Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs
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Literally fall-off-the-bone tender! SO SO GOOD. Set and forget right in your crockpot. So easy with zero fuss!
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Short ribs? Easy? Yes, yes, yes. With the help of the crockpot, this is by far one of the easiest, slow cooker set and forget dinners. The crockpot will do all the heavy lifting here. And you can even white lie to your guests and tell them you’ve been slaving away in the kitchen all night to get these short ribs just right. It’s so so good, they’ll believe you without a shadow of a doubt.
why i love this recipe
- Set it and forget it dinner. Even on the busiest of days, you can make dinner happen so fast. Just dump everything right in your slow cooker morning of – no searing, no browning, no nothing here!
- Weeknight-friendly yet fancy enough for company. This is one of those great slow cooker recipes that is super weeknight friendly + will make your heart sing and still so impressive and luxurious enough to serve to guests.
- The marinade is so flavorful. The marinade is simply out-of-this-world amazing yielding such tender, flavorful short ribs using just a handful of pantry staples – soy sauce, beef broth, brown sugar, garlic, ginger and sesame oil.
- Leftovers taste even better. Similar to lasagna, short ribs tend to taste even better the next day, allowing the flavors to meld and intensify even further overnight. That being said, this is a great dish to make ahead of time for dinner parties and big get-togethers.
tips and tricks for success
- Make ahead of time. Short ribs taste even better the very next day, perfect to make this ahead of time 1 day in advance (scraping off the fat) and reheating in the oven until warmed through.
- Use reduced sodium soy sauce. Reduced sodium has less sodium and less salt without compromising flavor.
- Mix cornstarch with water. Combining the cornstarch with water first (also known as a slurry) will prevent lumps in the sauce, ensuring a smooth consistency and even thickening.
- Adjust the consistency. Add in the slurry slowly in a fine stream, stirring constantly. If the sauce is too thick, add a splash of water or beef broth until the desired consistency is reached.
- Serve over rice. This is best served over rice (or your favorite starch such as mashed potatoes or cauliflower rice) to sop up all the leftover cooking juices.
- Reheat in the oven. Leftover short ribs can be rubbery when reheated. For best results with leftovers, reheat in the oven at 350°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through, about 15-20 minutes.
- Freeze as needed. Let cool completely; portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings with leftover cooking liquid (to keep the short ribs moist during freezing and reheating), squeezing out any excess air before sealing. If leftovers are going to be used as shredded meat, shred first, then freeze. To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating in a low oven to prevent from drying out at 250°F, covered in aluminum foil until warmed through, about 20-30 minutes.
what to serve with asian short ribs
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt slow cooker
Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs: Frequently Asked Questions
We love to serve this over rice and a side of kimchi and cucumbers.
Absolutely! But because ground ginger is often more potent/concentrated than freshly grated ginger, you need less when using dry. The correct ratio is 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger to 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger.
Yes, this is one of our favorite red wine braised short ribs recipes made on the stovetop.
No slow cooker, no problem! This can be braised in a Dutch oven at 300°F for 3-4 hours, or until tender.
Yes! Freeze the leftover short ribs in the cooking liquid, or shred them first prior to freezing, storing up to 3 months.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs
Ingredients
- ½ cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- ½ cup beef broth
- ¼ cup brown sugar, packed
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes, optional
- 4 pounds beef short ribs
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds
Equipment
Instructions
- In a large bowl, whisk together soy sauce, beef broth, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, sesame oil and red pepper flakes, if using.
- Place short ribs into a 6-qt slow cooker. Stir in soy sauce mixture until well combined.
- Cover and cook on low heat for 7-8 hours or high heat for 3-4 hours.*
- In a small bowl, whisk together cornstarch and 1/4 cup water. Stir in mixture into the slow cooker. Cover and cook on high heat for an additional 30 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened.
- Serve immediately, garnished with parsley and sesame seeds, if desired.
Video
Notes
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This recipe is amazing!!! So incredibly easy and tastes phenomenal. It’s gorgeous enough to serve to company and tastes like you’ve been slaving for hours! My only substitution is that I sprinkle thinly sliced green onion on top as a garnish, instead of the parsley. As others have said, it needs the freshness to cut through the richness. I always serve over white rice with roasted garlic broccoli. I’m always a little giddy with excitement when I see my grocery store has short ribs out! Enjoy!!!
Absolutely delicious, followed the recipe exactly. The sesame seeds and fresh parsley garnish are a must, the parsley cuts the richness.
This is the *star* recipe in our house. Any time I ask my husband what he wants for dinner, he mentions this recipe. So now it’s one of our “go-to’s”.
I follow the recipe exactly as written and it is delicious every time. It’s also incredibly easy!
When I find short ribs at the grocery store, sometimes I’ll buy extra, mix up more of the seasonings and put them in a ziploc in the freezer for a later date. It makes an already easy meal even easier- just defrost and start in the slow cooker.
If you are a novice cook, you can make this recipe!! No cooking “technique” is needed. You just need to be able to measure and follow the instructions. It would also be nice enough to serve to company. Delish!
Thank you for this absolutely killer recipe! It’s most definitely become a go-to… have a batch bubblin’ as we speak. 🙂 You rock, Chungah!
Simple recipe. I elevated the flavors a bit by searing the short ribs before placing them into the slow cooker. I also added a TB spoon of tomato paste that I cooked out on to a pan, then added the sauce with the garlic and ginger and into the tomato paste. Cooked down the sauce just a little bit and added it to the slow cooker. Delicous.
The quickest, easiest most delicious rib recipe I have found. They are sooo good that my husband insists that only I make beef ribs in our entire extended family. He usually thinks he can out-cook me but nit when it comes to the ribs. Fantastic fall off the bone scrumptiousness!
Browsing what to cook for Sunday dinner, I came across this recipe. Very easy to make and VERY flavorful. For the topping I added a little green onion and it was delicious. Will be making this for our Sunday dinner with my brothers family since COVID separated us… can’t wait to show off!
Looks amazing! Any thoughts on the ability to make in a pressure cooker/ instant pot. Like how long? Cants wait!
The instructions are unclear what to do with the cornstarch – is it heated up separately from the the ribs, or tossed into the ribs at the end for an additional 30 minutes. Please be more concise. Thank you.
Looks to me to throw in the crock pot the last 30 minutes.
Mix the cornstarch with 1/4 cup water. Pour into the crockpot for the last 30 minutes. That’s what recipe says. That’s what I did.
Love this recipe! I have made it 4 times now in about 2 months. This will be a staple in my house now! Thank you!
I would really like to make this next week, however.. I’m from the Netherlands and short ribs aren’t as common here. I can find exactly what it translates to in Dutch, but it’s just not sold here, or at least I can’t find it.
What other types of beef would this recipe be good with? Maybe I can just make it a little different and it could work.
Denise try a chuck roast cut or something from the shoulder, that’ll work for this as well.
We have an allergy to tomatoes and are now trying to avoid them. It’s really hard when it comes to good bbq. We just finished eating our beef short ribs, and I don’t miss the tomatoes at all.
I found this recipe, and gave it to my daughter to make. She did a great job with it. We left out the crushed red pepper flakes, sesame seeds, parsley, and used a teaspoon of powdered ginger instead of fresh. About half a cup of fat rendered out, and I soaked most of it up with paper towels before serving. I think that if we wanted to serve it over rice we should have used more beef broth, and more corn starch. She went with cooking the ribs on high, and they were done after 4 hours. I really enjoyed the flavors, thank you so much!
This is delicious but when I make it again, I will render the fat from the short ribs first…not for flavor, but there was a lot of fat on top when finished….too much to just skim off. I ended up letting it cool so the grease would solidify and then it was easy to remove and then reheat the ribs.
Great recipe, this is extra delicious.
Thanks.
So darn easy and so darn tasty
Delicious! And easy to make. Could eat until I pop!
I’ve made this many times and love it.
If I want to add carrots and scallions when would you do that?
The scallions I sprinkle over the top before serving. The carrots would depend on how you have cut them and how thick or thin they are.
I use this for country style pork ribs and it is amazing! I trim some of the fat before cooking, add a bit more soy sauce and use the whole (14.5 oz) can of low salt beef broth. Today I am using a few thick pork steaks and a small butt roast. I made spaetzle with carmelized onions and Swiss cheese the first time… going for fried rice tonight. Can’t wait! Thank you for such an easy and versatile recipe.
This recipe is for sure damn delicious. I noticed that my short ribs had quite a bit of fat on the top, so before adding the corn starch, I used a ladle to get most of the extra fat. It takes some time but removing most of it helped keep the fat down. 5 stars from me!
Delicious. I’ve made this several times and always enjoy it, as do my dining companions. My tweaks: I brown the ribs beforehand. I add gochujang to the initial sauce that’s poured onto the ribs (instead of using chili flakes), as well as an extra half cup of beef broth; and I add some chopped shitake mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, and onions at about an hour before terminus. I also add in the final hour a quarter cup of red wine, a dash of ginger powder, and an additional tablespoon or two of brown sugar. I remove much of the grease that surfaces after the dish is refrigerated. This is my favorite meat dish.