Slow Cooked Beef Short Ribs

Balancing cooking with taking care of a newborn means that there are a lot more crock pot/slow cooker meals happening around here! But even if you don’t have a new baby around, I have a feeling we all can use some go-to recipes that only require a little prep, and then can be totally forgotten about until dinner time. We were craving something hearty and comforting, so I tried out this slow cooked beef short ribs recipe, which I’ve adapted a bit from Taste of Home, and we are BIG fans.

This dish does have a bit of prep to sear the short ribs and then saute + simmer some onions, garlic, tomato paste, red wine etc in the beef fat – but once you combine everything in the slow cooker, it will just do its thing for 6-8 hours on low. There is a final step of turning the remaining liquid in the slow cooker into a luxurious sauce, but I promise that part is SUPER easy and just takes a few extra minutes…. don’t skip that part, because it is divine! We enjoyed these short ribs with some mashed potatoes, which I highly recommend.

SLOW COOKED BEEF SHORT RIBS

Photo Credit: Chelsea’s Messy Apron

INGREDIENTS

  • 3 pounds bone-in beef short ribs

  • Salt and pepper

  • 1 tablespoon canola oil

  • 2 cups carrots (4-6 medium carrots), cut into 1-inch pieces

  • 1 cup celery (~2 stalks celery), sliced

  • 1 cup beef broth

  • 2 tablespoons dried thyme or rosemary

  • 1 bay leaf

  • 2 large yellow onions, cut into 1/2-inch wedges

  • 6 garlic cloves, minced

  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste

  • 2 cups dry red wine (or beef broth)

  • 1 heaping tablespoon cornstarch

  • 3 tablespoons cold water

PREPARATION

  1. Sprinkle ribs generously with salt and pepper. In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. In batches, brown ribs on all sides; transfer to a 4 or 5 qt. slow cooker. Add carrots, celery, beef broth, dried thyme (or rosemary) and bay leaf to the ribs.

  2. Add onions to the same skillet, cook and stir over medium heat 5-6 minutes or until tender. Add minced garlic and tomato paste, cook and stir 1 minute longer. Stir in 2 cups wine (or beef broth). Bring to a boil, cook 8-10 minutes or until liquid is reduced by half. Add everything in the pan into the slow cooker. Cook, covered, on low 6-8 hours or until meat is tender and falling off the bone. Remove ribs and vegetables from the slow cooker and keep warm.

  3. To make the sauce, transfer cooking juices to a small saucepan; skim off fat and discard the bay leaf. Bring the juices to a boil. In a small bowl, mix cornstarch and water until smooth, then stir into cooking juices. Return to a boil, cook and stir 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Taste and add additional salt or pepper if needed. Serve sauce with ribs and vegetables.