Easy Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs
Do you have any foods or meals that are on your bucket list? By bucket list I mean that list of 'it would be nice to try and make some day when I have more time, energy and kind of know what I am doing?'. Well ribs has been one of my 'bucket list' meals. My husband loves them and the boys have always enjoyed them when we have eaten out together. As a #mumofboys I thought it high time that I had a crack at making them.
Oh the slow cooker.
Seriously one of my life savors in the kitchen. In fact I have even written blogs about just why I love them so much before! There is the misconception that you always need to have liquid in with meat in the slow cooker but here the ribs cook in their own juice!
Simple, sugar-free (or at least low sugar) and ribs do not often seem to feature much. In particular I really did not want to add sugar to the rub or use a sauce laden with refined sugar. So I created a bit of my own recipe using spices I like (these can be easily adjusted) and a really healthy barbecue sauce from Get Real Foods. This company is amazing and make healthy sauces from vegetables, free of refined sugar. I highly recommend checking them out.
Directions
1. Prepare the rub for the ribs. This can be so easily adjusted to suit your preferences. All my boys (big and small) are used to a lot of flavour and really like it so if you are unsure just drop the spices down a bit - try 1-2 tablespoons of paprika, 1 tablespoon of Chinese five spice with some salt will add good flavour.
2. Cover the ribs well with the rub - use your whole hands to gently massage it into the meat (keep watch for my vlog on this).
3. Using a brush gently cover the ribs with the barbecue sauce.
4. Spray or bush a little bit of olive oil in the base of the slow cooker (just to stop it sticking). Place in the ribs and pop in about 5 star anise. Cook on low for approximately five hours (depending of how many ribs in there).
5. That's it! You can also quickly put another layer of sauce on top and place in the oven at 200 degrees on the top rack to give the ribs a bit of a shine....but to be honest I skip this as two hungry toddlers never allow for it!! The meat literally falls off the bone and goes nicely with a coleslaw.
Just quietly I did get called a domestic goddess and the 'best mummy ever' after making this so I am totally going to claim both of those!
P.S You can check out the video of these recipe over on my You Tube channel plus for more ideas, I have two slow cooker recipes in Healthy Easy Dinners for Busy Mums
xxx Dr Julie Bhosale
Oh the slow cooker.
Seriously one of my life savors in the kitchen. In fact I have even written blogs about just why I love them so much before! There is the misconception that you always need to have liquid in with meat in the slow cooker but here the ribs cook in their own juice!
Simple, sugar-free (or at least low sugar) and ribs do not often seem to feature much. In particular I really did not want to add sugar to the rub or use a sauce laden with refined sugar. So I created a bit of my own recipe using spices I like (these can be easily adjusted) and a really healthy barbecue sauce from Get Real Foods. This company is amazing and make healthy sauces from vegetables, free of refined sugar. I highly recommend checking them out.
Ingredients
2 x large rib racks (this feed four comfortably)
Barbecue sauce (Get Real Foods)
3 Tb paprika
2 Tb Chinese five spice
2 Tb chili powder
1 Tb crushed peppercorns
Salt
Olive oil
5 Whole Star Anise
Directions
1. Prepare the rub for the ribs. This can be so easily adjusted to suit your preferences. All my boys (big and small) are used to a lot of flavour and really like it so if you are unsure just drop the spices down a bit - try 1-2 tablespoons of paprika, 1 tablespoon of Chinese five spice with some salt will add good flavour.
2. Cover the ribs well with the rub - use your whole hands to gently massage it into the meat (keep watch for my vlog on this).
3. Using a brush gently cover the ribs with the barbecue sauce.
4. Spray or bush a little bit of olive oil in the base of the slow cooker (just to stop it sticking). Place in the ribs and pop in about 5 star anise. Cook on low for approximately five hours (depending of how many ribs in there).
5. That's it! You can also quickly put another layer of sauce on top and place in the oven at 200 degrees on the top rack to give the ribs a bit of a shine....but to be honest I skip this as two hungry toddlers never allow for it!! The meat literally falls off the bone and goes nicely with a coleslaw.
Just quietly I did get called a domestic goddess and the 'best mummy ever' after making this so I am totally going to claim both of those!
P.S You can check out the video of these recipe over on my You Tube channel plus for more ideas, I have two slow cooker recipes in Healthy Easy Dinners for Busy Mums
xxx Dr Julie Bhosale