking time may vary depending on the thickness of the ribs. Just cook them for a minute or two more if yours are thicker than mine. Mine were about ½ inch thick for reference.

I love how quick these flanken short ribs take to cook. I’ve been making them all in the summer time because dinner time takes less that 10 minutes and not hours.

You can serve these with a simple green salad or for a low carb meal try this delicious keto zucchini noodles with cheese and pepper (cacio e Pepe), keto zucchini pasta salad which are excellent side dishes if you are on a low carb diet. Or try one of these 77 keto summer side dishes.

Store leftovers in an airtight container. Please scroll down to view the printable recipe card for directions.

Try them as a high protein low carb appetizer this summer!

This was another tip I got from the chefs at CAB culinary center. These ribs have 3 or 4 little bones on the one side which is great for holding when you eat them. So just cut the ribs in half or thirds and they would be a great low carb appetizer and fun for a summer party! 

Scroll below the recipe card to learn more about my trip to the culinary center if you are interested.

1. They taste great. Use different spice rubs, marinades or bbq sauces to change up the flavor.
2. You can make them in less than 10 minutes.
3. They make good finger food because they are easy to eat. Just hold on to the bones almost like an ear of corn.
4. They are a naturally low carb and high protein food.

Well I hope you give this easy grilled short ribs recipe a try. It will only take about 10 minutes and your family will love them. You can also use a marinate with them for a few hours with your favorite marinade and grill them. Either way they will be a hit! Plus they are great for those on a keto diet as they are naturally low carb and high protein.

The nutritional information for 1 whole short rib is: 264 cals / 25.4 cals / 1.1g carbs / 0.7g fiber / 26.8g protein = 0.4g net carbs.

This original post was written in 2019 and was sponsored by the Certified Angus Beef ® brand in conjunction with a social media campaign through Sunday Supper LLC. All opinions are my own. 

My Trip To The Certified Angus Beef® Culinary Center

There was so much fun packed in this 3 day trip that it could take up a whole post. To see some highlights, check out my video on Instagram. We went to a few crazy good restaurants, learned how to cut meat in the meat lab, made our own spice rub, learned about the various grades of meat (hint go for Certified Angus Beef®), had a tailgate cook off, sampled their chefs beef delicacies and much more. It was a life changing experience for this food blogger. 

By the way  you might want to check this  Certified Angus Beef® Kitchen Facebook group to learn some great beef tips and recipes. It really helped me to make my first prime rib!