An awesome Spring and Summer lunch or dinnertime recipe for a beef short rib sandwich topped with melted pimento cheese.

smoked short rib sandwich with pimento cheese

Topped with perfectly melted pimento cheese, this beef short rib sandwich is everything you love about a good grilled cheese sandwich packed with the best beefy meat.

Looking for more beef rib recipes, check out some fan favorites like Pellet Grill-Smoked Beef Short Ribs and Texas Style Beef Plate Ribs on the Pellet Grill!

Beef Short Ribs have a Special place in my heart…and Stomach!!

There is truly nothing better than large, meaty, and greasy beef ribs.

However, my love for pork ribs has caused the beef short rib to fall off of my radar over the past few years.

To remedy this and a craving for beef ribs, I took a field trip to my local grocery store. When you are at the store or your local butcher shop, you might have a few options, the short 3 to 4-inch long beef short rib or the longer 7 to 8-inch long thin cut flanken style rib.

The thinner flank style is primarily used for Asian-style cooking. This can be directly grilled after marinating for some extra flavor.

If you are looking for other options, they may exist and might be easier to find if you visit a butcher.

I really wanted to use beef short ribs to make a fun recipe that doesn’t take an entire day to cook, grill, or smoke.

To pull this off I turned to the Texas crutch method of foiling the ribs after smoking for a brief period. In theory, if this is done correctly, will result in tender, smoky, meaty chopped ribs with a spicy flavorful melted cheese over top.

Ingredients for Beef Short Rib Sandwiches

Pimento Cheese Ingredients

No matter the time of year, pimento cheese tastes incredible and is made with just a few staple ingredients such as:

Dairy: 8 oz of shredded cheddar cheese and 1/2 cup of mayonnaise.

Peppers: 2 tbsp of diced pimentos, also known as a Spanish pepper, and 1 diced jalapeno pepper.

Seasoning: 1 tbsp of diced chives,1 tsp of black pepper, and 1/2 tsp of kosher salt.

Sandwich Ingredients

Meat: You can’t make short ribs without some juicy meat! For these sandwiches, you will need 2 lbs of cooked smoked beef short ribs

Buns: To make a sandwich you might need slices of bread to hold it all together. Grab 8 sandwich buns; any brand and or flavor will do. Some favorite options include a brioche bun, pretzel bun, or potato rolls.

How to Make Beef Short Rib and Pimento Cheese Sandwiches

Prepare Pimento Cheese. To prepare the pimento cheese combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until well mixed. Once made, store in a sealed airtight container. The cheese will last for up to 2 weeks.

Smoke the Meat. Prepare your smoker for typical barbecue temperatures in the 250 F to 300 F range. Add the ribs to the smoker and let them smoke for at least one to two hours before checking again. The goal here is to cook the ribs until at least 160 F (internal temperature). Allow as much smoke penetration as possible prior to foiling.

Assemble Sandwiches. Shred-cooked beef short rib meat and place about 4-6 oz on the bottom half of a toasted bun. Top the short ribs with about 2 tablespoons of pimento cheese. Melt cheese with a blow torch or oven broiler just long enough to melt the cheese. Place the top bun on the sandwich.

Serve. Serve the sandwiches immediately and enjoy!

Pro-Tip: Beef short ribs sometimes come with a “silver skin” on top of the rib. This needs to be removed or the smoke will not properly penetrate into the rib and will also leave you with a tough rib to chop later. After removing the silver skin, cover the ribs in any type of rub you like. I chose an equal part of salt and pepper ( about 1 tablespoon of each ). Beef short ribs have such a meaty flavor. I simply wanted to enhance it with salt and pepper, nothing else.

picking up a chopped short rib sandwich on a pretzel roll

How to know when the Beef Short Ribs are done

You can expect at least another two hours until the internal rib temperature reaches 200F. It might happen earlier, or it might take a little longer.

This is how it worked out for me considering the temperature of the air, the apple juice temperature, and how long it took me to remove the ribs from the smoker and place them in the foil. A lot of factors can come into play.

When the ribs are finished open the foil. Take in the amazing smell of apple juice, garlic, and smoky ribs.

Remove the ribs from the foil and allow them to rest for about 10 to 15 minutes. If the ribs have reached 200F, they should fall right off the bone. The ribs should be chopped relatively easily with a sharp knife.

Putting the Short Rib Sandwich Together

The next step is to preheat a gas grill, or an oven to about 300 to 350F. Line a baking sheet with foil and place the bottom of the rolls, topped with the chopped ribs, topped with a heaping amount of pimento cheese.

The goal here is to melt the cheese over top of the meat. This will take about 10 or so minutes.

Once the cheese is melted, top with the sandwich roll and serve. This is a phenomenal, flavorful sandwich with amazing consistency.

This Beef Short Rib Sandwich with Melted Pimento Cheese recipe was originally written for Char-Broil. The original beef short rib recipe write-up can be found via this link.

smoked short rib sandwich topped with melted pimento cheese

What goes well with short ribs?

Serve up your sandwich with Green Bean Casserole NO MUSHROOMS!!, White Cheddar Mashed Potato Casserole, Grilled Red Cabbage with Curry Yogurt Sauce, creamy polenta, or even a fresh green salad.

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