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Short ribs · Jacob’s ladder · Tira de asado · Churrasco
Beef Short Ribs in Spain: Costilla, Tira de Asado and Churrasco
Beef short ribs (UK: Jacob’s ladder) are costilla de ternera in Spanish. What you will mostly find in Spain, though, is the same ribs sawn across the bones into strips and sold as tira de asado or churrasco: the asado cut, known in the US as flanken, that Spanish and Argentine grills use. Ours are strips from retinto beef, in packs of about 1 kg.
See the short ribs Asado and barbecue boxes
- Cut across the bone, ready for the grill or the pot
- Retinto beef from the province of Cádiz
- Packed under vacuum and sent chilled: order by Wednesday 17:00 for Thursday delivery on the Spanish mainland
Short-rib strips from retinto, in 1 kg packs
We list two packs. The tira de asado is retinto, approx. 1 kg, at €21.90 (September 2026). The churrasco is the same style of strip from retinto yearling, the milder 12 to 24 month age. The third card is flank (vacío), the cut that traditionally goes on the grill at the same time because it needs the same patient heat.
Short ribs (churrasco), retinto yearling beef, 1 kg
Churrasco Añojo Retinto, 1 Kg21,12€ VAT incl.Add to basket
The same ribs, sawn in two directions
Cut along the bones and you get the English cut: chunky pieces, each sitting on one length of rib. Left as a whole rack it is the Jacob’s ladder of British butchers. This is the cut that British and American recipes braise or smoke. Cut across the bones and you get long strips, each with a row of small oval bone sections along one edge. That is the flanken or asado cut, and in Spanish it is tira de asado or churrasco.
| Cut style | Spanish name | How to cook it |
|---|---|---|
| English cut, along the bone (Jacob’s ladder when left whole) | Costilla de ternera. Say you want it in long pieces, not strips | Braise in a low oven for three hours or more, or smoke slowly |
| Asado or flanken cut, across the bones, on the grill | Tira de asado or churrasco | Medium embers, bone side down first, salt only |
| Asado or flanken cut, in the pot | Tira de asado or churrasco | Brown, then braise. The strips are thinner, so they are ready sooner than English-cut ribs |
Grilling tira de asado
- Light the barbecue (US: grill) early. You want steady, medium embers, not flames.
- Salt the strips with coarse salt and lay them bone side down. Most of the cooking happens on this side; the bones shield the meat while the fat renders.
- Allow roughly 40 minutes in all, turning once when the top of the meat starts to sweat and the bone side is well browned.
- This is not a rare cut. Take it past medium, 60–63 °C (140–145 °F), until the fat between the bones has softened. Pink short rib is tough short rib.
- Cut between the bones and serve at once, with the salt cellar on the table.
Braising the strips
For a pot of short ribs in red wine, the strips will do. Cut each one into sections of two or three bones, brown them well in a heavy casserole, soften onion, carrot and garlic in the fat, then add wine and stock to come about halfway up the meat. Cover and cook in a low oven, around 150–160 °C (300–320 °F). Start checking after two hours: strips reach the soft, slipping-off-the-bone stage sooner than thick English-cut ribs, which want three hours or more. For other slow cuts, such as shin, cheek and oxtail, see the stewing beef page.
If the ribs are part of a bigger asado
Short-rib strips rarely go on the grill alone. The criollo asado box puts asado short ribs together with criollo sausages, red barbecue chorizo, retinto flank, buffalo picanha and secreto ibérico de bellota: approx. 5.6 kg, for 8–12 people. To build your own, add flank and skirt (entraña).
Criollo asado box (approx. 5.6 kg)
Kit Parrillada Criolla del Maestro95,00€ VAT incl.Contains processed meat: ask us for the allergen listView product
Short ribs: what people ask
What are beef short ribs called in Spanish?
Costilla de ternera. Cut across the bones in strips they are sold as tira de asado or churrasco. All the other translations are in our guide to beef cuts in Spanish.
Is tira de asado the same as short ribs?
It is the same part of the animal, cut differently. Short ribs in Britain and the US are usually cut along the bone into chunky pieces; tira de asado is cut across the bones into strips.
What is the difference between tira de asado and churrasco?
In Spanish shops both names are used for short ribs cut across the bones in strips. In our case the tira de asado is retinto and the churrasco is retinto yearling.
Do you sell English-cut short ribs or a whole Jacob’s ladder?
Not at the moment. We sell short ribs as strips only. They braise perfectly well and cook faster than the thick cut.
Can I freeze them?
Yes. The packs arrive chilled and vacuum-packed, and can be frozen on arrival.
How much meat do I need for a barbecue?
It depends on what else is on the grill. Our barbecue quantity calculator will help you work it out:calculadora de parrilla (in Spanish).