Are you ready for one of the easiest slow cooker recipes? These Slow Cooker Boneless Pork Ribs are simple to make, so tender and only require a handful of ingredients. It can be made ahead of time and it’s freezer friendly, too!
What Makes These Slow Cooker Boneless Ribs So Amazing?
Freezer-Friendly. This recipe is simple as is, but turning this into a freezer meal makes it even easier. Zero pre-cooking is required for this recipe to be a freezer meal.
Easy. Does it get any easier than adding all of the ingredients to your slow cooker?
Taste. These ribs are fall-apart tender and taste incredible!
Simple. This recipe doesn’t call for a huge list of ingredients or techniques.
What Goes Into This Recipe?
Only a handful of ingredients are needed to make this delicious slow cooker, freezer meal.
You’ll only need:
- boneless pork country-style ribs
- large onion
- garlic
- brown sugar
- apple sauce
- bbq sauce
- salt and pepper
How Do You Make These Slow Cooker Boneless Pork Ribs?
Are you ready for the easiest slow cooker recipe around? This is all you need to do:
Lightly salt and pepper your boneless pork ribs on both sides.
Add the ribs, onion, garlic, brown sugar, apple sauce and bbq sauce to your slow cooker. Gently mix it all up. Cook on low for 5-6 hours.
Remove meat from the slow cooker. Discard the juices.
Shred the ribs into pieces. Top with fresh bbq sauce. Serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I Make These Crock Pot Boneless Ribs Into A Freezer Meal?
Absolutely! To freeze, start by adding salt and pepper to your boneless ribs. Mix together all other ingredients. Add all to a freezer safe gallon sized bag—>>here are my favorite reusable bags! Label it and freeze it.
When you are ready to cook them, thaw the freezer bag in the refrigerator and then add to the slow cooker as directed. Cook on low 5-6 hours and enjoy!
This is one of those meals that you can multiply and make for a crowd or you can make for individual servings.
What Are Country-Style Pork Ribs?
Country-style pork ribs aren’t like the traditional ribs we are used to. First, they are boneless. They are cuts of pork shoulder (what we use for pulled pork) that are marbled for a lot of flavor that makes the meat really tender when cooked low and slow!
Most of the time they are ready to go into your slow cooker but if any of your ribs have the fat cap attached – a thick, even layer of fat attached to one side of the meat – cut it off with a knife before you season it.
What Kind of BBQ Sauce Should I Use?
My favorite kind of bbq sauce is my Homemade BBQ Sauce – so good! But when I don’t have time to whip it up, I use any original store-bought bbq sauce.
Stay from a flavored bbq sauce like honey bbq so the sauce doesn’t get too sweet. And if you are looking for some extra zing, add some red pepper flakes or sriracha into the bbq sauce. It tastes amazing!
Looking For More Pork Recipes?
- Slow Cooker Smothered Pork Chops– All you need is a handful of ingredients and some seasoning to make these slow cooker smothered pork chops. Delight your senses with each bite!
- Pulled Pork Sliders – Freezer Meal– Delicious pulled pork sliders – a meal the whole family will love! Juicy pork covered in BBQ sauce served on a slider with make ahead freezer meal options!
- Instant Pot Pork Chili Verde – This Instant Pot melt-in-your-mouth seared pork chili verde is coated in a sauce that is a perfect balance of mild peppers, tangy lime juice & cilantro.
If you make this meal, I would love to see it! Snap a picture and share it with me on Instagram using the hashtag #happymoneysaver and tagging me @happymoneysaver!
Boneless Country Style BBQ Ribs
Equipment
- slow cooker
Ingredients
- 2-3 lbs boneless pork country-style ribs
- 1/2 large onion thinly sliced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup apple sauce
- 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Lightly salt and pepper your boneless pork ribs on both sides. Add all ingredients to your slow cooker. Gently mix it all up.
- Cook on low for 5-6 hours. Remove meat from slow cooker. Discard juices.
- Top with 1/2 cup fresh bbq sauce. Serve.
To Freeze:
- Salt and pepper your boneless ribs. Mix together all other ingredients. Add all to a freezer safe gallon sized bag. Label and freeze.
- To cook: Thaw the freezer bag and add to slow cooker as directed. Cook on low 5-6 hours.
Notes
- If any of your ribs have the fat cap attached – a thick, even layer of fat attached to one side of the meat – cut it off with a knife before you season it.
- My favorite kind of bbq sauce is my Homemade BBQ Sauce or use any original store-bought bbq sauce.
- Looking for some extra zing, I add some red pepper flakes or sriracha into my bbq sauce.
Nutrition
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We cooked this last night and the meat never got tender. We just got very tough bits of pork without the fat. I think this recipe needs the fat cap, vinegar or some oil to tenderize the meat. Really disappointed.
If I want to make the ribs in the crockpot today but haven’t thawed them yet can I still do that or do they have to thaw overnight?
It helps to thaw overnight but I would probably add them to a sinkful of cool water to thaw and then cook them. Make sure you don’t leave them unattended. It can be unsafe if they sit below a certain temperature.
Can I use apple juice instead of apple sauce…. I’m out.
Yes, but only a smaller amount of juice since it’s more liquidy.
Just discovered you on Pinterest and omg, already bookmarked 5 recipes to try next, you are a goldmine! I have a lot of food blogs saved but honestly it’s overwhelming when I read the ingredients and see a ton of things listed. I like simple and easy to put together dishes, I don’t have the time or the budget to cook fancy things.
Do you have a time estimate for doing these in the Instant Pot? I LOVE the crock pot version, but also think in a pinch I could use my IP, but am not sure of the time setting… THANKS so much!
I’m going to give these a shot tonight in my IP. Every other time I’ve done ribs in it I do 15 minutes plus 10 minutes natural pressure release so I’m going to start there. We’ll see how it turns out haha
A fantastic recipe! We’ll be making this again and again!
So happy you liked it!
For boneless ribs in crock pot what does the applesauce do, just curious
What an excellent recipe! We will make this, again and again. Delicious!
can you still make these ribs without applesauce would it make a difference?
How different will it taste without the brown sugar and what can you substitute it with
I made this but with homemade apple butter instead of applesauce and it was amazing!
Can i put the uncooked boneless ribs in slowcooker with ingredients and cook them together all day
Yes you can!
Making it ! Wondering can I ramp it up but cooking on high for 3 to 4 hours instead of low for 5 to 6!? Any one done this? Also does anyone know internal temp needed ?
yes you can! i do it all the time, 4 hrs on high!
I can’t find boneless ribs anywhere. Where do you find them? Could you use ribs with bones instead? Would you need to adjust cooking time? Thanks!
I’ve used bone-in ones as well as boneless, they both are great! With bone in you probably want to cook it 2-3 more hours at least, just watch it and when it’s fall off the bone tender, it’s ready to eat. 🙂
Made this as a freezer meal and then put it in the crockpot. It was DELICIOUS! I made this recipe from the “15 Actually Easy Freezer Meals” list, so I didn’t use onion or applesauce, but I might try that next time. I also may try throwing in a few dashes of chili powder or garlic powder. We love seasonings on our pork. Freezer meals are kind of my new thing, so your blog has been very helpful. We’ll definitely be making again. Thank you for this recipe!
I am wondering how cooking time would vary if I only wanted to make one pound. Small crock pot and small budget and not sure if I am interested in freezing anything. I’m just getting into the home life and I’m trying to make my meals from fresh ingredients but I just have no idea how to cook anything really
Hi, as long as your crock pot is small you can totally reduce this recipe down. It should work perfectly, cooking time will likely be the same though.
Do you have to cook the meat first before freezing? Or can you put it in raw with all the ingredients? I’ve never done freezer meals before.
You can do either! Whichever way you like! If you don’t have time to cook that day, just put the meat into freezer bag, then thaw on cooking day and cook it all day, to come home to a yummy smelling house. 🙂
If you go ahead and cook these ribs, then freeze, how long would you cook them in slow cooker/crockpot from frozen?