10 Short Ribs Slow Cooker Recipes: Bone-In vs Boneless and What Changes

Bone-in and boneless short ribs for the slow cooker are two different packages with two different clocks. Bone-in runs toward 8 hours on LOW, boneless toward 6, and you buy about 25 percent more bone-in to put the same amount of meat on the plates. Both are done at 195 to 205°F in the thickest part.

The card says short ribs, shows one photo, and gives one time. It never says which cut it was written for. Below are 10 short ribs slow cooker recipes, each tagged by cut and hours, with a full recipe card. Still choosing your beef? The crockpot roast cut guide shows which cuts survive eight hours.

Cook short ribs on LOW until a probe reads 195 to 205°F in the thickest part: toward 8 hours for bone-in, toward 6 for boneless, and buy about 25 percent more bone-in by weight.

Quick answer

Cook short ribs 6 to 8 hours on LOW: boneless toward 6, bone-in toward 8. HIGH takes roughly 4 to 5 hours, but LOW is the setting that gives tender meat. Sear 1 to 2 minutes per side, keep the liquid one-quarter to three-quarters of the way up the ribs, and trust a probe reading of 195 to 205°F over the clock.

What are slow cooker short ribs?

Slow cooker short ribs are beef short ribs braised for hours in a shallow pour of liquid until the connective tissue melts and the meat slides off the bone. Bone-in ribs thicken their own sauce with marrow and gelatin, while boneless ribs cook sooner and need a little starch if the sauce runs thin.

For other braised beef, see our braised short ribs in a dutch oven and the Dutch oven pot roast guide.

Pick the right short ribs in one minute

Preview	Idea	Best for	Hands-on time	Avoid if	Get it
	1. Classic Red Wine Bone-In (Bone-in)	The Sunday pot with a thick sauce	Low · 8 h	You want it done on a weeknight	Jump to recipe
	2. Boneless English-Cut in Broth (Boneless)	A weeknight dinner that finishes sooner	Low · 6 h	You expect a thick sauce without starch	Jump to recipe
	3. Flanken-Style Short Ribs (Flanken)	A crowd from one crock	Low · 4 h	You will be away all day	Jump to recipe
	4. BBQ With a Broiler Finish (Either)	A sticky glaze on tender meat	Low · 6-8 h	You will not turn on the broiler	Jump to recipe
	5. Korean Soy and Pear (Flanken or bone-in)	Rice night with a sweet-salty sauce	Low · 7 h	You are watching salt	Jump to recipe
	6. Stout and Onion (Bone-in)	A dark, rich sauce	Low · 8 h	You dislike a bitter edge	Jump to recipe
	7. Tomato and Rosemary Over Polenta (Either)	A plate that soaks up sauce	Low · 6-8 h	You do not want a side to cook	Jump to recipe
	8. Balsamic and Garlic (Either)	A glossy sweet-sour sauce	Low · 6-8 h	You do not want a stove step	Jump to recipe
	9. Coffee-Rubbed Smoky (Bone-in)	A dark, smoky crust	Low · 8 h	You dislike coffee flavor	Jump to recipe
	10. Short Ribs With Root Vegetables (Either)	A one-pot dinner with sides	Low · 6-8 h	You want soft vegetables all day	Jump to recipe

For a first try, make the classic red wine ribs (1) if you have a weekend, or the boneless English-cut ribs (2) if you have a weeknight.

How do you choose between bone-in and boneless short ribs?

• The clock: thicker or bone-in pieces lean toward 8 hours on LOW. Boneless pieces lean toward 6.
• The shopping list: bone is about 20 to 30 percent of the package weight. Buy about 25 percent more bone-in for the same servings. A card that asks for 3 lb of boneless means roughly 25 percent more by weight if your package has the bone in.
• The sauce: marrow and gelatin from the bone thicken the liquid. Boneless sauce comes out thinner and takes 1 tablespoon of cornstarch per 1 cup of sauce.
• The finish line: both cuts are tender at the same doneness number. The number is the same, the trip there is not.

Used in this step: Crock-Pot 7-quart slow cooker.

A boneless batch on a bone-in schedule dries out. A bone-in batch on a boneless schedule is still tough when you lift the lid, and lifting the lid adds 15 to 20 minutes. Look through the plastic before you read the sticker: a rack with visible bone and a flat boneless strip are two different recipes.

How to Make Short Ribs in a Slow Cooker: the Base Method

Sear, then set them in one layer

Pat the ribs dry, season them on every side, and sear 1 to 2 minutes per side in a hot skillet until browned. Skipping the sear saves ten minutes, but the crust is the part a slow cooker cannot make. Set the ribs bone-side down in a single layer, because stacked ribs steam instead of braise.

Keep the liquid shallow

The liquid comes one-quarter to three-quarters of the way up the ribs and never covers them. The ribs release their own juices and fat, so a full-cover braise ends up thin and greasy.

Doneness: the fork test and the probe number

• The fork test: push a fork into the center. If it slides in and out with no resistance, the ribs are ready.
• The bone pull-back: the meat shrinks about half an inch back from the bone tips.
• The probe number: 195 to 205°F in the thickest part, for bone-in and boneless alike. On bone-in, keep the tip off the bone, because bone reads differently from muscle.

If the meat still feels tough at hour 8, it is undercooked. Give it 30 to 60 more minutes on LOW and probe again.

1. Classic Red Wine Short Ribs (Bone-In)

Bone-in English cut, LOW toward 8 hours. This is the version I measure every other one against. Its sauce is the reason bone-in exists: marrow and gelatin turn broth and wine into something that coats the spoon without any starch.

The mistake is drowning the ribs. They release their own juices and fat, so a full-cover braise ends up thin and greasy. Set them bone-side down and keep the liquid under three-quarters of the way up.

2. Boneless English-Cut Short Ribs in Beef Broth

Boneless English cut, LOW toward 6 hours. This is the weeknight pot. With no bone to slow the center, it finishes earlier, and you buy the baseline weight the card names. Store packs often mix cuts in one tray; grass-fed short ribs shipped frozen come labeled bone-in or boneless, so you know which clock you are on.

A bone-in timing dries it out, and the sauce comes out thinner than the photo on the card, so it gets a cold-water cornstarch slurry at the end. The same lean-cut logic runs through rump roast crock pot recipes.

3. Flanken-Style Short Ribs, Cut Across the Bone

Flanken, check early. English-cut ribs are single thick blocks with one bone each. Flanken-style ribs are cut across the bone into thin strips, so the heat reaches the center sooner.

Here is where it breaks: you plan an 8 hour day and the strips are done long before you are home. Use one layer and the lowest setting. This is the pot for feeding a table out of one crock, as in chuck roast dutch oven recipes.

4. BBQ Short Ribs With a Broiler Finish

Bone-in or boneless, LOW 6 to 8 hours by cut. The slow cooker makes them tender, but it cannot make a glaze. The broiler does that in the last few minutes.

Do not glaze at the start. Sugar in the sauce sits in the pot for hours and goes dull and thin. For a bigger tray of meat, my crockpot steak bites timing guide covers the pot side.

5. Korean-Style Soy and Pear Short Ribs

Flanken or bone-in, LOW with an early check for thin strips. The soy and pear base is salty and sweet at once, so the liquid does more of the seasoning than the rub does.

The trouble is liquid that reduces too far: soy concentrates. Dilute with a little broth and serve over rice so the sauce has somewhere to go. The same salty braise logic shows up in crockpot beef sandwiches with soaking juice.

6. Stout and Onion Short Ribs

Bone-in, LOW toward 8 hours. Stout and onion give a dark, slightly bitter base that the fat in bone-in ribs balances well.

If the sauce tastes bitter, you boiled the beer down too far. Balance it with the sweetness of the onions rather than adding sugar. If it is still tough at hour 8, it is undercooked, so give it another 30 to 60 minutes on LOW.

7. Tomato and Rosemary Short Ribs over Polenta

Bone-in or boneless, LOW by cut. This one is built around the plate: polenta, mashed potatoes or rice give the sauce something to soak into.

Fish the rosemary out at the end, or the sauce turns piney. The comfort-food logic is the same as in ground beef comfort food recipes.

8. Balsamic and Garlic Short Ribs

Boneless or bone-in, LOW by cut. Balsamic turns glossy and sweet-sour as it reduces, so this pot wants a short finish on the stove.

Too much vinegar and the sauce turns sharp. Garlic in the pot for hours turns mellow, which is the point. This one rewards a set-and-leave pot, like the one in pot roast crock pot recipes.

9. Coffee-Rubbed Smoky Short Ribs

Bone-in, LOW toward 8 hours. A dry rub with coffee and smoked paprika gives the beef a dark, smoky edge, and the bone-in sauce is thick enough to carry it.

Coffee scorches if the sear runs long, so keep the heat at medium-high and the time short. For another smoky, slow-cooked beef dish, see Mississippi pot roast and tough meat fixes.

10. Short Ribs With Root Vegetables in One Pot

Bone-in or boneless, LOW by cut. The trick is timing: the vegetables go in halfway, not at the start. Carrots, potatoes and onions left in for a full 8 hours turn to mush.

The one-pot weeknight idea pairs well with easy crockpot dinners with no second pan. Make extra: leftover ribs shred well for tacos and chill overnight so the fat lifts off in one piece.

If it goes wrong

• Tough at hour 8: the connective tissue has not melted yet. Give it 30 to 60 more minutes on LOW and probe again.
• Greasy: short ribs are very fatty. Pour the juices into a fat separator or saucepan and skim, or chill the sauce and lift the set fat off.
• Thin sauce: whisk 1 tablespoon of cornstarch per 1 cup of sauce into cold water, then simmer it in for a glossy gravy. Bone-in rarely needs it.
• Dry boneless batch: it ran on a bone-in schedule. Next time pull it toward 6 hours and probe early, then rest the meat in the sauce.
• Rubbery meat: it ran on HIGH, which tightens the muscle fibers. Use LOW.
• Four plates turned into three: you bought bone-in on a boneless weight. Add about 25 percent next time.

How to Store, Make Ahead and Freeze Short Ribs

Short ribs are very fatty, and chilling is the easiest way to remove it. Cook the ribs the day before, move the ribs and sauce to a container, chill them overnight and lift off the fat that sets on top. Reheat gently on LOW, because a gelatin-rich sauce can separate if it is pushed. The sauce is better the second day.

To freeze, bag the cooked ribs with their sauce flat and label the bag bone-in or boneless, so the next schedule is not a guess. Thaw it fully in the fridge before reheating. Leftover boneless meat shreds well for tacos; see shredded beef tacos in the crockpot, crockpot beef tips, corned beef recipes for the slow cooker and pot roast in an instant pot for more. For more dinners that wait in the freezer, see cheap crockpot dinners for a family.

Key takeaways

• Short ribs cook on LOW for 6 to 8 hours: boneless toward 6, bone-in toward 8.
• Buy about 25 percent more bone-in than boneless, because bone is 20 to 30 percent of the package weight.
• Both cuts are done at 195 to 205°F in the thickest part.
• Bone-in thickens its own sauce. Boneless needs 1 tablespoon of cornstarch per 1 cup.
• Liquid reaches one-quarter to three-quarters of the way up the ribs, never over them.

When the free version isn’t enough

A recipe gives you the schedule, but it cannot tell you when the ribs are done. A probe thermometer reads 195 to 205°F on either cut in a second, so the answer does not depend on the bone. For a wider view of pots and cuts, the head of this cluster is crockpot pot roast recipes by cut and weight.

Common questions

Should I use bone-in or boneless short ribs for braising?

Either works. Bone-in gives a thicker sauce for free and runs toward 8 hours on LOW. Boneless is faster, toward 6 hours, and easier to portion.

How long to cook short ribs in a slow cooker?

On LOW, 6 to 8 hours: boneless toward 6, bone-in toward 8. On HIGH, roughly 4 to 5 hours. The finish line is 195 to 205°F in the thickest part.

Can you overcook short ribs in a slow cooker?

Past the point where the connective tissue has melted, the meat stops improving. If it is still tough at 8 hours, though, it is undercooked, so add 30 to 60 minutes.

What is the best cut of short ribs for slow cooker?

Bone-in thick English-cut chuck short ribs give the most flavor, because the bones and connective tissue give body to the sauce. Boneless works when you need speed.

Is searing the ribs necessary?

No, but it builds a browned crust that your slow cooker cannot make. Sear 1 to 2 minutes per side in a hot skillet.

How do I know when the short ribs are done?

A fork slides in and out with no resistance, and the meat has pulled back about half an inch from the bone tips. A probe should read 195 to 205°F.

How do I thicken the sauce?

Skim the fat first. Then simmer the juices with a cornstarch slurry, 1 tablespoon per 1 cup of sauce, and serve over mashed potatoes, polenta or rice.

Why are my short ribs not tender in the crockpot?

Usually the clock did not match the cut, or the lid was lifted too often. Each lift adds 15 to 20 minutes. Keep it on LOW and probe instead.

When do vegetables go in with short ribs?

Around hour 4. Added at the start for 8 hours, carrots and potatoes turn to mush.

What is the difference between flanken and English cut short ribs?

English-cut ribs are single thick blocks with one bone each. Flanken-style ribs are cut across the bone into thin strips, and they are done sooner.

What is the best beef short ribs slow cooker recipe?

The easy pick is the classic red wine braised short ribs recipe (number 1): bone-in beef short ribs, a shallow pour, LOW toward 8 hours. For a Pioneer Woman style weeknight, the boneless broth version (number 2) is faster.

How long does it take to slow cook beef short ribs?

It takes 6 to 8 hours on LOW for beef short ribs: boneless toward 6, bone-in toward 8. Take the ribs out when a probe reads 195 to 205°F.

Can you make Korean short ribs or pork spare ribs in the slow cooker?

Yes. The Korean soy and pear recipe (number 5) uses flanken or bone-in beef ribs. Pork spare ribs are a different cut and cook on their own schedule, so do not swap them in on a beef short ribs clock.

What is the easy way to cook braised beef ribs?

Braised beef ribs are easy in a slow cooker: sear, set them in one layer, add a shallow pour of broth and cook on LOW until fork-tender.