Slow Cooker Barbequed Beef Ribs

  4.4 – 233 reviews  

There is a homemade BBQ sauce in this recipe for slow cooker beef ribs. Very, very good after 4 hours on High… Even great cooked for 8 hours on low. Over hot, cooked rice, serve.

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 4 hrs
Total Time: 4 hrs 10 mins
Servings: 4

Ingredients

  1. 1 cup water
  2. 1 cup ketchup
  3. 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
  4. ¾ cup brown sugar
  5. ½ cup vinegar
  6. 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
  7. 1 tablespoon salt
  8. 2 pounds beef back ribs

Instructions

  1. Combine water, ketchup, tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar, mustard, and salt in a slow cooker; stir well to dissolve brown sugar and salt.
  2. Place short ribs into the sauce and stir to coat. Cover and cook until ribs are tender, about 8 hours on Low or 4 hours on High.
  3. The magazine version of this recipe uses 4 pounds beef short (or back) ribs, 1/4 cup water, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt.

Nutrition Facts

Calories 1035 kcal
Carbohydrate 50 g
Cholesterol 166 mg
Dietary Fiber 2 g
Protein 39 g
Saturated Fat 32 g
Sodium 2965 mg
Sugars 45 g
Fat 76 g
Unsaturated Fat 0 g

Reviews

Christopher Grant
I added a splash of Worcester sauce and served it with cheesy mash potatoes and every one in the house enjoyed it.
Rodney Hart
For a thicker (and better tasting) sauce, use only 1/4-1/3 cup of water. I cooked my ribs for 8 hours.
Jeremy Wise
I only used 1/4 cup water, but the sauce was still too watery. I also used 1/2 the amount of salt. It had a good taste, but wished the sauce was thicker.
Sarah Pratt DVM
Just added a little hot sauce and a full can of beer..I like to cook them for the full 8 hours on low..But hard go wrong with them. Great slow cooker meal with Fried rice..Thx
Angela Butler
I love this recipe. The sauce was delicious and the meat just fell off the bones.
Beth Faulkner
Fantastic. Made exactly as recipe states including the water. The sauce thickens as it cooks and it was perfect. It does make a lot of sauce. Could double the meat or cut sauce in half
Nicholas Campos
I love tomato based sauces and they are hard to find where I live. I thought it might be a bit sweet but it really wasn’t. This will be my go-to BBQ sauce going forward.
Stephanie Benson
We loved this recipe so simple and yet so delicious. I did make some minor adjustments i seasoned the ribs with pepper and salt and seared them before adding to the sauce. I also added 2tsp garlic, 1tblsp sweet chilli and 1tblsp home made Worcestershire sauce. It was so good!
Debbie Phillips
I only give four stars instead of five because it was a little sweet for me. Other than that it was excellent and I will be making it again! I will just cut back on the sugar probably by half. I used boneless beef short ribs and the fat was already trimmed off when I bought them so that was an added bonus. I also took the suggestion of another reviewer and sprinkled a few drops of liquid smoke over everything after a couple of hours. I would think it was no more than a teaspoon if that. Will definitely make again! Next time I might use the Heinz jalapeno ketchup to give it a little more kick! But seriously good as written!!
Jennifer Valenzuela
Easy and delicious!!
Alexander Smith
Wonderfully tasty! Disclaimer – I just used a favorite barbecue sauce from the store, and it turned out perfectly (and much less hassle).
Terri Hunter
Easy to make and delicious. Followed recipe completely with no subs.
Charlotte Roth
Simmered first 8 hours, gone in 5 minutes!!! Followed exactly except beer instead of water, and cut the ribs individually before cooking. Tried to cut most of the membrane off before cooking, didn’t get all of it. Didn’t matter, it was falling off the bone by the time it was done. My boys ate it up and loved the sauce! No need for extra bbq sauce!
Sarah Galvan
Quite good! Next time I think I will nix the ketchup though. There was A LOT of tomato flavor in this that masked the great flavors of everything else. I had one rib left and ate it the next day with just a little sauce and oil. It was the best of them all. Definitely keeping the recipe though.
Joel Villa
Came out excellent!
John Davis
Meal was alright, not impressed. Vinegar was a bit overpowering.
Margaret Mack
Disappointed…that this won’t last longer. This was really yummy. Used over 3 lbs of ribs. Took everyone’s suggestion and omitted the water and still ended up with a lot of sauce. Will make again with bigger and better ribs.
Carla Baker
Horrible Ketchupque! We followed this recipe to the letter. The results were awful. The odor is nauseating, a miasma of oily meat and Heinz ketchup. The sauce leaves a sickly-sweet aftertaste that coats the tongue for hours. The meat was dry and initially shocked the tastebuds with an unpleasant sweetness that finished with a disagreeable vinegar tang. Overall, the dish is more like bad Sauerbraten than barbeque. What a waste of good beef ribs. We won’t be making this one again!
Peter Hughes
Sharron I’m sorry, but this “bbq” sauce is terrible. I was skeptical about adding the tomato paste, and boy was I right. However the ribs were nice and tender. Will not be using this again.
Michael Watson
This was awful.
Stephanie Turner
I like back ribs and normally prefer to do them on the smoker. One day the weather was just too miserable and I started looking for an indoors-type recipe. I came across this recipe and found it different enough from the regular oven/slow cooker recipes that I decided to give it a try, and am really glad I did. This recipe is the closest version to any ribs I do on the smoker. Chef John has some other very good recipes that I use, and he nailed this one right. My only modification is that I use my own rubs that I normally use in the smoker. Stick to the procedure, temps, and times, they’re all good, and you won’t be disappointed.

 

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