This recipe for Garlic-Herb Slow Cooked Pork Ribs makes tender, fall-off-the-bone-amazing ribs! Take them to the next level with fast homemade gravy.
Garlic-Herb Slow Cooked Pork Ribs
{This post was sponsored by Indiana’s Family of Farmers. All thoughts and opinions are my own. Referral links were used in this post.}
John recently told me that he liked beef ribs better than pork ribs. Because the way that I have been cooking the beef ribs, the meat just falls off the bone. But with pork ribs in the oven, the meat is just a little bit tougher. Not quite as fall-off-the-bone tender. (But still delicious!) So I took that as a challenge. And you get the win the prize! (Get all the tips for beef and pork ribs here.)
These Garlic-Herb Slow Cooked Pork Ribs have all the fall-off-the-bone tenderness of Slow Cooked Short Ribs or Sweet Onion-Teriyaki Beef Ribs. And all the pork flavor of Honey-BBQ Oven-Baked Ribs. If you like pork ribs, but aren’t crazy about barbecue sauce, and want your meat to be amazingly tender… these are the ribs for you!
I used a full rack of pork ribs (about 4 pounds). You can use either a full rack, or St. Louis ribs. (St. Louis ribs are just a full rack that’s trimmed a bit to be more evenly shaped.) I cut them apart into 1-rib segments and layered the ribs in my slow cooker. (You’ll want a 6-quart slow cooker for this.) Then I made the broth.
Melt some butter in a small saucepan. Add in some roasted garlic cloves (smash them flat before you toss them in the melted butter). You can use fresh garlic if you don’t have roasted garlic. Cook the roasted garlic in the melted butter for about a minute, and then whisk in all purpose flour and a few other herbs (see below for the recipe). When that base is nice and thick, stir in 2 cups of chicken broth. I used some broth I made myself. Store bought broth is perfect for this, too. Heat that through, then pour it over the ribs.
Cover your slow cooker, and cook the ribs on high for 4-5 hours, until the ribs are fork-tender and falling off the bone.
If you want to really go to the next level, make a gravy for the ribs! Take the ribs out of the slow cooker, and transfer the broth that is left to a gravy separator. (This is so much easier than trying to remove all the grease with a spoon…) Pour the broth into a saucepan with as little grease as you can. Heat the broth over medium heat. As it is heating, whisk in some all purpose flour to thicken it a little bit. The amount of flour will depend on how much broth you have, and how thick you want your gravy. I had about 2-1/2 cups of broth, and I used around 1/4 cup of flour. Add the flour slowly, and whisk the broth while you’re adding the flour, or it will get lumpy. Let the broth simmer over low heat for a few minutes to thicken up. Keep a close eye on it, and stir it often. If it gets a bit too thick, just add a little chicken broth.
You asked for fall off the bone pork ribs? You got ’em!
If you love ribs, you’ll want to give these Honey-BBQ Oven-Baked Ribs, too!
Enjoy!
3 Ways to Take the Fear Out of This Recipe
- What’s the Difference Between Beef & Pork Ribs?
- How to Convert Oven Times to Slow Cooker Times – free printable!
- What’s the Best Seasoning for Pork? – free printable!
3 More Recipes to Try
Printable Recipe Card for Garlic-Herb Slow Cooked Pork Ribs
- 4 pounds pork ribs, cut into single rib sections
- 2 Tablespoons butter
- 6 cloves roasted garlic, smashed (3 cloves of fresh garlic can be substituted for the roasted garlic)
- 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon sage
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- Optional for gravy: ¼ cup all purpose flour
- Layer ribs in a large slow cooker.
- Melt butter in a small saucepan.
- When butter is melted, add garlic cloves and cook for 1 minute.
- Whisk in flour, thyme, sage, salt, and pepper to form a paste.
- Add chicken broth to the paste, whisking until it is smooth. Heat through.
- Pour broth over ribs in slow cooker.
- Cover, and cook on high for 4-5 hours, until meat is fork-tender.
- To make a gravy, remove all ribs from slow cooker and keep warm. Pour broth from slow cooker into a gravy separator. Pour broth into the saucepan with as little grease as possible.
- Whisk in up to ¼ cup all purpose flour to thicken the broth. (The exact amount of flour will depend on the amount of broth and desired thickness.) Add flour slowly, and whisk continuously to avoid lumps.
- Simmer gravy over low heat until it reaches desired thickness. Serve over ribs.
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