Tangy, tender and fall-off-the-bone delicious! All you need are 3 ingredients, plus salt and pepper, for these finger licking good barbecue ribs made easily in your slow cooker.
Here in Austin, you can throw a stone in any direction and hit a good barbecue joint. However, as easy as bought barbecue is to come by, my method of making ridiculously tender, sticky ribs the homemade way is even easier… and absolutely fool-proof!
I have some friends who swear by a day-long smoking process, and others who oven-bake them slow and low, then finish on the grill. Let me just put it this way, I’ve never had a BAD rib. Each method produces fantastic results! But, this mama needs to keep it simple when the hankering for good homemade barbecue strikes.
Enter 3 simple ingredients and your slow cooker!
The addition of root beer gives these ribs a slight vanilla-molasses infusion, which is all the more enhanced with a sticky, spicy barbecue sauce! I love to serve these ribs with corn on the cob and my Southern potato salad… and a thick pile of napkins, of course.
In my experience, barbecue sauce is best added after the ribs are mostly cooked. Otherwise, the sugar in the sauce will burn and you’ll end up with a difficult cleaning job. In this method, simply add a bottle of good-quality root beer to your slow cooker and lay your ribs on top. You can cook them on low (which I recommend) or high, but either way, they come out delicious and tender.
When the ribs are cooked, place them on a large baking sheet and slather with barbecue sauce. Into the oven they go, so the sauce can caramelize and stick to yer ribs (like these ribs will). And then, you’re ready to dig in!
Serve these awesome, easy root beer ribs for your next barbecue or casual summer get-together!
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Slow Cooker Root Beer Baby Back Ribs
Yield: Makes about 6 servings
Ingredients:
3 pounds baby back ribs, thawed and trimmed
Salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1 cup root beer
1 (18 ounce) bottle barbecue sauce
Directions:
Pat ribs dry with paper towels and season generously with salt and pepper.
Pour root beer into slow cooker, then place ribs on top. Cook on high for 4 hours, or low for 6-8 hours.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with heavy duty aluminum foil. Transfer ribs to sheet. Coat ribs with barbecue sauce (more or less, to your taste). Bake until sauce caramelizes and sticks to the meat, 10 to 15 minutes.
Remove from oven and brush on more sauce, if desired.
Enjoy!
Adapted from Allrecipes
Sues says
June 15, 2015 at 7:31 amOh my goshhh. I totally want these for breakfast!!
RavieNomNoms says
June 15, 2015 at 9:43 amThis looks SOOOOO good! Perfect for summer time!
Bianca @ Confessions of a Chocoholic says
June 15, 2015 at 9:49 amI love the idea of ribs with rootbeer! This looks delicious – perfectly sticky and tender.
Deb says
June 15, 2015 at 12:45 pmMy slow cooker died :-(
Do you think I could do this on a low temp in the oven?
Georgia — June 15th, 2015 @ 12:51 pm
I suggest you try this oven-baked ribs recipe here, instead
http://www.thecomfortofcooking.com/2010/06/barbecued-baby-back-ribs.html
April says
June 15, 2015 at 7:26 pmThese look delicious. Do you really only use 1/2 cup of the root beer? Does it last through the four hours of cooking time? You always have such wonderful recipes. Thank you so much!
Georgia — June 16th, 2015 @ 8:41 am
Oops, should be 1 cup! The recipe has been updated.
cheri says
June 15, 2015 at 8:12 pmOh these ribs look amazing, really interesting what the root beer does to the flavor, will definitely try this recipe. My husband would love this!!!
Nicole ~ Cooking for Keeps says
June 16, 2015 at 9:25 amGosh, how I love ribs. My Dad just made the most amazing smoked ribs for Sunday dinner the other night, the only problem?? They take 18hours and actually have to be monitored pretty frequently during that time, these are perfect when you jut want to prep it and then forget about it! Looks delicious!
Oana says
June 25, 2015 at 6:11 amI would love to make these but I have one problem, my husband and son don’t like root beer. Do the ribs end up tasting like it?
Georgia — June 25th, 2015 @ 1:11 pm
The ribs do not have a strong taste of root beer, but you can use beef broth instead, if you prefer.
Autumn Ferguson says
June 25, 2015 at 12:58 pmI would love to make these but it is just two of us and 3lbs of ribs seems like alot, if i do 1 1/2lbs and cut everything in half will it turn out the same?
Thanks,
Autumn
Georgia — June 25th, 2015 @ 1:11 pm
Yes, you can definitely halve this recipe with good results!
Laura Cunningham says
June 30, 2015 at 11:59 amJust want to let you know that I made these for Father’s Day and they were a big hit! Thanks Georgia!
Alessandra says
September 22, 2015 at 11:38 amHi Georgia, love all your recipes! Just wondering if there is a specific barbecue sauce you would recommend for this recipe? Thanks!
Georgia — September 23rd, 2015 @ 12:01 pm
Any will do, but I believe I used Bullseye brand for this recipe.
Alyssa says
October 6, 2015 at 3:09 pmHey, Georgia!
I am planning to make this recipe for supper tonight or tomorrow night, but I just have a few questions 1st.
I have 1.662 kg (3.66 lbs I think) of pork side ribs. Will this recipe still work if I cut the ribs up? How much root beer & bbq sauce should I use since it’s more than 3 lbs?
Also, I only have a BBQ sauce called Chicken n’ Rib. Would this taste good or is it too sweet? I don’t want to make it if it’s not gonna taste good!
Thanks!
Georgia says
October 6, 2015 at 3:20 pmThe ribs might over-cook if cut up, but if you need to cut them up, just cook on low and keep an eye on them to avoid drying them out. I would stick with the same measurements of root beer and BBQ sauce. I’m not familiar with that BBQ sauce, so I would say just use your best judgement and don’t use a sauce you don’t like. Enjoy!
Natalie Atkison says
January 8, 2016 at 8:51 amCould you make these with real beer instead of root beer?
Georgia says
January 8, 2016 at 9:44 amThat should work fine!
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