Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs with potatoes, sauerkraut, apples and carrots is a complete meal in one pot and comfort food at its best. Adding apple juice to the broth delivers a juicy tangy meal with maximum flavor. Country Style Ribs in the crock pot is a hearty fix and forget it meal that your family will love.
What You Can Expect From This Recipe
I’ve had this slow cooker country style ribs recipe as long as I’ve had my crockpot. Literally, it was a recipe included in the little instruction booklet that came with my first crockpot. Do you pay any attention to those? I’ve found some really good ideas in them.
When it comes to comfort food that’s both hearty and satisfying, few dishes can rival the tender goodness of slow cooker country style ribs. These succulent cuts of meat are a true testament to the magic of slow cooking - transforming tough, inexpensive cuts into mouthwatering masterpiece.
- This is a hearty fix and forget it meal. Let your slow cooker do the work.
- The flavor combination of ribs and sauerkraut is classic and delish!
- Cooking country pork ribs in the slow cooker returns a melt in your mouth experience.
- The recipe is perfect for a busy weeknight or weekend dinner.
- This is one of the few recipes you’ll find for Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs without bbq sauce.
- You’re looking at a stress free simple dinner.
Slow cooker Country Style Ribs are a nod to the magic that happens when an inexpensive cut of meat is slow roasted in a crockpot. They are transformed to a tender texture with an incredible depth of flavor. Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs are a pleasure to come home to after a busy day. Let’s take a look.
Table of contents
What Are Country Pork Ribs?
A country pork rib isn’t really a rib at all. In other words, there’s a bit of identity crisis involved. It’s a blade chop that comes from the area between the loin and the shoulder. They contain no ribs but instead part of the scapula.
Since it comes from close to the shoulder blade, they’re meatier than rib cuts. Some say you should grill them and some say cook them low and slow. Country Style Pork Ribs can be found two ways.
- The blade end near the shoulder. For this cut, blade end loin chops are cut into pieces. They an be sold bone-in. They will probably be labeled pork loin country-style ribs. You’ll find them with nice marbling which results in great flavor.
- From The shoulder. Boneless pork ribs can also be thick strips cut from pork shoulder steaks. They are sometimes labeled as pork shoulder country-style ribs. These ribs are fattier and also quite tasty.
Chose either bone-in or boneless for this slow cooker ribs and potatoes recipe.
Step by Step Instructions, It’s Easy
Aromas of pork ribs with potatoes, sauerkraut, apples and onions fill the house. Let’s get started with step by step instructions.
- Step 1: We’ll start by salt and peppering the country pork ribs then coating them with flour. Shake off the excess flour and brown in two tablespoons of vegetable oil until golden on each side. Remove to a paper towel to drain.
Pro Tip: Don't skip searing the meat. This is a crucial step in getting the most flavor out of this meal. Searing creates what is technically called Maillard reaction. Maillard reaction is the process where a crust is created. Simply stated, it's responsible for the complex flavors and aroma that makes bread taste toasty, and a grilled or seared burger taste charred. It's a technique that brings science to your cooking skills.
- Step 2: Next, layer the vegetables in the crock pot.
- Start with small new potatoes. Or you can use large potatoes that have been cubed or thick sliced.
- Add some large chunks of carrots. And then some sweet onion that’s been peeled, sliced in half , ringed and then cut into crescents.
- On top of the onions, we’ll sprinkle on a small can of sauerkraut that’s been quickly rinsed and drained.
- Step 6: The next step is to add a tablespoon of fennel and some apple juice. We’re big fan of fennel, so as you can see that spoon is heaping. You can also add caraway if you’d like.
- Step 7: We’ll slice an apple and then place those on top of the sauerkraut in the slow cooker.
- Step 8: The final step is to snuggle the ribs on the top. Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
FAQ’s
Guidelines indicate that you should cook pork to an internal temperature of 145 degrees. However following instructions for this slow cooker method, you’ll know when the ribs are done when fall apart fork tender. A rib that doesn’t flake easily isn’t done.
Absolutely. You’ll need a 6 – 7 quart Dutch oven to hold everything. Just follow the recipe instructions. Set oven temperature at 350 degrees. Ribs should be cooked in 3 – 4 hours.
Country style ribs don’t actually come from the rib area of the pig and are usually sold boneless. They are actually cut from the shoulder blade area.
Storage:
- Store any leftovers in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 – 5 days.
- To re-heat just place a portion on a microwave safe dish, cover with a parchment paper or a loose plastic lid. Heat in increments of 15 seconds at 50% power.
- Any leftover ribs can be frozen in a sealed freezer friendly container for up to 3 months. I don’t recommend freezing the cooked vegetables, as the texture will become compromised.
Gather round that table and enjoy this savory slow cooker meal.
Related Recipes
And if you’re looking for more pork recipes, don’t miss my Pork Category. You’ll find lots of mouthwatering ideas. Including the most popular on my site for Oven Baked Brats with Sauerkraut.
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Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs with Sauerkraut and Potatoes
Ingredients
- 4 Tablespoons all purpose flour
- 4 pounds country style pork ribs
- salt/pepper to taste
- 2 Tablespoons olive oil
- 10 new red potatoes (or two large russets cubed or thick sliced)
- 2 medium carrots sliced thick
- 1 onion sliced and then halved
- 1-15 ounce can sauerkraut drained
- ½ cup apple juice
- 1 teaspoon caraway seed
- 1 Tablelspoon fennel seed
- 1 whole apple cored and sliced
- salt/pepper to taste
- 1 Tablespoon flour
- 2 Tablespoon cold water
Instructions
- Place the flour on a plate. Salt and pepper ribs and dredge the ribs in the flour until coated. Shake off excess flour. In a large fry pan, heat the oil until hot and sear the ribs until golden on each side. Remove to paper towel to drain.
- In the crackpot layer, potatoes, carrots, onion, and sauerkraut. Pour on the apple juice, sprinkle on the spices and then add the whole apple on top. Season with salt and pepper and then snuggle the ribs on top of the ingredients. Cook on low all day.
- If you’d like, remove ingredients from crockpot and place juice in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer combing water/flour mixture and apples. Simmer for a couple of minutes and use as gravy.
- Or serve directly from the crockpot.
Notes
Nutrition
Slow Cooker Country Style Ribs …It’s What’s For Dinner
Why Trust My Recipes? I am a Culinary School Graduate and a lifelong student of home cooking. I hope to inspire you try to cook as often as you can. I’ve been cooking for 50 years, and my recipes are tried and true tested and tested and then tested again before published. To read more take a look at my About Page.
So good and easy. Great flavor.
My husband love this recipe. We had it about a week and a half two weeks ago, and he asked me again today to make it again. He’s usually very picky so I’m sure he really really liked it and so did the rest of the family five stars for sure.
Incredibly delicious! My boyfriend absolutely loved it & helped himself to two huge platefuls! He’d never eaten sauerkraut like this before. The pork was so tender & the flavors complimented each other beautifully. Next time I’ll add more carrots, though. Perfect!
Hi Lea Ann. I am sold on Carolina Gold barbecue sauce (by Cattleman’s). Found locally at Restaurant Depot or on Amazon. I simply put a layer of onions on the bottom of a crock pot, put in the ribs and cover about 3/4 of the way up the ribs with BBq sauce, finish covering with water to thin out the sauce a little. Set the cooker to high and come back 5 to 6 hours later for fall off the bone ribs. ( Again no need to post this , just wanted to let you know how I do them) Still loving your posts.
Hi Jim! And thanks for your note.
I most certainly will be looking for that BBQ sauce.
And how easy is that! Onions and ribs. So if I’m reading right, you’re adding quite a bit of BBQ sauce? I must try it.
What’s your favorite side to serve with ribs? I’m always looking for ideas.
Thanks for following along with my cooking adventures. I so much appreciate my readers and love the notes I receive.
My sides for the bbq ribs pealed sweet potatos cut in 1inch cubes, seasoned, olive oil baked on 400 for 20 min on cookie sheet and steamed asparagus .