Treat your family to this Slow Cooker Honey Spare Ribs. It is juicy, flavorful, and fork tender delicious. They will thank you for it.
Ever since I pulled out the slow cooker from the lower shelf of my corner kitchen cabinet, I have been putting it to good use. I really like the comforting thought of dinner cooking by itself with little to no supervision from me while I potter around the house. It frees me up to do other chores and run errands. On top of that, I am rewarded with a wonderful aroma wafting through the house. That motivates me to plan ahead and do some prep work the night before.
Converting Recipes for the Slow Cooker
So far, I have converted and adapted a few recipes that I usually cook on the stove for the slow cooker like this Pork Ribs with Spicy Bean Sauce and Chicken and Vegetable Curry. I am happy both turned out very nicely. Others are old favorites or crock pot classics like today’s Slow Cooker Honey Spare Ribs which was deliciously flavorful and fork tender. Ribs, both pork and beef work really well in a slow cooker as they benefit from the slow and long cooking times.
I went with pork spare ribs this time as they were on sale last week. Please use beef spare ribs if you prefer. They would work just as well.
Related Products Used in Making This Slow Cooker Honey Spare Ribs
This post contains affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy here.
• Crock-Pot Smart-Pot 6-Quart Slow Cooker, Brushed Stainless Steel
• Instant Pot DUO Plus 6 Qt 9-in-1 Multi-Use Programmable Pressure Cooker, Slow Cooker

Slow Cooker Honey Spare Ribs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs pork spare ribs (900g)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 cloves garlic (minced)
- 1 tsp corn starch mix with 2 tbsp water
Sauce
- 3 tbsp honey
- 3 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp dark soy sauce
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ cup water (120ml)
Instructions
- Place pork spare ribs in slow cooker insert. Combine all sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- In a small saucepan, heat vegetable oil. Saute garlic for 1 minute. Pour in sauce and allow it to come to a boil. Reduce heat, cover, and let it cook until thick and bubbly for about 3 minutes. Turn off heat.
- Pour sauce over pork spare ribs in the slow cooker insert. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours.
- To serve, transfer cooked spare ribs onto a platter. Skim off as much fat as possible from the remaining sauce. Strain into a small saucepan. Add corn starch mixture and boil until thick and bubbly, about 2 to 3 minutes. Pour over spare ribs.
Nutrition
Enjoy…..and have a wonderful day! 😎
Chris says
Hi Biren,
This looks absolutely mouth-watering! It’s going into my “Want to make soon” list. Thanks for sharing! 😀
Chris
Biren says
Thanks Chris! I hope you enjoy the recipe. 🙂
GS says
Wow! Your pictures look fantastic. Can’t wait to try this recipe 🙂
Biren says
Thanks GS! Enjoy! 🙂
Nicole (MyLoveForCooking) says
I <3 this!
Biren says
Thanks Nicole!
PolaM says
You make me want to buy a slow cooker!
Biren says
You really should, Pola. It is a very convenient appliance to have especially if you work outside the home.
Ramona says
Wow.. these ribs look perfect. I think I always put too much liquid in my slow cooker… now I can see from your recipe that a little goes a long way. 🙂
Biren says
I used to do that to, Ramona until I discovered that the meat need not be soaking in liquid for it to cook. 🙂
Bob says
Looks good, but why do you need salt when soy sauce is higher in sodium than just plain salt? I am on a low sodium diet and will omit both. I will try it though.
Biren says
It is a matter of preference. Please omit the salt since you are on a low sodium diet.
latrice says
I have boneless country style ribs. Do I cook them the same amount of time in the crock pot? Thanks for your help
Linda says
You probably only need to cook boneless ribs on high for 4 hours or 6 hours on low.
sabo says
OMG … they were delish. Thx for sharing! Now they have made their way over to Germany 😀
Sandra
Tony says
Made this dish last night , don’t have a slow cooker so cooked it in the oven in a roasting pan covered with foil. It took about 2 hrs. at gas 2 .I doubled the sauce to compensate and was well received when served up . Thanks for this delicious menu and I hope that this variation will help others without a slow cooker to enjoy it as much as us.
Linda says
That’s very innovative of you, Tony. Thank you for sharing how you cooked in in the oven. I am glad to hear that it turned out just as delicious. 🙂
Margaret says
My family loves ribs and I tried this recipe. I followed the recipe to the letter. Yes, the ribs were literally falling off the bone but the sauce was a disaster. It never thickened either time like it said to do in the recipe. I was very disappointed as we’re my grandsons.
Linda says
Did you strain the sauce into a small saucepan and boil with the corn starch until until it thickens? It is not going to thicken in the slow cooker without the corn starch.