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Home » Entrées » Beef Recipes » Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

April 18, 2018 by victor 36 Comments

Close up of beef short ribs in a slow cooker, garnished with chopped parsley.

The two most popular ways to cook beef short ribs are braising and grilling. My favorite way, though, is to cook short ribs in a slow cooker. Slow cooking has a couple of very important advantages over the other two cooking methods – it’s simple and requires very little hands-on time. I would say it’s practically effortless. Getting similar results from grilled or even braised short ribs is not nearly as easy. And the best part is that these slow cooker beef short ribs are succulent and exceptionally tender – the meat literally falls off the bone – and they taste really, really well because of the amazing, gravy-like sauce they cook in!

Some recipes suggest placing all of the ingredients into a slow cooker and let it do the job. Now, this is effortless! It sounds very tempting but a few minutes spent on browning the meat to get that delightful flavor and deep brown color seems well worth the time. One way to brown short ribs is to season them with salt and pepper and dredge in flour before browning. Another one is to season and brown first, then add the flour to thicken the sauce. I use the latter because it seems that this way you brown the meat and not the flour that covers the beef. The flour will be browned later when making a roux.

Top down view of slow cooker beef short ribs inside Crock Pot.

I like browning beef in my vintage copper pan which is anything but non-stick and gives me a lot of brown bits stuck to the bottom. It’s what I want! They help making a really flavorful sauce or gravy after de-glazing the pan with beef broth or red wine. To get the best out of browning, I like using rendered bacon fat. If you don’t have it on hand, plain butter will suffice.

Slow cooker beef short ribs | ifoodblogger.com

Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

5 from 12 votes
Print Pin Rate
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 7 hours
Total Time: 7 hours 30 minutes
Servings: 6 servings
Calories: 458kcal
Author: Victor

Ingredients

  • 3 lbs beef short ribs (cut into 2-3-inch pieces crosswise, fat trimmed off)
  • 4 bacon strips
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 Tbsp butter
  • 1 yellow onion (large, diced or sliced)
  • 4 garlic cloves (pressed)
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 2 Tbsp red wine vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp honey (or brown sugar)
  • 2 Tbsp dark soy sauce

Instructions

  • In a large skillet, fry the bacon strips until most of the fat has rendered out. Remove the bacon and reserve for other uses, or snack on it.
  • Season the ribs with salt and pepper and brown over medium-high heat on all sides, about 4 minutes per side, until deep golden brown. If they brown too fast, reduce heat to medium-high.
  • Transfer short ribs to a slow cooker. For three pounds of beef short ribs a 4-quart slow cooker would be sufficient but you can go as high as 6 quarts.
  • In the same skillet, saute the onion over medium-high heat, until golden brown. Add the garlic and cook for another 20 seconds.
  • Once the garlic is fragrant, add the butter to the skillet and let it melt. Add the flour and stir well. Keep cooking, continuously stirring, until the flour is brown and has a nutty flavor.
  • Add the beef broth and stir well. Add the vinegar, honey and dark soy sauce. Using a wooden spoon, keep stirring and scraping the bottom of the pan to scrape off all the tasty brown bits. 
  • Taste the sauce and adjust as needed. It should taste just right. If you want more sweetness, add more honey. 
  • Once the sauce starts to bubble, transfer it to the slow cooker. The sauce should cover the ribs at least 3/4 way.
  • Cook on low for 6-7 hours, or 3-4 hours on high. You can cook longer but more fat will be rendered out and the meat won't taste as succulent.
  • Stir well, but be careful to not break the meat pieces. Serve hot over mashed potatoes, pasta, etc.

Notes

In this recipe I use dark soy sauce. It's has a nice, deep color and body. If you don't have access to dark soy sauce, use regular soy sauce.

Nutrition

Calories: 458kcal | Carbohydrates: 16g | Protein: 35g | Fat: 26g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 117mg | Sodium: 1421mg | Potassium: 705mg | Fiber: 0g | Sugar: 8g | Vitamin A: 120IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 4.2mg

 

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    Recipe Rating




     

  1. Julie

    January 17, 2023 at 9:25 pm

    I make this with Short ribs or pot Roast. Easily my favorite meal. My family love it!!

    Reply
    • victor

      January 20, 2023 at 2:28 pm

      Happy to hear it, Julie. Enjoy!

      Reply
  2. Lynn

    March 17, 2022 at 2:54 pm

    Have you used boneless short ribs?

    Reply
    • victor

      March 18, 2022 at 2:15 pm

      No, but boneless will work fine in this recipe.

      Reply
  3. Armida S

    January 15, 2022 at 4:32 pm

    Making this now. I had to add more honey some cumin and some mesquite seasoning to make it mine. Coming out delicious. Thank you

    Reply
  4. stephen Harper

    December 19, 2021 at 6:45 pm

    I made these for Sunday family dinner. they came out great! I did not put the Honey in the cooker and I finished them in the oven with a Honey and BBQ sauce glaze for about 10 min.

    Reply
  5. Yvonne

    July 06, 2021 at 12:46 pm

    Recipe looks delicious and I am giving it a try today. I placed the short ribs meat side up. Is this preferred method?

    Reply
    • victor

      July 06, 2021 at 4:08 pm

      I try to keep mine immersed as much as I can so it doesn’t matter that way. If not, move them around/gently stir a couple of times along that way to ensure even cooking.

      Reply
  6. Linda

    May 30, 2021 at 10:01 am

    Ribs I assume it’s bone in short ribs when I went to the butcher and got 3 pounds it only came out to four short ribs. Is this correct?

    Reply
    • victor

      June 16, 2021 at 5:07 pm

      Hi Linda, my apologies for the late response. What you described sounds correct, those can be quite massive. For this recipe, you can ask the butcher to saw them across in a 2-3 places, smaller pieces will be easier to manage and eat. How did they turn out?

      Reply
  7. Kelly

    December 24, 2020 at 9:16 pm

    Excited to try! I noticed in the recipe it doesn’t say how to prepare the onion, but I think I’m going to go with sliced when I do it 🙂

    Reply
    • victor

      December 25, 2020 at 6:49 am

      Kelly, diced or sliced will work, it’s up to your personal preference.

      Reply
  8. Big JB

    September 03, 2020 at 5:17 pm

    I love the Aroma an I made sauce just right not too bad on the sauce. Family loved it. I used chicken broth cause I thought I had beef broth, with the honey it kinda made it sweeter. Thank you

    Reply
  9. Natalia Gonzalez

    July 21, 2020 at 3:58 am

    Unbelievable delish!!!! My hubby was literally licking the plate! Its hes new fav!

    Reply
  10. Karen

    April 18, 2020 at 10:25 am

    So delicious! I made this for the first time a few weeks ago. I woke up the next morning thinking about how good it was. Making it again for tonight. Can’t wait!

    Reply
  11. Blanca

    March 29, 2020 at 4:22 am

    Quick question, Is that cilantro or parsley sprinkled on top?

    Reply
    • victor

      March 29, 2020 at 10:12 pm

      Yes, sprinkle on top.

      Reply
  12. Crystal

    February 20, 2020 at 1:34 pm

    Hi there I have made this millions of times( it’s a huge hit in my house!!!) And was just wondering what is the serving size that goes with the nutrition listed underneath thank you😊

    Reply
    • victor

      February 22, 2020 at 10:49 am

      Hi Crystal, glad to hear that you liked my recipe and thank you for your feedback and the rating. The serving size is about half a rib, which is quite big as you know.

      Reply
  13. Colleen

    January 19, 2020 at 11:07 am

    I made this and doubled the recipe. The sauce taste like too much vinegar. Will this dissipate as it cooks?

    Reply
    • victor

      January 19, 2020 at 12:20 pm

      Colleen, I’ve experimented with the amount of red wine vinegar until I got the right taste, so it will be fine. That’s right, initially, the sauce tastes like there is a bit too much acidity but once it’s done cooking it will taste just right, with a subtle tang.

      Reply
    • ArmidaS

      January 15, 2022 at 4:36 pm

      I agree. The vinegar was overwhelming to me as well. However I added cumin and mesquite seasoning along with a drop of liquid smoke.

      Reply
  14. L

    November 07, 2019 at 6:11 pm

    Any options for using onion but removing it at the end due to a picky eater?

    Reply
    • victor

      November 07, 2019 at 6:50 pm

      If you want to completely and easily remove the onion after cooking, I would brown it separately and tie in a cheesecloth bag called a sachet d’épices in French cooking. Only instead of spices you will have onion in it. Alternatively, cut the onion in quarters, then fish the pieces out after cooking. The sachet sounds like a more sound approach. Finally, you can just use onion powder.

      Reply
  15. Mendel

    October 29, 2019 at 3:48 pm

    When i added the 2 cups of broth, It turned more into a really thick gravy instead of sause. How can I avoid that.

    Reply
    • victor

      October 29, 2019 at 5:37 pm

      Keep in mind that the meat and the onion will release quite a bit of water so the gravy will thin out. But if you want a thin sauce to begin with, just add 3 cups of both or reduce flour to 3 Tbsp.

      Reply
  16. David Gottardi

    April 10, 2019 at 12:21 pm

    I’d like to try this recipe as it looks amazing. But I’m on gluten restricted diet. So can something be substituted for the flour?
    – David G

    Reply
    • victor

      April 10, 2019 at 12:37 pm

      Thank you David. You can substitute flour for cornstarch. Use 5 tablespoon of cornstarch. Dilute it in a little bit of cold water and add it at the end of preparing the sauce (just before adding the sauce to the slow cooker).

      Reply
  17. PattiH

    December 23, 2018 at 1:38 am

    Delicious and easy rib recipe, as others have stated. They practically flew out of the slow cooker – family gobbled them up. I’ve tried many crock pot short rib recipes over the years and this one has a great depth of flavor without using tomato paste or celery. I ended up chopping up the cooked bacon slices into large-ish pieces and adding them to the dish. I don’t think it was a bad call. I also used half beef broth, half dry red wine. Thanks for the recipe! It’s a keeper.

    Reply
    • victor

      December 23, 2018 at 1:37 pm

      Glad to hear you that you liked my beef short rib recipe. And you are very welcome!

      Reply
  18. Julie

    December 06, 2018 at 9:01 pm

    Absolutely delish!!! And easy to make!

    Reply
  19. Arianne Garraghty

    November 21, 2018 at 7:38 am

    Hi, Thank you for the beautiful delicous recipe, It is nice to find gems like this one on food websites. I love baking bread and hot chutneys for my father in in the freezing winter months and ice cream in the summer months.

    Reply
    • victor

      November 21, 2018 at 9:36 am

      You are very welcome. I love baking bread too. I recently started a new blog – Taste of Artisan – where I blog about all homemade artisan foods.

      Reply
  20. Tina

    October 22, 2018 at 3:41 am

    Melt-in-your-mouth tender and delicious beef short ribs. A+++ Very easy to make too.

    Reply
  21. LJ

    July 04, 2018 at 11:18 pm

    I attempted this recipe yesterday, I doubled the amount as we had guests, and served the ribs with mashed potatoes. They were an instant hit. The only problem was that I ran out of them way to quickly, ha-ha. Keep your awesome recipes coming, I love them.

    Reply
    • victor

      July 05, 2018 at 7:10 am

      LOL… I always feel terrible when I run out of something that people come to really like…

      Reply

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Hi, I am Victor and welcome to my blog dedicated to simple and delicious everyday food... Read more...
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