In case you haven’t heard me say it before—I LOVE making everything from soups to stocks to beans to dinners in my crock pot.
Preparing a delicious and nutritious meal in advance that is ready and waiting for you at dinner time, keeps your house smelling amazing all day long, and usually requires minimal cleanup after eating? I am sold. Especially on those nights when the kids have early evening extracurricular activities. Slow cooker dinners are the way to go in my opinion!
Another great thing about this recipe is that, for those who have an allergy or sensitivity, it does not contain any gluten or dairy (as long as a gluten-free soy sauce is used). You could also just omit (or replace) the soy sauce topping if someone in your family can’t eat soy. Oh, and while we are on the topic, there are no nuts in this recipe either. So there you go…this is officially an allergy-friendly dish that everyone can enjoy together!
Slow Cooker Asian Short Ribs (with Soy Sauce Glaze)
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the 5-spice powder, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Place the onion and garlic in the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Put the ribs on top of the onion and coat them evenly with the spice mixture. Keeping the ribs on top of the onions helps to keep them out of the juices and fat that will collect at the bottom during cooking.
- Turn slow cooker onto LOW and cook for 9 to 10 hours. (No need to add any water or liquid before starting.)
- Just before serving the ribs, combine the soy sauce and honey in a small pot on the stove. Bring to a light boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
- Carefully transfer the ribs to a serving platter (on top of the brown rice noodles and bok choy if using – as pictured above) and pour the sauce over the top of the entire dish. Enjoy!
My husband’s absolute favorite meal! If you can’t find the 5-spice mix, it’s really good without. I’ve made it both ways. Just do extra paprika.
These are incredible. I’ve made them a few times – they’re my husbands favorite so I usually cook them as a special meal or date night for us! The flavor is so good especially with the sauce drizzled on top!
Is there another name for the 5 spice powder? I’m having trouble finding it.
Hi there. This will help if you can’t find the blend: http://www.thekitchn.com/inside-the-spice-cabinet-chinese-five-spice-powder-74672.
This dish is definitely a winner! I’m not a very experienced cook, but this is the most impressive thing to come out of my kitchen – and it was so easy! I followed instructions exactly, except cut the ingredients in half since I was just feeding two people. The glaze at the end is the icing on the – ribs! I served with white rice, sauteed bok choy (with ginger, garlic, soy sauce), and a cold asian cucumber salad (just googled one). My boyfriend was very impressed, and this will definitely be on rotation for dinner parties! Keep the slow cooker recipes coming… I also really like the pulled pork from this website.
I am allergic to onions – any other alternative? Or will they cook fine on top of garlic?
Hi. It will do fine with the garlic but will sit on the bottom of the pot. This might help, too: http://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-best-substitute-for-onions-in-recipes-good-questions-211146.
Will this work if I double the recipe?
If your crock pot is big enough! :)
Are there nutritional values listed for any of these recipes?
Hi Ali. We really don’t focus on numbers. This post helps explain why we do not provide those details: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/01/04/healthy-eating-defined/.
Wow Wow Wow! We had these Asian Ribs last night and my husband won’t stop talking about them. They were wonderful! We bought the grass fed beef ribs from Whole Foods. They cost a fortune but it was worth it! I used the recipe for Udon Noodles with Bok Choy that Amy Taylor (comment moderator) put the link on 10/7/14 in the comments. It went perfectly with the Asian ribs. I also quartered 2 onions instead of one to make sure the ribs were elevated off the bottom of the crock pot. This recipe is a keeper. Can’t wait to have my kids over to try this. Thanks!
We made the Asian short ribs for dinner tonight with steamed broccoli. This is dinner party worthy, AND, my 4 and 6 yo devoured it!
Cooking this for a Chinese New Year party. 2 questions. Is this cooked as one layer in the crockpot or can I put a few layers on top of each other. I have 20 ribs to do. Can I freeze these?
Hi there. Sure, you can freeze them.
My short ribs are in the crock pot right now. I’m going to have them with soba noodles and whatever organic green looks good at the market today. For those above with absolutely no imagination, http://www.pinterest.com literally has thousands of recipes for everything. I’m even providing the website link for all you lazy peeps.
I am new to this and will be doing the ‘ten day clean eating pledge’. I will be using this site a lot for recipes as well as a few others. This is the first meal on my very first ever meal planing journey. Did you list the side dishes? I see in some comments people were asking questions about the book choy and Asian noodles. Do I just have to go to recipes to find side dishes. Thanks so much and I am glad I am here and looking forward to journey.
Hi Bonnie. For most of the recipes, just one dish is featured. You can mix and match, however, throughout the recipe index: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/real-food-resources/recipe-index/. Have you accessed the meal plans: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/our-free-meal-plans/? ~Amy
Someone earlier in the comments mentioned throwing the bok choy in the crockpot on top of the ribs, so I did that an hour before it was done cooking. Turned out fine. I thought the dish was a tad salty (and one kid wasn’t a huge fan of the bok choy, but ate most of it) overall my family liked it. My husband has been on board with clean eating for a while now and Lisa’s recipes are making him a big fan. Thanks!
So the noodles and bok choy are plain? It would be nice if the recipe included directions for these items as well.
Hi Krishell. Here is a favorite of mine: http://www.vegetariantimes.com/recipe/stir-fried-udon-noodles-with-bok-choy/. :)
Another winner! Thank you! I needed this done in about 6 hours, so I started it on high for an hour then switched to low for the remaining time and they were perfect. I took a bite before adding the soy sauce and honey mixture and thought they were equally as tasty without it. This will definitely become a regular in my menu rotation. I love the idea of trying this with chicken, cannot wait!
Thanks again!
Holly
Portland, OR
How long should it cook if you use chicken?
For a whole chicken I’d cook it for about 4 to 5 hours on high. For chicken legs I would cook it for 3 to 4 hours on high.
Lisa said she used chicken instead of ribs…….did she use a whole chicken, or what? Thanks!
I used chicken legs, but a whole chicken would be great!
What is the brand of the spice? I am having trouble finding that or the things that go in it!
Hi Cara. McCormick makes one.
I invited my parents over and we had this along with the Asian coleslaw and they were both delicious. Thanks for sharing the recipe.
I can’t find the five spice blend… Can you tell me what spices are in it? Thanks!
Here ya go:
ground cinnamon
ground cloves
fennel seed
ground star anise
Szechuan peppercorns
How do you prepare the bok choy?
Hi Elizabeth. I think think Lisa sauteed this. Here is a look at some options: http://blog.williams-sonoma.com/5-ways-with-bok-choy/. ~Amy
Check out my blog at http://healthyandhappywellness.blogspot.com :)
Made this tonight. Delicious! Thank you for posting this recipe!
I made this on Monday, oh my, I was glad I was at work while it was cooking because it smelled so good. It was very tasty and the meat just fell off the bones. We had Jasmine rice and sautéed bok choy with it.
I have now made 2 of your recipes and I will be trying more. Thank you.
These ribs were fabulous. Thank you for the recipe. However, should the sauce have been thick or thin?
Hi Michele. It should be like a thin syrup. ~Amy
Our store was sold out of short ribs so I bought beef slices with no bones. Do you think this will turn out similar or should I not cook it for so long?
Hi Susan. How did it turn out?
When you use soy sauce, do you use sodium free?
Hi there. No, we don’t. ~Amy
So good. I made this last night, and everyone loved it. The leftovers were fought over by my oldest and husband tonight!
I made this tonight and it is delicious! The whole family enjoyed it!
I was going to make this and I thought I have short ribs at home, only to find out it was ribeye and I already defrosted it. Can I use that ? Or do u have any rib eye recipe?
Thanks
Hi there. Sorry that I am so late getting to this. What did you do? ~Amy
Hi,
My family loves ribs, I am always looking for a new recipe. However my daughter is highly allergic to honey. Will this taste really different without the honey or is there a substitute I could use? Thank you!
Hi Colleen. We often substitute honey with maple syrup though we’ve not tried it in this recipe. ~Amy
This did not turn out good for me. Short ribs had no taste, and I didn’t know 5-spice powder is the same spice used in Vietnamese pho dish, it wasn’t good to eat pho beef over rice. Most likely will not try this recipe again.
Fantastic! We at Little Green Pouch are taking the 10 day real food pledge, and I made this for breakfast on day one. It was a hit, and my husband asked me to add it to our regular rotation :-)
Hi. Do you have recommendations for doubling the recipe? I actually don’t know what 3-1/2 pounds of short ribs looks like, but know that i’d like to make enough for 6-8 people, so hoping i can fit more in crockpot. Do you think it’s ok to proportionally increase the recipe for additional servings? or is it not recommended? Thanks.
Hello. I think the recipe will work fine when doubled. The issue might be your crock pot size. ~Amy
Outstanding (and ridiculously easy) recipe. We found this googling a crock-pot recipe for some beef spare ribs that didn’t involve BBQ sauce. This was just the ticket. Can’t wait to check out the rest of your site.
I served with broccoli that I steamed over the rice noodles as they boiled, and garnished with a bit of sesame oil, sesame seeds and red pepper flakes. So amazing and comforting, especially in the colder months. The meat had a great char on the outside yet stayed tender inside; it fell right off the bone. I am attempting a stock in the slow cooker with the bones and leftover braising liquid- I’m sure it will be delicious as well!
This sounds so good, but I don’t eat beef. Do you think this would work with a pork loin?
Hi Erin. We’ve not tried this with pork. If you do, you might want to choose a cut with more fat (maybe a shoulder with bone in) or it may come out dry. ~Amy
Made these ribs for my family and they loved it. Thank you for the recipe.
Quick question- why not coat the ribs in the spices and other things before putting them in the crock pot? Thank you.
Hello Gigi. You could totally do that. :) ~Amy
I made this the other day. Followed the recipe exactlly. My family really liked it. I don’t even think I would do anything differently were I to make it again. If only short ribs were cheaper, this one would go into regular rotation.