Slow Cooker Short Ribs with Mushrooms: Savory slow cooker short ribs combined with mushroom sauce for some hearty and delicious comfort food. Marinate the beef the night before and get the dish going in the morning to enjoy at dinner time. Part of the #SundaySupper event featuring slow cooker comfort food recipes.
Comfort food season is upon us! OK, it is still supposed to be in 70s this weekend in the Boston area, and we will spend much of the long weekend at a baseball tournament. But October still means comfort food time! We New Englanders know the weather will catch up to the calendar soon enough.
Fall also means I tend to devote more time to cooking. Of course, the beauty of using a slow cooker means that you can be off doing other things as something tasty like this Slow Cooker Short Ribs with Mushrooms cooks.
I started this dish with a little prep the night before, in order to get the short ribs marinating overnight. Then there’s about 20 to 30 minutes of active prep time in the morning to get the short ribs ready for the slow cooker. After that you are ready to go about your business for the day–or maybe you just want to hang around the house and smell the savory short ribs gradually getting succulent in the slow cooker! There’s another 20 minutes or so of active cooking right before serving, cooking up some mushrooms that get combined with the short ribs for a rich and hearty dish.
Wine Pairing for Slow Cooker Short Ribs with Mushrooms
Slow Cooker Short Ribs with Mushrooms certainly calls for a bold red wine. We went with a Merlot dominated French red blend that also had a bit of Cabernet Sauvingon and Cabernet Franc. This worked nicely, as would other French red blends such as a Cotes du Rhone (predominantly Grenache and Syrah). Many California winemakers are making similar style blends, Paso Robles in particular being a good source for Rhone style blends.
PrintSlow Cooker Short Ribs with Mushrooms
Savory slow cooker short ribs combined with mushroom sauce for some hearty and delicious comfort food.
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 10 hours 30 mins
- Total Time: 11 hours
- Yield: 6 servings 1x
- Category: Main
- Method: slow cooker
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- FOR THE MARINADE
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 4 sprigs rosemary
- 1 tbsp parsley
- 1 scallion coarsely chopped
- Bottle dry red wine
- Bay leaf
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 4 lbs bone in short ribs, rinsed and patted dry
- FOR THE SLOW COOKER
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 carrots, chopped
- 2 cups reserved marinade
- 2 cups beef broth
- 3 of the reserved garlic cloves
- 1 new sprig rosemary
- FINISHING STEP
- ½ of a medium onion, chopped
- 10 ozs mushrooms, sliced
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup red wine
- Salt pepper to taste
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ cup cooking liquid
Instructions
- Combine the marinade ingredients, from the smashed garlic cloves through the thyme, in a large bowl.
- Place the short ribs in a large, sealable plastic bag. Carefully pour in the marinade, and seal the bag. Gently toss the marinade so that the ribs are well coated
- Put the short ribs into the refrigerator and marinate for at least 8 hours.
- When you are ready to start cooking, remove the short ribs from the fridge. Place a strainer in a large plastic bowl in the sink. Pour the short ribs and marinade into the strainer. Reserve the extra marinade in the bowl, as you will use 2 cups of it in the slow cooker.
- Take the short ribs out of the strainer, brushing off any of the solid marinade ingredients that may be sticking to them. Pat the ribs dry and set aside on a plate. Pick out 3 of the garlic cloves from the strainer and reserve for use.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and carrots, cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Clear a space in the skillet to add the short ribs. Brown the short ribs on all sides by turning occasionally. This will take 5 to 10 minutes. You may need to brown the short ribs in two batches depending on the size of your skillet.
- Move the short ribs with the onions and carrots to the slow cooker, scraping all the bits of vegetable and beef into the slow cooker.
- Pour the 2 cups reserved marinade and the beef broth over the short ribs. Add the 3 reserved garlic cloves and a sprig of rosemary.
- Cover the slow cooker, and cook on low heat for 10 hours.
- When the short ribs have finished slow cooking, move them to a platter to cool. Reserve the cooking liquid.
- As the short ribs are cooling, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large pot. Add the onion, cook on medium heat until it begins to soften, about 5 minutes.
- Stir the mushrooms into the pot, along with ½ teaspoon dried thyme and salt to taste. Cook until the mushrooms begin to sweat about 5 minutes.
- Add the ¼ cup red wine, and cook for another 5 minutes until the wine has mostly been absorbed by the mushrooms.
- As the onions and mushrooms cook, remove any beef from the bones, and set the bones aside. Shred the short rib meat with a fork, discarding any large pieces of fat. Add the meat to the mushrooms, and stir in the ½ cup cooking liquid (or more liquid if desired). Simmer until the meat is heated and the liquid has been reduced by half. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Serve the short ribs and mushrooms over mashed potatoes or noodles. Enjoy!
Liz
This looks amazing! Definitely a gourmet slow cooker meal!!!
Cooking Chat
Thanks Liz!
Nattakarn
I think so. It is awesome!
Arlene Mobley
David
Wow that meat looks so moist and tender!
Cooking Chat
Thanks, slow cooking will do that!