I haven’t had country-style ribs for a while and decided I needed to buy them for my husband, since it’s one of his favorite things I make. The slow cooker is the perfect appliance to cook these puppies…they do great being left on LOW all day long. The collagen is converted to gelatin and they are fork tender. By taking the time to brown them and dredge them in flour, the sauce is nice and thick and the color, texture, and flavor of the ribs is to die for. I opted to leave out the brown sugar that is usually included in this type of recipe, since I’m not that big of a fan of sweet in my meat…BUT I bet for those of you who like that sort of thing adding a tablespoon of brown sugar would be perfect.
Recipe for Slow Cooker Fork Tender Country-Style Ribs with BBQ Sauce
Makes 4-6 servings
Ideal slow cooker size: 5 quart
Cooking time: 7-9 hours
2 lbs pork boneless country-style ribs
3 Tsp paprika
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 cup BBQ sauce
1 Tbsp oil
Flour
Cayenne pepper (optional)
1. Heat oil in a pan on the stove over medium heat. While oil is heating, dredge the ribs in flour (I used about 1/4 cup total). When oil is warm brown the ribs for about 3 or 4 minutes on each side. Place ribs in the slow cooker.
2. Combine BBQ sauce, paprika, salt and pepper and pour over the ribs. Coat the ribs with the sauce.
3. Cover and cook on LOW for about 7-9 hours. Ribs should be fork tender. If you want a little heat, add in cayenne pepper to taste.
Do you think this would work with boneless chicken thighs or breasts??
sure but I’d only cook chicken 4-6 hours on low.
What kind of BBQ sauce did you use? Most of them are too sweet for me.
I like Sweet Baby Ray’s.
can you cook in an instant pot? I just bought one.
I bet you could. My only fear would be the bbq sauce would be too thick and the pot wouldn’t come to pressure. I’ll have to test it out and see!
Have you tried them with bone-in beef ribs? If so, how did they turn out?
I personally have not. But I bet it would be amazing!
Yes they would . Thank you Karen. 🇺🇸👍🤔
Can you cook it on high for less hours?
Yes, on high for half the amount of time will work!
We made these this week…thank you for the great recipe! We used bone-in ribs…but they were so tender and delicious! Plus the aroma of them cooking all day was a treat, too!
Glad it worked for you!
These look delicious! There are country-style ribs in my freezer from my meat CSA. They have been here there a loooooong time because I didn't know what to do with them. Now I know – thanks!
Yes, they work so great in the slow cooker! You'll love it!
Those look really yummy!