Fall-Off-The-Bone Slow Cooker Ribs

No need to fire up the grill when you make Fall-Off-The-Bone Slow Cooker Ribs! These ribs are perfectly cooked every single time. Tender and moist pork baby back ribs are slathered in your favorite sauce and cooked to perfection right in your slow cooker.

Any day is a great day for Slow Cooker Ribs! 

In my perfect world it would be summer all year long.  I love everything about summer, including traditional summertime foods like Slow Cooker Cowboy Baked Beans and these amazing Fall off the Bone Slow Cooker Ribs!

But, you don't have to worry about the weather forecast or even the time of year when you make these ribs. Rain or shine, these slow cooker ribs are always in season. That's because the grill is optional when you make Slow Cooker Ribs!

Over the years, I've tried many methods to achieve tender fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs... I've slow baked ribs in the oven, boiled ribs, and cooked them all day on the BBQ grill. While all of these methods work, none of them compare to cooking baby back ribs in a slow cooker. When you put your slow cooker to work, you'll get tender and moist baby back ribs every single time!

There is really no need to put the ribs on the grill at all...but I admit, sometimes I finish them off on the grill to give them a "grilled look" and to caramelize the BBQ sauce. However, it's perfectly acceptable to just slather on more warmed up BBQ sauce before serving and bypass the grill completely. 

What type of ribs should I cook in the slow cooker?

Image source: Three Little Pigs BBQ 

In my opinion, because of their size and meatiness, baby back ribs are the best suited type of ribs to cook in the slow cooker. You can use this recipe for other pork ribs, such as St. Louis-style ribs and Spareribs, providing you can make them fit into the slow cooker crock. Keep in mind, you may need to adjust cook time when using ribs other than baby back ribs for this recipe. I would not suggest using country-style pork ribs in this recipe. 

How to cook ribs in the slow cooker

• Prebake before adding to the slow cooker. The trick to these great ribs is pre-baking them in a HOT (425 degree F) oven for 20 minutes before putting them into the slow cooker.  This allows some of the fat to melt off ahead of time, so it doesn't pool in your slow cooker while the ribs are cooking.

• Cut ribs in half so they fit into your slow cooker. My slow cooker will not hold a long slab of baby back ribs, so I cut them down the center into two half slabs after I remove the membrane on the underside. 

• Remove the membrane. You can leave the membrane on, but I find it's much easier to cut the ribs once this is removed.  Find out more about how to remove the membrane here.  

• Liberally season ribs with your favorite rub. I am currently in love with Gourmet Warehouse Applewood Smoked Seasoning or if you are looking for a low carb rub, try this Keto Dry Rub for Ribs.  

• Let ribs sit at room temperature for about 30 minutes. Before I start the whole cooking process, I like to let the ribs sit out at room temperature. This helps even out the cooking. Once the ribs are out of the oven for the prebake, I set the ribs up on their sides in the slow cooker, to allow any extra fat to drip down and off of them while they slow cook.  I then pour about a cup of my favorite BBQ sauce on to the ribs, cover and cook on low for about 6 hours or until they are fork tender. 

• Optional finish on the grill. Once the ribs are done, they can be quickly grilled to caramelize the sauce. You can also skip the grill entirely and simply cut them between the bones, slather them with more warmed up BBQ sauce, and enjoy.  

They are so moist and tender....

As you can see...the meat will, literally, just fall off the bone!  YUM! 

Is it wrong to dream about BBQ ribs?  If it is...I don't want to be right!  

What to serve with Fall-Off-the-Bone Slow Cooker Ribs

I like to serve these delicious BBQ spare ribs with a slaw like this zesty Firecracker Coleslaw or this healthy Red Cabbage Slaw with Cashews. Also delicious with Fall-Off-the-Bone Slow Cooker Ribs is an easy to make salad like this Easy Broccoli Pasta Salad or Mom's Potato Salad. Also great with these ribs when in season, is fresh corn on the cob! 

Slow Cooker Ribs, Slow Cooker Spare Ribs

Main Course, pork

American, BBQ

Yield: 6 servings

Author: Renee Paj

Fall-Off-The-Bone Slow Cooker Ribs

Prep time: 5 MinCook time: 6 H & 20 MTotal time: 6 H & 25 M

Fall-Off-The-Bone Slow Cooker Ribs are tender and moist baby back pork ribs cooked to perfection right in the slow cooker. No need to grill!

Ingredients

• 1 slab of baby back ribs, membrane removed (Find out how to remove membrane here)
• 1 - 2 TBSP Spice rub/seasoning of your choice
• 1 cup BBQ sauce of your choice

Instructions

1. Cut slab into two halves so it will fit into the crock of your slow cooker. Spray crock with cooking spray.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and put both halves of ribs on the sheet. Season both sides of rib halves with your favorite spice rub/seasoning of your choice. Rub into meat and allow meat to come up to room temperature as the oven heats.
3. Bake ribs, bone side down, in oven for 20 minutes. Remove and place into crock of slow cooker on it's side. (so bones are vertical in the crock)
4. Pour about a cup of your favorite BBQ sauce onto the ribs, cover and cook on LOW for about 6 hours,or until the ribs are tender, but not falling apart.
5. Remove ribs and cut into serving pieces place in serving dish and baste with more warm BBQ sauce OR take slab halves and finish off with more sauce on a hot outdoor grill to caramelize the sauce.

Nutrition Facts

Calories

99.37

Fat (grams)

1.54 g

Sat. Fat (grams)

0.47 g

Cholesterol (grams)

4.85 mg

Carbs (grams)

19.56 g

Fiber (grams)

0.43 g

Sugar (grams)

15.95 g

Net carbs

19.13 g

Protein (grams)

1.72 g

Sodium (milligrams)

498.19 mg

Nutritional Information is an estimate

https://www.reneeskitchenadventures.com/2015/05/fall-off-bone-slow-cooker-ribs.html

Copyright © 2015 Renee's Kitchen Adventures

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @renees_kitchen_adventures on instagram and hashtag it #RKArecipes

Renee's Notes:  I'm not kidding, you've got to give this method a try!  I know you will be sold on it like I was!  Pork Baby Back Ribs is a special occasion meal around here because ribs aren't the healthiest choice, however, my son adores them, so I do make them occasionally.  I love that these can be made no matter what the weather is outside!  I've even made them in the winter!  Give this method a try and make sure you come back and let me know what you think!

If you love it, pin this recipe to your Pinterest boards and share, share, share! 

Like what you see?
Follow RKA on all these social networks!!

Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, and Instagram