You will be in for a real treat with this Slow Cooker Korean Beef Short Ribs recipe! Fall-of-the-bone, the melt-in-the-mouth dish uses good quality beef and a bold Korean-style marinade to create a dish that has heaps of flavour, but only requires 15 minutes of hands-on time!
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The Story of Ribs
There is a restaurant somewhere in Brussels, Belgium that we went to about 6 years ago. It serves all-you-can-eat ribs with jacket potatoes filled with spiced butter. It was about 32°C that summer day we were visiting Brussels and in hindsight, all-you-can-eat ribs were probably a bit of a poor choice for a hot day like that. But we were simply desperate to get inside to hide from the heat and Seb was hungry. Little did we know that the restaurant had no air conditioning. What is more, we got a table next to an open kitchen! It was honestly the hottest I felt in my entire life. But we had so much fun laughing about it, that it's one of the fondest holiday memories we hold.
In this vein, I decided to make a rib dish for our wedding anniversary this year. I hardly ever cook beef, let alone ribs, so I knew the meal would feel extremely special for rib-lover Seb. I decided to go for Asian flavours and Beef Short Ribs. Perfectly timed, I also bought a new slow cooker on sale (having lived without one for 5 years).
The ribs were delicious (even I thought so, although ribs are never my first choice). Fall of the bone, melt in the mouth fantastic! With only 15 minutes of hands-on time, I couldn't believe how special these tasted! I guess that's the beauty of good quality beef, a slow cooker and some good old Korean flavours.
More Slow Cooker Recipes
Boy, do we love a good slow-cooked meal! If you do too, why not try our Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork to make delicious BBQ Pulled Pork Burgers or Korean-Style Short Ribs?
Fancy some spice in your life? You'll love our North African-inspired Slow Cooker Braised Beef! Or try our new favourite - Sticky Crispy Chinese Pork Belly in a Slow Cooker. Some other ideas can also be seen below:
The Love For Korean Food
Korean cuisine has been gaining enormous popularity in the recent decade, and we jumped on board right away. Not a week goes by without us cooking a Korean-style dinner here at Somebody Feed Seb. Some of our favourite Korean recipes include:
- Tofu Bulgogi (Tofu Marinated with Asian Pear)
- Vegetarian Bibimbap
- Bokkeumbap (Korean Fried Rice)
- Gochujang Tofu
Tips & Tricks for the Best Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs
- Good quality beef: I always think that when it comes to meat, it's best to eat less of it, but get high-quality meat.
- Marinating time: whilst good quality beef tastes great without any marinade if you want to add flavour to your beef you need to give it enough time for flavours to infuse. We recommend marinating the meat overnight if you can.
- Chop Finely: make sure to chop up your garlic, fresh ginger and chilli very finely, to be well distributed in the marinade and sauce. You can use a food processor to chop them up extra finely to add a ton of flavor.
- Korean-Style Marinade: it has quite a bold flavour full of salty soy sauce, molasses flavours of dark brown sugar and the heat of the chilli. Go easy on the sesame flavour, too much and it will overpower everything else.
- Long Cooking Process: don't be tempted to reduce the cooking time for best results. The long cooking process ensures fall-of-the-mone, melt-in-the-mouth meat.
How To Cook Short Ribs Without A Slow Cooker?
If you don't have a slow cooker and wish to make this Slow-Cooked Korean Short Ribs recipe in the oven, we suggest placing them together with the marinade and water in an ovenproof dish and wrapping the dish tightly with foil. Then cook for 5 hours at 140 C, checking midway through to see if it may need more water.
How to Make Korean Beef Ribs in a Slow Cooker?
A slow cooker is an amazing kitchen gadget to have when you don't have much time to cook. Just imagine coming home from work to a cooked dinner, having spent only 15 minutes preparing it in the morning. We think that beef ribs in crock pot is by far the easiest most delicious meal for chilly winter evenings.
Day 1: Marinate the Ribs
In a small bowl, mix all the Korean BBQ marinade ingredients: soy sauce, lime juice, minced garlic, brown sugar, chilli flakes and sesame oil. Season with black pepper. Stir until sugar starts dissolving.
Pour half the flavorful marinade into a large bowl or Tupperware box. Add the ribs and roll them around to cover. Pour the remaining marinade over the ribs, cover and place in the fridge for 12 hours, or overnight.
Day 2: Cook
Place the ribs in the bowl of your slow cooker in a single layer, and pour all the marinade from the box in. Add 50ml of water and cover with a lid. Turn the slow cooker on high and cook for 5-6 hours. 3 hours into the cooking, check that there's still liquid in the pot. If it's dry, add 50ml of water and carry on cooking. Your meat needs to be bone tender. If it isn't carry on cooking - you will not regret it! The cooking time will depend on every individual slow cooker and the size/ quality of the short ribs.
Eat your fall-of-the-bone ribs with your favourite sides, or see the next step.
Grill & Glaze (Optional)
Preheat the grill to medium-high heat. Lift the cooked ribs out carefully onto a foil-lined baking tray. Place them under the grill for 3-4 minutes to caramelise. Watch them, as high sugar content means they may caramelise really quickly depending on your grill.
In the meantime, pour any juices left in a slow cooker in a small pot and put on low heat. Mix 1 teaspoon of cornflour with 2 tablespoon of cold water in a small bowl to make a cornstarch slurry. Pour the cornflour mixture in with the juices and stir. Heat for a couple of minutes until the sauce thickens. Pour the Korean savory sauce over the caramelized short ribs and enjoy!
Recipe FAQs
Not overly, but yes, they do have a bit of chilli heat lingering on your tongue. If you don't like chilli heat, try adding some ground ginger instead, for a warming, but slightly different sensation.
Whilst both beef short ribs and back ribs can be used in this recipe, short ribs are a lot meatier. What is more, short ribs contain more fat, and, thus, are a perfect choice for long slow cooking. The result is tender succulent meat. If you can, choose grass-fed beef ribs for the best flavour and texture.
What To Serve With Korean Short Ribs?
The answer is simple, your favourite vegetable side dishes! Stir-fried vegetables, potato salads, and white rice - all work very well with this recipe. For us, it is one or a couple of the following:
- Fried Tenderstem Broccoli with Garlic and Lemon (Garlic Broccolini)
- Korean Style Spicy Carrot Slaw
- Creamy Mashed Potatoes
You can also garnish the top of the Korean Beef Ribs with some sesame seeds, or sliced green onions.
Other Beef Recipes To Try
We don't eat beef often here, at Somebody Feed Seb, but when we do, we make sure it's something very special. Here are our best beef recipes below:
- Traditional Beef Stroganoff
- Slow Cooker Beef Massaman Curry
- Crispy Chilli Beef | Home-Made Chinese Take-Away Favourite
- Cuban Ropa Vieja
Recipe Card
Slow Cooker Korean Beef Short Ribs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 kg beef short ribs
- 3 garlic cloves minced or very finely chopped
- 50 g dark brown sugar
- 50 ml dark soy sauce we used low-sodium soy sauce
- ½ lime juice only
- 1 teaspoon chilli flakes
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon cornflour optional
Instructions
Day 1: Marinate the Meat:
- In a small bowl, mix soy sauce, lime juice, minced garlic, brown sugar, chilli flakes and sesame oil. Stir until sugar starts dissolving.
- Pour half the marinade into a large bowl or Tupperware box. Add the ribs and roll them around to cover. Pour the remaining marinade over the ribs, cover and place in the fridge for 12 hours, or overnight.
Day 2: Cook:
- Place the ribs in the bowl of your slow cooker, pour all the marinade from the box in. Add 50ml of water and cover with a lid. Turn the slow cooker on high and cook for 5-6 hours (the cooking time will depend on the size of the ribs and each individual slow cooker). 3 hours into the cooking, check that there's still liquid in the pot. If it's dry, add 50ml of water and carry on cooking. You can now eat your fall-of-the bone ribs with your favourite sides, or see next step.
Grill & Glaze (Optional):
- Preheat the grill to medium-high. Lift the ribs out carefully onto a foil-lined baking tray. Place them under the grill for 3-4 minutes to caramelise. Watch them, as high sugar content means they may caramelise really quickly depending on your grill.
- In the meantime, pour any juices left in a slow cooker in a small pot and put on low heat. Mix 1 teaspoon of cornflour with 2 tablespoon of water in a small bowl. Pour the cornflour mixture in with the juices and stir. Heat for a couple of minutes until the sauce thickens. Pour the glaze over the caramelized ribs and enjoy!
Nutrition
Katherine says
These short ribs are a flavor bomb! And so easy in the slow cooker.
Ieva says
Thanks so much, Katherine! 💗
Natalie says
As a big meat lover I just fell in love with your delicious short ribs recipe. Going to my favorites, thanks!
Ieva says
Thanks, Natalie! So good, aren't they?
Charla says
This recipe has my name all over it, I don't eat pork so I'm always excited to see a recipe using beef short ribs as opposed to pork. Thank you for sharing this!
Ieva says
You are welcome! 🙂
Anjali says
I love slow cooker recipes and this looks so hearty and satisfying!! Can't wait to try it soon!
Sue says
I adore short ribs and I've never had them this way, can't wait to try!