These Slow Cooker Mini Rib Sliders are the perfect recipe for leftover ribs. Use your crock pot to soften the meat then pile it high on slider buns!
I’m a sucker for ribs and these Slow Cooker Mini Rib Sliders make good use of leftover ribs. It’s the perfect way to stretch ribs if you’re feeding a crowd as well.
Don’t have leftover ribs? Then, make a double batch of my slow cooker ribs so you can have ribs one day, and mini rib sliders the next day. You won’t regret it.
Honestly, I love messy food. It makes my heart happy. There is nothing like saucy sliders. I figure just grab a bib and get your grub on. Why fight it?!
So, I made slow cooker ribs one day and we ate half the ribs with gusto. Then, I took the time to pull all the meat off the other half of the ribs. It’s super easy because the meat just falls off the bone when you cook them in the slow cooker.
The next day I popped the meat back in the slow cooker with some added flavour. Then, I let it simmer away for a bit. When it was done, I took it out and shredded it just like shredded pork or chicken.
Once you have the meat shredded you just toss it in a skillet and add more flavour. Then, cook it just long enough to caramelize the edges.
These mini rib sliders will rock your world. They are tender, juicy and feed a crowd. I cannot recommend them enough!
Hope you love these. As I said previously, please remember this is a recipe for Leftover Ribs so you have to start with cooked ribs. This is really important!
Peace out. Get your grub on!
Other great dinner recipes
- How to Cook a Sirloin Roast
- Rib Sliders
- Greek Chicken Orzo Power Bowls
- Chicken Enchilada Casserole
- American Chop Suey
- Saucy Mozzarella Chicken Bake
- Smoked Ribs
- Low and Slow BBQ Ribs
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Slow Cooker Mini Rib Sliders
Ingredients
- 6 lbs previously cooked ribs homemade or store bought
- 1/2 cup liquid vegetable broth
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 cup barbecue sauce
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 pkg mini slider buns or Hawaiian rolls
Instructions
- Make sure you remember this is a recipe for leftover ribs before you start.
- Use my slow cooker rib recipe for the first step of cooking the ribs the day before making this.
- Once your ribs are slow cooked all day pull all the meat of the bones. Do it while the ribs are still warn because it's so much easier to do. Pop the meat in a container and place in the fridge overnight.
- Pull the meat out of the fridge and pop it back in the slow cooker. It's already cooked so we're just softening it a bit more for the pulling process.
- Add 1/2 cup of liquid vegetable broth. Better Than Bouillon is what I used.
- Add the spices and give it a stir.
- Pop the lid on your slow cooker and cook the meat for about 2 hours, just enough to soften the meat enough to pull it apart. Every slow cooker is different so this time could vary quite a bit for each size. I'd say cook it no less than 2 hours but no more than 3-4 or it will be too dry.
- Remove the meat from the slow cooker and drain any excess juices. Now shred you meat. I use a hand mixer with dough attachments. Nope, not even kidding. I'll post a video next time I do it so you can see how easy it is. If you don't have a hand mixer just use two forks and pull the meat apart. It's super easy to do. You can even chop it with a knife if need be.
- Now grab a huge cast iron skillet or good quality pan, turn heat to medium and add the meat to the pan. Pour the BBQ sauce over top. If using brown sugar add that now too. It really does help caramelize the meat beautifully. But if you're avoiding sugar it's okay to leave it out. Allow to cook for about 5 to 10 minutes, just enough to crisp the edges of the meat a bit.
- Place heaping spoonfuls of the meat on slider buns.
- Serve with a big old rib loving smile!
Notes
Nutrition
Thanks for visiting today!
If you’re looking for more dinner recipes be sure to check out my recipe index. You can also find a lot more slow cooker recipes as well.
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Toodles! xx
Ashley @ Wishes & Dishes says
Well next time I have leftover ribs I know what I’m doing with them!! Thanks for the brilliant idea!!!!
Lana | Never Enough Thyme says
Oh my! Those little sliders look soooo delicious! And you’re totally right about the dishwasher sludge – yuck! I didn’t realize how much nastiness collects in the dishwasher until we had to take the bottom arm out of ours one time. Ewwww. I’m grabbing a bottle of this cleaner tomorrow when I do my grocery shopping.
Heather | All Roads Lead to the Kitchen says
I feel like I’ve never wanted anything more in my life than a couple of those sliders in front of me. That is seriously good lookin’ food right there. I think I need to make some for game day in the next couple of weeks. And believe it or not, I don’t have a dishwasher…but whoa! If I did, I’m sure I’d be picking up some Finish.
Isabelle @ Crumb says
Leftover ribs? I’m not familiar with this concept. 😉 (Seriously, though… leftover ribs is like leftover wine. Ain’t no such thing in my house!)
Oh, and don’t even get me started on dishwasher sludge. Our Miele has a little catch basket to filter out food bits and whatnot so that they don’t clog up the works, and cleaning that thing up might be the grossest chore I can think of. And considering I clean up litterboxes used by two cats whose poops are so stinky they could double as weapons of mass destruction, that’s saying a lot.
Kim Beaulieu says
Ha, here either. It’s why I highly recommend double batching the slow cooker ribs just so you can make this. Ha. I do it all the time. I buy giant packages of ribs and do 4 slabs at a time. That way we always have lots. I even freeze them on occasion. K is a rib nut, so I always make extra. She takes them to school, such a crazy girl.
Omg Izz, that cup we found was SO gross. I was going to photograph but I didn’t want to gross everyone out. It was disgusting. I almost hurled. I’m not cleaning it once a month. I swear the glasses sparkled after we cleaned it. I always thought ours did a great job but I was stunned to see all the grossness. I hear good things about Miele. We have all GE products, the dishwasher, microwave, fridge and stove. I love the stove the best. It’s a dual fuel with a warming drawer. I wish it was pro size, like a nice 60 inches but I’ll take this for now. It’s a pretty sweet machine. I’ve been wanting to try making bread in it with chains on a pan and you spray water in for steam with a water gun. Ha, I’ll do anything for a good laugh and experiment. I think I read about it in Bouchon Bakery. Determined to try it this winter.
Alida says
These sliders are so fun! They look absolutely incredible!
Christie says
I definitely need to clean my dishwasher. Making these rib sandwiches sound like a good way to get some messy plates and wash in a clean dishwasher.
Liz says
Can you bring some of these fabulous sliders to Chicago? I’m sure the airlines and border crossing folks won’t mind one bit! And thanks for the tip on cleaning the dishwasher 🙂
Nutmeg Nanny says
These little rib sliders look so amazing! It’s the perfect little sandwich 🙂 Also I totally want to go clean my dishwasher now.