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Slow-Cooker Ribs

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Juicy, tender and flavorful Slow-Cooker Ribs

Racks of slow cooked St. Louis-style pork ribs brushed with sweet bbq sauce

Slow-Cooker Ribs – juicy, tender and flavorful St. Louis-style pork spareribs slow-cooked then grilled or broiled for the perfect char.

Who knew you could make amazing Slow-Cooker Ribs at home that rival those from your favorite BBQ joint?

My husband and I are the first to admit that we’re rib-snobs. Personally, I never, ever order ribs in a regular chain restaurant. All we want is the real deal from a smokehouse BBQ joint or specialty food truck. We adore BBQ and have had plenty of moan-worthy meaty ribs in our days.

However, as much as we LOVE barbecue, we’ve never moved into the land of home-smokers. I have enough to do without learning a new craft and my traveling husband doesn’t have the time to babysit a smoker for 12-20 hours.

I don’t blame him, there’s always so much to do and real deal smoking meats is an art that should be saved for those with amazing passion. We’re just passionate about eating ribs, not smoking them 🙂

 

A platter filled with slow-cooker ribs slathered in homemade bbq sauce

Even though we don’t have a smoker, we still want to enjoy amazing, tender, juicy ribs at home.

I’ve been wondering for a long time if you really can get delicious ribs out of a slow-cooker. It makes perfect sense to me. Slow cooking works wonders on fatty meats, especially well marbled pork. I finally came across a slow-cooker rib recipe that sounded completely doable without boiling the ribs in broth or juice.

Cook’s Country published a recipe for the cooking method I’ve used here as part of their Slow-Cooker Memphis-Style Wet Ribs.

The St. Louis-style ribs are cut in half crosswise, coated in a spice rub then arranged vertically inside the slow-cooker. With the thick ends pointing down and the meaty side against the interior wall of the slow cooker insert, the ribs cook perfectly!

 

A plate with barbecued ribs with coleslaw and homemade sauce

Once the slow-cooker ribs are tender, they’re brushed with barbecue sauce and broiled or grilled until charred.

After removing from the slow cooker, let the ribs rest for 10-15 minutes before placing on a hot, preheated grill for about 10 minutes. We carefully turn the ribs twice on the grill, adding more sauce to ensure we have plenty of flavor and gobs of shiny, sticky, finger lickin’ appeal.

Once charred to your liking, remove from the grill, slather with more sauce, tent with foil and wait a tortuous 10-15 minutes before cutting into individual ribs. Done and done!

This also works well using the broiler element in your oven. So if it’s raining, snowing or you ran out of bottled gas or forgot to start the charcoal, no worries! Broiling gives these ribs plenty of char-loving flavor and crispiness without going outside.

 

A large platter of barbecued pork ribs with barbecue sauce and cole slaw

Homemade spice rub for Slow-Cooker Ribs

We made these ribs with our own homemade spice rub (printable recipe below.) For a complete meal serve these Slow-Cooker Ribs with our no mayo coleslaw recipe and our Easy Honey BBQ Sauce. Bet you’re going to LOVE it all!

 

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A platter of saucy pork ribs garnished with parsley

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A platter of BBQ'd Slow-Cooker Ribs
5 from 2 votes

Slow-Cooker Ribs

Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 7 hrs
Total Time: 7 hrs 20 mins
Yield: 6
Course: Dinner, Main Dish
Author: Tricia
PRINT RECIPE
Juicy, tender, flavorful ribs slow-cooked then grilled or broiled for the perfect char.

Ingredients

For the spice rub:

  • 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon granulated garlic
  • 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)

For the ribs:

  • 4 pounds pork spareribs St. Louis-style, trimmed (two small racks are best to fit in the slow-cooker)
  • 1 cup barbecue sauce (see link in notes for recipe)

Instructions

  • Combine all the spice rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Using paper towels, pat the ribs dry and then cover both sides with the spice rub. Be sure to massage the spices into the meaty side of the ribs. Cut the rack(s) in half and place them in the slow-cooker vertically with the thick ends pointing down and the meaty side against the interior wall of the slow-cooker. If the ribs are too tall to fit against the wall, tilt them toward the sides of the slow-cooker. Ribs may overlap, this is okay. Cover and cook until ribs are just tender and the meat is pulling away from the bones, about 5 or 6 hours on high or 6 or 7 hours on low.
  • Using two sets of tongs carefully remove the ribs to a baking sheet (meaty side up) and allow them to rest about ten minutes.

To grill the ribs:

  • While the ribs are resting, preheat the grill on high. Using two sets of tongs transfer ribs to the grill with the meaty side facing up. While the bottom of the ribs char, cover the top meaty part with the barbecue sauce. After five minutes, carefully turn the ribs with the sauce side facing down. Brush sauce on the other side. Grill the ribs, turning one more time adding more sauce until the ribs are well charred and the sauce is caramelized, about 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from the grill, tent with foil and allow ribs to rest for 15 minutes. Cut ribs in between the bones to separate. Serve with remaining sauce.

To broil the ribs:

  • Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a wire rack inside the baking sheet. Adjust the oven rack 3 inches from the broiler element and heat on high. Place the ribs on the rack, meaty side up. Brush the ribs with barbecue sauce and broil until the sauce is bubbling and starting to char, about 5 minutes. Remove the ribs from the oven and brush with additional sauce. Tent with foil and let rest for 15 minutes. Cut ribs in between the bones to separate. Serve.

Recipe Notes

  • If you can find smaller racks it’s much easier to fit them in the slow-cooker. Larger racks will be too tall to rest straight up vertically in the slow-cooker. Tilt the large racks until they fit and you’re able to cover the cooker with a lid. They’ll cook fine tilted so no worries.
  • Try our homemade Easy Honey BBQ Sauce recipe
  • Serve with our favorite no-mayo Super Cole Slaw Recipe
  • Cooking method adapted from Cook’s Country.
Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate. When multiple ingredient alternatives are given, the first listed is calculated for nutrition. Garnishes and optional ingredients are not included.

Nutrition

Calories: 933kcal | Carbohydrates: 23g | Protein: 47g | Fat: 71g | Saturated Fat: 23g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Monounsaturated Fat: 26g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 242mg | Sodium: 1145mg | Potassium: 882mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 18g | Vitamin A: 506IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 71mg | Iron: 3mg

Here are a few more recipes you might enjoy:

 

A jar of homemade Honey Barbecue Sauce

Easy Honey BBQ Sauce – great as a marinade or for basting and slathering on grilled chicken, pork or beef. Try this sauce on our slow-cooker ribs.

 

Beef Brisket sliced and covered with barbecue sauce. Served with cole slaw and rolls

BBQ Brisket Recipe – making delicious, tender and juicy beef brisket is easier than you think! This easy, fool-proof method is a wonderful way to get exceptional results with very little effort.

All you need is a grill and an oven, a good spicy dry rub and some seriously delicious sauce, and I can help you with the rub and sauce!

 

A bowl of mayonnaise free Super Coleslaw with green bell peppers and pimentos

Enjoy this mayo-free simple Super Coleslaw with a nice bite from the cider vinegar and plenty of flavor from pimentos, onion and chopped green pepper.

 

Looking for a few more slow-cooker recipes to entice your hungry family to the table?

Check out this roundup of the Best Ever Slow Cooker Dinner Recipes. So many wonderful recipes to drool over.

Who can pass up a fool-proof recipe for Slow-Cooker Pork Carnitas?

This juicy Slow Cooked Lamb Shawarma recipe is going to the top of my must-make list!

And finally, I can’t wait to try this Crock Pot Honey Garlic Chicken recipe. Juicy and flavorful recipes really speak to me!

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20 Comments

  1. Candacde says

    April 20, 2019 at 4:39 pm

    5 stars
    I made these for overnight company on Thursday. I was a little hesitant since I’d never tried it before, but your recipes are always tried and true, Trisha! My ribs were cut really short – like 2 inches high from Costco. So I stacked and layered them with fingers crossed, and they worked beautifully! This will become one of our all-time favorites! Thanks so much!

    reply to this comment >
    • Tricia Buice says

      April 21, 2019 at 8:02 am

      Thank you for the feedback! I’m thrilled you loved this recipe. You must have used baby back ribs if they were that small 🙂 It’s all good! Thanks again for trying the recipe and for letting us know how it turned out for you. Thank you!

      reply to this comment >
  2. Susan says

    April 17, 2019 at 3:16 pm

    I am a sucker for a good rack of ribs and these look scrumptious!

    reply to this comment >
    • Tricia Buice says

      April 18, 2019 at 7:30 am

      Thanks Susan!

      reply to this comment >
  3. John / Kitchen Riffs says

    April 17, 2019 at 10:50 am

    I sometimes do ribs outside, but frankly I can never do the same job that BBQ restaurants do. So I slow-cook them in the oven. That works! I’ve been playing around with making them in the slow cooker, too, and that’s an amazing way to prepare them. Your recipe looks perfect — thanks!

    reply to this comment >
    • Tricia Buice says

      April 18, 2019 at 7:30 am

      Thanks John! I can never get ribs to turn out like they do when slow smoked. But these are pretty great!

      reply to this comment >
  4. Karen (Back Road Journal) says

    April 16, 2019 at 4:04 pm

    Yum, they look finger licking good. They would be perfect for Memorial Day.

    reply to this comment >
    • Tricia Buice says

      April 17, 2019 at 7:20 am

      Thanks Karen – yes indeed!

      reply to this comment >
  5. Larry says

    April 16, 2019 at 8:14 am

    Glad they turned out well and I may have to give the slow cooker a try. I’ll likely add a little liquid smoke to the BBQ sauce

    reply to this comment >
    • Tricia Buice says

      April 17, 2019 at 7:20 am

      Thanks Larry – bet you would like how easy these are to make.

      reply to this comment >
  6. Mimi says

    April 15, 2019 at 2:24 pm

    You’re so right. Babysitting meat for 2 days has to be a passion! We have a really neat smoker that works so well and it’s electric. Smoked turkeys are so good in it. My husband’s always said he doesn’t like ribs, but I made them recently and he ate most of them. Then he clarified that he doesn’t like them because they’re messy. I don’t think it really matters if you’re eating them at room, right?!!! Anyway, great recipe. My recent ones were made using the slow cooker/broiler way, and they were magnificent.

    reply to this comment >
    • Tricia Buice says

      April 15, 2019 at 3:45 pm

      Our son-in-law uses an electric smoker and loves it. Maybe one day we’ll pick one up. Thanks so much for stopping by Mimi!

      reply to this comment >
  7. sue | the view from great island says

    April 15, 2019 at 10:59 am

    Perfect timing, I was just looking at smoker/grills yesterday trying to decide on one for the summer. In the meantime I’ll plug in my slow cooker when I get the urge for ribs, what a fabulous recipe.

    reply to this comment >
    • Tricia Buice says

      April 15, 2019 at 3:44 pm

      We truly love our gas grill Sue – couldn’t make it a week without it!

      reply to this comment >
  8. Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers says

    April 15, 2019 at 9:24 am

    Wow! I could go for a plate of these right now and it’s only 9am 🙂 Ribs are one of my husband’s most favourite things. Can’t wait to try your slow cooker version. Easy and delicious!

    reply to this comment >
    • Tricia Buice says

      April 15, 2019 at 3:43 pm

      My husband loves them to Jennifer. You’ll love how easy they are to make and so tender!

      reply to this comment >
  9. angiesrecipes says

    April 15, 2019 at 8:36 am

    This looks incredibly DELICIOUS, Tricia!

    reply to this comment >
    • Tricia Buice says

      April 15, 2019 at 3:43 pm

      Thanks Angie!

      reply to this comment >
  10. Chris Scheuer says

    April 15, 2019 at 6:27 am

    I’m moaning already and I haven’t even tasted them! These ribs look amazing, Trica and you perfectly captured their beauty!

    reply to this comment >
    • Tricia Buice says

      April 15, 2019 at 7:56 am

      Thank you Chris! Slow cooking does amazing things to ribs – hope you’ll give them a try!

      reply to this comment >

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