Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

These ridiculously flavorful slow cooker beef short ribs are braised in red wine and slow cooked until tender perfection. The meal is effortless, but the rich flavors are incredible!

I love the primal experience of eating short ribs. Tender hunks of beef clinging to a giant protruding bone, it is downright Flintstone-esque! However, as rudimentary as it may be, the flavor is as refined as anything that has ever come from your crock pot.

What are short ribs?

Short ribs are a meaty cut of beef taken with portions of the rib bone still attached. Since this comes from the front of the cow, the meat is typically tough, requiring long cooking times to render it into an exceptionally tender meal. Short ribs can be purchased boneless as well, with the ribs removed.

Where to Buy Beef Short Ribs

Occasionally it can be difficult to locate beef short ribs in a grocery store, particularly larger national chains. However, you can typically call your local butcher to have them specially cut for you. Alternatively, if you have Meijer supermarkets near you, they will also do custom cuts of beef at the customer's request.

Red Wine Short Ribs

This slow cooker beef short ribs recipe uses red wine as the primary flavoring agent. (If beer is more your style, check out my extremely popular beer braised short ribs recipe) Layers of flavor are created by first searing the short ribs in a skillet, and adding the unami flavor of tomato paste to the braising liquid with a touch of brown sugar added for sweetness. Fresh rosemary is the perfect complimenting flavor to pair with a red wine based sauce.

Short ribs are a fatty cut of beef, so I recommend skimming off the pooling fat sitting on the surface of the braising liquid prior to serving. This will allow the flavors of the braising liquid to shine through more easily when it is ladled on your plate.

Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

Slow cooker beef short ribs can be cooked on high or low heat in your crock pot. It will take about 4-5 hours on high heat, however, the real key is to simply keep cooking the ribs until they are tender. The longer you cook the more tender they will become. However, if they cook for too long, the meat will become too tender and fall apart. Properly cooked short ribs should still cling to the bone but easily separate from it when pulled.

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