I have another great slow cooker recipe for you today, and just like with my BBQ Pulled Pork, it is the combination of the most perfect and simple pork rub and our homemade bbq sauce. We are making these amazing slow cooker pork ribs, and I think you are going to absolutely fall in love with them. They are fall off the bone tender with a delicious flavor from our seasoning and sauce. Plus, they are simple to make. This is a no fuss dinner that everyone will love.
How to Cook Ribs in a Crock Pot
Oven or Crock Pot Ribs
We have a recipe for ribs that is made in the oven – our Honey BBQ Ribs. While we love that recipe and stand by that cooking method, honestly, we like this much more. The meat is incredibly tender when it is slow cooked.
Fitting Ribs in the Crock Pot
It is easy to fit one rack of ribs in the crock pot. They can simply be cut in half and layered one on top of the other as you see pictured. It gets a little trickier when you are cooking two racks. You can cut them and layer them, but you can also set them on their sides to cook, wrapping them one around the other. It is a tight fit, but works perfectly. Make sure to coat both sides of the ribs with BBQ sauce.
Why We Cook Ribs on Low
Whether you decide to cook your ribs in the oven, the slow cooker, in a smoker, or on the grill, you are going to want to cook it slow and low. This is what makes for the most tender meat. When it comes to making them in the crockpot, I would highly encourage you to cook these on low for 8 hours rather than on high for four. The difference in the tenderness of the meat is more substantial than probably any of my other slow cooker recipes.
Pork Rub
Our pork rub deserves it’s own post because it is so easy to make and the flavor of it is exceptional. You will not regret the five minutes you take to whip this up and rub down the ribs with it. It is also delicious on pork shoulder and would even be great on pork chops that you throw on the grill. Some BBQ experts suggest that for optimal flavor you want to rub the ribs down and leave them at room temperature for an hour before cooking them. We found that this step doesn’t really work for this crock pot rib recipe. We opt to coat them the night before and refrigerate them overnight before putting them in the crockpot in the morning. The result is delicious.
BBQ Sauce
We’ve been using this BBQ sauce recipe for a few years now and it has rave reviews both on the blog post and on social media. It is five minutes of prep time and 15 minus of simmering to make 2 1/2 cups of BBQ sauce. While you could replace it with store bought sauce, I think you will love this recipe so much. Especially when it is combined with the pork rub.
What to Serve with Ribs
Our favorite things to eat with crockpot ribs are easy side dishes.
These Roasted Baby Potatoes are a family favorite.You can never go wrong with Grilled Corn.We love our three ingredient Baked Potato Wedges.Finally, I think this Broccoli Cauliflower Salad goes with everything.
If you make these slow cooker ribs or any of my other recipes, leave me a comment and let me know what you think!
