Slow Cooker Fall-Off-the-Bone Baby Back Ribs – When you’ve had a busy day and just need to get dinner on the table fast, this recipe proves that creating perfect ribs doesn’t have to be an all-day affair!
Last year Mr. Simple Seasonal and I smoked some baby back ribs on our grill. They were perfect. They were fall-off-the-bones and the sticky kind of finger-licking good.
The thing is, they took ALLLLLL day to cook! Seriously, ALL DAY. There was a lot of tedious watching and messing with our smoker box. At one point it even caught on fire (yes, food bloggers have kitchen mishaps too!). Perhaps we should have been watching it more closely… Fortunately no harm came to the ribs, but our grass had a charred spot that took an entire year to recover.
Soon after our day-long-rib-cooking escapade I decided to give slow cooker ribs a try. And guess what? They were ALSO falling off of the bone and finger-licking good!
I cook for a busy family of four, plus I’m a working mom. Let’s just say, I don’t have time for that kind of delicious nonsense. Really, who does except for on that occasional one weekend a year?
Perhaps there was less art in the making of the slow cooker ribs. It was more of a dumping and a plugging-in kind of situation. The thing is, I don’t even care because now my family eats baby back ribs on the reg, and now your family can, too!
Slow Cooker Fall Off the Bone Baby Back Ribs
When you've had a busy day and just need to get dinner on the table fast, this recipe proves that creating perfect ribs doesn't have to be an all-day affair!
Ingredients
Rub
- 1/2 C dark brown sugar
- 1/4 C chili powder
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/2 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp dry thyme
- 1/8-1/4 tsp cayenne powder (optional, this will give the ribs heat)
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
Ribs
- 2-3 racks of baby back ribs
- 1 batch of my Homemade BBQ Sauce or a bottle of your favorite store brand
Instructions
- Remove the membrane from the rib racks. This is best done by flipping the rack upside down. Next, lift a small piece of the membrane up with a paring knife and then pull it off of the ribs by gripping it with a paper towel (see the photo in my blog post).
- In a small mixing bowl combine all of the rub ingredients.
- Evenly rub the spice mix over the tops, bottoms, and sides of all of the ribs.
- Stack the ribs in your slow cooker and cook covered on low for 6-8 hours or on high for 4-5 hours.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil. Using tongs, carefully transfer the ribs onto the lined baking sheet, as the meat will be falling off of the bones. Coat each rack with my Homemade BBQ Sauce, or with your favorite store brand.
- Preheat your broiler and place the ribs under the broiler for 3-5 minutes.
- Ribs are delicious served hot or at room temperature.
In the slow cooker as we speak. Very excited. Vegan Mac and cheese and collard greens to accompany.
I hope your ribs were finger licking good!
Can you please share your recipe for homemade bbq sauce? Trying the slow cooker ribs today! Thanks.
We made this today! I added some extra spices to the rub to match our spicy tastes but everything else is on point with the recipe! Its in the oven as we speak! Only a few moments left until delicious bbq goodness!