Slow Cooker Coke Ribs are finger licking good! With your favorite bbq sauce and zesty spices we slather the ribs with flavor. Cooked in coca cola in the slow cooker they will melt in your mouth and make the perfect weekend feast.
Recipes like the Honey Soy Pork Ribs, Greek Ribs, Chicken Ribs and Marinated Lamb Ribs give us a wide variety of tastes and textures.
The Slow Cooker Coke Pulled Pork, Slow Cooker Coke Ham or oven baked Coca Cola Ribs are other recipes that embrace using coke or coca cola in the cooking process.
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🤍 Slow Cooker Coke Ribs
I have summarised everything that you will come to know and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe in the points below:
- Set and forget: arguably the best thing about slow cooking right 😉👍. We do a little prep work, pop the ribs in the slow cooker, put the lid on and let them cook.
- Taste and texture: these ribs have tender meat with a thick and sticky sauce. You will be literally licking each of your fingers with every bite. The flavor profile highlights the beauty of using this popular soft drink (soda for my American readers) to cook with.
- Non barbecue ribs: everyone knows ribs on the barbecue are amazing also but sometimes you may not want to use your bbq to cook. That's why the bonus of cooking ribs in your slow cooker comes into play. It gives us an appliance that delivers mouth watering results but keeps you inside the house cooking without having to step out in the pouring rain, cold or other.
- Baked then grilled: yes we are talking about ribs being slow cooked in the crockpot. What we then do at the end of this cooking process is to use the oven to give the ribs a quick grill. This 'sets' the sauce and delivers a lovely caramelized finishing touch to the ribs.
🥗 Slow Cooker Coke Ribs Ingredients
The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the slow cooker coca cola ribs. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.
As you can see the ribs recipe calls for:
- Salt and pepper.
- Garlic powder.
- Onion powder.
- Paprika: I like to use smoked paprika.
- Mustard powder.
- Worcestershire sauce: I love adding this to add flavor oomph.
- Coke: coke or coca cola. We need 2 cans. Most of it goes into the slow cooker and some gets added to the basting sauce.
- Barbecue sauce: you can use your favorite barbecue sauce.
- Pork ribs: we use 2 racks of baby back ribs.
😉 Variations
Here are my sub ins and outs that you might be thinking about as you read the post and I will tell you if I think they will work or why they won't:
- Coke: if you want to use diet coke or coke zero you can.
- Sugar: re the point above if you want to use one of these other options you can consider adding 1 tablespoon of brown sugar to the sauce.
- Brown sugar: if you are using 'real coke' or coke with sugar you won't need to add brown sugar with the other dry ingredients. The sweetness of the bbq sauce and coke is enough without this addition.
👩🍳 How to Make Slow Cooker Coke Ribs
To make the coke ribs we start by whisking together the sauce.
🍳 Instructions
- Whisk together the sauce (Photo 1)
- Remove the inner skin (Photo 2)
- Season with salt and pepper (Photo 3)
- Both sides (Photo 4)
Add the barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika to a small bowl and then give it a bit of a stir to consistently combine. Then set aside.
Next working one rack at a time remove the packaging from the ribs (discard) then use a folded sheet of paper towel to pat the ribs dry.
Grab the membrane at the corner and pull it away from the back of the ribs.
Then season the rack with salt and pepper, flip it to the other side and repeat.
Next use a sharp knife to slice each rack in half to ensure it will fit nicely into the slow cooker. See the 1st image below for reference.
- Slice in half (Photo 5)
- Add half rack to bottom of the cooker (Photo 6)
- Baste with sauce (Photo 7)
- Repeat (Photo 8)
Grease the slow cooker insert with a little cooking spray then place one half rack into the base.
Use a basting brush and coat the half rack with sauce (we will use approx ½ the sauce for slow cooking and the remaining ½ for grilling). Then repeat for each half rack stacking them on top of each other as you go.
Next open 1 can of coca cola and pour coke into the base of the slow cooker.
- Pour cola into slow cooker (Photo 9)
- Add coke to sauce (Photo 10)
- Remove cooked ribs from slow cooker (Photo 11)
- Baste with sauce (Photo 12)
Follow this with the 2nd can, but only use ¾ of this and reserve the remaining coke.
Pour the reserved coke into the other half of the sauce and stir till this is consistently combined. Then set this aside.
Put the lid on the slow cooker and cook the ribs for either 3 hours on high or 6-7 hours on low. Once the cook time is up remove the lid and then use a pair of tongs to transfer each half rack to a wire rack.
Use the remaining sauce to coat the ribs and then place them into the oven on a grill/broil setting for 10-15 minutes basting again halfway.
- Grill/broil (Photo 13)
- Re-baste with the sauce halfway (Photo 14)
- Rest (Photo 15)
- Slice (Photo 16)
Once the ribs have finished under the grill or broiler, use oven mitts to remove the baking tray, set it on a heatproof surface and let the ribs rest for 5 minutes.
Then when ready use a sharp knife to slice the ribs into single or double portions and repeat this for all 4 half racks.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
The eating is always the best part of any meal right 😉👍.
I like to serve these slow cooked coke ribs with garlic bread. It is an easy combination that works.
A couple of options on the blog are the Tortilla Garlic Bread, Ciabatta Garlic Bread or the Garlic Pizza Bread. Or for a non garlic bread but still bread pairing try the Slow Cooker Cheese And Bacon Bread.
If you love sauce with your ribs but don't want more of the same flavor (I hear you) then some unique options to try are the Gorgonzola Sauce, Herbed Yogurt Sauce, Cilantro Lime Yogurt Sauce or the Parsley Yogurt Sauce. If you want to find your perfect sauce fit you can find all of my homemade sauces in the one spot.
👍 How to Guide
How to Store
Let the ribs cool and then transfer to a sealed, airtight container. They can be kept in the fridge for 3 days and need to be reheated before being consumed.
How to Reheat
Place the ribs onto a plate and cover with cling wrap. Reheat in the microwave on high for 1-3 minutes until warmed through.
💡 Tasty Tips
Here are my top tips and tricks that I want to share with you so that you master the recipe from the get go:
- Sauce: if you want to serve the ribs with sauce on the side you can simply make a double batch. I would however, then seperate it before basting the ribs with it so that it is clean, fresh and has no raw meat bits in it.
- Cooking oil: depending on the size of your rack of ribs they may touch the edges of the slow cooker insert. For this reason I do recommend using non-stick spray especially up the sides of the bowl. If the meat touches this it will blackened/burn as it cooks.
- Coke: when pouring the coke into the slow cooker try and pour it around the ribs. ie Not directly on top. We don't want to wash the sauce off with the soda. See the video for reference on this point.
- Cooked liquid: once the ribs are cooked discard liquid sitting in the base of the slow cooker. We can't repurpose this as it had raw meat in it.
- Ribs in the slow cooker: do you love using your slow cooker to make ribs? Then you might also like the Slow Cooker Dry Rub Ribs or Slow Cooker Lamb Ribs.
- Ribs in general: or try the Beef Ribs, Mexican Ribs, Italian Short Ribs, Sticky Pork Ribs or Sweet and Sour Ribs.
🤓 FAQ's Slow Cooker Coke Ribs
These ribs are best eaten when they are hot and fresh with tender meat. I would not recommend freezing them after cooking them. You can however, freeze the pork ribs (in their original packaging) and then remove and thaw them at a time when you are ready to make the recipe.
For this recipe we use coca cola soda as the liquid to cook the ribs.
The most common sauce to put on ribs in the slow cooker is either barbecue or ketchup often with dry rub ingredients such as garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika.
No, we don't flip the ribs when slow cooking. Rather, we want to have the lid on the slow cooker for the specified cook time to ensure that the meat is tender and juicy. Removing the lid from the slow cooker during the cook time can drastically alter the finished texture of the ribs.
😍 More Easy Dinner Recipes
It can be boring to have the same thing for dinner all the time or on a too frequent basis. I find the best way to tackle this obstacle is by having many recipes to choose from that offer variety through taste, texture and proteins. Here are some more suggestions:
- More slow cooker recipes: Slow Cooker Beef Massaman Curry, Slow Cooker Massaman Lamb Shanks, Slow Cooker Thai Red Curry Beef, Slow Cooker Yellow Curry, Devilled Sausages, Pulled Beef.
- More pork recipes: French Onion Pork Chops, Slow Cooker Pork Belly, Pork Mince Stir Fry, Slow Cooker Stuffed Pork Tenderloin, Slow Cooker Roast Pork With Crackling, Roast Pork Shoulder,
- Other proteins: Thyme Roast Chicken, Minced Beef Stir Fry, Slow Cooker Moroccan Lamb Shoulder, Slow Cooker Pulled Lamb Shoulder.
- Quick and easy dinner recipes: Soy Sauce Noodles, Beef And Bean Enchiladas, Mini Enchiladas, Beef Pesto Pasta.
- Pasta and noodle suggestions: Chorizo Pasta Bake, Grilled Chicken Alfredo, Garlic Spaghetti, Chicken Yaki Udon.
- Rice options: Chicken And Rice Tray Bake, Baked Chicken Drumsticks And Rice, Tuna And Rice Casserole, Pork Mince Fried Rice, Chorizo Fried Rice, Shrimp And Chicken Fried Rice.
It is time to get our slow cooker coke ribs on my friend! You can also find all of my dinner recipes or slow cooker recipes in the one spot.
Adrianne
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📖 Recipe
Slow Cooker Coke Ribs
Ingredients
Barbecue Sauce
- 1 cup/250 ml barbecue sauce Note 1
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoons mustard powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cans coke (coca cola) Note 2
Pork Ribs
- 1.2kg baby back pork ribs Note 3
Instructions
- Barbecue sauce: add the barbecue sauce, Worcestershire sauce, mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder and smoked paprika to a large bowl and whisk till consistently combined.
- Ribs: remove the packing from the ribs (discard) then working one rack at a time lay them flat on a clean, dry cutting board. Pat each side dry with paper towel then flip the ribs over to the back side, grab the membrane at the corner, pull it up and discard it. Season this side with salt and pepper then flip the ribs to the other side and season again with salt and pepper. Use a sharp knife to slice each rack in half around the middle section.
- Slow cooker: grease the slow cooker insert with a little cooking spray. Place one half rack into the base of the slow cooker and then use a basting brush and use approximately half the sauce (for the 4 half racks) liberally coat the ribs with the combined sauce. Next stack the next half rack on top and baste with the sauce. Repeat for the 2 final half racks.
- Coke: pour one full can of coke into the slow cooker around the base of the ribs. Then pour ¾ of the 2nd can in, reserving the other ¼ for the basting sauce.
- Cook: put the lid on the slow cooker and cook the ribs at either 3 hours (high heat) or 6-7 hours low heat. Once the cook time is up remove the lid.
- Coke into sauce: pour the reserved coke into the remaining basting sauce and stir to combine.
- WITH ABOUT 15 MINUTES LEFT ON THE SLOW COOKER: Preheat oven: turn oven on to grill/broil at 200°C 392°F6.
- Grill/broil: working one half rack at a time use a pair of tongs to remove the cooked ribs from the slow cooker and place on a wire rack above a chopping board lined with paper towel. Use the remaining sauce to baste each half rack of ribs and then place them into the oven (top shelf) for 10-15 minutes re-basting with sauce halfway.
Video
Notes
- Note 1 - Barbecue sauce: you can use your favorite brand of bbq sauce. If you want to serve the ribs with sauce, you can make a double batch of it. If doing so seperate it before basting as to not draw any raw meat into the sauce when dipping the basting brush in.
- Note 2 - Coke: we want to use 2 cans of coke or coca cola for the recipe. Most of it goes into the slow cooker but some gets reserved and then used for the basting sauce when we grill the ribs at the end.
- Note 3 - Ribs: it is ok for your quantity of ribs to be a little bit less or more than this amount for this recipe. If less than you will simply have more sauce if more you can double the sauce as mentioned above if needed. We do want to use 2 racks which we slice to snugly fit into the slow cooker.
Susan says
Came out great. Would make another time.
Adrianne Jamieson says
Thanks Susan 😊.
Melissa S says
Great recipe. Worked perfectly and was just what we wanted.
Adrianne Jamieson says
Thanks Melissa! I am glad it worked out for you 😊