Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs browned and cooked until fork tender with just a few minutes of prep work and all your favorite flavors.
Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs are the big brother to the Slow Cooker Korean Beef and the perfect entree for your dinner party. The smaller cuts used in the other recipe are based on a large chuck roast cut into small bite sized pieces and are a perfect family meal.
These larger short rib cuts are going to run more money because you’re working from a smaller available cuts of beef. Here’s my spiel I used in my Easy Braised Short Ribs recipe and is still 100% the way to go about sourcing the beef for this recipe too:
Most important tip I can give you about making short ribs: Be that obnoxious person with your meat guy. You are looking for the English cut of short ribs. They look like a cube, one bone per piece (in this case we aren’t using bone in, but you’ll want to avoid the giant chunks of fat that would be near where the bone was.
Now here is where you get obnoxious. When you get to the grocer completely avoid the prepackaged stuff. They give you one nice piece and about four pieces that are 80% bone/fat. So you end up spending ten dollars a pound on mostly bone/fat.
Here is what you do, walk up to the meat guy (or gal) and say, “I was x number of short ribs, I need them for an event and they all need to be this thick (hold your fingers apart at least three inches) since they are going to be a single piece per serving. I can’t have pieces that are mostly bone.”
THEN, inspect. Anytime I am at a new grocer they always try and sneak some skinny pieces in there. Be that person who says, “Nope, nope, nope, I need this one swapped out.” Trust me, you don’t want to get stuck with the pieces that are all connective tissue and bone because the meat department is trying to sell the skinny end of the short rib.
You deserve the exact cut you want. The only other thing to truly ensure amazing short ribs, is salt, pepper and flour each piece. Then tap off the excess flour and brown it in your dutch oven on all sides. YES, all sides, including the bone (this helps add flavor, I promise). Then when it braises, it will become this beautiful, crust covered tender piece of meat.
Trust me these Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs are going to have enough flavor on their own even without the bones. Look at what they get to cook in: 
The reason we’re going boneless here for the Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs is because we’re making this in the slow cooker. When braising in the oven the heat will help melt more of that tough connective tissue, but the slow cooker won’t get quite hot enough to do the same, so I avoid it in slow cooker short rib recipes.
Tools Used In This Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs Recipe:
Slow Cooker: Love this slow cooker and how programmable it is, it has been a workhorse for me… until…
My New Slow Cooker: This recipe was made in this slow cooker. For larger roasts I also brown the meat in the insert and not lose a bunch of the flavor by transferring the meat and leaving the browned bits behind. If you’re thinking of a new slow cooker, consider it if your budget is open.
Sesame Oil: The flavor of sesame oil in this dish is unmistakeable and not really able to be substituted. Some Asian grocery stores will try and sell less expensive options that aren’t actually sesame oil, so just be sure the one you’re buying is authentic sesame oil.
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1/4 cup flour
- 3 pounds short ribs I use boneless because they have less fat and connective tissue in 3 inch chunks
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup lite soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 4 cloves garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon minced ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red peppers
- 2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
- diced green onions for garnish (optional)
- sesame seeds for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- In a cast aluminum slow cooker insert (or another skillet if your slow cooker has a ceramic insert) add the tablespoon of canola oil.
- Dredge the beef in flour on all sides and shake off the excess.
- Brown the beef on high heat on all sides. Make sure the pan is hot, you don't need to worry how done the meat is, you're just going for color.
- Add the beef, brown sugar, lite soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, ginger and crushed red peppers to the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 6-7 hours or on high for 3-4 hours.
- Add in the cornstarch slurry and cook and additional 20-30 minutes while you cook your rice and vegetables to thicken the sauce.
- Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds if desired.
Nutrition
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I do not have a slow cooker. Please give stove top or oven alternatives.
Hi Carol, Completely understand. Perhaps you’d be interested in a few recipes I developed for Korean Short Ribs on the site? https://dinnerthendessert.com/?s=korean+short+ribs. If you decide to try one that doesn’t use a slow cooker, let me know what you think!
Absolutely one of the most amazing recipes ever. So much flavor. Didn’t know exactly what Korean Short Ribs were, but this recipe will definitely have us making them again. HIGHLY RECOMMEND this.
I’ve made these multiple times. We love them in my house. I’m wondering if these could be made in a pressure cooker and the amount of time or if any changes would need to be made.
Hello, I am sure they can be cooked in a pressure cooker. Unfortunately, I don’t know the answer as to what the changes would be in the pressure cooker rather than the slow cooker.
This has so many great foods that I’d like to do and try.
Love love this recipe! Thank you.
I have a large crowd coming to a cottage this weekend – was going to double the recipe and cook the ribs in two roasting pans with lids. Can you recommend timing and temp?
I made these ribs for the first time and they turned out great. The sauce seemed a little sweet, so I would cut the brown sugar in half next time. I also added fish sauce.
You can easily customize the sauce to fit your liking. Thanks for the 5 stars, Jean.
This was awesome! I’ve made it several times now and it is always a crowd pleaser. I served it with basmati rice cooked with coconut milk and steamed broccoli and carrots
Can you use a regular ceramic crock pot to cook the short Rinna in Korean sauce
Yes though you’ll need to use a different skillet or pot to brown the beef on the stove top before adding it to the slow cooker. Enjoy!
I’ve done a recipe similar to this and I use pot roast because it breaks down just like the ribs and it is by far cheaper!!!
Thanks for the feedback.
Hi there.
My husband is not a fan of beef ribs. Could we substitute pork back ribs? Any tweaks to the recipe if pork is an option?
Pork baby back ribs would work for this recipe.
Can I prep this the night before and leave overnight in the fridge?
Yes 🙂
No liquid added to this recipe?
Just the ingredients in the recipe card. The ribs will break down and release a bit of liquid while cooking. I hope you enjoy them.
I made this recipe last night and they were awesome. I added a 2 Tbsp of shredded asian pear, 2 Tbsp of oyster sauce, and a couple of splashes of Worcestershire sauce… and it turned out magnificent. Thanks for the recipe. It was a hit. I will definitely be making this again!
Sounds delicious!
Your Korean short rib recipe seems to contradicts itself. One place you say bone in, the say your going with boneless.
Which is it?
Steve
So sorry for the confusion. Part of the post was quoted from my Easy Braised Short Ribs where I talk about bone in ribs. I referenced that with the line “Here’s my spiel I used in my Easy Braised Short Ribs recipe and is still 100% the way to go about sourcing the beef for this recipe too:”
But for reasons I referenced later in the post, I used bone-less ribs in this recipe.
Dude no excuses and stop with the blah blah blah
? Ok.
I hardly ever cook, let alone review the recipe I cooked. This recipe was super easy to cook and was delicious, will make again sometime!! Thanks Sabrina!
Yay!! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know.
Hi Sabrina
I am making this right now. We love Korean.
In Vancouver Canada we have many many Asian restaurants.
Looking forward to Korean at home tonight.
XO
Melodie
We made this for tonights and loved it. We made 1/3 of the recipe and it cooked perfectly. I added an onion into the slow cooker as a bed for the ribs as we wanted some onion for our dish. As we cooked the ribs the night before when we heated them up we added a tablespoon of gochujang. We used half of the recipe as a filling for grilled cheese and short rib sandwiches with home made tomato soup and the whole family loved it. Thank you for the recipe
You’re welcome, Jenny! Thanks for taking the time to come back and let me know how much you all enjoyed it.
Hi! I’m trying to do this recipe and I accidentally bought bone in short ribs ???
If I do this in a traditional oven will it turn out the same ?
Yes, I would suggest making them in the oven instead. They’ll be fall off the bone delicious!
Just made this for the first time and loved it. My 15 year old son said it was sooo good! I can’t wait to make it again.
Thanks for dropping by to let me know! I’m so glad you guys enjoyed it!
I would like to make this in a cast iron dutch oven in the oven. What would the time and temperature be for that ?
I’d recommnend a cook time of 3 hours at 325 degrees. Enjoy!
Hi could I double this recipe or would it overcrowd a slow cooker? Thanks!
I would recommend using 2 slow cookers to ensure not to overcrowd the slow cooker.
I have a large crockpot and have double this with no issues.
Thanks for the feedback!
Do you think Stevia would work instead of brown sugar? Trying to make interesting lower carb foods. Thanks!
I haven’t tested it so I’m not comfortable giving a recommendation. If you decide to try, I’d love to know how it turns out. Thanks!
They have Stevia brown sugar. Use that bits delicious in recipes
Just made the ribs and they were delicious. Will make them again. Looked at how they were doing in the slow cooker and the sauce was boiling away. I put a 1/2 cup of water in. The ribs were tender, flavorful and juicy.
I’m so glad you enjoyed it! Thanks for coming back to let me know!
Could I use this recipe with only 2 lbs of short ribs?
Yes. If you change the serving in the recipe card from 6 to 4, it’ll give you the exact recipe to use. Enjoy!
I doubled the recipe and split it between my Ninja slow cooker setting and an old school crock pot. The crock pot portion was amazing. The Ninja portion was burnt and charred. I will definitely make this again in the crock pot. We loved that portion.
.
Oh no! Glad the slow cooker portion worked out though.
I tried making this as instructed and it ended up black and burnt and dry. There’s not enough liquid or something. Any advice?
There are a few things that could’ve caused it from the slow cooker running hot to the pieces being too big and not enough sauce. Feel free to email me and we can trouble shoot to try and figure out exactly what might have caused it. contact @ dinnerthendessert.com
These look AMAZE! So simple and so delicious- perfect for those super busy days when you don’t want to have to worry about dinner late at night.
Thanks Karly!
Great tips on working with the butcher! You’re totally right – I always feel like I’m paying for fat instead of meat! These look delicious and I love that they’re made in the slow cooker!
ok doesn’t matter, just need an answer to my question. thanks lots! I never buy red peppers unless they mean red peppers like reg BELL Peppers??
What you’re looking for is in the spice aisle. Crushed red pepper is also known as red pepper flakes. It’s a condiment that consists of dried and crushed (as opposed to ground) red chili peppers. Hopefully this clears up any confusion. 🙂
These flavors sound fantastic!!
These look absolutely amazing! Seriously, I might not be able to think about anything else this morning. And great tips about what to ask for at the butcher counter.
Cannot wait to try these! Short ribs are some of my favorite things!
I have always wanted to make short ribs, but I never have. Now thanks to you, I’m gonna give them a go because this recipe? It looks and sounds fantastic! Well done!
Thanks!
I just love that these are made in the slow cooker! 🙂 They look so flavorful and tender.
Thanks Carrie!
These ribs look incredible! I’d love to try them in the slow cooker!
I don’t blame you for being picky about your meat! This looks delicious and sounds worth it!
Yes! I totally get they don’t want to get stuck with the gristle either, but at the prices they’re charging for short ribs these days it’s like buying a ribeye steak…you’d never pick the crappy looking edge of the ribeye!