Sticky Paleo Ribs with Chocolate BBQ Sauce
Sticky Paleo Ribs are AMAZING! They're slow cooked until fall off the bone tender then smothered in an easy to make (and refined sugar-free!) chocolate BBQ sauce then quickly grilled or baked. You will LOVE them!
Turn these paleo ribs into a meal with some sauteed green beans with garlic and some herb and garlic butter smashed sweet potatoes.
I hope you're hungry, my friends. Roll up your sleeves and prepare to get sticky fingers, a full belly, and all over happy. Today's recipe is one of my favs. I've made three times in the past week and have no plans to stop the weekly ribs feast any time soon.
These babies are first covered in a simple rib rub then cooked in your crockpot until they're fall off the bone amazing. Then they're coated in the most ridiculously delicious chocolate BBQ sauce (yes, chocolate!) and popped on your grill or into your oven for a few minutes to finish them.
I think we should plan a giant online party where we all make these baby back paleo ribs together. What do you think? You in?
Easy Paleo Baby Back Ribs
Making ribs is so not complicated. Trust me on this one. Here's how you're going to rock your paleo ribs:
- Spice it up! Sprinkle a few pantry-staple spices on the rack and massage them into the meat. So far so good right?
- Slow cooker magic! Put the rack in your crockpot and set it to high for 4 hours or low for 8 hours. Don't worry if you're not at home as soon as they're done cooking. As long as your crockpot has a warming feature, you've got some leeway.
- Make the BBQ sauce! Five minutes is all you need here. Super simple.
- Put it all together! Baste the fall off the bone tender ribs with the chocolate BBQ sauce then grill them for 20 minutes or broil them for 10 minutes.
See how easy that was? Making paleo pork ribs is so simple and so delicious!
baby back ribs vs pork back ribs
Back in my pre rib cooking days, I wondered if there was a difference between baby back ribs and pork back ribs. Here's what I learned: there is no difference. They're the same cut with two different names. (or same cut many different names since you may also see them called pork loin back ribs or loin ribs.)
Pork back ribs (and baby back ribs) are meaty ribs and my go-to choice. More meat = better ribs!
Can you use spare ribs?
Back ribs are pretty easy to find, but if your store is out, don't despair. You can still make this recipe using spare ribs. AKA pork side ribs.
Sidebar – why do ribs have so many different names?
Spare ribs have less meat and are fattier than back ribs. But … fattier means they're really tasty. They make delicious paleo ribs.
Side ribs/ spare ribs are bigger than back ribs but because this recipe cooks them first in the slow cooker, the time to cook them is the same.
Unless this is your first time here (and if it is, welcome!) then you probably know that I love love love Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides. I have two scoops every morning without fail. Sometimes in a smoothie and other times in my coffee. ← that sounds weird, I know. You can't taste the unflavored version at all so it totally blends into the coffee.
But my favorite way to get more healthy collagen into my diet is to cook with it. In this ribs recipe, I've added it to the chocolate BBQ sauce to give it a boost of good-for-you-ness.
And in case you didn't believe me that I love to cook with Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides …
Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides Recipes
- Curried Chicken Cauliflower Rice Soup
- Grab and Go Bacon and Egg Cups
- Flourless Molten Chocolate Lava Cakes
- Super Creamy Almond Butter Latte
- Triple Berry Paleo Banana Bread with Lemon Glaze
Popular Rib Recipes
- BBQ Crockpot Beef Ribs
- Blackened Ribs with Caramelized Carrots
- Oven Baked Ribs with Potatoes and Green Beans
- Grilled Pork Ribs with Ponzu Sauce
Video: How to make sticky paleo ribs
Sticky Paleo Ribs with Chocolate BBQ Sauce
If you love this recipe as much as we do, let us know with a 5-star rating!
Ingredients
- 1 rack baby back ribs (about 2 lbs.), also called pork back ribs
Paleo Rib Rub
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
Paleo BBQ Sauce
- ½ cup tomato sauce
- ¼ cup Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon each: chili powder, smoked paprika, and garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- Optional: 6 drops of liquid smoke
- 2 tablespoons chopped dark chocolate
Instructions
- Remove the thin, papery skin from the back of the ribs. Once you get it started, it should pull off in one piece. Some butchers will do this for you. If you have a small BBQ (like me!) cut the rack of ribs in half.1 rack baby back ribs (about 2 lbs.)
- Mix the rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Sprinkle the rub over the meaty side of the ribs and pat it down so that it is well covered.2 tablespoons coconut sugar, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 tablespoon smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon sea salt, ½ teaspoon black pepper
- Pop the ribs into your crockpot and cook for 4 hours on high or 8 hours on low.
- Add the tomato sauce, collagen, coconut sugar, apple cider vinegar, chili powder, smoked paprika, garlic powder, sea salt, and (if using) the liquid smoke to a small pan over medium-high heat. Whisk the ingredients together and bring it to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat, add the chocolate, and whisk it into the BBQ sauce.½ cup tomato sauce, ¼ cup Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides, ¼ cup coconut sugar, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 teaspoon each: chili powder, smoked paprika, and garlic powder, ½ teaspoon sea salt, Optional: 6 drops of liquid smoke, 2 tablespoons chopped dark chocolate
To Grill the ribs
- Preheat your grill to medium-high. Take the ribs out of the crockpot and baste them generously in the chocolate BBQ sauce. Grill for 20 minutes, turning halfway through.
To Bake the Ribs
- Preheat your oven to broil. Take the ribs out of the crockpot and place them on a baking sheet. Baste them generously with the chocolate BBQ sauce then broil for 3-5 minutes on each side.
Excellent!
Do you put any liquid in the crockpot with the ribs?
Nope! Just coat them in the rub.
What tomato sauce do you use? Do you mean ketchup? Or plain tomato sauce that you would use for pasta? Or passata? Thank you!
This is the tomato sauce that we use. It’s a plain tomato sauce that you could use to make pasta sauce. Passata would also work, but you may need to thin it slightly.
Made these last night and they were a hit. That chocolate bbq sauce was perfect.
I’m so happy to hear you liked them!!
Hi Kristen
Can this sauce be made without the collagen ?
Lucy
It can. It just won’t have the extra healthy boost of collagen that Vital Proteins gives it.
These are great. I love that you’re using chocolate in the BBQ sauce, not too much, but enough to darken it up and give it some depth. I like my ribs fall-off-the-bone, too. On my list for this weekend!
I love sneaking chocolate into savory food. I used to make a braised rib recipe and put a little chocolate in at the end. People would rave about it but they could never guess what the secret ingredient was. 🙂
Chocolate BBQ sauce definitely had my curiousity piqued! What an amazing blend of flavors on these. A love that you’re sneaking in more collagen.
Chocolate BBQ is so good! You definitely have to try it!!