These Slow Cooker Short Ribs are so flavorful and melt-in-your-mouth tender! They’re served with carrots, a mouth-watering red wine sauce, and pair perfectly with ​mashed potatoes​.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs on a white plate with mashed potatoes and carrots.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs

When it comes to delicious dinner ideas, these Slow Cooker Short Ribs are just about as cozy as it gets! The meat is perfectly seasoned for savory, tender, juicy, melt-in-your-mouth flavor inside and out.

The savory red wine sauce is rich with flavor and pairs perfectly with homemade mashed potatoes. Carrots cook right in the slow cooker, which perfectly complete this dish.

You are absolutely going to love this recipe. Don’t miss my PRO TIPS below, including helpful hints on cooking with short ribs, ingredient recommendations, and more. 

How to Make It

Note: This is an overview. See recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

Pat the short ribs dry and season liberally on all sides. Sear in olive oil until brown and transfer to the slow cooker.

A skillet of uncooked short ribs next to a plate of seasoned and seared short ribs.

Add onions, garlic, red wine, beef bouillon, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon mustard. Soften the onions/garlic for 5 minutes, then transfer to the slow cooker. Add beef broth and thyme.

A skillet of sliced onions and garlic cloves being deglazed with red wine next to a slow cooker with short ribs.

Add carrots and cook on low for 7-8 hours. Remove carrots and tent with foil. Spoon fat off the top and thicken with a cornstarch slurry. Serve with mashed potatoes.

Short ribs and carrots in a slow cooker before and after being cooked.

Cooking with Short Ribs

  • Bone-in is Best: Bone-in ribs are infused with more flavor (known as “bone flavor infusion“), and are also juicier as the bones help regulate the temperature throughout cooking. (They also infuse the liquid with collagen!)
  • Aim for Nicely Marbled Meat: Meat that’s evenly marbled throughout will render down evenly, resulting in tender, juicy, flavorful meat.  
  • Low and Slow is Key: Short ribs are marbled with fat and need to cook low and slow to properly render down that fat for juicy, melt-in-your-mouth meat.
  • I use chuck ribs for this recipe. I love grabbing them when they’re on sale!

Pro Tips

Storage

  • Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftover short ribs do freeze well.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs on a pile of mashed potatoes with gravy and carrots.

Tools For This Recipe

(Amazon affiliate links*)- Check out all of my kitchen essentials here.

  • 6-Quart Slow Cooker– This one has a digital timer and a lid that locks.
  • Kitchen Tongs– This is how I turn the meat while it sears.
  • Spice Rack–This is the one I have, it’s a snap to measure out your seasonings quickly and easily. (Big time saver.)
  • Measuring Spoons– I have these magnetic ones which stay nice and organized in my utensil drawer.
  • Garlic Peeler & Garlic Twister– Makes it really easy to peel fresh garlic.
  • Better Than Bouillon– This is what I always use for broth/bouillon in my recipes. It takes very little space and makes it easy to measure out customized amounts.

*As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

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Slow Cooker Short Ribs on top of mashed potatoes with Au Jus and carrots.

Slow Cooker Short Ribs

Prep Time: 25 minutes
Cook Time: 7 hours
Total Time: 7 hours 25 minutes
Servings: 6 people
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These Slow Cooker Short Ribs are so flavorful and melt-in-your-mouth tender! They're served with carrots, a mouth-watering red wine sauce, and pair perfectly with ​mashed potatoes​.

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

Seasoning

  • Kosher salt, to taste. See notes
  • ¾ teaspoon EACH: garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, brown sugar
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper, chili powder (optional)

Meat/Veggies/Braising Liquid

  • 3 ½ - 4 lbs. short ribs, bone-in or boneless. See notes.
  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, sliced
  • 5 whole garlic cloves, peeled
  • 1 cup dry red wine, see notes
  • 1 beef bouillon cube
  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
  • 2 cups Beef broth
  • 5 sprigs fresh thyme
  • 2 lbs. carrots, cut into halves or thirds
  • 3 tablespoons cornstarch + 3 tablespoons COLD water

Equipment

Instructions

  • Key Tip: Measure all ingredients before beginning.
  • Pat the short ribs dry and sprinkle with an even layer of salt on all sides (see notes for quantity recommendation). Combine the remaining seasonings and sprinkle them over the meat. Toss to coat and rub it over the surface of each side.
  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sear the meat in batches for about 1 minute per side and about 4-5 minutes per batch. Leave room around each piece during searing. Remove and transfer to the crock pot, the middle should still be uncooked.
  • Turn the heat off and add the onions, garlic, and wine. Set the heat to medium and use a silicone spatula to “clean” the bottom and sides of the skillet, this will add more flavor to the sauce. Let the onions/garlic soften for 5 minutes.
  • Stir in the bouillon cube, Worcestershire sauce, and Dijon. Transfer to the crock pot along with the thyme and carrots.
  • Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours.
  • Remove the carrots, tent with foil, and set aside. Use a spoon to skim excess fat from the top and switch the heat to high if it’s not already.
  • Combine the cornstarch and cold water in a small container with a lid and shake to thoroughly combine.
  • Stir the cornstarch mixture into the liquid. Cover and let it thicken for 3-5 minutes. The liquid will still be thin, like au jus, but the cornstarch adds a little thickening power.
  • Spoon the red wine sauce over mashed potatoes and serve with short ribs and carrots. A bowl may be used to hold more sauce vs. a plate.

Notes

Pro Tips:
  • Short Ribs:
    • Bone-in is Best: Bone-in ribs are infused with more flavor (known as "bone flavor infusion"), and are also juicier as the bones help regulate the temperature throughout cooking. 
    • Aim for Nicely Marbled Meat: Meat that's evenly marbled throughout will render down evenly, resulting in tender, juicy, flavorful meat.  
  • Wine: Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, and Pinot Noir are the great choices. An equal amount of beef broth + 2 tbsp red wine vinegar can be used if you don’t cook with wine.
  • Salt: Salt the meat liberally so that it has a chance to work it's way through the meat during cooking. 1 tsp. of coarse kosher salt per pound of meat is a universal guideline. If using table salt, use about 3/4 tsp per pound.
  • Searing: When searing, allow the fattier sides to render down longer than the meatier surface areas. 
  • Oven Method: If you don't have a slow cooker, you can cook this in a Dutch oven for 350° F for 2 hours, and then at 325° F for 45 minutes.
  • What to serve with Short Ribs: 
Storage:
  • Store in an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 3 days or freeze for up to 3 months. Leftover short ribs do freeze well.
Nutritional information is an estimate and is per serving. There are 6 servings in this recipe.

Nutrition

Calories: 613kcal, Carbohydrates: 23g, Protein: 53g, Fat: 30g, Saturated Fat: 12g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 13g, Cholesterol: 156mg, Sodium: 1954mg, Potassium: 1542mg, Fiber: 5g, Sugar: 9g, Vitamin A: 25303IU, Vitamin C: 13mg, Calcium: 94mg, Iron: 7mg
Did you try this recipe?Mention @TheCozyCook on Instagram or tag #thecozycook!
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American, French
Author: Stephanie