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Melt in your mouth, tender and flavorful, this Crock Pot Short Rib Ragu is a perfect cozy delicious meal. The short ribs fall off the bone and are so rich in the red wine tomato sauce. Only about 15 minutes of prep and the short ribs are slowly cooked to perfection! A great recipe for a dinner party or a simple night in!
Table of Contents
This post is sponsored by the Ohio Beef Council, all opinions are my own. Thanks for supporting beef farmers!
Welcome to “Crocktober!” Crock pot cooking really kicks up in October and my Crock Pot Shredded Beef and Beef and Mushroom Stew are always in the rotation, but this Crock Pot Short Rib Ragu is the latest on repeat recipe in our house! It’s the ultimate comfort food we love!
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I hope you enjoy this new recipe as well in partnership with Ohio Beef Council.
Why You Will Love This Slow Cooker Short Rib Ragu Recipe:
- It is a perfect Sunday dinner without all the work. A bit of chopping, searing and then you just let the crock pot do all the work. Low and slow is key for cooking short ribs so a slow cooker is perfect! The crockpot is always my favorite way to cook short ribs.
- Beef is a great protein source. A 3-ounce serving of cooked beef provides 25 grams of protein, which makes it an excellent choice for active families. It’s the fuel you need to keep up with the demands of everyday life!
- Slow cooking makes short ribs the most flavorful. Low and slow is key for cooking short ribs so a slow cooker is perfect! It makes for a rich sauce full of so much flavor!
- A great freezer friendly sauce. This is a great option to stock in the freezer. I make a big pot and then freeze half to get two meals out of one. Freeze without the pasta for best results.
What is Ragu?
Ragú is an Italian dish generally made with meat, and tomatoes and very slowly cooked. Vegetables such as carrots and celery are often included as well as a cooking liquid such as wine or stock.
The long cooking time is really the key to a ragu which gives the dish a rich, luxurious flavor and the meat that melt in your mouth texture.
Short ribs are best very slowly cooked so it is a fantastic meat to use in ragu in my opinion! This hearty beef dish will be a recipe the whole family will love!
Recipe Ingredients:
- beef short ribs: for this recipe, use an English cut beef short rib. This style is a short rib cut between the ribs to separate them and leaves a thick piece of meat on top of the bone. They are generally cut into small pieces, approximately 2 inches thick. Look for good marbling in your short ribs as well.
- salt and pepper: very important for the short ribs when searing! It’s ok to be generous with both in this part
- olive oil: this is used for searing the short ribs before adding to the crock pot. I like to use a really fine olive oil when making this short rib ragú to really add all the flavor and richness I can to the dish.
- carrots: very finely chopped
- onion: a sweet onion is our preference
- celery: chopped very small
- crushed tomatoes: a 14 ounce can of crushed tomatoes works great in this recipe. I aim for no salt added tomatoes to control the amount of saltiness overall in the recipe.
- garlic cloves: I strongly suggest using freshly minced garlic cloves for this short rib ragu if possible.
- Italian seasoning: not all Italian seasonings will have the exact same combination. You can make your own if preferred. Another option is to use a combination of equal parts dried basil, oregano, and thyme. You can opt for fresh herbs as well.
- bay leaf: 2 bay leaves, always a questionable ingredient, but when bay leaves are added to a liquid that is slow cooked, they do indeed add a hint of flavor that helps bring out more flavor to a dish.
- balsamic vinegar: not always included in ragú, but I highly recommend for depth in flavor. A high quality balsamic vinegar is also ideal in this recipe.
- red wine: use a red wine you would enjoy drinking. Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon are great wines to cook with. You can skip the wine and just use a bit more beef stock instead if you don’t want to use it.
- beef stock: unsalted or low sodium if possible. You can use beef broth if you cannot find any stock or if it’s what you have on hand.
- tomato paste: this will help thicken the sauce in the end.
- pasta: pappardelle is commonly served with this flavorful tomato sauce, but you can certainly use your favorite pasta instead. Just make sure to reserve some of the pasta water!
Step-By-Step Instructions:
Preparing this crock pot beef short rib ragu is quite simple and very much a dump and go meal once you sear the short ribs. To make this dish, do the following:
- Pat your short ribs dry with a paper towel. Season with salt and pepper generously on all sides.
- Heat olive oil in a large skillet set to medium-high heat and add the short ribs when olive oil is glistening. Brown on all sides. The meat will start to pull away from the pan when a side is cooked. Transfer the browned short ribs to your slow cooker.
- Top the short ribs with chopped veggies, garlic, bay leaves, red wine, beef stock, seasoning, and crushed tomatoes, trying to cover the entire mixture with the tomatoes.
- Slow cook on low for about 7-9 hours. I don’t recommend cooking the short ribs on high, but you can cook them that way if in a time crunch for about 4-6 hours.
- When the meat is tender and falling off the bone, it’s ready! Skim off the oil that may have settled on the top and remove the beef and transfer to a cutting board.
- Shred the short ribs using two forks and remove any large chunks of fat. Remove the bones as well from the crock pot as they will likely have separated.
- Transfer the meat back into the crock pot and add the tomato paste to thicken.
- Keep the sauce on low and boil your pasta to al dente, reserving about 1/2 cup of the starchy pasta water.
- Add about 1/3-1/2 cup of the reserved pasta water to the ragu and stir. This water helps the sauce stick to the pasta. Add in the cooked pasta immediately after draining and toss with the short rib ragu sauce. You are ready to serve! Serve with freshly grated parmesan cheese and a sprinkle of chopped parsley. Enjoy!
Tips for the Best Short Rib Ragu:
- Don’t skip searing if possible. Searing the meat before adding it to the slow cooker adds a richer flavor to the meat and enhances the richness of the sauce. It only takes a few minutes and is well worth it in the end.
- Select short ribs with bone still attached for even more flavor. For one, the short ribs with bone attached are generally cheaper. And second, the bone will fall right off and is so easy to remove from the crock pot. It adds so much more flavor in my opinion and worth using it!
- Short ribs tend to come with a decent amount of fat that can make the ragu sauce greasy. A few options:
- Before shredding the short ribs, skim the top layer of oil from the sauce. It tends to stay right on top and can be fairly easy to remove.
- Trim some, but not all of the outer fat before cooking. You definitely want some of that fat to hold the moisture in. It will make very tender meat. But if the amount of fat is significant, you can skim excess fat.
- Chill the ragu sauce and then serve it the next day. If you cook the sauce the day before you plan to serve it, chilling will solidify that fat. Before reheating, you can then scrape off the fat easily. The sauce tastes amazing the next day, so it’s an added bonus!
Storage Instructions:
When storing this short rib ragú, place in an airtight container and refrigerate for about 3-4 days. You will get a bit of solidified fat over top when refrigerating so you can just skim it right off the top if desired.
You can also freeze the ragú for up to 3 months. I suggest freezing it without the pasta. If you plan to serve some fresh and freeze the rest, spoon out some of the sauce to a freezer safe container before adding the pasta to the rest of the ragu.
Ways To Vary This Crock Pot Short Rib Ragu Recipe:
This recipe is amazing as is, but there are a few ways to vary it!
- serve over gnocchi
- serve over mashed potatoes
- prepare a spaghetti squash and pour the sauce right into a spaghetti squash half.
- cook the short ribs with a parmesan rind for the best flavor
- use fresh herbs instead of dried–I love adding a sprig of fresh thyme to the slow cooker
- add some extra veggies: dice up zucchini, parsnips, toss in some spinach–not traditional but will make the recipe a more veggie packed
Other Beef Recipes:
- Zucchini Beef Meatballs
- Simple Beef Pot Pie
- Ground Beef Pasta Skillet
- Parmesan Crusted Steak Sheet Pan Dinner
- Mediterranean Steak Bites
- Reuben Sliders
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Visit www.OhioBeef.org, and follow the Ohio Beef Council on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for beef nutrition facts, cooking tips, recipes and to meet Ohio’s beef farming families. Use #OhioBeef to share photos of your slow cooker meals this Crocktober!
Crock Pot Short Rib Ragu
Ingredients
- 3.5 lb short ribs, about 6-8 pieces
- salt and pepper
- 1 T olive oil
- 3 carrots, chopped
- 1 onion, small diced
- 2 celery stalks, chopped
- 14.5 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 4-5 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 T balsamic vinegar
- 1/3 c red wine, or more beef stock
- 1 c beef stock
- 6 oz tomato paste
- 1/2 – 1 c reserved pasta water
- 16 oz. pappardelle pasta
Instructions
- Pat short ribs dry and season on all sides with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet at medium high heat. Sear the short ribs to brown on all sides. Remove and place in crock pot once cooked.
- Top the short ribs with chopped vegetables, Italian seasoning, wine, beef stock, garlic, bay leaves and balsamic vinegar. Cover with the tomatoes. Cover crock pot and heat on low for 7-9 hours or until the beef easily falls apart and comes off the bones. Skim off the top layer of oil if desired.
- Boil the pasta until al dente reserving about 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Add 1/3 – 1/2 cup of the pasta water to the crock pot and stir. Add the drained pasta to the ragu sauce immediately and toss.
- Serve with parmesan cheese and chopped parsley. Store leftovers.
Notes
- Don’t skip searing if possible. Searing the meat before adding it to the slow cooker adds a richer flavor to the meat as well as the sauce. It only takes a few minutes and is well worth it in the end.
- Select short ribs with bone still attached for even more flavor. For one, the short ribs with bone attached are generally cheaper. And second, the bone will fall right off and is so easy to remove from the crock pot. It adds so much more flavor in my opinion and worth using it!
- Short ribs tend to come with a decent amount of fat that can make the ragu sauce greasy. A few options:
- Before shredding the short ribs, skim the top layer of oil from the sauce. It tends to stay right on top and can be fairly easy to remove.
- Trip some, but not all of the outer fat before cooking. You definitely want some of that fat to hold the moisture in. It will make very tender meat. But if the amount of fat is significant, you can slice a little off.
- Chill the ragu sauce and then serve it the next day. If you cook the sauce the day before you plan to serve it, chilling will solidify that fat. Before reheating, you can then scrape off the fat easily. The sauce tastes amazing the next day, so it’s an added bonus!
- Nutrition information includes pasta.Â
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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My go-to is just searching for an ingredient I have on Lorie’s page and making that recipe. Never fails and this recipe will now be in the regular rotation for weeknight dinners. We used spaghetti b/c I have a 4 year old but I’m sure pappardelle would be amazing with this. Easy and so delish!
Sorry for the delay on this one but I tottttttally get the concept that spaghetti conquers all in kid land!!! Xoxo
Couldn’t ask for anything more easy or delicious.
Yay! Love to hear this so much!!
So, you listed bay leaves in the ingredients, but you don’t say when to put them in the recipe.
Good catch! It goes in with all the ingredients before you cover and slow cook. It’s updated in the recipe card. Thanks!
I made this recipe tonight and it came out great! It has so much flavor and I highly recommend it. A great, tasty, and fairly simple meal to make. I will definitely save and make again.
Oh my gosh, I love this so much! One of our favorites!
Hands down best meal I’ve ever made! And so easy too.
Nicole this makes me so so happy! One of my favorites as well!