Slow Cooker Barbequed Beef Ribs

It sounds like it would be too sweet, but in the end it is just perfect. Great for the upcoming fall and winter seasons, fantastic aromas you can use up to 3 lbs of short ribs, with this recipe.

I would definitely sear the ribs first next time and would also leave the water out of the sauce. The flavor was really good, but we prefer a thicker sauce.

I bought pork ribs and went to prepare them for the slow cooker in the morning when I realized that I did not have BBQ sauce! I never made BBQ sauce from scratch before so I checked Allrecipes.com like I always do. I chose this one because I had all the ingredients on hand. It was VERY good! I doubled the recipe...and I added a teaspoon of cayenne pepper to give it a little spice with the sweetness. I would do as another poster said and omit the water. It was too liquid for me, I like a thicker sauce. Oh, I also added some honey. Its not too sweet at all. I would actually add more brown sugar next time, and honey, along with the cayenne pepper. This is a great base BBQ sauce to tweak however you like! I also broiled the ribs first like I always do. And I added a large onion to the crock pot. Cooked it on low for 7 hours and it was delish! =)

Good and easy...

I was going to give this recipe a 5 star rating but realized that wasn't fair considering I had to make several changes. Like other reviewers I removed the water. I also seasoned the ribs and threw them on the grill to get a nice caramelization on all sides. I like to call this dish my "everything but the kitchen sink ribs." I have done this recipe before and it turned out great! This time I used brown sugar, molasses and honey (since they were all in the cupboard). I added the juice from 1/2 an orange (because it was in the fridge). I used 1 can of tomato paste and 1 can of tomato sauce (I doubled the recipe and didn't have 2 cans of paste). I threw in some garlic and used apple cider vinegar (becuase I think it gives it a better flavor). This recipe is a great base recipe like other reviewers stated. I recommend you get creative and see what you have in your cupboards or fridge and change it up a little. Last time I used wasabi mustard instead of regular and it was delish!

This recipe came out terrific. I seasoned the ribs with salt and pepper then seared them on all sides before adding them to the Slow Cooker. The searing made for a nice, caramelized crust on the outside of the ribs. Cooked these for 7 hours on Low. There was some grease so I simply absorbed it off the top using tongs and a paper towel. Super!

My family loved this. I did make some changes based on previous reviews: Seared the beef short ribs in olive oil. Beer instead of water, Added: honey, cayenne pepper, dried onion. Toward the end, I thickened the sauce with some flour/cornstarch. Served it on some rice.

This was super easy and super good! The only change I would make for next time would be to NOT add the water, because it really thins out the sauce. I took the advice of other reviewers and seared the meat for a few minutes before adding them to the slow cooker. Also, I would trim the fat beforehand, because it was messy to try and do it afterwards. Yummy, thanks for the recipe!

There was way too much sauce and I even used 3 lbs of ribs instead of 2. Good flavor, just too much. Also, I don't know if it was just the ribs I got or if all beef ribs are this way, but there was no meat on them! After they cooked, there was about an inch of fat in a wide six qt. slow cooker and maybe a bite of meat on each rib, if that. Very disappointing.

I prepared the sauce in a sauce pan before adding it to the ribs. I simmered it a bit to reduce the liquid. I seared the ribs first, then poured about half of the sauce on the ribs in the slow cooker. The rest of the sauce we used for dipping. I actually cooked the ribs on low for over 10 hours. They fell right off the bone and were excellent. The flavor of the sauce on the beef ribs was terrific.

Easy and really good. Made as directed, except I did brown my ribs before putting in crock pot.

I've made this several times and it's always a hit. I eliminate the water and use apple cider vinegar. I also sear the meat beforehand. I'm not the best cook but I get this one right every time.

Simple, easy, and tasty. Definitely a winner! I didn't have an oven to work with where I was cooking so a number of the other slow cooker recipes that required pre-braising and the like didn't work for me. I made it pretty much exactly as written except for cooking on high for about five hours. Everyone enjoyed it and I'll be adding it to my regular repertoire.

Delicious. Made it 2 days in a row! Yesterday, I pretty much followed the recipe, except I didn't have vinegar so I substituted it with apple juice. Today, instead of 2 lbs. I made 5 lbs. using the same measurements. There was plenty of sauce and the beef ribs were fantastic. My husband, his brother, and mother all loved it! Thank you!

I’m realistic and realize that slow cooker ribs are not going to be as good as grilled, however these are so easy, tender, moist and tasty, they are very, very respectable and well worth the effort. I used bison ribs and it worked out extremely well. Next time I’ll sear them on the grill before serving just to get a little of that char flavor.

Delicious!! Per others' advice, I seared the beef before hand and omitted the water. I actually used 4lbs of "short ribs." (from my experience back ribs yields little meat with a lot of fat). I first seasoned the beef with some salt and black pepper. Then I seared it. I used the same amount of sauce and there was still plenty for all the meat. I did try to remove extra fat from the meat before getting started. Yummy

Awesome! I followed the recipes exactly, except I only added about 1/4 water, bc I like thick sauce. I cooked these on warm for about 10 hours, bc my crockpots low setting stil sometimes gets too hot. Next time I may use pork ribs, bc beef ribs arent my fave- too much fat and hardly any meat. Served over rice with extra sauce, super yummy!

I added half a onion and used apple cider vinegar instead (because thats what I had). Cooked it on high for two hours and then on low for about 4.5 hours. The sauce never thickened, in fact it was more of a liquid. Definitely had a more tomato taste then BBQ. Still good though!

Nice recipe. I gave the short ribs a short roast to brown on the gas grill, because it was a hot day.Used my own BBQ sauce recipe. Then, added to the crock pot. I did more ribs than indicated in the recipe, so it wasn't too much sauce. In my "slow cooker" it took about 1 hour on high and 5 hours on low to achieve tender perfection, without over cooking.

Great beginner recipe. The BBQ sauce can be tweaked in many different ways to suit many different tastes. I added some liquid smoke to mine and it turned out fantastic, even my picky 5 year old loved it and kept telling me how great my dinner was!! However, I like a thick BBQ sauce, so next time I will be leaving out the water or at least cutting it back. I doubled this recipe and made 5 pounds of ribs, there was a ton of leftover sauce, so I kept it to play around with and use on some other meals. Served with baked potatoes, pork and beans, and rolls.

Really really good I must say. I Followed all the instructions as directed ,only thing I did different was sear my ribs with crushed black pepper. I set my crock pot on high " I was press for time" after four hours the meat was falling off the bone ....sauce was great!

This was delicious! I only did a couple of things different. I used apple cider vinegar because that's what we had, added a little pepper and garlic powder.

This was my first time to cook BBQ ribs. I was looking for an easy recipe to use in my slow cooker and ran across this one. I followed the recipe to see how it would turn out. It turned out to be a breeze to make and tasted terrific. Highly recommend this recipe.

I love the recipe but I added apple cider vinegar instead of whit vinegar. It adds a much needed kick to the sauce. Give it a try. Cheers.

Just made this recipe, and it was superb! Even my finicky husband said it was a "keeper". We had very fatty ribs, so when the meat was ready & cooked, I de-boned and scrapped as much fat off that I could then scooped up the grease. By the time I finished, the sauce had thickened and I served it over rice- yum, yum! Next time I might experiment with reducing the sugar a little, to cut calories. I can see adding pineapple chunks, bell peppers, and even orange to this. Thank you so much for a wonderful BBQ sauce base, just as it is! Love it!

Not the recipes fault by any means, but bought 1/2 beef & ended up with odds & ends not sure what to do with-aka short ribs. Looked up recipes to make them & this looked pretty good. Would have probably cooked longer to get more tender. Way too much bone, fat, gristle, etc on the meat for our taste. A lot of waste on this cut of meat. Next time I'll tell the butcher to keep or throw away. Like I said, not the recipes fault, but absolutely won't touch again with a ten foot pole.

This is a really good method, next time I make this I will be sure not to let the leftovers sit in the sauce. The taste was too strong, next time I will remove from sauce and place in a separate bowl.

Great Ribs I did use country pork ribs instead

Save this sauce to use on everything!!

Very tasty! I made this for dinner today and my whole family loved it! I seared the ribs first but otherwise followed the recipe. Yes, it is is fatty and I skimmed the fat off but we are using ribs so that's to be expected. The sauce is so good that I will use it as my go to barbeque sauce for other dishes as well. Thanks fir the recipe.

Recipe was ok. I followed some recommendations in reviews. Leave out the water and sear before putting in slow cooker. Even without the water sauce was a little too watery for my liking. I also added about 1tsp of cayenne (could've used a little more) to add some spice. I used balsamic vinegar. I didnt season ribs but highly recommend it. Someone else said it perfectly, " recipe is good base to start from." Will try it again with some additions and see how it comes out.

Tender as a mother's love! We didn't have 8 hours to wait, so we went 4 hours on High. Perfect over rice, with sauteed green beans on the side. We will definitely make this again.

Delish. I too would omit at least half the water and maybe add some garlic. I used 3/4 Dijon mustard and 1/4 hot English mustard. I might make it half and half next time. Also I'd recommend making it the night before and skimming off the fat the next morning as the ribs are very fatty. I served it with green beans and rice since it needed some vegetables.

I just tried this recipe yesterday and it turned out fantastic. I think next time I may cut back on the mustard or use Dijon instead. I am not a huge fan of mustard and you can definitely smell it and taste some of it. There is a touch of bitterness to the BBQ sauce but nothing that would overall ruin the dish. I would definitely make this dish again.

Delicious. I used a bit over 4 pounds of ribs (8 ribs total). I used red wine vinegar and subbed coconut palm sugar for brown sugar. Delicious even my picky eater liked it!

I made this for a potluck and it was a hit. Even better the longer and slower you cook it- don't be afraid to go up to 12 hours on low heat.

I loved the simplicity of the homemade bbq sauce!! I did change the mustard for honey mustard and used beef broth instead of water, instead of regular vinegar i used apple cider vinegar. It was a sweet kind of bbq sauce. Maybe next time some paprika would be so tasty!!!

Thanks Sharon! While this is a great recipe as is, I made a few minor changes that I believe improves on the original. First, I never use the water; it comes out fine without it. Second, add a little Worcestershire sauce, a sprinkle of liquid smoke, and a diced onion. Third, quickly brown the meat before adding to slow cooker. Go for the long haul with the slow cooker, 8-10 hrs on low. I also smoke a lot of meat and often baste some of what I cook the last hr or so with some of this sauce. I just cook the sauce down for about half an hr and it works great. Sometimes I make it a day in advance. The sauce is good served along side smoked or grilled meat.

Was it a Grand-slam...almost but not quite! My wife and I enjoyed it and would probably make again. I took the advice of others and left OUT the 1 cup of water, which was a wise decision, TY all for that tip. But I am wondering if they would be even better if one substituted the 1 cup of ketchup, with 1 cup of BBQ sauce? Overall it was very good, but I just wanted them to be a tad better, but I can see why soo many do enjoy them, as everyone's tastes buds are different....We ate all the ribs, so we did not suffer,lol

I also, as others did, omitted the water. I added half white vinegar and half apple cider vinegar to make 1/2 cup. Made the rest as written, and heated on the stove to melt the brown sugar (it was a rock). I also added some honey, but then it tasted too sweet and ketchuppy, so I added salt, pepper, two capfuls of liquid smoke, and a few shakes of cayenne pepper and smoked paprika. Perfect. Oh, and I also browned the ribs first in olive oil after seasoning with salt, pepper, and Montreal steak season. Yum.

Cut water by 1/2

Way too strong on tomato. Did not even resemble a good barbeque sauce. Not good at all.

Fantastic--don't look any further for another home barbecue sauce!!! I only gave this a 4 instead of a 5 rating because of the modifications I made reading other reviews. I used 1/4 c water (the crock pot generates enough water during the cooking process and it would water down the yummy sauce if more than this amount of water is used), I added 1/4 c onion and 2T honey. I also seared the ribs first. It took 7 hours on low to cook and I got raves!!!!!!! It is absolutely delicious. I used pork and beef ribs.

Fatty.

I was very easy, we had all ingredients on hand, but I would not make it again.

Too much sauce, the vinegar taste was overwhelming. I normally like every recipe on all recipes, but not this one.

This was a hit tonight i add a little cayenne pepper and it was perfect.

Did just as said, but also left out water it makes the sauce thicker :)

We buy Smithfield baby back rib. We par boil and finish them off in the oven. The are really good and full of meat. I can only eat 1/2 a rack. We use Sweet Baby Rays Barbecue sauce. Tommy

Great recipe. Easy to make. I used pork instead of beef... Much cheaper. Great. Whole family loved it. Served over brown rice

This is great for back ribs but short ribs require much less cooking time so just be aware of that.

I made the recipe as it is......and would not change a thing. Did not use the sauce took the ribs out and served as it is. Served with mashed potatoes . We are not sauce people only to cook in. Very, very good!!!!! No changes made.

Tried this and it was absolutely delicious. Only thing I did different was I added 1/2 cup of honey for a little more sweetness. Meat was so tender after 8 hrs.

It's good. I used pork ribs instead of beef ribs which worked well. BBQ Sauce was good but I'm going to try it with my homemade next time. Would definitely use this recipe again.

Made this with beef short ribs. Too much liquid and too sweet I seasoned the raw ribs with salt, garlic powder and pepper then seared in the broiler until just caramelized before putting them into the slow cooker. To the pot I reduced brown sugar to 1/2 cup, swapped water with 3/4 cup of apple cider vinegar. I added 1 large sliced onion, 2 Tbsp hot sauce and 3 gloves of minced garlic and 2 tsps. of liquid smoke. Let cook for 8 hours and they were delish!

definitely need to at least cook for the 4 hours, 8 on low would be perfect, a little too much mustard

I only kept mine on for 7 hours and the ribs are SO dry. Taste was good... Will do like another reviewer and set my slow cooker to warm for 10 hours. I also only used about 1/4 cup of water and also added some cayenne pepper. Taste was great, but the ribs were so dry, so it kind of ruined the meal for me. Will review again when I try it the new way. Thank you for posting the recipe.

Loved this recipe Easy to put together Easy to eat I added some hot sauce to the mix This get my yum yum

Excellent. I did braise the ribs on the stovetop before adding to the slow cooker (but I braise everything). Very simple to make and fall off the bone delicious. Can't wait to make again!

Very tasty and truly simple. Ribs always intimidated me ... no more!

I loved the flavor and tenderness of the meat. I was low on ketchup so substituted Webers BBQ Real Molasses sauce for ketchup. I had lots of sauce left over so probably could have added another half pound of ribs.

Simple and delicious! I added a bit more sugar and a little less vinegar because I love a sweet bbq sauce. Serve with rice and its a great meal. **Best to cook on low, so the beef can fully absorb the ingredients and tenderize properly.

Amazing! My first time making ribs. So easy and they feel off the bone a tasted delicious. My boyfriend keeps asking when I'm making them again!

OH MY GOSH... Is all I can say. I generally stay away from crockpot recipes bc they don't always turn out great. This is an exception. Super easy to make and fall off the bone delicious!! I only added 1/4 cup of water bc we leave it in the crockpot for 10+ hours and I didn't want it to dry out. Really really good!!!

My husband said these may be the best bbq ribs he has ever had. I seared them in the oven with lots of seasoning before slow cooking.

The only change I made was to drop the ketchup to 3/4 of a cup then add 1/4 cup of Ketchipolte. Then went with Apple cider vinegar. Added a perfect spicy bite.

Cooked for the holidays and some serious ribs fans loved them. Like many other reviewers, I made several changes to the basic sauce. We like thicker sauce that's more sweet than savory, so I cut down the liquid by over half and used chicken stock instead of water. Even though I doubled the sauce recipe for about 7 lbs. of ribs, I still used only 1/2-c chicken stock. Substituted apple cider vinegar for regular and used only 2/3-c for the doubled recipe. Used 3/4-c brown sugar and added 3/4 -c honey (sounds super sweet, but it wasn't). Other additions (few dashes each to-taste) -- cayenne pepper / garlic powder / onion powder / cinnamon / Worcestershire sauce. I cooked down the sauce to thicken it and set 1-c aside for dipping before adding the rest to crock pot with ribs. Finally, I cooked ribs on low for 6 hours, let the pot cool and skimmed off fat before reheating to serve.

I am a Senior (really senior) woman, and just like good food, but love EASY. I made the short ribs, followed the recipe,however, put in 1/2 cup of water instead of 1 cup. The raves were sensational, just couldn't reveal to my guests how easy it was. Thank you for sharing...

This recipe is great! The ribs came out so tender. I made a few changes though. I used apple cider vinegar because that's all I had. I cut the sugar to 1/2 cup and I reduced the water a little. I also added 1 onion, 1 apple, some carrot peelings, cayenne pepper, paprika, crushed red pepper, a few cloves of garlic, and veggie seasoning. I think the sauce was a little sweet for ribs for my families taste, but we ate it the next day on home fries and it was fine. A few days later we had it on chicken and it was great. I will reduce the sugar more next time to make up for the water reduction. There is a lot of sauce, but that is great because you can freeze it and use it later.

This was very bland. There is no seasoning, basically the only flavor that it had was a ketchup tomato flavor. In no way at all can or should this be called BBQ anything. I tasted the sauce before I started cooking and then tried to season it up to resemble a bbq sauce but it did not help. It was edible but I will not make it again. We were very disappointed.

My husband asks for our beef ribs to only be cooked this way now. This recipe is easy and tastes fantastic

OK, it came out great, I would cut water back to 1/2 cup, I also added 1/4 cup Texas Pete hot sauce, 1 TBS liquid smoke, and 4 TBS honey barbecue sauce. I cooked on high in slow cooker 3 1/2 hrs then 3 hrs on low, meat fell right off bones, regular beef ribs (2 Lbs)

Amazing! So, I didn't have the prepared mustard. I used boneless beef ribs, had there bone bones they would have fallen off:) So tender & the flavor was great! Will make again, very soon.

Very good! I omitted the water based on the other reviews. I didn't have any tomato paste so I used tomato sauce. The sauce was a little too ketchup-y for me so I added another 1/4 cup of brown sugar and that helped a lot.

Easiest recipe ever. Meat fell off the bone. Served it on top of mashed potatoes. So good!

Used 1/4 cup of Sriracha instead of a whole cup of ketchup, in the pressure cooker for 40 mins. Turned out AMAZING!

I have no idea where all these other reviewers are coming from. Have you ever found an old ketchup packet, opened it and the first thing that hits you is that obnoxiously strong vinegar smell? Yeah. That's what this is like. I followed these directions to the letter, and it tasted like warm vinegar and ketchup. This was no resemblance of BBQ sauce. Pungent and runny. Wasted perfectly good boneless beef ribs. Just goes to show you, some recipes and reviews just can't be trusted. I'll definitely find a different recipe next time.

ONE WORD, GREAT.

Absolutely loved this dish. Used a bottle of hard apple cider instead of water and seared the 4 lbs. of beef. Served with mashed potatoes and green beans. My husband had seconds and there's enough for leftovers today!

I currently have this in the crock pot. I used beef side ribs and added 4cut up garlic cloves and a dash of cayenne pepper. and a dash of black pepper. wilk let you know how it turns out.

Easy and delicious!

this recipe was okay. I prefer a thicker saucer. other than that the taste as there and the ribs were tender.

Not a favorite Not even going to try again. I doubled the recipe, had to feed guests. It was tasteless. The ribs for some reason were dry

I would start the ribs on the fire, then move to the slow cooker. But I thought the sauce was WAY too sweet. Not a recipe I will do again.

So I did NOT like the sauce. I did as others said and seared the meat and omited the water. The meat was perfect and tender. However, the sauce was awful to me! It tasted like brown sugar and vinegar, which it basically is! Next time I will just use commercial BBQ sauce.

A crowd pleaser, even for those who do not usually eat meat loved this recipe. It was perfect served over homemade mashed potatoes! And I was free to actually enjoy the company.

Didn't care for the sauce. Next time we'll use our favorite bottled sauce.

Really good and easy Thumbs up

I substituted lemon juice for the vinegar and used a spicy deli mustard instead of the prepared mustard. These were amazing!!! So tender and the BBQ sauce was delicious. I thickened it slightly with corn starch before serving

I used 1/2 cup brown sugar and no salt. I figured the ketchup had enough salt. Picky son says "you can make this everyday, forever".

My family loved these, but i finished them off with n the oven basted with a honey soy bbq sauce,

i didn’t take pics of it, but this is a very good recipe, i made pork ribs with it and they came out super moist and meat falling off the bone. my family loved it

Great recipe. Will make it GAIN

So good!! . Best ribs ever.

This was awful.

Horrible Ketchupque! We followed this recipe to the letter. The results were awful. The odor is nauseating, a miasma of oily meat and Heinz ketchup. The sauce leaves a sickly-sweet aftertaste that coats the tongue for hours. The meat was dry and initially shocked the tastebuds with an unpleasant sweetness that finished with a disagreeable vinegar tang. Overall, the dish is more like bad Sauerbraten than barbeque. What a waste of good beef ribs. We won't be making this one again!

Love this sauce!!!!

The meat fell off the bone and it tasted great!

This is FABULOUS!! I replaced the tomato paste with A1 steak sauce ???????? (only because I forgot it but after this I won’t replace again!!) Happy kids and family!!!