Slow Cooker Pork Ribs

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My Slow Cooker Pork Ribs with Bourbon BBQ Sauce are fall-apart tender and so easy to make in your crock pot! With only 10 minutes of prep, you can set these pork ribs to cook at noon and have a delicious dinner ready at the end of the day. Perfect as a family meal or a crowd-pleasing dish on game day!

Pork Ribs in Crock Pot

Of all the dinners I make for my family, ribs are among my favorite! I love cooking up a rack of ribs for dinner, and on busy days when it seems almost impossible to find the time to put a meal on the table, these easy slow cooker pork ribs are a perfect solution.

Complete with an amazing bourbon BBQ sauce, my recipe for crock pot ribs is not only simple to make, but it’s also so tasty you’ll want to lick the plate! Plus, the meat is fall-apart tender, so if you have any leftovers you can shred them to make some incredible pulled pork sandwiches.

If you have more time on your hands, try setting these ribs up to cook at the beginning of the day and let them go for 8 hours on low for the ultimate tender ribs – but 4 hours on high will make beautiful, fall-off-the-bone ribs, too!

Crock Pot Pork Ribs Recipe Ingredients

• half rack of spare ribs
• paprika
• ground cinnamon
• garlic powder
• dried oregano
• salt and black pepper
• Bourbon
• barbecue sauce of your choice
• brown sugar

Pork Rib Slow Cooker Recipe

1. Place the paprika, cinnamon, garlic powder, oregano, and salt and pepper in a small bowl, and mix. Using a knife, carefully remove the membrane from the ribs. Spoon the rib rub onto the pork ribs, and use your hands to coat them on both sides with the seasoning.
   
2. Place ribs in slow cooker. Combine barbecue sauce, bourbon and brown sugar. Add ¾ of the barbecue sauce mixture to slow cooker with the ribs.
   
3. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 8 hours. Once cooked, set oven to broil at 300°F. Remove ribs and place them on a tin foil-lined baking tray. Spoon over 4 tablespoons of the rib sauce from the slow cooker. Baste with half of the remaining barbecue sauce. Set in oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until sauce starts to caramelize.
   
4. Place the remaining barbecue sauce and leftover juices into a small bowl for dipping. Cut ribs into pieces and serve. Garnish with a little parsley if desired. Enjoy!

Pork Ribs in Slow Cooker Tips

• Use your favorite barbecue sauce! I love Sweet Baby Ray’s hickory and brown sugar.
• Cook for 8 hours on low for the ultimate tender ribs, but 4 hours on high is perfect too!
• No slow cooker? No problem. You can slow-cook ribs in the oven. Slow-cooker ribs will end up slightly softer than oven-baked ribs, but both methods work great. Oven pork ribs are great if you’re especially short on time as they take only 3 hours to make.
• I sometimes like to experiment with the rub recipe and often use the rib rub I use for my baby back ribs recipe.

Oven Pork Ribs Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 250°F. Rub pork ribs with the rib rub.
2. Wrap ribs in tin foil. Place in oven and cook for 2 to 2.5 hours.
3. Remove from oven and discard juices. Baste with the rib sauce on both sides.
4. Place back in the oven for 30 minutes, basting every 5 minutes until the sauce is sticky. Using a meat thermometer, the internal temperature should read 145°F when they are done cooking.
5. Cut ribs into pieces and serve. Use a spoon to carefully scrape the remaining barbecue sauce into a serving dish for dipping. Enjoy!

Pork Ribs Variations

You can follow this recipe and substitute different types of ribs:

• pork baby back ribs
• country-style ribs
• beef ribs

My favorite dry rub for ribs is also a huge hit!

Slow Cooker Pork Ribs FAQs

Pork Ribs Side Dishes

• Mexican Street Corn
• Shishito Peppers
• Instant Pot Potato Salad
• Spanish Potato Salad
• Corn Riblets

Best Ribs Recipes

• Air Fryer Baby Back Ribs
• Baby Back Ribs on the grill are amazing
• Grilled Beef Short Ribs
• 3-2-1 Smoked Ribs
• Korean Braised Short Ribs

Try more of my favorite Sunday dinner recipes! Plus, these ribs are one of my favorite football foods – get more Super Bowl Food Ideas!

Recipe

Slow Cooker Pork Ribs

Isabel Laessig

My Slow Cooker Pork Ribs with Bourbon BBQ Sauce are fall-apart tender and so easy to make in your crock pot, with only 10 minutes of prep!

4.66 from 20 votes

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Cook ModePrevent your screen from going dark

Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 4 hours hrs

Total Time 4 hours hrs 10 minutes mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 6

Calories 800 kcal

Equipment

• 1 Slow Cooker or oven

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 4 lbs spare ribs half rack
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• ¼ cup bourbon
• 2 cups barbecue sauce of your choice
• ¼ cup brown sugar

Instructions

 

• Place paprika, cinnamon, garlic powder, oregano and salt and pepper in a small bowl, and mix. Using a knife, carefully remove the membrane from the ribs. Spoon the rib rub onto the pork ribs, and use your hands to coat them on both sides with the seasoning.
  1 tablespoon paprika, ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon dried oregano, 1 teaspoon salt, 1 teaspoon pepper, 4 lbs spare ribs
  
• Place ribs in slow cooker. Combine barbecue sauce, bourbon and brown sugar. Add ¾ of the barbecue sauce mixture to slow cooker with the ribs.
  ¼ cup bourbon, 2 cups barbecue sauce, ¼ cup brown sugar
  
• Cook on high 4 hours, or low 8 hours. Once cooked, set oven to broil at 300°F. Remove ribs and place on tin foil lined baking tray. Spoon over 4 tablespoons of the rib sauce from slow cooker. Baste with half of the remaining barbecue sauce. Set in oven for 8 to 10 minutes, or until sauce starts to caramelize.
  
• Place remaining barbecue sauce and leftover juices into a small bowl for dipping. Cut ribs into pieces and serve. Garnish with a little parsley if desired. Enjoy!
  

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Notes

Oven Pork Ribs Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 250°F. Rub pork ribs with the rib rub.
2. Wrap ribs in tin foil. Place in oven and cook 2 to 2.5 hours.
3. Remove from oven and discard juices. Baste with the rib sauce on both sides.
4. Place back in oven for 30 minutes, basting every 5 minutes until sauce is sticky. Using a meat thermometer, the internal temperature should read 145°F when they are done cooking.
5. Cut ribs into pieces and serve. Use a spoon to carefully scrape remaining barbecue sauce into a serving dish for dipping. Enjoy!

Nutrition

Calories: 800kcalCarbohydrates: 49gProtein: 59gFat: 36gSaturated Fat: 7gCholesterol: 223mgSodium: 1561mgPotassium: 1227mgFiber: 1gSugar: 40gVitamin A: 810IUVitamin C: 0.6mgCalcium: 111mgIron: 3.6mg

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