Crock Pot Baby Back Ribs
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A Crockpot Baby Back Ribs Recipe that is SO easy to make! Learn how to make slow cooker ribs that are delicious and fall off the bone tender!
Some people think the best ribs are made on the smoker or grill… but trust me when I say, these crock pot baby back ribs are way better!
Cooking ribs in the crockpot makes them perfectly tender and fall-off-the-bone, and they’re SO easy to do (seriously… anyone can do it!). Just rub the pork ribs with some spices, cook in the crockpot, and finish in the oven with some BBQ sauce! Like most crockpot recipes, you can let the pot do most of the work.
Because the rack of ribs cooks low and slow, they are incredibly tender every time! They are also very easy to customize if you eat paleo, keto, or are doing Whole30 (check the green box below for substitutions).
If you love easy crockpot proteins, try our slow cooker Whole Chicken, Salsa Verde Chicken, or Turkey Breast.
Tyler’s tip for crockpot baby back ribs
Slow cooker baby back ribs get dry when you overcook them or cook them too high. We don’t recommend cooking for more than 5 hours. We also recommend cooking your slow cooker baby back ribs on low vs high to avoid them from drying out. Cooking ribs with liquid at the bottom of the pot helps to keep slow cooker baby back ribs from drying out.
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ingredients
Substitutions
Ribs: You can use St. Louis Ribs in place of baby back ribs. They might take a little bit longer to cook, so just ensure they have an internal cooking temp of 145°. We also have a crockpot chicken wings recipe you may like!
Salt: You can use less salt if you are watching your sodium intake.
Brown Sugar: You can use coconut sugar in place of brown sugar. If you are doing Whole30, you can skip the sugar, but it really does add a lot of flavor!
Liquid: You can cook ribs in a slow cooker without liquid, but we don’t recommend it. The liquid in the slow cooker helps to steam the ribs and make them super tender. Any liquid will work in the crockpot. Water, beer, apple juice or chicken broth all work.
BBQ Sauce: You can use your favorite BBQ Sauce on these ribs. We like a homemade bbq sauce.
How To Make Baby Back Ribs In A Crock Pot
- Mix together the spices. Spray ribs with olive oil. Then coat ribs with dry rub and press spices in.
- Pour the water into the crockpot and place the ribs in, bone side down. Cook on low for 4-5 hours. They’ll start to get darker brown in color and more tender. You want the ribs to be flexible, but not falling off the bone.
- After 4 hours, preheat oven to 425°, remove ribs, and place on a nonstick foil lined baking sheet. Brush ribs with barbecue sauce and bake for 15 minutes. Enjoy!
What to serve with Crockpot Ribs
These Crockpot Ribs are super filling. They can be eaten as an appetizer or a meal. Here are some of our favorite things to serve them with:
- Corn Tomato Avocado Salad
- Crispy Smashed Potatoes
- Caprese Pasta Salad
- Healthy Mac and Cheese
- Vinegar Based Coleslaw
- Spinach Strawberry Salad
- Best Potato Salad Recipe
- For even more ideas, check out these Healthy Side Dishes
Storage & Reheating Instructions
Refrigerator: These ribs will last for up to 4 days in the refrigerator.
Freezer: We haven’t tried freezing these ribs, but I don’t think they would freeze very well.
Reheating: It’s best to reheat crockpot ribs in the oven or in a toaster oven until warmed through. We wouldn’t recommend microwaving them or reheating them on the stove.
Other healthy crockpot recipes:
Love your crockpot? Check out these 40+ Healthy Crockpot Recipes. Click here to grab our free healthy crockpot cookbook.
Crock Pot Baby Back Ribs Recipe
Ingredients
- 2.5 lbs baby back ribs
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- ½ cup water OR beer, apple juice, broth
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Remove the membrane from ribs. The best way to do this is to stick a butter knife under the membrane and pull the membrane from the back with a paper towel (it’s hard to grip and the paper towel helps!)
- Mix together dry rub of salt, pepper, brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, cumin, chili powder.
- Spray both sides of ribs with olive oil cooking spray
- Coat both sides of the ribs generously with the dry rub. You can gently press the rub into the ribs so it adheres. Optional: let the ribs sit with the dry rub for 5-10 minutes.
- Pour the liquid in the crockpot. Place the ribs in a greased crockpot. You can lay flat if they’ll fit or curl so that they fit in the crockpot.
- Cook on low for 4-5 hours. We don’t recommend cooking on high.
- After 4 hours, preheat the oven to 425.
- Gently remove the ribs from the crockpot and place on a nonstick foil lined baking sheet.
- Top with barbecue sauce and bake for 15 minutes.
- Slice & enjoy!
This recipe is delicious! It was so easy and I had all the ingredients already in my pantry! Love it😍
Is it best to stand them up around the inside of the crock pot, or cut the rack in half and layer on top of each other flat on the bottom of the crock pot?
You can lay flat if they’ll fit or curl so that they fit in the crockpot. Either way works!
If i don’t have an oven for the last step can I use a bbq?
I haven’t tried it. BBQ sauce can burn easily on the grill, so just be careful!
Love being able to do this in crock pot but won’t have oven available for last “step”… can I make them anyways and just not do that step?
I really don’t recommend skipping baking them in the oven. It makes a huge difference. They’ll be very soft, and not have crisp edges. Do you have anything else you could cook them in? An air fryer? A toaster oven?
I made this tonight and every single bit of meat was devoured! I’ll make these again really soon!
Make this recipe all the time!!! Love it
My crockpot has option to sauté inside. You put items that need softened and put the liner on the stove top. I added the ribs and slightly browned on each side. Then finished per recipe.
BTW I love this Hamilton Beach 6-quart crockpot. No extra dirty dishes to clean and the pot is really lightweight to life. Sorry I must sound like an “ad”.
This is a great idea, Jann! Glad that you enjoyed them!
Made these crock pot ribs and they turned out perfect. It was my first time using a crockpot to cook ribs and was really tasty!
So happy to hear this!
Made these today. They were terrific, tender and seasoned just right. We will definitely make these again. The only issue was in the “liquid”:direction. The punctuation makes it unclear. Is it 1/2 c both apple juice and beer? Is it 1/2 c total? Or 1/4c beer, 1/4 apple juice? Overall it was easy and delicious.
The directions say 1/2 cup water OR beer, apple juice, broth. You can use any liquid!
This looks great, but I’m also unclear about liquids. Is it supposed to be 1/2 cup water, beer, apple juice OR broth? Or 1/2 cup of each liquid (1/2 cup juice, 1/2 cup broth, 1/2 cup water or beer) but only choosing beer or water? I want to try this but I don’t want to mix the liquid wrong.
The recipe says: ½ cup water OR beer, apple juice, broth. Any of them can be used.
These ribs were absolutely delicious! Will definitely make them 💕💕 thank you for sharing this recipe.. doubled the sauce and used stella beer with west baby rays.. was finger licking yummy
I have made this a few times for my family & it is a Huge hit! It super easy to make and always comes out great!
The hardest part is taking the ribs out of the crockpot because the meat is so tender it does fall right off the bone! Will never make ribs any other way!
We typically grill ribs so this was a different approach. The ribs were tender and the taste was great. I did reduce the salt considerably.
This will be a repeat during our miserable winter months. Thank you.
Our neighbor gave us some ribs,I saw this recipe and decided to try it. I am SO GLAD I did! These are absolutely the BEST! I used beef broth for the liquid and followed to the T. Thank you so much for a GREAT recipe!
My husband said these were the best ribs he ever had. He ate a whole 1/2 rack by himself.
I want to make these. Will 6 lbs fit in crockpot?
I haven’t tried that but that feels like alot of ribs for one crockpot. It might not cook correctly. Without testing it I can’t be sure!
I cut them into 4 ribs sections, doubled recipe, i”m thinking if I move them every hour might work. I have company. any suggestions?
I’m sorry but I don’t really have a suggestion. I’ve never tried it so I have absolutely no clue how it will turn out. If you try it – let me know!
We absolutely tore these up. Best ribs I’ve had in along time
Love love love this recipe. It was a hit at home – so much flavor and easy to make!
Thank you 😊
Made these for the Super Bowl and they were delish!!! Will make them again!!!
Hi, I want to try this with 7 pounds of ribs-in the same crock pot, do I need to add cooking hours? Thank you!
I don’t think 7 lbs of ribs will fit in the crock pot unfortunately!
it is ok to layer ribs in crock pot–and it shouldn’t take more time—I have done this. But to make sure you have a good seal you should put foil across the top then put on lid.
I wish I would’ve thought and got a picture but I didn’t think I’d like them. I’ve tried eating ribs one time in my life hated them and I had never tried them again.I’ve only fixed them one time besides this time. They smelled so good while cooking in crockpot so when I did get them out and started to put them in pan to add bbq sauce to them a piece fell off the bone (it was so tender it all was falling off bone) I can’t stand eating anything with bones in it. Anyways I ate that bite and omg it was delicious.this recipe will be used alot in my home from now. I did leave them in crockpot for around 51/2 to 6 hours because I was fixing fried apple pies I did use a whole can of beer I didn’t have any brown sugar so the bbq sauce I had just so happened to be hickory and brown sugar idk if that would be the same or not but it was still delicious. Thank you for sharing this recipe
Hands down, the best ribs my family has ever had. I used to avoid making them at home, but I’ve used this recipe twice so far—ribs always come out super tender and flavorful. Thank you!!!
Blown away at how amazing these were!!
Made these ribs for the Super Bowl last night and they were FANTASTIC!!!! I forgot a few ingredients (forgot to put olive oil on ribs before seasonings and forgot the brown sugar in the seasoning mix) but they still tasted delicious! I cooked mine in the crockpot for the full 5 hours as my rack of ribs was closer to 3 lbs vs the 2.5 lbs called for in the recipe. They were very juicy and tender and came right off the bone when we were eating them……DEFINITELY will make these again!!
Thanks, Christine!