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My easy Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs recipe is melt-in-your-mouth tender and so delicious! With only 15 minutes of prep and simple ingredients, you can set it and forget it while it cooks.
Jump to:
- Best Slow Cooker Short Ribs
- Crockpot Short Ribs Ingredients
- How to Cook Short Ribs in a Crockpot
- How to make Short Rib Gravy
- Crock Pot Short Ribs Recipe Tips
- Beef Short Ribs Recipe FAQs
- What to serve with Short Ribs
- My Favorite Short Rib Recipes
- 📌 Pin it for later!
- Our readers love this recipe!
- 📋 Recipe
- 💬 Reviews
Best Slow Cooker Short Ribs
Beef Shortribs in the crockpot is the ultimate comfort food! They are so juicy and literally melt in your mouth. This is a slow cooker recipe I make again and again for my family, especially as a part of my favorite Sunday dinner ideas. Our other favorite is my slow cooker lasagna. It is so easy to prepare ahead of time for a crowd!
My other top recipe for Sunday supper that is requested again and again is my beef chuck roast recipe. It just melts in your mouth and the potatoes are as good as the beef when they are cooked in the delicious broth.
Such a great recipe! You can taste the build of flavors in the meat. It’s not an overpowering punch, but more of a slow progression of flavors, which I feel like makes this dish taste and feel sophisticated.
Rachael on Pinterest
Crockpot Short Ribs Ingredients
- beef chuck short ribs
- salt approx
- pepper
- onion
- celery
- carrots
- vegetable oil
- garlic crushed
- red wine
- balsamic vinegar
- tomato paste
- beef broth
- rosemary
- bay leaves
How to Cook Short Ribs in a Crockpot
- Pat beef short ribs dry if necessary.
- Finely dice onion, celery ribs, and carrots.
- Season all over with salt and pepper. Pat the seasoning into the meat.
- Warm half of your vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sear the short ribs on all sides, in two batches so you don’t overcrowd the skillet. Make sure to sear until you have a nice mahogany crust.
- Add the onion, celery, and carrots to the skillet along with the remaining oil. Reduce the heat slightly so the vegetables don’t burn.
- Cook the vegetables for a couple minutes, then add 1 clove minced garlic. Cook a minute more, then add red wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape up brown bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- As it starts to simmer, add balsamic vinegar, tomato paste, beef broth, rosemary, and bay leaves.
- Add the short ribs to the slow cooker.Bring the vegetable mixture to a simmer then pour over the short ribs.
- Turn the slow cooker on low and cook for 6 – 8 hours.
- Remove the bay leaves when it is done and discard them.
- Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or thick pasta like pappardelle.
Amazing, so much flavor!
Carissa on Pinterest
How to make Short Rib Gravy
You can serve the braised short ribs in its own drippings (which is absolutely amazing) or make it into a gravy. Homemade gravy is easy, delicious, and adds so much flavor to the dish
- When done, remove the short ribs to a platter, tent with foil.
- Strain the liquid and remove any large chunks of meat and vegetables.
- Add the strained liquids back to the pot, then add 3 Tbsp. all-purpose flour and stir to make a gravy. It’s that easy!
Crock Pot Short Ribs Recipe Tips
- I used bone in short ribs for this recipe but boneless also work well.
- Make sure to give the short ribs a good amount of seasoning with salt and pepper to intensify the flavor.
- Important step: Heating oil in a skillet and searing the ribs on all sides in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. This step is key to beautiful and flavorful short ribs.
- You can also use large pieces of carrots and serve them as your side dish.
Beef Short Ribs Recipe FAQs
Tender beef chuck short ribs are one of the best cuts of beef for slow cooking and grilling. They come from the front section of the backbone and are beautifully marbled.
There are two cuts: flanken and English-style.
Flanken means “flank” in German, and it refers to ribs located along the back towards the belly of the cow, cut across the bones. They are cut into short ½ inch lengths. Sometimes, a few cross-sections of ribs are left in a strip.
The English-style of short rib is cut between each rib to separate them. This leaves a thick piece of meat sitting on top of the bone. English ribs can be left in one long piece or cut into smaller, 2-inch pieces. Some are bone-in while others are boneless beef short ribs.
They are both immensely juicy and packed with flavor!
Yes, you can. They are both amazing and both work perfectly in this recipe.
Marbling refers to the white lines of fat running through a cut of beef. If there is a lot of web-like marbling, you know you are in for a treat!
My recipe requires searing the meat before adding it to the crock pot in order to build flavor. When you sear them, the outside of the meat caramelizes slightly. This builds a more flavorful dish, as that flavor releases as the beef cooks in the crockpot.
I recommend using a cast-iron skillet to sear your beef.
What to serve with Short Ribs
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes or Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes
- Perfect White Rice or Instant Pot White Rice
- Instant Pot Risotto or Mushroom Risotto
- Green Beans Almondine
- Glazed Carrots.
My Favorite Short Rib Recipes
Also try my Grilled Pork Ribs and Air Fryer Pork Ribs!
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Our readers love this recipe!
I tried it! It came out amazing!!! So good and flavorful. The hubby loved it!
Jessica
Turned out AMAZING. Definitely a keeper!!! 😋😍🥘♥️
Katie
Great recipe! I ended up serving with Mashed Potatoes and Fresh Corn off the Cob. Great for a summer day when you don’t want to leave the oven on for a long time!
Lisa
📋 Recipe
Amazing Slow Cooker Short Ribs
Equipment
- Skillet
Ingredients
- 2½ lbs. beef chuck short ribs
- ¼ tsp. salt approx.
- ¼ tsp. pepper approx.
- 1 onion
- 8 ribs celery or one stalk
- 3 carrots medium
- 1½ Tbsp. vegetable oil or other flavorless oil
- 1 clove garlic crushed or 1 tsp. finely diced garlic
- ½ cup red wine
- 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar
- 2 Tbsp. tomato paste
- ¾ cup beef broth
- ½ tsp. rosemary dried
- 3 bay leaves
Instructions
- Pat 2½ lbs. beef short ribs dry if necessary. Finely dice 1 onion, 8 celery ribs, and 3 medium carrots.
- Season all over with salt and pepper. Pat the seasoning into the meat.
- Warm half of your vegetable oil in a skillet over medium-high heat and sear the short ribs on all sides, in two batches so you don't overcrowd the skillet. Make sure to sear until you have a nice mahogany crust.
- Add the onion, celery, and carrots to the skillet along with the remaining oil. Reduce the heat slightly so the vegetables don't burn.
- Cook the vegetables for a couple minutes, then add 1 clove minced garlic. Cook a minute more, then add ½ cup red wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape up brown bits from the bottom of the skillet.
- As it starts to simmer, add 2 Tbsp. balsamic vinegar, 2 Tbsp. tomato paste, ¾ beef broth, ½ tsp. rosemary, and 3 bay leaves. Add the short ribs to the slow cooker.Bring the vegetable mixture to a simmer then pour over the short ribs.
- Turn the slow cooker on low and cook for 6 – 8 hours. Remove the bay leaves when it is done and discard them. Serve over mashed potatoes, rice, or thick pasta like pappardelle.
Video
Notes
- I used bone in short ribs for this recipe but boneless short ribs also work well.
- Make sure to give the short ribs a good amount of seasoning with salt and pepper to intensify the flavor.
- Important step: Heating oil in a skillet and searing the ribs on all sides in batches so you don’t overcrowd the pan. This step is key to beautiful and flavorful short ribs.
- You can also use large pieces of carrots and serve them as your side dish.
Michelle says
Do you need the wine. I’m making this soon but don’t have the wine.
Thanks Michelle
Em Beitel says
Hi Michelle! Not at all. If you don’t have the wine just use extra beef broth in its place or red wine vinegar if you have it. Enjoy!
Anna says
My family loved this recipe! I did add about 2 cups of mushrooms & used mushroom broth. No onions or garlic since one of my kids is allergic to them. Served over mashed potatoes. This recipe is a keeper!
Em Beitel says
Anna, that’s awesome! We’re so glad you and your family enjoy it! Mushrooms with this dish sound amazing – we’ll have to try it your way! Thank you for your comment.
Shawn Fischer says
Wondeful, followed exactly. Going to use leftovers for French Dips tonight. Everyone loved them.
Em Beitel says
That’s awesome, Shawn! Using the leftovers for French Dips is a brilliant idea! Thank you for sharing with us!
Nora Whalen says
So I cut off the grizzle holding it onto the bone?
Em Beitel says
Hi Nora! We generally don’t cut the short ribs from the bone. Thank you for your question!
Patty says
Absolutely delicious
Em Beitel says
Thank you, Patty!
Darya says
Should it cook longer than 8 hours, if I double the recipe?
Isabel Laessig says
Hi Darya,
8 hours should be perfect. I would test it at a 8 hour mark and if they are still a little tough, I would let them cook for another hour. Let me know how they turn out. This is one of my favorite recipes! My family loves it.
Melanie says
Awesome. My Husband is the cook in the house, which I don’t really mind. I do however like to try new things every once in a while. We absolutely loved your recipe. The house still smells amazing. Thank you so much. I will be following you for more recipes.
Em Beitel says
That is awesome, Melanie! We’re so glad you enjoyed it!
Cassie says
This may sound like a silly question but I’m assumimg you remove the ribs from the pan before you add the veg?
Em Beitel says
Hi Cassie! That’s not a silly question at all. You do remove the ribs from the pan and set aside when you cook the veg. Enjoy!
Christina says
Thus sounds delicious! I have a silly question. You think it would be fine preparing this up to the slow cooker part the night before and refrigeratorating til the morning?
Em Beitel says
Hi Christina! That is not a silly question at all! Yes, I think you could prepare everything up until the slow cooking steps and then just store it until you’re ready to cook the next day. That should work out just fine. Please enjoy!
Jack says
If using the instant pot, how long do you think it would need to cook?
Em Beitel says
Hi Jack! We actually make a very similar recipe to this in the Instant Pot and it takes around an hour to make all in all. If your IP has a slow cooker function you could use that, or if you want to cook it at pressure I would follow the directions for searing the short ribs and caramelizing the vegetables on saute mode first, then cook them for about 45 minutes at high pressure. Let the pressure release for 15 minutes. Enjoy!