Slow cooker beef short ribs become an easy and elegant meal when cooked in a wine sauce in the slow cooker. I used Hearty Burgundy wine provided by Gallo Family Vineyard, as part of Mom It Forward Blogger Network, to cook the ribs low and slow for a tender, delicious meal.
I grew up eating pork ribs and never really gave much thought to what kind of ribs I was eating. It wasn’t until only a few years ago that I realized there are both beef and pork ribs. Ribs were ribs, you know?
Then we started buying our beef in bulk from a local rancher and we almost always get a couple of pounds of beef short ribs. I had absolutely no idea what to do with these little guys.
I’m always up for cooking and eating something new, but I had no idea how to cook beef short ribs. After much research, I discovered that beef short ribs are pretty tough so the best way to them is slow and low.
I tried several different recipes but the ribs always lacked flavor and were swimming in fat. I cooked them on the stove most of the time and that didn’t really seem to work well.
When Gallo Vineyards sent me a bottle of Hearty Burgundy wine, I knew I needed to find a beef recipe and cook with it. I realized it would be perfect to cook up a batch of beef short ribs. The dark berry and red plum with hints of oak in the wine just begged to be cooked with some hearty beef ribs.
I mixed the wine with a few pantry staples to create a slightly sweet sauce for the ribs to slow cook in. With the 1.5 L bottle available, you will have plenty leftover to serve with dinner, too.
Short ribs are very fatty so I cooked this one day and then put it in the refrigerator overnight. I was able to scoop out the hardened fat the next day and just re-warmed the ribs up right in the crock of the slow cooker. They were perfect.
But if you don’t have time for that, just serve right out of the slow cooker with a green salad and a glass of Gallo’s Hearty Burgundy wine.
This is by far the best recipe I’ve cooked for short ribs! The ribs were tender and flavorful and delicious.
Wine Braised Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs
Wine Braised Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 cup red wine
- 2/3 cup ketchup
- 3 Tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 cloves crushed garlic
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 4 pounds beef short ribs
- 1 cup sliced onion
Instructions
- In the crock of a slow cooker combine wine, ketchup, soy sauce, garlic, brown sugar, and pepper. Stir.
- Add the ribs to the crock, submerging and turning to coat with sauce.
- Cover ribs with onion.
- Cook on low for 7-9 hours, basting half way through or whenever you think about it.
- Allow crock to cool and then refrigerate to allow fat to harden.
- Remove fat.
- Warm on high for about 1 hour prior to serving
Adapted from Not Your Mother’s Slow Cooker Cookbook.