These crock pot beef ribs are ultra-tender and have a sweet and savory flavor you’ll love. Boneless beef ribs are slow-cooked in a mixture of BBQ sauce, Dr. Pepper, and zesty seasonings to create super-tender ribs with a deliciously sweet, savory, and slightly spicy flavor profile.
While I’m retired now, I spent decades juggling my career as a full-time admissions nurse with my responsibilities as a mom. If those years taught me anything, it’s that crock pot and slow cooker recipes are the gold standard for easy, convenient dinners.
Slow cooker meals have always made it so easy for me to get a delicious meal on the table without throwing a gigantic kink into my day, and even now, that I’m retired, I still love making them.
I love BBQ as much as I love the slow cooker. During the summer, I love whipping up delicious recipes like this BBQ pulled pork sandwich, and in the winter, dishes like BBQ meatloaf are always on the menu.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Limited Ingredients: It only takes a handful of kitchen staples to make these delicious ribs. Depending on your diet, you might not have to shop for any of them, and if you do, they’re all at your local grocery store.
- So Easy: Just put everything in the crock pot and let it do all the work. All you need is a healthy supply of patience.
- Super Tender: The combination of slow-cooking and the acidity of the Dr. Pepper makes the ribs incredibly tender.
- Flavorful: The combination of spices, BBQ sauce, and Dr. Pepper creates a sweet, savory, slightly spicy flavor that works perfectly with the beef ribs.
- Great for Meal Prep: You can easily adjust this recipe to suit your taste.
Ingredients
See the recipe card at the bottom of the post for a full list of ingredients and their exact amounts.
Variations
- Ribs: Your favorite variety of beef or pork ribs will work for this recipe.
- Other Proteins: The flavors in this recipe work well with any kind of chicken, as well as beef or pork roasts for dishes like crock pot BBQ pulled pork.
- Mild: Omit the red pepper flakes for a mild version of this recipe.
- BBQ Sauce: Your favorite variety of BBQ sauce will work in this recipe. They all add something a little different.
- Dr. Pepper: I enjoy the flavor Dr. Pepper adds to the ribs, but you could use any kind of dark pop. Even root beer will work.
How to Make Crock Pot Beef Ribs
Step 1: Add the onions to the bottom of a prepared crock pot. Then, add the boneless ribs.
Step 2: Top with the seasonings. Then, pour in the BBQ sauce and Dr. Pepper. Cook on low or high until the meat shreds easily with a fork.
Step 4: Serve with your favorite sides, and enjoy!
Tips
- Don’t skip spraying the slow cooker with nonstick spray. You don’t want the onions to stick and burn.
- It’s important to add the onions first, so they get nice and soft while the beef cooks.
- This is one of those slow cooker recipes you start in the morning and eat for dinner. Don’t start cooking it in the middle of the day, or it won’t have time to finish cooking by dinner.
- Trim any large fat deposits off your ribs before cooking them. There’s plenty of marbling in the meat, and the extra fat will just make the sauce greasy.
Crock Pot Beef Ribs FAQ
Depending on the type of ribs and how large they are, beef ribs can take anywhere from 5 to 9 hours on high or 8 to 12 hours on low.
Cooking ribs in the slow cooker on low or high yields the same results. Adjust your cooking temperature based on your timetable.
Tough ribs are almost always the result of undercooking. Beef ribs have a lot of connective tissue, and it needs time to break down to give the beef its super-tender, juicy texture and flavor.
More Delicious Rib Recipes
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Crock Pot Beef Ribs
Ingredients
- 3.5 -4 pounds boneless beef ribs
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 1 ½ cups Stubbs BBQ sauce, or your favorite
- 12 ounce Dr. Pepper soda
- 1 tablespoon Slap Ya Mama seasoning
- 1 tablespoon granulated garlic
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
Instructions
- In a 6 or 8 quart crock pot, spray with non-stick cooking spray.
- Add onions, then top with boneless ribs.
- Sprinkle all of the seasonings over the meat.
- Pour barbecue sauce over the ribs followed by the can of soda.
- Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 5-7 hours.
Notes
- Refrigerate for up to 4 days in an airtight container.
- Wrap ribs in plastic wrap and freeze for up to 3 months in an airtight freezer-safe container or heavy-duty freezer bag.
- Defrost overnight in the fridge if frozen. Then, microwave at 1-minute interavals until heated through.
- Don’t skip spraying the slow cooker with nonstick spray. You don’t want the onions to stick and burn.
- It’s important to add the onions first, so they get nice and soft while the beef cooks.
- This is one of those slow cooker recipes you start in the morning and eat for dinner. Don’t start cooking it in the middle of the day, or it won’t have time to finish cooking by dinner.
- Trim any large fat deposits off your ribs before cooking them. There’s plenty of marbling in the meat, and the extra fat will just make the sauce greasy.
Nutrition
These ribs look delicious! I have been waiting for so long to make these for my family and then you came along! You just made my family very happy campers! Gotta run to the store for now! I will let you know how this works for me! Thanks again!
Hi Laura,
I’m so glad you found these ribs too! :)
I hope you are your family enjoy these as much as we do. And, thanks for the 5-star rating. Truly appreciate that.