How Many Ounces in One Beef Short Rib? A Detailed Guide

Beef short ribs are a delicious cut of beef that are great for grilling, braising or slow cooking. But when planning your barbecue menu how do you know how much to buy? The weight of short ribs can vary quite a bit depending on the cut and how they are trimmed. This guide will provide the key details on how many ounces you can expect in one beef short rib.

What are Beef Short Ribs?

Before diving into ounces and serving sizes, let’s start with what short ribs actually are. Beef short ribs come from the rib section of the cow. They are cut across or between the bones leaving a section of rib bone attached to a nice portion of meat.

There are a few different types of short rib cuts:

• Plate Short Ribs – These meaty ribs come from closer to the belly/plate section. They have a good amount of fat cap on top.

• Flanken Cut Short Ribs – These are sliced across the bones in thin slices, Korean-bbq style.

• English Cut Short Ribs – The most common cut, where they are sliced between the bones into individual ribs.

For the purposes of today’s discussion on ounces, we will focus on the English cut short ribs, since it is the most readily available cut.

How Many Ounces in One Short Rib?

The weight of an individual English cut beef short rib can range from 8 ounces up to 16 ounces, sometimes even larger. Most commonly they will fall in the 12-14 ounce range. Here are some of the factors that affect the weight:

• Bone size – Some ribs naturally have larger/meatier bones.

• Trimming – Untrimmed ribs with a large fat cap will weigh more. “Cleaned” or “trimmed” ribs have the fat cap removed.

• Thickness of meat – Thicker cuts of meat will obviously weigh more per rib.

• Butcher’s cuts – Some butchers cut ribs smaller or larger.

So while it’s hard to give an exact ounce amount for one rib, the safe estimate is 12-14 ounces per English cut beef short rib on average. Now let’s look at some common packaging sizes and weights:

Short Rib Packages and Serving Sizes

When buying beef short ribs, you will usually not see them sold individually. Instead they are packaged in portions of 2 ribs, 4 ribs, etc. Here are some typical packages and portion sizes:

• Package of 2 ribs = 24-28 ounces total
• Package of 4 ribs = 48-56 ounces total

For serving sizes, a common guideline is 1 bone-in beef rib per person. Though keep in mind some people may split a single rib, while big eaters may eat more than one.

Using our estimate of 12-14 ounces each, you can expect each beef rib to provide about 8-12 ounces of edible cooked meat per person. This is after trimming off most of the fat cap and accounting for bone weight and cooking loss.

If serving boneless short rib chunks instead, a 1/2 pound (8 ounce) serving per person is a common target.

Other Factors When Buying Short Ribs

When estimating how many short ribs to buy, here are some other considerations:

• Other foods – Account for all sides and appetizers so you don’t overbuy.

• Ages of guests – Older guests and kids will eat less.

• Men vs women – Men often eat more than women.

• Time of day – People eat more at dinnertime.

• Leftovers – Short ribs make great leftovers so extras are useful.

Quick Recap on Ounces per Short Rib

To give a quick recap on sizing:

• An average beef short rib weighs 12-14 ounces
• A typical 2-rib package will be 24-28 ounces total
• Plan on about 1 rib per person, yielding 8-12 ounces cooked meat each

Keeping these short rib ounce guidelines in mind will ensure you buy just the right amount for your barbecue meal!