Slow Cooker Dr. Pepper BBQ Ribs
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Slow Cooker Dr. Pepper BBQ Ribs are Country Style Pork Ribs, slow cooked in Dr. Pepper, then baked to caramelize the Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce. Only 3 ingredients!
I am what you would call a fair weather winter person. Growing up in the Midwest, it doesn’t seem right to NOT have snow on the ground at Christmastime, but by the time mid-January hits, I am tired of the dreary grey skies and the cold and the white stuff that has now turned a not so pretty white.
I long for long summer days with sunshine and patio sitting and GRILLING.
^Love it? PIN It!^
My son has been home from college for the last month, and he returns this weekend. I have been letting him get in his dinner requests this week. Yesterday though, I thought I would wing it. I had some boneless country style pork ribs in the freezer, so I defrosted them and decided to have barbecue. My family NEVER argues about barbecue, it’s something I know that everyone will be happy about.
I typically boil my ribs in beer before I grill them. You can find my recipe for those pork ribs HERE. Yesterday though, more white stuff was falling from the winter sky, and I decided dinner would not be getting made on the patio. I tossed the ribs in my slow cooker, and dumped a can of Dr. Pepper over the top.
After they cooked slow all day, becoming so tender I could barely move them to my baking rack, I knew they would be awesome. I transferred them to a rack over a cookie sheet, and brushed them with a combination of BBQ sauce and more Dr. Pepper. The sauce was super yummy! I baked them for 30 minutes to caramelize the sauce, flipping them once and adding more sauce.
They were sensational. I served them with hash browns, cheesy cornbread drop biscuits and sweet corn. My husband said “This is the best dinner you have made in a long time!” (He’s partial to the entire menu, so I had no doubt he would be thrilled!) I love making him and his tummy happy!
Did I mention this recipe only requires three ingredients?
What three ingredients do I need to make these Slow Cooker Dr. Pepper Ribs?
- Boneless Country Style Pork Ribs
- Dr. Pepper Soda (Cherry Dr. Pepper is good, too!)
- Barbecue Sauce
Yep! That’s it! The crock pot does all of the work making them tender then you bake them to caramelize the sauce on them before you eat them. You could also do that step on the grill if you aren’t suffering through a freezing January like we are.
I like to buy the boneless ribs. If you prefer the ones with the bone, they work, too! I prefer pork ribs over beef, as I think they just have so much more meat. Plus, pork is seriously economical!
Place the ribs in your slow cooker, and pour a can of Dr. Pepper over the top.
The lid goes on, and you can either cook them on low all day, or you can cook them on high in half the time.
When they are nice and tender, carefully remove them from the crock pot and place them on a wire rack over a foil covered cookie sheet.
Combine your favorite BBQ sauce with some more Dr. Pepper. We love our Sweet Baby Rays!
Brush BBQ sauce on them and bake them for 15 minutes. Flip them and do the same to the other side.
Find the FULL printable recipe at the bottom of this post!!
All set!! Don’t they look amazing?
Dig in!!
Don’t want to wait all day?? Make these delicious ribs in your Pressure Cooker/Instant Pot!
If you love Dr. Pepper and you love BBQ Ribs — here are a couple more recipes you need to try!
A Few Other Great Dr. Pepper Recipes:
- Dr. Pepper Meatballs
- Dr. Pepper Brownies
- Dr. Pepper Donuts
Let’s Dig in! 
Slow Cooker Dr. Pepper BBQ Ribs
Boneless Country Style Pork Ribs, slow cooked in Dr. Pepper, then baked to caramelize the Dr. Pepper BBQ sauce.
Ingredients
- 4.5 pounds boneless country style pork ribs
- 2 cans Dr. Pepper soda, divided
- 3/4 cup BBQ sauce (your favorite, we love our Sweet Baby Ray's!)
Instructions
- Place ribs in the bottom of your slow cooker, pour 1 can of soda over them. Cover and slow cook for 7 hours on low or 4 hours on high.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cover a cookie sheet with foil then place a wire rack over the top.
- Combine 3/4 cup BBQ sauce with 1/2 cup Dr. Pepper soda.
- Carefully remove the ribs from the slow cooker, placing on rack. Brush tops with sauce. Bake for 15 minutes, flip and brush other side. Bake 15 minutes more.
- Serve remaining sauce at the table.
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
11 ouncesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 1029Total Fat: 63gSaturated Fat: 22gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 37gCholesterol: 327mgSodium: 619mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 0gSugar: 25gProtein: 90g
Nutrition isn't always accurate.
This recipe has been updated from its original post … if you followed this old photo here, you are still in the right place! 🙂
Hi Michela —
I am a recently widowed single grandfather and I made these ribs… VERY good (and I haven’t cooked in over 20 years!). One thind I did differently though was since I was eating an orange while I was cooking, I threw the orange peel in the slow cooker along with the meat. Quite good and the orange peel added some color to the dish after I got through baking the bbs sauce on the ribs… served it with asparagus…. my problem was that I didn’t make enough… I only used about 1 1/2 pounds of ribs for myself and a 13 year old grandson. Looked REALLY yummy when I put it all together with the orange peel on top of the ribs and surrounded by the asparagus.
Thank you for posting this recipe. My wife was a great cook (as testified by my waistline) but even she never made this.
Harold – you just melted my heart with your comment. Thank you for taking the time to let me know that you and your grandson liked the recipe. I think the addition of the orange was pure brilliance! I am trying that next time. I bet it did make for a pretty presentation! Next time you’ll have to double the amount of ribs, right? 😉 I am sure your wife was smiling down on you two while you enjoyed them. Michaela
These are the Best Ribs! Second time we have made them! Thank you!
Becky – Thank you so much for telling me you loved them!! I hope they are a longtime favorite!
I found this recipe on Pinterest and omg is it fall off the bone good! I followed the recipe exactly as written and I wouldn’t change a thing!!
So happy you enjoyed them, May!
Hi! These look wonderful! One question. I’d like to double the recipe. Is it ok to layer the ribs then? Thx for your reply!
In your crock pot, yes!! Just make sure they are in a single layer when you bake them!
I am in LOVE with this recipe!!! I left them in the crock pot while I was at work and baked them when I got home!! Super easy and oh so delicious!!!!!
Bake at what temp?
I had to double check it was in the step-by-step recipe here, and it is. Whew! 400 degrees!
Can I use root beer instead of dr pepper ?
Yes!! It works great!!
Can you use diet dr pepper? I’m a diabetic. Is there another option for the soda?
Sure you can!! Root beer works too!
These look so delicious! I can’t believe you can use Dr. Pepper like that.
Would love to try this recipe. Can it be halved and if so, do I use only 1 can of Dr. Pepper?
Sure you can halve it – basically it almost covers them in the pot.
OMG!!!! I Just tried it today. My ribs didn’t make it to the cookie sheet. Not a bad thing, let me tell you. I tried it with Cherry Dr. Pepper and I put 2 Vidalia onions in along with it. I put the barbecue sauce in with the juices that was created from the slow cooker. And I’m just eating it like this. So yummy!!
So happy that you enjoyed them, Deb!!
What if I don’t have a wire rack?
You can do it without, just more cleanup.
Hi! I’m planning on doing this on the weekend for my hubby… quick question, what about salt and pepper? Don’t you need to add that first?
I have never used any. They are fine without it, but if you’d like to add some, I think it’s all a matter of taste. I wouldn’t get too carried away with salt though! 😉
Hi !
Can I season the ribs before adding the soda ? Will the seasoning mess up the taste ?
I never have seasoned them. I know some have — I can’t imagine it will mess anything up, but it may alter the flavor. Maybe try to make them without the first time and decide if you tastebuds think they need a little something?
Great idea for a recipe, can you replace the dr pepper with coke?
You sure can!
Fantastic recipe! Last weekend at BBQ party, I tried out your recipe as it can be prepared so quickly. Everyone there loved the recipe and appreciated me for the recipe. It was really super yummy. Thanks much for sharing!
I am so happy that you enjoyed them!
What can you do instead if you don’t have a wire rack?
Line the pan with foil. That should be okay, too!
Hi! I loved this recipe, however after I put them in the oven, they seemed to be over cooked. I’m not sure what I did wrong.
I’m not sure? Did you have the same amount of ribs? Maybe they were thinner? The oven part is only to glaze the BBQ sauce on them, maybe next time shorten that time?
Can I cook them in crock pot without having to put in oven?
When you place them in the oven or on the grill you are basically just caramelizing the BBQ sauce on them before you serve them. When they come out of the crock pot, they are already cooked, but won’t have that BBQ sauce look to them. I guess if that doesn’t bother you, you could just serve them with BBQ sauce?
Has anyone made these in an Instant Pot, so they’d be done faster??
I have a recipe for the Instant Pot, too! https://anaffairfromtheheart.com/instant-pot-dr-pepper-bbq-pork-ribs/