BBQ Ribs – Slow Cooker Version

Last week, my husband & I celebrated our 1st wedding anniversary. Most people would go out to a restaurant and spend hundreds of dollars for a special dinner, but we wanted a quiet night at home. This is a bittersweet time for our family because days after our wedding (and while we were away on our honeymoon cruise), my husband’s father unexpectedly passed away. While my husband mourns, he also knows that his last memory of his father is smiling and laughing during our wedding, and that’s good enough for him. Because of the bittersweet mood, it only felt appropriate to have a home cooked meal, comfort food theme, so I made my husband’s favorite foods: bbq ribs, mac & cheese, mashed potatoes, and glazed green beans.

Have you ever wanted to make really delicious bbq ribs but you don’t have a grill (or even if you have one, you’re too lazy to clean it)? Well today I have the answer to your prayers and good God it is so stinkin’ easy to make!

There’s very minimal prep to it. It’s 8 hours in a slow cooker and 5 minutes in the oven on broil. I prepped the ribs in the morning right before I went to work and when I came back, it was ready! I almost feel guilty to say, “I made bbq ribs” because besides stirring dry ingredients together, I did absolutely no work.

Happy slow cooking!

INGREDIENTS

• 1 rack Certified Humane baby back pork ribs
• 2 teaspoons chipotle chili powder (regular chili powder works if you can’t find the chipotle version)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar (light or dark, doesn’t matter)
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper powder
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
• 2 cups of your favorite bbq sauce (I like to mix mine, 1 cup of each, and my favorite sauces are Sweet Baby Ray’s Original & Stubbs Smokey Mesquite)

EQUIPMENT

• Slow cooker, at least a 6qt
• Baking sheet

DIRECTIONS

• Grease the slow cooker with nonstick spray.
• Stir together the chipotle chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Rub the dry mixture all over the top side of the ribs.
• If you are using 2 different bbq sauces, mix them together, then brush abourt 2/3 of the bbq sauce all over the ribs, top and bottom. Reserve the remaining bbq sauce.
• Place the ribs in the slow cooker so that they are “standing up” on the bones and the meat is touching the sides and curl to fit around the slow cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 hours.
• After you’ve gone about your day, taken 3 naps, took your dog out for 10 walks, and the ribs have cooked for 8 hours, preheat your oven to HIGH on broil.
• Line a baking sheet with foil and grease. Then use tongs to transfer the ribs onto the baking sheet so that the ribs are laying flat. Brush the reserved bbq sauce on the ribs. Put the ribs in the oven and broil for about 5 minutes or until charred to your liking. Remember, when you are broiling, make sure you do not peel your eyes off it!
• Remove from the oven and allow to cool just long enough so that the ribs can be handled and serve immediately.

You can definitely serve this as finger food at a get-together, or you can make it a main dish for dinner and serve with some carbs, starches, and veggies!

NOTES:

• You can discard the liquids in the slow cooker once the ribs are cooked. I like to let it cool, dump it in a plastic bag, and then throw it away in the trash for easy clean up.

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