These easy Slow Cooker Short Ribs are fall off the bone, melt in your mouth tender and only take about 15 minutes of prep. Serve over mashed potatoes, polenta, or roasted veggies for an easy dinner that is pure comfort food.
The ribs are cooked alongside carrots, onions, and mushrooms which become tender and super flavorful. For even more slow cooked beef recipes, you can try this Mississippi Pot Roast, Crockpot Rump Roast, or this Slow Cooker Pot Roast.
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Easy Slow Cooker Short Ribs
This recipe for Beef Short Ribs is an easy dinner idea that will take you literally 15 minutes of prep before you can pass the reins over to the crockpot. Meanwhile, the entire kitchen will flood with the most amazing smells while you go about the rest of your day.
The result is fall-off-the-bone tender beef, cooked in a flavorful, savory sauce along with carrots, onions, and mushrooms. Serve over mashed potatoes, polenta, noodles, or veggies for comfort food at its finest.
Key Ingredients
- Short Ribs - bone-in are great but boneless will work just fine.
- Onion - white, yellow or red onions will all work for this recipe.
- Garlic - fresh garlic tastes best, but you can also use the garlic in the jar.
- Carrots - you’ll want to slice these into roughly ½” pieces.
- Mushrooms - use your favorite kind of mushrooms.
- Brown Sugar - this balances out some of the acidity from the tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce.
- Tomato Paste - any kind will work.
- Worcestershire Sauce - you could also substitute tomato sauce.
- Beef Broth - if you prefer, you could use red wine instead.
- Bay Leaves - fresh bay leaves have a stronger flavor than dried, but both will work.
- Thyme - try and use fresh thyme if possible.
How to Cook Beef Short Ribs in the Crockpot
- Sear short ribs. Remove short ribs from the fridge and let them come to room temperature for about 30 minutes. In a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, add the avocado oil. When the oil starts to smoke, add the short ribs to the pan, fat side down. Be sure to leave room between the short ribs so they sear quickly. Brown short ribs on each side by searing for about 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the skillet and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Saute veggies. In the same large skillet, add the minced onion and cook for about 3 minutes until translucent. Add the minced garlic and sliced mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms are golden brown, or about 3-5 more minutes.
- Make the sauce. Add the brown sugar, tomato paste, Worcheshire sauce and beef broth to the cast-iron skillet and use a wooden spoon to scrape the brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Stir until combined, then pour the onion mixture over the top of the short ribs in the slow cooker. Top with the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
- Cook. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. Once the meat is cooked and tender, remove the bay leaves and thyme.
- Serve. Serve with mashed potatoes or your favorite veggies with extra drippings. Enjoy!
How to Cook Short Ribs on the Stovetop
If you would rather cook your short ribs over the stove top, you can do so in a dutch oven. Simply follow the instructions above, searing the short ribs and sauteeing the veggies in the dutch oven. Then, add the ingredients to make your sauce, cover and simmer over medium-low for about 3 hours until the meat is super tender.
Serving Suggestions
Most often, I serve short ribs over a bed of mashed potatoes, like these rich and creamy Gruyere Mashed Potatoes. Some other great sides to serve alongside beef short ribs are Baked Mac and Cheese, Oven-Roasted Brussels Sprouts, Twice-Baked Potato Casserole or even our Homemade Flakey Biscuits.
Crockpot Short ribs also taste great with polenta, rice, and basically any potato side dish that you can imagine.
Frequently Asked Question
Short ribs come from the section of beef chuck where the ribs are too short to make good steaks. They tend to be very meaty, but also contain quite a bit of connective tissue that takes a lot of cooking to break down. That is why slow cooking is a great method for cooking short ribs!
Not exactly. The longer you cook short ribs in the slow cooker the more tender it becomes. However, if you aren’t looking for the meat to shred, you will want to cook until it is tender which should take about 8-10 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high.
You truly do not want to skip this step, especially since it only takes a matter of minutes. It adds a serious amount of flavor to the short ribs as well as the sauce that they cook in.
The easiest way to know if your short ribs have finished cooking is if they are tender. If you press or poke them and they still feel tough, keep cooking. They will need to reach an internal temperature of at least 180 degrees F for the connective tissues in the meat to break down enough to soften.
You sure can! The best way to freeze short ribs is to store in freezer bags with a bit of the sauce. They can remain frozen for up to 2 months, then thawed in the fridge overnight.
When choosing short ribs for this dish, you want to find ones that are well-marbled and super meaty. Whether you choose bone-in or boneless isn’t as important as trying to avoid short ribs that have a thick cap of fat over the top.
Easy Slow Cooker Short Ribs Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 pounds beef short ribs bone-in (about 4-5 large short ribs)
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 medium onion minced
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 8 ounces mushrooms sliced thin
- 3 large carrots sliced into ½" pieces
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 tablespoons Worcheshire sauce (or tomato sauce)
- 1 cup beef broth (or red wine)
- 2 sprigs thyme fresh
- 3 large bay leaves
Instructions
- Remove short ribs from the fridge and let them come to room temperature for about 30 minutes. Season both sides with salt and pepper.
- In a large cast iron skillet over medium heat, add the avocado oil. When the oil starts to smoke, add the short ribs to the pan, fat side down. Be sure to leave room between the short ribs so they sear quickly. Cook for 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown. Flip with thongs and sear on the other side until golden brown.
- Remove from the skillet and place in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- In the same skillet, add the minced onion and cook for about 3 minutes until translucent. Add the minced garlic, carrots, and sliced mushrooms and continue to cook until the mushrooms are golden brown, or about 3-5 more minutes.
- Add the brown sugar, tomato paste, Worcheshire sauce, and beef broth to the cast-iron skillet and use a wooden spoon to scrape the bits of beef and onion from the bottom of the skillet. Stir until combined, then pour the onion mixture over the top of the short ribs in the slow cooker. Top with the thyme sprigs and bay leaves.
- Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-6 hours. Once the meat is cooked and tender, remove the bay leaves and thyme.
- Serve with mashed potatoes or your favorite veggies with extra drippings. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
More Of the Best Slow Cooker Recipes To Try
- Crockpot Buffalo Chicken
- Slow Cooker Pot Roast
- Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas
- Crockpot Mashed Potatoes
- Crockpot Chicken Pot Pie
- Homemade Beef Stew
- Mississippi Chicken
- More Beef Dinner Recipes
- More Easy Weeknight Meals
These melt in your mouth Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs are an easy dinner idea that everyone will love. Serve over mashed potatoes, polenta or roasted veggies for comfort food at its finest.
Claire
Absolutely delicious! So easy to prepare and the meat literally fell off the bone, mine only took 7 hours on low. I really enjoy all your recipes.