Paleo Crockpot Short Ribs
The irony of being a nutrition and recipe blogger is that sometimes, after testing recipes, the last thing I want to do is cook my dinner. Don’t get me wrong: I love cooking and feel blessed to count it as work. And many times, my recipe testing ends in a delicious dinner. But occasionally, after a recipe-testing-spurt, I want a hands-free meal. And that’s when I pull out my crockpot and pick up some short ribs. (But this time, I didn’t have to pick them up at the store… they were delivered in my ButcherBox last month!)
These fall-0ff-the-bone short ribs come together in just five minutes. In the morning, I throw all the ingredients in the crockpot and leave it until dinner time. I love serving this with a comforting, hearty vegetable such as cauliflower mash (pictured) or roasted carrots.
Get the most out of this recipe!
Save the bones to make bone broth in your crockpot. The short rib bones create a gelatin-rich broth. The broth provides an excellent source of minerals, along with amino acids that help support balanced hormones.
To make broth, remove the meat from the bones. Place the bones back into your crockpot, fill with filtered water, and add 1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar (it helps increase the nutrients in the broth). Cook on LOW for 24-36 hours before straining.
You may have leftover juice/drippings after serving the short ribs – use this to to make a flavorful gravy-type sauce for vegetables or meat. Put leftover juice into a small saucepan over medium heat. In a separate bowl, whisk together 1/2 tsp. arrowroot powder with 1 Tbs. of water. Whisk this into the hot drippings and cook briefly, until the sauce thickens. The 1/2 tsp. arrowroot powder will thicken about 1/2 cup of drippings.
After combining the other ingredients (whisk them together right in the crockpot), tightly nestle the short ribs. The liquid should come approximately 3/4 up the sides of the meat.
- 1 cup broth
- ½ onion, diced or ¼ cup diced shallots
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 Tbs. tomato paste, optional
- 2 tsp. coconut aminos, available here
- ½ tsp. dijon mustard
- ½ tsp. Herbamare seasoning, available here (substitute another sea-salt-based seasoning salt)
- 1½ to 2 lbs. grassfed beef short ribs
- 1 tsp. freshly chopped herbs (I used a combo of rosemary + thyme + tarragon) OR ½ tsp. dried herbes de provence
- In a crockpot, whisk together the broth, onion, garlic, tomato paste (if using), coconut aminos, dijon mustard, Herbamare and herbs. Nestle the shortribs into the crockpot. The liquid should come approximately ¾ of the way up the sides of the ribs. Add a splash of additional broth or water if necessary. A single layer of ribs is ideal - if you have two layers, you will need to add a little more broth or water.
- Cook on LOW for 8 to 9 hours, until falling-apart tender. Grassfed meat tends to be slightly tougher than conventionally-raised meat, so the low and slow cooking time is essential for an ultra-tender result.
Nice. I just love paleo. It’s the best diet I have ever tried. I lost weight, and feel so much better and healthier. And the meals don’t suck,
like in most diets. I’m using the paleo grub cookbook, you can check it out, google lookingupstuff/weightloss/paleogrubs
Sounds delish! Just a question to clarify: Do I prepare the broth from *uncooked* short rib bones? So I would need to separate the raw meat from the bone, then cook the bones to make the broth before I cook the short ribs themselves…is that right? Just wanted to make sure I understood 🙂 Thanks for this amazing recipe! Can’t wait to try it…
I’m sorry if that is not clear – you use the bones to make broth after cooking the short ribs. The meat falls off the bone 🙂
These short ribs are amazing. I love that they’re hands-free and cooked with a crockpot, and I love the seasonings that went into the crockpot with the meat.
Me too????
Yum! I will have to try these! My husband LOVES ribs! And I’m obsessed with crockpot cooking. Thanks for the recipe!
Great Recipe! Made it last night. Used Bragg’s aminos instead of coconut. It was fantastic and so easy. Thank You.