Slow Cooker Short Ribs

Slow Cooker Short Ribs by A Healthy Life For Me.

These tomatoey slow cooker short ribs with sweet onions, carrots, and celery are a classic American dinner. They’re juicy, pull-apart tender, and served with cheesy polenta for the perfect bite.

Why You’ll Love This Slow Cooker Short Ribs Recipe

If you love impressing guests with your food, these slow cooker short ribs with hints of red wine will be your new go-to recipe.

• Great for gatherings. Double or triple the recipe as needed and pop everything into the oven at the same time.
• Easy clean-up. It’s a one-pot dinner, so there’s barely any cleaning up to do once you’re done with dinner.
• Baked. Cooking the ribs in the oven means you don’t have to hover over the stove for hours.
• Fancy but easy. Dry red wine, porcini mushrooms, salty anchovy paste, and tangy Dijon give these short ribs an elevated flavor profile.

What You’ll Need

Sautéed veggies and canned tomatoes add natural sweetness to these slow cooker short ribs. Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post for exact amounts.

• Short ribs – They can be fresh or frozen (thawed). They shouldn’t be pre-seasoned.
• Salt and pepper – Kosher salt and freshly-cracked black pepper are best.
• Butter – I prefer unsalted butter, but salted works too and so does margarine.
• Onion – Go for yellow or white onions.
• Carrots – Feel free to use leftover baby carrots.
• Celery – Don’t worry if they’re not as crunchy anymore. Remove any leaves, especially if they’re yellow.
• Garlic – You can use fresh garlic, garlic paste, or garlic powder.
• Tomato paste – This usually comes in tubs or small cans. It’s not the same as tomato sauce.
• Anchovy paste – Swap it for 3-4 anchovies if you prefer.
• Red wine – Avoid fruity, sweet wines. Try a Cabernet Sauvignon or Syrah.
• Canned tomatoes – Use plain canned tomatoes. It doesn’t matter if they’re crushed or diced.
• Roasted tomato salsa – Feel free to use homemade salsa.
• Dijon mustard – Stone-ground mustard works too.
• Worcestershire sauce – Fish sauce is a good swap but reduce the amount by half.
• Dried porcini mushrooms – You can also use dried chanterelles.
• Herbs – You’ll need thyme, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves.
• Chicken broth – I prefer low-sodium broth. Veggie stock and water are fine too.
• Polenta – Use your favorite.
• Parmesan – Freshly grated cheese is better than the bottled stuff.

What Short Ribs Should I Buy?

Bone-in ribs adds a rich, beefy flavor to the meat and sauce as everything cooks. It generally helps keep it juicier. Boneless short ribs would work too but there’s a higher chance they’ll turn out dry or tough. Chuck short ribs have more marbling, which means the fat will melt into the meat and help tenderize it. On the other hand, plate short ribs are tougher and take significantly longer to cook. Overall, the best kind of ribs for this recipe would be bone-in chuck short ribs.

How To Make Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

You’ll know these slow cooked short ribs are ready once they’re pull-apart tender. Scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe card.

• Soak the mushrooms. Preheat the oven to 350F. Place the porcinis in 2 cups boiling water for 30 minutes, or until softened.
• Brown the ribs. Season the ribs with salt and pepper. Add oil to a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the ribs in batches, cooking for 2-3 minutes per side or until slightly browned. Remove them from the heat and set aside.

• Sautée the veggies. Pour out the excess fat, only leaving 1 tablespoon behind. Stir in the onions, carrots, celery, and garlic. Sautée until fragrant. Create a well in the center by moving the veggies to the sides of the Dutch oven.
• Deglaze it. Add the tomato paste and anchovy paste to the center. Stir until caramelized and dark red. Gently mix with the veggies. Pour in the wine and scrape the bottom of the Dutch oven to remove any brown bits. Simmer until the liquid’s reduced by half.

• Make it saucy. Mix in the tomatoes, mustard, Worcestershire, mushrooms and their soaking liquid, thyme, oregano, rosemary, and bay leaves.
• Braise them. Place the ribs in the Dutch oven and pour in the broth until they’re almost completely covered. Bring it to a boil. Cover with the lid. Bake for 3 hours.

• Prep the sauce. Remove the ribs from the braising liquid. Remove the bay leaves. Use an immersion blender to purée the braising liquid until slightly thickened. If it still seems watery, simmer the mixture in the Dutch oven over medium-low heat.
• Shred it. Use two forks to carefully pull the meat in opposite directions and shred it. Return it to the Dutch oven and place it away from the heat. Let it come down to room temperature. Use a spoon to remove any large pools of fat that formed on the surface.
• Make the polenta. Cook the polenta according to package instructions. Add parmesan and stir in to combine.
• Serve. Add polenta to serving bowls. Top with short ribs. Garnish with fresh rosemary or parsley. Serve and enjoy!

Tips & Variations

Whether you prefer tomatoey or BBQ-style short ribs, these slow cooker short ribs will be just as juicy and tender every time.

• Make it spicy. Stir 1/4-1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes or chili powder into the veggies for a kick of heat. Chili oil works too.
• Go BBQ. Add 1 cup of your favorite BBQ sauce when you pour in the broth for BBQ-style short ribs.
• Spice it up. Mixing 3 teaspoons paprika, 1/2 teaspoon ground mustard, and 1 teaspoon onion powder into the veggies adds more layers of flavor to the dish.
• Make it a pasta dinner. Cook 2-3 cups of your favorite short pasta like bowtie, fusilli, or penne and stir it into the braising liquid for an easy pasta-like dinner.
• Skip the browning. If you’re in a rush to place the ribs in the oven, skip the browning. It helps intensify the caramelized beef flavor in the sauce, but it’s not crucial to the recipe outcome.
• Ask the butcher. Your local butcher can help remove most of the excess fat from the ribs so that you don’t have to skim the sauce as much.

Serving Suggestions

These saucy slow cooker short ribs with polenta are an amazing dinner. If you don’t want to make polenta, try my Garlic Mashed Potatoes or Air Fryer Crispy Mini Potatoes. I also love serving them with Grilled Asparagus with Onion and Instant Pot Artichoke on the side. Other veggie side ideas include my Stuffed Mushrooms and Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan. For something warm and soupy, make my Mushroom Soup.

Proper Storage

Make sure the leftovers are fully cooled before storing to prevent spoilage.

• Fridge: Place it in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
• Freezer: Transfer it to freezer bags in serving-size portions. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge.
• To reheat it: Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon water and microwave for 20 seconds. Stir and microwave for 30 more seconds or until warm. For larger portions, you can set the slow cooker to WARM and leave the ribs there for 15-20 minutes.

More Beef Recipes

• Brazilian Beef Stew
• Carne Guisada
• Irish Beef Stew
• Skillet Beef Fajitas

Print

Slow Cooker Short Ribs

This garlicky slow cooker short ribs recipe with red wine, tender veggies, and dried herbs is an easy but fancy dinner.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword beef short ribs slow cooker, slow cooker beef short ribs, slow cooker short ribs

Prep Time 15 minutes minutes

Cook Time 3 hours hours 15 minutes minutes

Total Time 3 hours hours 30 minutes minutes

Servings 25

Author Amy

Ingredients

• 4-5 pounds trimmed short ribs
• kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tablespoon butter
• 1 large onion diced
• 2 medium carrots diced
• 2 stalks celery diced
• 2 large cloves garlic finely chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon anchovy paste
• 1/2 bottle big red wine
• 14 ounces whole tomatoes and juice
• 1 cup of tomato roasted salsa
• 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
• 3-4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
• 1 ounce dried porcini mushrooms
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 large sprig rosemary leaves chopped
• 2 bay leaves
• 2-3 cups chicken stock or water
• 1 cup uncooked Polenta cooked according to directions.
• 1/2 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees for 3 hours, or 275 for 5 hours. Soak dried mushrooms in 2 cups boiling water.
• Season ribs well with salt and pepper. Heat oil in large, heavy pot (I used a 5-qt. enameled cast iron dutch oven) over medium heat until shimmering. Brown ribs in batches for 2-3 minutes per side, then set aside.
• Pour out all but 1 tablespoon of accumulated fat from pot (if any), then sauté onion, carrots and celery until soft. Add garlic and stir until fragrant.
• Create a hot spot in the pot by moving vegetables aside and leaving about a 3-inch radius bare. Add tomato paste and anchovy paste to the hot spot and stir vigorously until caramelized, then stir into the vegetables.
• Add red wine to deglaze and cook until liquid is reduced by half.
• Add tomatoes, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, mushrooms and soaking liquid (minus the last 1/4 inch to keep sediment out of your dish), plus herbs.
• Add ribs to pot and fill with chicken stock or water until ribs are nearly covered. Bring liquid to a boil, then cover tightly and braise in oven for at least 3 hours at 350 or 5 hours at 275 or until ribs are fall-apart tender.
• Remove ribs from liquid and set aside until cool enough to handle. Remove bay leaves and discard. While ribs cool, purée the braising liquid with an immersion blender until thick and set over medium-low heat to reduce if the sauce seems thin.
• When ribs have cooled down shred the beef and return it to the pot. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature, skimming any large pools of fat from the surface.
• Cook Polenta according to directions and add parmesan at the end of cooking, stir to combine. Spoon a generous helping of Polenta on a plate and top with Short Rib mix, top with diced fresh rosemary or parsley.

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