Sweet and Sour Ribs (Slow Cooker)

These sweet and sour ribs are so tender, the pork falls off the bone! Make this simple crockpot recipe for deliciously tangy sticky ribs!

Many people associate Asian rib recipes with beef short ribs or pork spare ribs (loin ribs). I’m not exactly sure why, but there are very few Asian recipes that call for pork baby back ribs.

Generally, beef ribs tend to be more expensive than pork, so my first choice is usually pork. For example, pork loin ribs are used in my Instant Pot recipe for coconut curry ribs. Because I prefer the flavor of baby backs a bit more than spare ribs, I’m using them in today’s slow cooker recipe.

Sweet and Sour Ribs

Cuisine: Asian / Chinese

Asian cuisine is a fantastic experience for our taste buds! Some Asian chefs try to use as many different tastes as possible in a single dish.

With sweet, sour, bitter, salty and umami as options, you can enjoy delicious meals like sweet and sour sticky ribs, Szechuan pork, or spicy sweet kung pao Asian chicken meatballs.

Preparation: Slow Cooker

Difficulty: Easy 🥄

Description: Tender pork back ribs with a sticky sweet and sour glaze seasoned with chiles and Chinese five spice.

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

• Pork ribs- I use baby back ribs but any pork ribs may be used.
  
• Chinese five spice- I have a Chinese five spice recipe that's easy to make, or you can buy the spice blend in almost any grocery store.
  
• Apricot jam- There are plenty of substitutes for apricot jam. Any sweet fruit jam would be fine, or you could use duck sauce or even orange marmalade.
  
• Ketchup- If you want a ketchup substitute, an equal amount of either tomato passata or puree with a pinch of white sugar added will work great.
  
• Soy sauce- Feel free to use a low sodium variety or or tamari sauce, which is not only lower in salt, but also a good gluten free substitute for soy sauce.
  
• Gochujang sauce- This is the most popular Asian chili sauce. If you can't find it, you can use any spicy chili sauce or paste of your preference.
  
• Rice vinegar- Also known as rice wine vinegar, this ingredient adds the sour flavor to the sauce on the sweet and sour ribs. Good substitutes include white wine vinegar, apple cider vinegar, and champagne vinegar.

Recipe Notes

1. Keep the membrane attached. Don’t remove the membrane from the back of the ribs, as it helps prevent the rack from falling completely apart during cooking. The membrane is edible but a little chewy if it’s left on. Otherwise, it’s really easy to remove after the ribs are cooked.
   
2. Oven cooking sweet and sour ribs: If you don’t want to make slow cooker ribs, you can use your oven! Wrap the pork in foil and cook in the oven for about 90 minutes at 375°F. Or, use the slow cooker setting on an Instant Pot and follow the instructions as written in the recipe card below.
   
3. Broil for crispy pork ribs. If you like those crisp edges on oven cooked ribs, you'll want to put the slow cooked ribs onto a baking sheet and broil them for a couple of minutes before serving.
   
4. Refrigerate leftovers and use within 4-5 days. For longer storage, they freeze well for a few months. (Instructions on freezing below)

Sweet and Sour Ribs FAQ

Sweet and Sour Ribs (Slow Cooker)

These sweet and sour ribs are so tender, the pork falls off the bone! Make this simple crockpot recipe for deliciously tangy sticky ribs!

Print Pin Rate

Course: main dishes

Cuisine: Asian, Chinese

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 4 hours 10 minutes

Total Time: 4 hours 15 minutes

Servings: 4

Calories: 593kcal

Author: Kevin

Ingredients

• 3 lbs babyback ribs

Dry Rub

• 3 teaspoon garlic powder
• 2 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon white pepper
• ¼ teaspoon Chinese Five Spice

Basting Sauce

• ½ cup apricot jam
• ¼ cup ketchup
• ¼ cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoon Gochujang paste
• ¼ cup rice vinegar (See Note 1)
• cilantro for garnish chopped

Instructions

• In a small bowl whisk together the garlic, ginger, salt, white pepper and Chinese Five Spice powder. Reserve 1 teaspoon of the dry rub for the wet basting sauce.
• In another bowl whisk together the jam, catsup, soy sauce, Gochujang paste, vinegar and teaspoon of reserved dry rub spices. Set aside.
• Keep the membrane on the back of the ribs so they hold together while in the slow cooker. Rub the dry rub on both sides of the ribs.
• Coat the inside of a slow cooker with cooking spray and arrange ribs along sides and bottom, meaty side facing down. Cook on High for 4 hours.
• Carefully remove ribs from slow cooker and with a sharp knife pull off and remove back membrane on ribs. Place meaty side up on a wire rack in a lined baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Brush with sauce and broil 5 minutes. Baste and continue to broil another 5 minutes. Serve with remaining sauce and chopped cilantro as garnish.

Notes

1. Apple cider, red or white wine vinegar may be substituted for the rice vinegar, but add ¼ teaspoon of sugar to the sauce mixture as well if substituting.

*The information shown below is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist's advice.

Nutrition

Calories: 593kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 43g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 1728mg | Potassium: 675mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 186IU | Vitamin C: 3mg | Calcium: 85mg | Iron: 3mg