Slow Cooker Dry Rub Ribs

Cooked ribs with bbq sauce on white plate.

5 from 4 votes

Slow Cooker Dry Rub Ribs are fall off the bone tender ribs. Seasoned with dry rub slow cooked then grilled. Finger licking good!

Prep Time15

Cook Time4 15

Total Time4 30

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Western

Keyword: slow cooker dry rub ribs

Servings:

Calories: 1169kcal

Author: Adrianne

Ingredients

Dry rub

2 tablespoons mustard powder Note 1
2 tablespoons garlic powder Note 2
2 tablespoons onion powder Note 3
2 tablespoons smoked paprika Note 4
1 tablespoon cayenne pepper Note 5
½ teaspoon salt Note 6
½ teaspoon black pepper also Note 6

Pork ribs

2 kg/ 4.4 pounds pork ribs Note 7

Liquids

¼ cup/60 ml Worcestershire sauce Note 8
¼ cup/60 ml apple cider vinegar Note 9

Barbecue sauce

½ cup/125 ml barbecue sauce Note 10
¼ cup/60 ml honey Note 11

Instructions

Dry rub: add the mustard powder, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt and pepper to a glass jug and use a mini whisk to stir till consistently combined then set aside.
Ribs: working one rack at a time place the ribs bone side up on a clean, dry cutting board. Start at one corner, grab hold of the membrane (silver skin) and pull to remove this and then discard it. Use a knife to slice the rack in half around the middle to ensure it will fit into the slow cooker insert.
Rub into ribs: sprinkle some of the dry rub over the back side of each set of ribs. Use your fingers to massage in well. Then flip to the otherside and repeat.
Liquids: pour the worcestershire sauce and apple cider vinegar into the base of the slow cooker.
Slow cooker: place the rub covered ribs into the slow cooker (stacking the ribs is ok) and pop the lid on. Cook the ribs on high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours.
Preheat the oven: preheat the oven to 200°C 392° F6 with the grill setting.
Sauce and grill: once the cooking time for the ribs is up, use a pair of tongs and remove them from the slow cooker and place the ribs onto a silicon baking mat on a wire rack. Use a basting brush to cover the ribs in the barbecue sauce and then place the ribs onto top shelf of the oven and grill for 10 to 15 minutes.
To serve: once the ribs have finished grilling, use an oven mitt to remove the tray and place it onto a heatproof surface. Let them sit for 5 minutes then transfer them to a serving plate with a small bowl of sauce.

Notes

Note 1 - Mustard powder: this is an excellent addition to the dry rub! It doesn't over power the flavors and the ribs don't taste 'like mustard'.
Note 2 - Garlic powder: garlic powder and onion powder go together exceptionally well. They are handy to have in the pantry and can be used for a wide variety of recipes.
Note 3 - Onion powder: a fantastic handy pantry staple. This can dry out if in the cupboard and not used for a while, so check your bottle (if you have one) before heading to the shops.
Note 4 - Paprika: you can use either ground paprika or smoked paprika.
Note 5 - Cayenne pepper: this is a hot spice! For this reason, we use a little less of it than the other spices as to not make the ribs 'too hot!'. You can double the amount to increase the heat or omit this ingredient to reduce it.
Note 6 - Salt and pepper: we use salt and a little bit of black pepper for seasoning in the dry rub. Cooking salt (kosher salt) is the best type to use over regular table salt.
Note 7 - Pork ribs: readily available and more often than not sold as a '2 racks' pack from the supermarket. We do minimal prep work and get fall off the bone meat.
Note 8 - Worcestershire sauce: a fantastic full bodied sauce that has a little 'oomph' to it. We pour this into the slow cooker insert before adding the ribs.
Note 9 - Apple cider vinegar: we want to add some liquids to the slow cooker insert to keep the ribs moist and juicy as they cook. Whilst not 'essential' I think it delivers the best results when we do have these 2 in the slow cooker to begin with.
Note 10 - Barbecue sauce: you can use your favorite barbecue sauce. Be it a tangy barbecue sauce, smokey, spicy, with sriracha or plain.
Note 11 - Honey: we use a little bit of honey combined with the barbecue sauce as the combination is simply heavenly

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