In my recent Butcher Box delivery, I chose a slab of baby back pork ribs. My husband has won a few rib competitions in his day, and we used to hold an annual rib cookoff for our friends. His slabs are hard to beat, but smoking meat in the winter months is not ideal. It is also an all day affair. So when the craving comes up, I've had to adjust to a crockpot method. These are pretty great too!
With minimal ingredients, you can have ribs at home any day of the week. There are quite a few clean BBQ sauce options, and I happen to really like this one from Good Food For Good. It's sweetened with dates and is dairy/soy/corn/grain free. I don't bother with a traditional dry rub, but I do season them pretty well. I like to keep it simple, because the pork itself is really the star here.
I know that there is controversy over what makes a "perfect" rib. I prefer mine to be fall-off-the-bone and so that's how these are done. Once cooked, I like to put them under the broiler for a few minutes to caramelize the sauce and give a little extra texture. Do whatever speaks to you. We had ours with a side of roasted rainbow cauliflower.
Ingredients
1 full slab of baby back ribs, approximately 2-3 lbs
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp mustard powder
2 tsp coconut sugar
salt
pepper
2 cups BBQ sauce
1/4 cup water
1/2 of a medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
Directions
With the bone side up, remove the membrane by slitting a bit at one end and then pulling with a paper towel (you can ask your butcher to do this too). Cut the full slab in half or thirds to fit into your crockpot.
Mix all of your spices and coconut sugar together and season the meat. Take half of the sauce and brush both sides of the ribs with the sauce.
Add the onion to the bottom of the crockpot, and then place the ribs on top of the onions. Add the water and put the lid on. Cook on low for 7-8 hours.
Once the ribs are cooked through, remove from the crockpot and put on a baking sheet. Brush the tops and sides with remaining BBQ sauce.
Broil in the oven on high for 2-4 minutes to char the tops, watching the whole time to ensure they don't burn. Serve and enjoy!
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