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.
This is super easy! I just got a crock pot! Thank you 🙂
just put them on … thanx for this easy recipe!
have a great day, luv from Kentucky
how long can I cook it on HIGH?
I do not recommend cooking ribs on high. They will "cook" but they won't be tender. The low and slow cooking process is the key.
Is it possible to cook low and slow for 4 hrs and then cook on high for the last two hours and still have them be tender? I need 6 hrs lol
They will be cooked, but I always say that the best results are 8 hours on low. The only difference between high and low on most slow cookers is the amount of time it takes to reach temperature. High and low are the same temperatures so setting it to high at the end won’t really do anything. There are some slow cookers that high and low are actually different temperatures, but traditionally they are the same temp.
Hello, I have a few questions — is there any great BBQ sauce out there that doesn't have high fructose corn syrup? Also, could I cook the ribs in crockpot the day before, refrigerate overnight & have my husband put them on the grill for July 4th party? He wants to know how high the heat should be & is concerned that all the sauce will make them flame up (gas grill). Thank you!
I wouldn't recommend refrigerating them overnight. I don't claim to understand all the chemistry behind it, but the texture of the ribs will change if you refrigerate them and then try and reheat them. They are edible, but not nearly as good. I usually wrap them in aluminum foil when putting them on the grill, but you could just lay down a piece of foil to ensure that no ribs or sauce slip between the cracks. I just do it on a high flame for a few minutes. Doesn't take long at all. You just want that sauce to caramelize a bit.
Hi I'm Linda from Australia, thanks so much for this recipe, ribs are cooking at this minute, smell divine cant wait to devour them.
Thanks for saying hello Linda! I hope they are absolutely fabulous for you!
I have used your recipe for Countrystyle Pork Spare Ribs……diced up a whole yellow onion, through that in the crockpot, washed off ribs, placed them in pot, splashed soy sauce on them, a little garlic/pepper, 3/4 bottle of Sweet Baby Rays, put a lid on it and forget about it for 8 hours……..my Father's Day treat to myself and daughter! Thank you for all your insight on cooking, you answer all the question's , before I can even ask them…….♥
My name is Carol from North Central Illinois. Making ribs for the first time ever. It's sad. We've been married 43 years and never even thought to try ribs. We usually went to Famous Dave's when we wanted ribs. Now that I'm not in the work force, I have more time to try new things in the kitchen. I'm using this recipe. Got my fingers crossed. I'll let you know how they came out. I decided to cut a Vidalia in chunks and throw them on top of the ribs. We'll find out soon. Thank you for the recipe.
I am going to try this.
You know what is weird? I one time made ribs in the crockpot, just broiling them for 15 mins each side before hand and putting them in the crockpot with BBQ sauce, on low for 8 hours.
And the sauce *did* caramelize without needing to put them in the oven and they were the most fantastic ribs I ever had in my life, before or since.
And I told a bunch of people and they all made them that way and all agreed they were the best ribs, ever.
However, any time after that when I tried it, it *never* worked out again. They didn't caramelize and were kind of dry and just plain wrong and I tried so many times and gave up.
But I searched today and this recipe is pretty much what I'd imagine should work. I just don't get why the magic happened for me that one day but never again, and yet did for everyone I told about it.
Carol, you aren't crazy. Sometimes the sauce can caramelize in the slow cooker, but it depends on how long they have been in there, what kind of sauce it was, and how full the slow cooker is. Broiling them ensures the magic happens every time!
That’s the kind of thing that always happens to me. A new recipe co.es out perfect only the first.time. I have no idea why either.
I do a variation on this recipe that you might find interesting–it creates a rib that is very similar to the Texas Roadhouse restaurant ribs. I put a cup of water in the crockpot first, then add about 2 or 3 tablespoons of liquid smoke per rack to the water. I then cut up my pork ribs and apply a good rib rub to them, then add to the pot on top of a small rack of some kind to keep them from soaking in the liquid smoke water. I then cook on low for 8 hours, remove the ribs, and place them in a container in the fridge for a couple of hours to cool them down. (Cooling them down not only makes them easier to handle, but also keeps them from overheating and drying out under the broiler.) The final step is to lather them up with BBQ sauce and caramelize them under the oven broiler.
I read that you should cook the ribs in the oven for 15m per side first to get rid of the fat. Is that true? Also what do you think of a brine?