Beef · Slow cooker adaptation

Jamie Oliver Slow Cooker Beef Short Ribs

Jamie Oliver's festive one-pan beef short ribs, slow cooked in beer gravy with onion marmalade, carrots and celery hearts until the meat falls apart. Adapted from the oven to the slow cooker for hands-off cooking.

R By Richard · Adapted from Jamie Oliver · Published 10 June 2026
👁 362.6k source views ❤️ 4.2k source likes
⏱Prep 20 min
🍲Slow cook 8 hr (Low) / 5 hr (High)
🍽Serves 6
Easy Beef Short Ribs | Jamie Oliver | ONE

Source video by Jamie Oliver on YouTube. This recipe was adapted with strict source-fidelity rules and is marked for human review.

Beef short ribs are seared hard for colour, then braised low and slow with carrots, celery hearts, onion marmalade, walnuts, beer and water until the meat falls off the bone. Originally a one-pan oven dish cooked at 160C for 4 hours under a paper cartouche, it adapts to the slow cooker by searing in a frying pan first, then transferring everything to the cooker. Finish with horseradish over the rib and the reserved yellow celery leaves. Serve with jacket potatoes and the sticky beer gravy spooned over.

Slow cooker notes: Source is an oven braise (160C for 4 hours under a cartouche). Adapted to slow cooker: sear ribs and colour the carrots and celery hearts in a frying pan first, then transfer everything (ribs, vegetables, onion marmalade, walnuts, beer, 600 ml water, seasoning) to the slow cooker. Skim fat at the end as Jamie does. Jacket potatoes shown going into the oven alongside the braise are not part of the slow cooker recipe and are listed as a serving suggestion. Servings of 6 taken from the six jacket potatoes Jamie adds for the same meal.

Ingredients

Main
  • beef short ribs
  • carrots, peeled, kept whole
  • celery hearts, cut about 12 cm up from the root, halved then quartered; finely slice the stalks; reserve the yellow leaves in cold water
  • 0.5 jaronion marmalade
  • 50 gwalnuts
  • black pepper
  • beer
  • 600 mlwater
To finish
  • horseradish (add late)

Method

  1. Get a frying pan on a medium high heat. Sear the beef short ribs hard, letting the fat render and getting a dark golden colour on all sides for extra flavour.

  2. While the ribs colour, peel the carrots and keep them whole. Cut about 12 cm up from the root of the celery to get the hearts, halve then quarter them, and finely slice the remaining stalks. Reserve the yellow celery leaves in cold water for the very end.

  3. Remove the seared ribs from the pan. Add the whole carrots and quartered celery hearts and colour them in the rendered fat, treating them a little like the meat.

  4. Add the finely chopped celery stalks and let them soften. Stir in about half a jar of onion marmalade and the 50 g of walnuts. Season with lots of pepper.

  5. Transfer the contents of the pan to the slow cooker. Snuggle the ribs in among the vegetables. Pour in the bottle of beer and top up with 600 ml of water.

  6. Put the lid on and cook on Low for 8 hours or High for 5 hours, until the meat is falling-apart tender. Halfway through, turn the ribs over and baste them.

  7. Lift the ribs out carefully. Sieve any excess fat off the gravy. Drain the reserved yellow celery leaves.

  8. Plate up with a hunk of the slow-cooked meat, scatter the celery leaves over and spoon the hot gravy on top. Finish with horseradish over the rib to season the sauce.

Frequently asked

Do I have to sear the ribs first?
Yes. Jamie hits the ribs hard on a medium high heat to get a dark golden colour and render the fat, and does the same with the carrots and celery hearts. That colour is where the deep flavour of the gravy comes from, so don't skip it when adapting to the slow cooker.
What kind of beer should I use?
Jamie says to use a nice bottle of beer, something you'd like to drink yourself. He doesn't specify a style in this recipe.
Can I make it ahead?
Yes. Jamie says it's great party food, you can do it earlier in the day and reheat it. He also recommends the leftover gravy for roast potatoes, stew or bolognese.
What do I serve it with?
Jamie serves the ribs with a jacket potato, the reserved yellow celery leaves and hot gravy spooned over, finished with horseradish.
Extraction notes (transparency): Several quantities are not given in the transcript and are left null: number/weight of beef short ribs, number of carrots, number of celery hearts, beer volume (Jamie says 'a nice bottle'), pepper amount, horseradish amount. Stated quantities: about half a jar of onion marmalade, about 50 g walnuts, 600 ml water, 12 cm of celery from the root for the hearts. Slow cooker times are an adaptation (not stated in source); source oven time is 160C for 4 hours. Default servings of 6 taken from the six jacket potatoes Jamie serves with it.