Crockpot ribs are guaranteed to be fall off the bone tender. Learn the secrets for making the best slow cooker ribs including instructions for prepping the meat, giving it a good dry rub, and finishing them off for restaurant quality perfection.
You want your ribs to be fall-off-the-bone tender. The crockpot is a great choice. BUT, how do you go from the ugly mess of the slow cooker to beautifully caramelized fall of the bone ribs?
If you just throw ribs and bbq sauce in a slow cooker for 8 hours, you’ll get some fall-off-the-bone ribs, but they’ll be kind of funky and unappetizing. The bbq sauce won’t have caramelized at all, and the liquids in the meat will have produced a really runny bbq sauce liquid.
We find the crockpot to be the easiest method to cook ribs and it is my go-to method, especially when cooking for a crowd. Combine the ease of the crockpot with my easy secret tip and you’ll have yourself some pretty dang amazing ribs.
THE SECRET TO CROCKPOT (SLOW COOKER) RIBS
- Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. See the video for an easy demo. Just slide your fingers around the side to loosen it up and rip it right off.
- Give the ribs a dry rub. This step is optional. Some people like a good dry rub first for additional flavor.
- Put your ribs in the crockpot. Lather them with barbecue sauce. You can use a homemade sauce like my Raspberry-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce for ribs or a store-bought bottle. Just remember to save a little bit for later.
- Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. The more racks in the pot, the longer you’ll need to cook.
- Gently remove the racks and lay them out on a foil lined baking sheet. Add more barbecue sauce on top.
- Broil under a broiler for 3-5 minutes until the barbecue sauce starts to bubble and caramelize. Alternately you could wrap them in foil and throw them on a heated grill for the same effect. I sometimes do this for crowds and picnics. This keep the ribs warm until ready to eat and makes it easy to pass out portions. Enjoy!
What kind of ribs should I use to make slow cooker ribs?
This recipe and method will work best with pork ribs including: baby back ribs, spare ribs, St. Louis style ribs, and country style pork ribs. For beef short ribs try my slow cooker short rib recipe or my recipe for classic braised beef short ribs. If you have a smoker we also highly recommend these Smoked Beef Ribs.
Can I finish my crockpot ribs on the grill instead of the oven?
Our secret to crockpot ribs is to caramelize the ribs under the broiler setting in your oven. Another option is to put them on the grill to get that extra caramelization. If you choose to use the grill, put them straight onto the grill (or onto a piece of aluminum foil) over high heat (500 degrees). Brush them with additional barbecue sauce and then close the lid. Let them grill for about 3-5 minutes, until the sauce starts to bubble and caramelize.
PRO TIP: One of the best tips for making ribs in the crockpot is to use a crockpot liner. These BPA-free plastic bags line your crockpot, making clean up a breeze! No more scrubbing out caramelized, burnt on sauce! They are awesome. You can find them in your grocery store near things like aluminum foil and plastic bags. They are a huge time saver.
My ribs were so delicious! And this recipe is so easy! I have a new crockpot and it is bigger which is what I wanted so I could double recipes.
However, it is running hot and I was fortunate to suddenly wake up during the night so I checked the ribs. With an hour and a half to go yet they were done 😅 and I made 8 pounds. I have some great ideas for the leftovers.
Thanks for a winner recipe!
I made these ribs tonight and they were falling off the bone!!! My family LOVED them. I tried cooking them once in the oven, but they came out dry and nobody wanted to eat them. I am so glad I found this recipe. Definitely will be using it again 😁
I have tried to make ribs before and was never very successful. Made these last night for company and they were amazing! Best ribs and soooooo easy! Thank you!!!’
I used this recipe one week ago and followed it almost to a “T”! Repeating it again tomorrow. This was my first time using a rub with no brown sugar, and I much preferred it! It has always bugged me that the juice left over in the crockpot was too sweet to be used for anything.
The one change that I made was to use less BBQ sauce. You know how hard it is to completely empty a bottle of BBQ sauce? I had approx 1/2 cup left in a bottle, shook it up with some warm water and poured over the ribs in the crockpot. Cooked them on low for about 7 hours. I finished the ribs off on the BBQ and then slathered it with sauce! Yummy!
And my final tip… The next day I made crockpot “baked” beans from scratch (soaked dried beans etc) utilizing the juice from cooking the ribs plus onions, bacon and all the traditional ingredients.
The beans went in the freezer and will be served tomorrow night with rib dinner!
I have been using this recipe for a few years now. I thought I really should share with other people how good this recipe is. I just put my ribs in the crockpot literally took 10 minutes to prep the… membrane came off today so easily(not always the case) and made the rub quick. My family loves these ribs can’t wait for the whole house to smell delicious. Thanks for all your recipes they surely don’t disappoint.❤️
Great Weekend Recipe! Just followed your preparation tips, cut the racks in half, put them on the low setting at 9:00 am. Went swimming all day! At 5:00 pm We took them out and placed on a foil lined baking sheet. Brushed them with your sauce and broiled for 9- 10 minutes! This is a restaurant quality meal! 5 Stars!
This is the only way I make my ribs. Just love this recipe.
Perfect….did the dry rub, placed on a rack with water just to the rack level, placed the ribs on the rack….cooked on high for 4 1/2 hours, put the ribs on parchment paper and added some bbq sauce and broiled just enough…it was ‘fall off the bone’ tender!
We made baby back ribs and these were the best I have ever eaten . Thank you
This will be my go to Rib recipe every time, Sooo delicious and fall off the bone tender! This was my 2nd time using this recipe and i find cooking them on high for 4 to five hours they’re perfect!
Thankyou!