These slow cooker BBQ baby back pork ribs are easy peasy and absolutely and utterly delicious. Rub in some spices, pop them in the slow cooker (which does the hard part for you). Then finish them off with a little BBQ sauce and pop them on the grill or under the broiler. We’re talking fall-off-the-bone finger-licking-good.
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Hello, my friends!
I am SOOOOO excited about today’s recipe. It’s seriously making me giddy.
We’ve been making these slow cooker BBQ baby back pork ribs for a couple of years now and they are THE BEST. And I mean that with all my food loving heart.
This, my friends, is the recipe that gets me big points from my family fan club.
It is THE popular request for birthdays, father’s days, anniversaries, BBQs, 4th of Julys, you name it.
We just celebrated our 18th wedding anniversary and guess what we had? Yep.
They love ribs. I love ribs. Who doesn’t love ribs?
I get it. They are a leeetle bit messy.
But after you take one bite, you’ll forget all the manners your mama taught you and dig in, fingers and all.
Okay let’s talk meat, shall we?
I’m no butcher, but I want to give you a really quick intro to baby back ribs because this can be a bit confusing.
Baby back ribs come from the top part of the rib cage of the pork. They are also sometimes called pork back ribs, pork loin ribs, loin backs, or pork loin back ribs.
Confused? It’s okay. Just read the label and you’ll be fine (or even better go ask the butcher).
I’ve never tried this recipe with spare ribs (the other kind of pork rib out there– also known as St. Louis style ribs, St. Louis spares or side ribs), but I’m guess it would work with a few adaptations. Since spare ribs are usually a big bigger and tougher you may need to cook them a little bit longer until they are fall apart tender.
I normally buy my ribs from Costco. They come in a big pack of 3 racks and are normally fairly reasonably priced per pound. Another bonus is they come with the membranes already removed.
If the ribs have a membrane (silver skin) still attached on the bottom, it will need to be removed. You can use a paper towel to help grip the membrane as you pull it off. If you need more help you can always ask Google. She’s pretty much my BFF when it comes to learning how to do stuff.
Now the how to…how to make these ribs, that is
Even though these ribs taste like a million bucks, the process is really quite easy (almost ridiculously so).
Basically you lay the ribs out meaty sides up and evenly sprinkle them with a spice mix that is going to knock your socks off (in a flavor-packed-not-spicy-hot-kinda-way).
Rub the spices in gently with your hands so they coat the meat well.
Time to throw them in the slow cooker that has a sliced up onion and some water on the bottom.
Just a few quick thoughts about cookers
I use a very basic (no bells and whistles) 7-quart oval slow cooker that I’ve had for a million years. It does the job and doesn’t sing to me while it’s doing it, which is totally fine by me.
The oval shape and the 7-quart size works well to fix all 3 racks of ribs in at a time. I normally don’t cut the ribs at this point. I just place them in on their side and kind of wrap them around each other until they fit.
Feel free to use whatever slow cooker you have. You may not be able to cook all three racks at once, but that’s fine. They can always hang out in the fridge for a day or so after they’ve been seasoned if they don’t all fit. Or you can cut the seasonings as needed to cook just 1 or 2 racks.
And I’ll just say it. This recipe should adapt pretty easily to the Instant Pot. I would increase the water to 1 cup of water and cook only 1 or maybe 2 racks at a time for a 6-quart (you may be able to fit all 3 in an 8-quart). Start with 27 to 30 minutes at high pressure and do a natural release for the pressure. Add additional time if needed until you get super tender fall of the bone ribs.
I’d love to hear how it goes if you try it!
And now to finish them off…
When they are done the ribs will be so soft you literally can’t take them out very easily without them totally falling off the bone. I use a large flat spatula and a pair of tongs to get them out and they usually break once or twice and that’s totally A-OK. You really won’t care what they look at when you are elbowing your way in for seconds, believe me.
Once you get them out, you can place them on a baking tray covered with aluminum foil for easy cleanup. As you can see I was in too big of a hurry to get them in my face and didn’t bother with the foil this time.
Then brush the BBQ sauce over the top –we normally use Sweet Baby Rays or a homemade BBQ sauce.
Then finish them off under the broiler or on a grill. It just takes a few minutes and they are perfect, caramelized BBQ sauce and all.
Don’t forget to dig in with yummy side dishes. A few of our favorites are corn on the cob (or this delicious creamed corn) and dutch oven potatoes (or fried potatoes–recipe still to come).
And just a friendly heads up, get ready for some wows. These things are finger-licking good.
Slow Cooker BBQ Baby Back Pork Ribs
These slow cooker BBQ baby back pork ribs are easy peasy and absolutely and utterly delicious. Rub in some spices, pop them in the slow cooker (which does the hard part for you). Then finish them off with a little BBQ sauce and pop them on the grill or under the broiler. We're talking fall-off-the-bone finger-licking-good.
Ingredients
- 3 racks pork baby back ribs see note
- 4 tablespoons coarse salt
- 1 ½ tablespoons dried oregano
- 1 ½ tablespoons garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon chile powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika regular paprika works too
- 1 large yellow onion
- ½ cup water
- ½ to 1 cup BBQ sauce see note
Instructions
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Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs if needed (see note) and pat dry with paper towels.
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In a small bowl, combine the salt, oregano, garlic powder, black pepper, chile powder, and smoked paprika. Spread the spice mixture evenly over the meaty side of the ribs and rub gently to coat.
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Add the sliced onion and ½ cup water to slow cooker (see note) and arrange the ribs on top. Place lid on slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6-7 hours.
For Grill:
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When the ribs have finished cooking, preheat grill to high (500 degrees F). Carefully lift the ribs from the slow cooker using a large, flat spatula and tongs (they will be very, very tender as in they may fall apart if you're not careful) and place them in a single layer on the grill. Brush liberally with BBQ sauce and close the lid. Let them grill for about 3-5 minutes until the sauce bubbles and caramelizes (watch closely so they don't burn).
For Broiler:
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When the ribs have finished cooking, preheat the oven broiler to high and position an oven rack about 4-6 inches from the heating element. Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil (for easy cleanup). Carefully lift the ribs from the slow cooker using a large, flat spatula and tongs (they will be very, very tender as in they may fall apart if you're not careful) and place them in a single layer on the baking sheet. Brush liberally with BBQ sauce and broil until the sauce bubbles and caramelizes, 2-3 minutes (watch closely so they don't burn).
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Serve ribs with extra BBQ sauce on the side.
Recipe Notes
1. If the ribs have a membrane (silver skin) on the bottom, it will need to be removed. You can use a paper towel to help grip the membrane as you pull it off. I normally buy my ribs at Costco – they come in a 3-rack-pack and the membranes are already removed.
2. For the BBQ sauce, we normally go with a homemade sauce or Sweet Baby Rays original is probably our favorite store brand.
3. I use a 7-quart oval slow-cooker for this recipe and it fits all 3 racks of ribs nicely without any need to trim them (I stand them up and kind of bend them to fit inside the cooker). If you are using a different size/shape cooker you may need to trim the ribs to get them to fit and you may need to cut down the recipe for smaller cookers as they may only fit 1 or 2 racks at a time.
4. This recipe should adapt pretty easily for the Instant Pot. I would increase the water to 1 cup of water (instead of ½ cup) and cook only 1 or maybe 2 racks at a time. Start with 27 to 30 minutes at high pressure and do a natural release. Increase time if needed until you get super tender fall of the bone ribs. I’d love to hear how it goes if you try it.
Recipe Source: Heather @ The Cook’s Treat
All images and text ©The Cook’s Treat
Disclaimer: post contains affiliate links for items on Amazon.
