These sandwiches came about after I went to make some short rib sloppy joes. Since I put the meat in the crockpot, it ended up in larger chunks with a little more liquid than a traditional sloppy joe. Because of that, I scrapped the idea, but the meat was so delicious, I ended up making a sandwich out of it anyway.

The short ribs ended up shredding and piecing themselves, so I only had to do a little breaking up in order to get the perfect consistency after they cooked. I wouldn’t shred these fully – I liked a little bit of the larger pieces in separate bites. They taste pretty similar to sloppy joes – and they are just as messy to boot. I added a slice of cheddar cheese on top and they ended up being so great. One thing I also think made a difference is that I used a pretzel bun. I found these in our local Publix, but if you can’t find any, you could always try making your own – there are plenty of great recipes online. Of course, you could always use a hamburger bun/your favorite roll, but the flavor of the pretzel really complemented everything quite well.

After that nice, long weekend these are the perfect sandwiches that are a snap to prepare and require minimal active work. Everything starts revving up this time of year, so it’s nice to have easy meals to come home to. This week is going to be particularly busy for me – I have a lot of things to get done and I’m hoping my brother comes to visit me sometime soon so I can get my Christmas tree – I can’t wait to decorate it. I have boxes upon boxes all over my living room filled with ornaments that I am dying to get out.

Short Rib Sandwiches

4-5 lbs boneless short ribs (I had about 8 “thin” slices of short rib)
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup BBQ sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup Thai sweet chili sauce
2 Tbsp spicy brown mustard
2 Tbsp white sugar
1 cup beef broth
1 Tbsp onion powder
2 tsp chili powder
A few dashes of Worcestershire sauce
Pretzel buns (or your favorite kind of hamburger buns)
Cheddar cheese

Begin by preheating a skillet over high heat. Season both sides of the short ribs with salt and pepper and place in the skillet, working in batches as to not over-crowd the pan. Sear both sides until brown, about 3-4 minutes a side. Place in crockpot and repeat with remaining short ribs.

Add the BBQ sauce, ketchup, chili sauce, mustard, sugar, beef broth, onion powder, chili powder and Worcestershire to the crockpot and stir to combine. Heat on low heat 6 hours-overnight or until short ribs are tender and falling apart. Break up into large chunks.

Toast the buns lightly with a little butter/mayonnaise, if desired. Place the short rib mixture (draining off excess liquid) on one half of the buns and top with cheddar cheese. Heat in an oven (about 375 degrees) until the cheese has melted. Place the top bun on and serve.

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