Beef Short Ribs with Gravy

3 Beef Short Ribs with Mashed Potatoes and Garlic Mushroom & Onion Gravy on a red plate.

Slow Roasted Beef Short Ribs

If you’ve ever wondered why the large beef ribs don’t have much meat on their bones, it’s because they’re the rib bones that are cut away from Prime Rib/Ribeye steaks. So, if any more meat was left on the bones, it would take away from those steaks. To get a meaty Beef Rib, you need to pick up some short ribs. They usually weigh about 4 lbs but they slow roast and/or smoke beautifully.

That being said, this is one of the best and easiest ways to prepare Beef Short Ribs, without a lot of hassle. There’s hardly any prep work, a little bit of after cooking to make the gravy but the hardest thing about this recipe is the waiting. It takes 10 hours to cook these ribs, in a slow cooker, to get them juicy and tender. But, it’s worth it!

1 package of raw Beef Short Ribs, wrapped in plastic, with a detailed sticker of the contents, weight & price.

Purchasing Beef Short Ribs

Sometimes these cuts aren’t easy to find and if you find them they can be a bit pricey. They’re often cut into singles with an average of 8 Riblet portions but, sometimes, the ribs can be bought as a whole. If you’re lucky, you have a butcher that will cut them by your request or, at least, offer both.

If you can’t find short ribs or you need a cheaper alternative, I suggest you purchase a thick Beef Chuck that can be cut into rib size portions, with all of the connection tissue, that could imitate good short ribs. We’ll call it, Poor Man’s Beef Short Ribs!

Beef Short Ribs are very meaty and popular among barbecue enthusiasts because of it. They are terrific when they’re smoked on a grill and just good but different, if they’re slow roasted in the oven or in a Slow Cooker. Today, I’m going to show you a simple method I like to use in my old school Crock Pot.

8 raw Beef Short Ribs on a foam packaging plate, on the counter top.

Roasting Short Ribs

Rib meat can be very tough when it’s cooked at higher temperatures for shorter amounts of time. That’s why the prefered method is to smoke or roast for a slow amount of time and at lower temps. Both smoking and roasting embrace this methodology and I’m a big fan of the process, myself.

My Crock Pot (slow cooker), however, is old. Like 80’s old but that’s the era that made the best slow cookers. They have a heavy glass lid that traps the steam in so you don’t have to add any liquid to keep the meat from drying out. If you’ve got one of the newer slow cookers, that requires the addition of liquid as you roast, then you need to follow those cooking instructions along with this recipe, to get the same results.

Large white bowl filled with all of the cooked Beef Short Ribs and bits of Mushroom, Onion and Bell Pepper.

I season and sear all of the Beef Short Ribs, in a pan with Olive Oil, before I add them to the Crock Pot. Then I add chopped onion, bell pepper, mushrooms and parsley. Again, no liquid unless your slow cooker requires it. After 10 hours of cooking on low, I separate the Ribs from the liquid (above pic).

Large pan with Garlic Mushroom, Onion and Bell Pepper Brown Gravy, made from the Beef Short Ribs Roast.

Making the Gravy

I use the liquid, from the crock pot to make the gravy. I make a small garlic and butter based roux before I add the liquid, including all of the chopped and roasted veggies. If a deeper and more complex flavor is desired, a splash of red wine or a small amount of tomato paste can be added. I’ve had it both ways, they’re both great but I prefer it without either.

How to cook Beef Short Ribs with Gravy video tutorial by PoorMansGourmet.

Beef Short Ribs with Gravy Ingredients:

4 lbs Beef Short Ribs
1 Onion, sliced or diced
1 Red Bell Pepper, sliced or diced
2 oz Button or Portobello Mushrooms, sliced
1 sprig Fresh Parsley, chopped

Lightly season Beef with Kosher Salt and Pepper

Gravy Ingredients:

1 Garlic Clove, chopped
2 tbsp Butter
2 tbsp Flour, all purpose
Slow Cooker Liquid & Vegetables

1/2 cup Red Wine, optional
1/3 cup Tomato Sauce, optional

Kosher Salt and Pepper to taste

Season the Beef Short Ribs with Kosher Salt and Pepper, then sear all sides in a hot pan. Add sliced Onion, Bell Pepper, chopped mushrooms and parsley to the slow cooker, topped with the seared short ribs. Cook on low for 10 hours.

Extract the Beef Ribs from the pot and start cooking the Gravy in a large pan on the stove. Start with the butter, then add the garlic and flour. Stir for 1 minute until it’s pasty and starts to brown. Then add the slow cooker juice including all of it’s contents; onions, peppers, mushrooms and parsley. Cook and stir over High heat, until the gravy thickens, then turn the burner down to low. Serve Beef Short Ribs
and Gravy over mashed potatoes.

Oven Roasted Beef Brisket

Easiest Oven Roasted Beef Brisket

One of my top 10 recipes is my Texas Style Beef Brisket but, in that recipe, I only cooked the point, which is the thicker portion of a brisket. In this recipe I cook an entire brisket, Austin Texas style. This means you won’t need the rub that I show you how to make in the other Texas style recipe because, in Austin, they only use Kosher salt and pepper. It is an oven roasted recipe so, you’re not going to see the smoke rings that are so overly admired but it will still be just as juicy, tender and flavorful.

Beef Brisket in a the bag per pound total weight and price.

Understanding the Beef Brisket

When it comes to several of my more “expensive” recipes, I always hear the same gripes and complaints. They say, “this isn’t a poor man’s recipe” but I completely disagree. First off realize that this is the Poor Man’s GOURMET kitchen so it’s not all about canned tuna and saltines. I believe that there is a time and place for everything. This means that I justify and understand special occasion costs. Some things do cost more than others, there’s just no way around that but, there just might be a way through that still saves money. When it comes to this brisket costing me $60 dollars, I look at the price, I consider how many meals and mouths I can feed and the price per pound. This Brisket, per pound, costs less than hamburger where I live. And if you’re interested in the amount of money I saved vs. eating out, CLICK HERE and read this!

Raw and trimmed, kosher salt and peppered Beef Brisket in a roasting pan.

Beef Brisket Preperation

A Beef Brisket is one of the easiest things to prepare for roasting. How much labor that goes into it, however, totally depends on how much work your butcher did for you and how much you want to do yourself. The trimming is, by far, the most difficult part but it’s really easy to do. Just cut out off the fat and proportion the meat into the shape you want it to be. You should leave a good 1/4 inch of fat across the whole bottom, though, and consider removing the silver skin, on top, and an inch or two from the end of the flat(the skinnier portion of meat). Then season the meat with an even amount of kosher salt and pepper. I recommend seasoning in the roasting pan to prevent a messy counter top. Now all you have to do is bake the brisket, covered, for 12 hours at 200° Fahrenheit.

Easiest Oven Roasted Beef Brisket Recipe by Poor Man’s Gourmet Kitchen

Tri Tip with Chimichurri Sauce

The Best Tri Tip

If you’re looking for an easy yet amazing Tri Tip recipe, you’ve come to the right place. This steak is marinated with a rub seasoning, I use on my Texas Style Brisket, with one other secret ingredient that will surprise you. Plus, it’s topped off with a Chimichurri Sauce that is, out of this world, incredible. So you get one of the most tender and juicy beef steaks, that is seasoned and seared on the grill and baked to perfection, with one of the best meat condiments ever created.

Cooking a Tri Tip Perfectly

One of the main secrets to a great Tri Tip is locking in the juice with a sear and cooking low and slow. That means paying real close attention to the internal temperature while it grills, smokes or bakes. In this recipe I use both the grill and the oven to get the temperature I want. And since my personal tastes fall into the “medium rare” category, my target temp is around 130 degrees Fahrenheit. Using an external meat thermometer helps meat get there perfectly because I can monitor the temp, outside of the oven, with out disturbing the cooking process by opening and closing the door. And this can be done with grills and smokers as well. So once you’ve decided your preferred cooking method of choice, you can set it and forget it.

Tri Tip Ingredients

1 Trip Tip Steak 3 to 4 lbs.
Salt and Pepper to taste

Brisket Rub
1/2 cup Smoked Paprika
2 tbsp Kosher Salt
2 tbsp Black Pepper
2 tbsp Sugar
1 tbsp Chili Powder
1 tbsp Cumin
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder

Mix 3 parts Brisket Rub with 1 part Coffee grains.
Click Here for Chimichurri recipe.

Follow the instructions in the Tri Tip video tutorial.