Sweet Potato Coconut Milk Brasied Beef

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Sweet Potatoes vs. Pumpkin

Pumpkin gets all the love during the Fall, so I wanted mix things up and throw in a delicious sweet potato recipe this season. This Sweet Potato Coconut Milk Braised Beef is the perfect comfort dish to make when you want to have a night in but also treat yourself to a quality meal. We have short ribs that are cooked low and slow in vegetable broth with sweet potatoes and spices until they’re fall-off-the-bone-tender. Then the broth is blended until smooth and mixed with creamy coconut milk. This dish is a delicious combination of savory, sweet, and spiced flavors.

Season and Sear

We’ll start the recipe with seasoning and searing the short ribs. Sprinkle the salt and pepper on all sides of the short ribs. Heat a large Dutch oven over medium high heat. Add in the short ribs and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side until a golden brown crust develops. It doesn’t have to be cooked all the way through. Remove the short ribs from the pan and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium and add in the vegetable oil. If you have a lot of grease left in the pan from the short ribs you can skip the vegetable oil. Use paper towels to absorb the grease until there’s only about 1 tablespoon of it left. Mix in the onion and sauté for 2-3 minutes until it turns translucent. Add in the ginger and garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Mix in the turmeric, coriander, cinnamon, allspice, chili flakes, cumin, and bay leaf. Cook for another 30 seconds.

Pour in 5 cups of the vegetable broth followed by the sweet potatoes. Mix and make sure to scrape up any bits stuck to the bottom of the pan. Add the short ribs back into the pan. Increase the heat to medium high and bring the broth to a bubble. Reduce the heat to low and gently simmer for 3½ – 4½ hours until the short ribs are tender. Stir every so often.

Velvety Smooth

When the short ribs are tender, remove them from the pan. Discard the bay leaf. Scoop up the leftover sweet potatoes and broth and add them into a blender. Pour in the remaining 1½ cups of vegetable broth into the blender. Blend until smooth. Pour the sauce back into the pan and and heat over medium heat. Mix in the coconut milk and brown sugar. Taste the sauce for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper if needed. Once the sauce is heated through turn off the heat. Ladle the sauce into the serving bowl. Nestle in the pieces of short ribs. Garnish with cilantro leaves and toasted sesame seeds.

A Slow Simmer

I used to be intimidated by cooking beef. There’s so many different cuts that need to be cooked in a specific way to get a tender result. And while short ribs are seen as an “elevated” cut, I actually feel like it’s one of the easier cuts to cook. 99% of the time you’re simply seasoning, searing, and simmering the beef. After that, it’s just a waiting game until the beef is tender. That’s why I love this Sweet Potato Coconut Milk Braised Beef for cozy nights in. Once everything is in the pot, you can simply have it simmering on your stove as you go about your day.

One thing I also specifically love about using sweet potatoes is that they create a delicious sauce. The starch in them helps to create a velvety texture when everything is blended together. It gives the sauce a really luscious body and mouthfeel especially when combined with the coconut milk. I would describe the sauce to be somewhere in between a sweet potato curry and a sweet potato bisque. It so perfectly coats the tender pieces of short rib and is a delicious balance of sweet and savory flavors. I like to serve this with a side of rice to soak up that delicious sauce, but I would honestly also eat the dish as is to really appreciate all the components. So give pumpkin a break and try out this Sweet Potato Coconut Milk Braised Beef this fall and winter!