And, what’s even better than ribs? How about that wonderful, beloved invention that became a lifesaver to working moms everywhere – the crockpot. The slow cooker. Whatever you call it, it’s a godsend. Truly!

I adore loading that baby up with food, walking away and having an amazing ready-to-eat meal later on in the day.

Talk about convenience, right?

Of course, writing about the crockpot got me to thinking about the crockpot and how it came to be, so off to research I went The perils of being a writer – you WANT to know everything! At least that’s how my brain works.

Anywho, according to Culinary Lore, the crockpot was originally sold by the Rival Company, but invented in 1938 by a man named Irving Naxon. The story is that he was attempting to re-create one of his grandmother’s recipes. His small company was purchased by Rival and the known version of the crockpot became popular around 1970.

Yay, Irving! Thank you so much

I personally can’t imagine not having the crockpot in my life! Just sayin’ – it’s kind of important!

As an aside, I’ve also been trying to recreate family recipes for years and have yet to invent anything resembling the crockpot! Darn it! I, too, could be a wealthy inventor by now Hmmm…maybe I should pull out the sketchpad and begin some schematics for a new invention.

C’mon cooks! What do you need? What’s missing in your arsenal of kitchen gadgets?

OK, OK – enough dreaming about inventions and money – I’m going back to the ribs. This is another one of those recipes my momma used to make, just like her meatloaf, that I’ve tweaked a tad over the years.

Her recipe was somewhat similar to this one, but I chose to add Coke to the recipe, while she always used water. I also added the Italian dressing, which she didn’t use at all.

When I’m creating or even tweaking recipes, I generally toss in a little of this and a little of that just to see how something works out! How about you? Is that how you come up with new recipes?

Often, those tweaks will stem from me trying something and immediately knowing that it needs something else or that something needs to be removed from a recipe. Sometimes, one of the boys will tell me something’s amiss.

Essentially, it’s the one time it’s perfectly okay to play with your food

OK, back to the ribs, again. I keep getting off track!

We generally pair our ribs with whatever I happen to have on hand for sides. Usually a veggie and a starch – I’m kind of old school like that! Well…maybe because I’m kinda old Honestly, I love homemade mac and cheese with pork for some reason, so that’s often on the menu! Plus, it’s just kind of nummy

Anyways, grab yourself some spareribs, pull out the crockpot and get dinner on before you head to work. It will be ready to go by the time you get home and all you’ll need to do is prepare the sides and serve!

Then you can spend your evening enjoying time with your loved ones instead of in the kitchen.

Slow Cooker Spare Ribs

These fall-off-the-bone spareribs are made right in the crockpot and only require a handful of ingredients. Perfect for those days when you need to fix it and forget it – until it's time to eat it, of course!

5 from 3 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bbq, barbecue, ribs, spareribs,

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 8 hours hours

Total Time: 8 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 4 servings

Author: Lori Wallace-Roberts

Equipment

• 1 Crockpot or Slow Cooker

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 1/2 cup Italian dressing
• 1 can Coca Cola
• 4-5 lbs spare ribs

Instructions

• In small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, pepper, onion powder, Italian dressing, barbecue sauce and Coca Cola. Mix thouroughly.
• Add a layer of ribs to the slower cooker (you may need to cut slab in half). Pour part of sauce of first layer, then add more ribs and more sauce. Repeat each layer until all ribs are covered.
• Cover and cook on low for about 7-8 hours, until ribs are tender.
• Remove ribs and serve with additional barbecue sauce, if desired.

Did you try this recipe? I’d love to see!Share a photo and mention @quitesimplyus or tag #quitesimplyus!

The post Fall Off the Bone Crockpot Spareribs appeared first on Quite Simply Us.

And sure, I’ve got tons of other recipes for pulled pork that are done in the smoker, or even in the oven, but if I can save time and energy with the crockpot now and then, I’m totally all about that! Aren’t you? I’ve got a summer to enjoy

The key to this particular pork butt is the thick rub that’s slathered on before putting it in the crockpot. It’s all about that beautiful rub! When adding the liquid to the recipe, be really careful to pour it BESIDE the roast and not on top, or it will destroy that amazing rub.

Once the pork is fully cooked and shredded, I like to leave it plain on the cutting board and allow each family member to doctor theirs up the way they want it. My other half sometimes likes it atop a pile of mac and cheese and the kiddo nearly always wants it with BBQ sauce – sometimes on a sammy with slaw and sometimes not. I usually like mine in a pile on my plate and often just use the cooking juices drizzled atop mine.

Certainly, if your entire family is into BBQ, you could mix a whole bottle in after it’s shredded and it will be all ready to serve.

And, leaving it plain also allows for leftovers to be used in different ways. Need something to fill those tacos besides ground beef? Use the pork to whip up some quick carnitas using the leftovers. How about egg rolls? Substitute the pork in my Easy Weeknight Enchiladas. There’s always something to do with pulled pork – DON’T let it go to waste.

Hope you enjoy my Easy Crockpot Pulled Pork! Now, go do something fun – the crockpot is handling the rest

Crockpot Pulled Pork

Tasty and tender pulled pork made the easy way – in the crockpot. This pork butt will feed the whole family and then some!

5 from 6 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: bbq, pulled pork

Prep Time: 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 10 hours hours

Total Time: 10 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings: 10 servings

Author: Lori Wallace-Roberts

Equipment

• 1 Crockpot

Ingredients

• 2 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp sea salt
• 1 white onion
• 1 can beef broth
• 1 5 lb. pork butt, bone in

Instructions

• Mix the chili powder, brown sugar, garlic powder, salt and cumin in a small bowl. Rub mixture over the pork roast, creating a thick crust.
• Place onions in bottom of crockpot and lay pork butt on top. Pour beef broth along side the pork butt, being careful not to pour directly overtop of the pork butt.
• Cover and cook on the low setting for 10-12 hours. Meat should just about be falling apart.
• Remove meat, shred and discard the fat.
• Serve as desired.

Notes

1. My preference is to shred the meat and leave it plain and allow everyone to doctor their own. 
   • Serve atop a big bowl of mac and cheese
   • Serve with any of your favorite BBQ sauces
   • Serve with the jus from the roast
2. If making sandwiches, consider topping with coleslaw.

Did you try this recipe? I’d love to see!Share a photo and mention @quitesimplyus or tag #quitesimplyus!

The post Easy Crockpot Pulled Pork appeared first on Quite Simply Us.