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Slow Cooker Short Ribs – fall off the bone tender

These Slow Cooker Short Ribs are fall off the bone tender, savory hunks of meaty perfection.

slow cooker short ribs overhead shot on bed of mashed potatoes with gravy
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It’s not very often I get to enjoy a personal cooking lesson from a head chef plus get to take home one of the actual recipes used in a high-end restaurant, but this is one of those times. These slow cooker short ribs are perfection!

Slow Cooker Short Ribs

Let me back up. I’ve enjoyed a partnership with the Ohio Beef Council for two years now. I develop family-friendly recipes for them and they invite me on fun trips to visit Ohio beef farms and eat delicious food and drink amazing cocktails in some of Columbus, Ohio’s finest restaurants (thanks Cameron Mitchell). I personally think I’m getting the better end of the deal.

Watch how to make Slow Cooker Short Ribs:

Before I tell you how to create these amazing short ribs in your own kitchen, I want to tell you about cows and the families who raise them. On my most recent trip with some fellow Ohio bloggers I visited two family-run farms.

Dusty Rose Farm

Jim and Dee Jespen own and operate Dusty Rose Farm in Fairfield County, Ohio where they manage 850 acres of crops and 60 beef cows. Their two daughters are recent college grads who plan to work in beef farming as well. 

The Jespen’s gave us a field tour and talked about herding the cows to greener pastures as they graze and the trust they build with the families who buy their freezer beef. They work hard and their farm is truly a labor of love. Their income is supplemented by Dee’s position as a professor at The Ohio State University. 

Slow Cooker Short Ribs

Hoffman Farms

We also visited Hoffman Farms. Christian Hoffman and his father operate their 700-head feedlot together. They grow the typical mix of corn and soybeans on their land to feed their beef cows. They tend to plant two crops per year in the same field. Double cropping allows the family to sell grain, while keeping enough on hand for feed.

The Hoffmans also grow barley, wheat and sorghum and experiment with mixes to optimize their cows’ health while at the same time being good stewards of their land. It was fascinating to hear the effort that goes into feeding the cows and learning about silage – which is fermented grain. The various grains are packaged “wet” and ferment so they are soft and sweet – easier for the cows to digest. 

Slow Cooker Short Ribs

Both family farms addressed one of the biggest concerns of all farmers which is feeding an ever growing world population. Did you know less than two percent of the population is directly employed in agriculture? That’s a very small amount of people growing a very large amount of food. When you start thinking about all these implications you realize there’s a lot to consider in terms of managing all the pieces of the puzzle – for the health and well being of both people and animals. And I’d say Ohio beef farmers are managing it all very well.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs

Restaurant Tour

After the farm visits we enjoyed an amazing progressive dinner at three of Cameron Mitchell’s restaurants in downtown Columbus in the Short North – Marcella’s, The Guild House and The Pearl. We were accompanied on our tasting of local beef dishes and the most amazing craft cocktail sampling I’d ever experienced by both Peter Chapman (head regional chef for Cameron Mitchell restaurant group) and Andrea Hoover (beverage operations manager).

Of all the dishes we sampled (and learned to cook the next morning) my favorite was the simply rustic yet perfectly prepared short ribs. I was provided the official restaurant recipe but I decided to convert it to a slow cooker recipe for home use. 

slow cooker short ribs close up with mashed potatoes

 

Beef is what’s for dinner often in our household. And these short ribs are a simple to prepare dish that taste like fancy restaurant food. I hope you’ll try them! And be assured the next time you are purchasing beef at your grocery store that it was thoughtfully prepared by family farmers dedicated to feeding you nutritious and delicious beef. 

Tips for Slow Cooker Short Ribs:

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These Short Ribs cooked in a Crockpot are fall off the bone tender, savory hunks of meaty perfection. #shortribsrecipe

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Slow Cooker Short Ribs
4.97 from 30 votes
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Slow Cooker Short Ribs

This recipe for slow cooker short ribs comes to you directly from an executive chef, adapted for your slow cooker at home. 

Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 8 hours
Total Time 8 hours 30 minutes
Servings 4
Calories 268 kcal

Ingredients

  • 8 beef short ribs
  • 2 tbsp vegetable oil
  • 1/2 onion chopped
  • 1 large carrot chopped
  • 1 rib celery chopped
  • 1/2 apple peeled and chopped
  • 1/3 cup red wine
  • 1/4 cup orange juice
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 3/4 cup chicken broth
  • salt and pepper

Instructions

  1. Heat oil in a large, non-stick pan over medium-high heat.

  2. Season the short ribs liberally with salt and pepper. Add the short ribs to the pan and brown on both sides. Cook in two batches so as not to crowd the pan.

  3. Transfer the browned short ribs to a slow cooker set to LOW heat.

  4. Drain the oil but do not wipe the pan clean. You want the browned bits left in for flavor.

  5. Return the pan to medium high heat and add the chopped onion, carrot and celery and cook for a couple of minutes. 

  6. Add the apple and cook for one minute more.

  7. Add the wine and orange juice and cook for one minute.

  8. Add the tomato paste. Stir well to combine and cook for one minute.

  9. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.

  10. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in one half a teaspoon of both salt and pepper to the chicken broth and vegetable mixture.

  11. Pour the chicken broth mixture over the browned short ribs in the slow cooker and cover with a lid.

  12. Cook on LOW heat for 8 - 10 hours, or until ribs are fork tender. Serve over mashed potatoes.

More delicious recipes using Ohio Beef:

Slow Cooker Short Ribs | Foodtastic Mom #ohiobeef #shortribs #slowcookershortribs #crockpotshortribs #slowcookerrecipes

 

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Comments

  1. 5 stars
    I’m always looking for great slow cooker recipes to help me with my weekly meal plan. I just love that you can pretty much set it and forget it and have dinner ready after work! Short rib is one of my favorite cut of meat so I will be saving this recipe to try soon 🙂

    Reply

  6. 5 stars
    Happy Thanksgiving! We have a lot of family arriving and needed a welcome dinner meal. this was a true hit!! I slow cooked the ribs low for 8 hours. fall off the bone the house smelled amazing!! I did make a few changes due to not having some items. I didn’t have any apples so i added 1/3 cup of hard cider for the sweet apple taste. No tomato paste but added mushrooms and some potatos and extra carrots and celery to streach the meal out a bit for all of our guests. Thank you! What a hit and so easy to prepare.served over rice.

    Reply

  7. I always feel so intimidated by short ribs, for no real reason, other than lack of experience. Your recipe makes them seem very approachable. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  12. 5 stars
    Today is Sunday, Super Bowl Sunday!! Go Eagles!!

    This recipe sounds incredibly easy and delicious!!! I would like to prep this meal today to actually cook on Tuesday. Is it ok to brown the meat and combine all ingredients Put into refrigerator and wait til Tuesday to plug in that morning?

    Thank you for your response.

    Reply

  13. Can you do the same recipe in the Dutch oven and if you can what should oven temperature and cook time be and should I trim any fat?

    Reply

    • I haven’t tried them in a Dutch oven yet myself, but the approximate conversion is to bake them (after browning) in a 300 degree F oven for about 3 hours.

      Reply

  15. Picked up some short ribs that were on sale and had no idea what to do with them. I came across this recipe and they are in the slow cooker now! These were so easy to prepare and it smells SO good 🙂 Can’t wait to see how they turn out!

    Reply

  16. Loved the flavor of this recipe! Thank you for sharing! Was wondering though how thick was the short ribs used in this recipe? Our meat turned out a bit dry. Slow cooked it for 8 hours. Any thoughts???

    Reply

    • The ones I was able to purchase (already cut and packaged at my local Meijer store) where very thick. Probably 3 inches? I’m really sorry yours turned out dry. With slow cooking, because it adds moisture as it cooks, I tend not to advise on times for thickness. I will remember this with my next recipe.

      Reply

    • Good question. I’ll check the next time I’m at the store to be sure, but usually I buy the prepackaged short ribs which are sold four in a pack. I believe each package of four is between 1 1/2 – 2 pounds. So for eight short ribs that would be 3 – 4 pounds. I will follow up after I check some packages to see the average weight on my next trip to the grocery!

      Reply

  19. 5 stars
    These ribs look so dang good and the photos are making my mouth water. They look like they are about ready to fall off the bone and on that plate of mashed taters… ohhhh man. Thank you for sharing!

    Reply

  25. This is the BEST – hands down – recipe that I have ever made. Once I made this – I never looked back. Actually all of her recipes are amazing. I reference her all the time and head to her site for most recipe needs! Thank you FoodTasticMom.com for all your hard work! We love it all!

    Reply

  26. 5 stars
    This recipe is a must-have! The flavor is luscious and it is so easy to make. If you make this once you will make it a dozen times!

    Reply

  27. 5 stars
    This looks amazing! I love the message of this blog! Would you mind if I shared it on our farm page? My family runs a small Ohio beef farm also and I would love to post this on our Facebook page if it is okay with you.

    Reply

  28. 5 stars
    I need to try these! I’ve never made ribs before, and think throwing them in the slow cooker would be a great intro into making ribs, it seems foolproof!

    Reply

  32. 4 stars
    I made this yesterday and it was good. I agree with some others that it could use more flavor particularly beef flavor. After I took the short ribs out of slow cooker I blended the veggies and broth to make a gravy and thickened it by making a roux first. I think if you used beef stock rather than chicken stock it would be better. I would make again but maybe play around with the gravy a bit. Thanks for an easy dinner!

    Reply

    • I appreciate your suggestions Susan. Everyone’s palates and tastes are different. To add more beef flavor, I personally like Beef Consommé (it’s a 10 oz can in the Campbell’s soup section of the store) instead of beef broth.

      Reply

  35. 5 stars
    What a great pot! The farm visits sound really fun. So interesting to hear what you learned. Can’t wait to make this recipe.

    Reply

  37. 5 stars
    I keep seeing recipes for short ribs, and I cannot wait to try this one! It looks amazing, and anything in a slow cooker is a hero in my house on school nights!

    Reply

  38. 5 stars
    I loved reading this post and seeing the pictures of the cows, they are such cool animals. The recipe looks fabulous, I want to run out and get the ingredients right away, yum thanks for sharing!

    Reply

  40. 5 stars
    Made this tonight. I did not use a crockpot but instead baked in the oven for 4 1/2 hrs @ 250 degrees. Meat fell of the bone.

    It was DELISH! Thank you for sharing.

    Reply

  43. This looks amazing! I plan to try this recipe for a family party this weekend. I already bought boneless short ribs. Can I use this recipe? Do I need to make any adjustments?
    Thank you!

    Reply

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