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Keto Ribs with BBQ Sauce

Keto Ribs with BBQ Sauce

These delicious Keto Ribs are perfect smothered in a tangy, smokey BBQ sauce and are slow cooked to perfection. You can use a slow cooker, instant pot or pressure cooker to get that succulent juicy meat falling off the bone and make dinner time a breeze.

Before you scroll to the recipe, below I’ve tried to answer any questions you may have, including storage tips, sourcing ingredients and substitutions  

If you make this recipe please leave a review ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

These Keto Ribs are so easy to prepare in the slow cooker giving succulent, fall off the bone meat. Finished with the pan juices as a smokey BBQ Sauce, these are finger licking good keto ribs!

Keto Ribs Summary

  • Ingredient tips with Subsitutions
  • Recipe tips
  • Storage tips
  • How many carbs in Keto Ribs with BBQ Sauce?

There is nothing better than coming home from work to the smell of a slow cooker meal.

These Keto Ribs will have you drooling the minute you walk in the door!

Load everything up in the morning, press start and dinner is ready 8 hours later. 

For these Keto Ribs, you can also use the pressure cooker or instant pot if you’ve got one!

The pressure cooker is my new favourite appliance for speeding up that slow succulent process.

I used to kick myself when I’d get to work and realise I forgot to put the slow cooker on, but the pressure cooker has solved that problem now. 

These Keto Ribs with BBQ Sauce came from a never ending search for the ultimate ribs smothered in sweet and sticky sauce.

My husband is a big fan of ribs and kept ordering them whenever we were at American BBQ restaurants, but they were always quite dry – both the meat, and lack of sauce meant it never quite satisfied his ribs cravings.

We realised that most Keto Ribs recipes use dry rubs so didn’t quite satisfy this ‘saucey’ craving. 

Ingredients for Keto Ribs with BBQ Sauce

These Keto Ribs are a lovely simple recipe that will make it seem like you’ve spent hours in the kitchen.

  • Ribs
  • Tomato sauce / ketchup
  • Worcestshire sauce
  • Apple Cider Vinegar
  • Garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, chilli powder, salt and pepper
  • Cooking oil

As always, using the highest quality ingredients is super important. With a simple recipe like these Keto Ribs with BBQ Sauce, the quality of the ingredients is what makes it delicious.

1. The Ribs

I like to use pork ribs but this is just personal preference.

The fatty nature of pork makes the meat really succulent and the sauce taste delicious.

You could definitely use any ribs you prefer though.

If you can get them and afford them, sow stall free pork is always best.

Vegetarian option: Replace the pork ribs with jackfruit! Worcestershire sauce is also not vegetarian so you can use soy or tamari instead.

2. Tomato Sauce

These Keto Ribs are so easy to prepare in the slow cooker giving succulent, fall off the bone meat. Finished with the pan juices as a smokey BBQ Sauce, these are finger licking good keto ribs!

In this simple recipe, I use my Homemade Tomato Sauce to add a rich flavour to the ribs and give you plenty of beautiful sauce to pour over at the end.

If you haven’t made this sauce yet, you can use a store bought sugar free tomato sauce.

But trust me, by the time you find a suitably low carb tomato sauce / ketchup from the shop, you could’ve made this one!

3. Apple Cider Vinegar

Apple Cider Vinegar gives the final BBQ sauce that tangy flavour that goes so well with the rich and fatty pork meat.

ACV has a heap of health benefits thanks to the healthy bacteria, enzymes and proteins it contains. You can read more here about the health benefits of ACV

When buying ACV, you want one with the ‘mother’. This is where all the goodness is!

If you don’t have any, you can use any other vinegar including white wine vinegar. I would avoid balsamic vinegar as the sugar content is a bit too high.

4. The Spices

The spices added to the sauce is what brings it alive (otherwise it’s just tomato sauce and vinegar!)

I use sweet smoked paprika to give it that delicious smokey flavour. If you like your BBQ sauce really smokey you could add more, or use some liquid smoke.

You could also use fresh garlic and onion instead of the powder, but I find the powder really handy for flavouring sauces when you don’t want the chunks of the vegetables.

Or if you’re feeling lazy.

Because I get that.

I hate chopping onion and garlic at 7am before going to work!

5. Worcestershire Sauce

This hard to pronounce sauce is always in my pantry.

Yes, it contains sugar but 3.3 grams of carbs per tablespoon is ok for me in this case as it adds a great sweet and salty flavour.

Worcestershire sauce is actually fermented so has a little bit of that gut loving bacteria, but you don’t want to go crazy with it.

If you don’t have it, you could substitute for the same amount of soy sauce and a pinch of your preferred Keto sweetener.

These Keto Ribs are so easy to prepare in the slow cooker giving succulent, fall off the bone meat. Finished with the pan juices as a smokey BBQ Sauce, these are finger licking good keto ribs!

Tips for making Keto Ribs with BBQ Sauce

While this is a pretty simple recipe, there’s still some tips that will help you achieve the perfect Keto Ribs every time!If your ribs come in one big rack, cut them in half to fit in your slow cooker

  1. Either the slow cooker OR the instant pot / pressure cooker is perfect for these ribs. I’ve included instructions for both below.
  2. Make sure you brown the ribs first – it’s tempting to skip this recipe but a little browning on the outside adds a fantastic depth of flavour to the recipe
  3. If you use the instant pot, it traps in all of the moisture so the sauce can end up a little runny. You can thicken it with 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum. If you don’t mind a little flour here or there, 1 tablespoon will do the trick, whisked into the sauce once the ribs are removed
  4. You can crisp up the finished ribs under the grill/broiler for 2- 3 minutes on high if you want a bit of a charred finish like they have been barbequed.
  5. Because this is a rich and decadent meal, serve it with something light and fresh. Slaw is the traditional favourite!
These Keto Ribs are so easy to prepare in the slow cooker giving succulent, fall off the bone meat. Finished with the pan juices as a smokey BBQ Sauce, these are finger licking good keto ribs!
Click here for the recipe to my Tangy Keto Slaw

Storage tips for Keto Ribs

  1. Fridge: keep these ribs in an air tight container, with sauce stored separately for 3 – 5 days.
  2. To reheat, cut them into individual ribs, smother in sauce then microwave covered for 2 – 2 1/2 minutes
  3. Freezer: wrap the cooked ribs tightly in plastic wrap and freeze the sauce separately. Defrost overnight and then reheat in the oven.

How Many Carbs in Keto Ribs?

As you will see in the nutrition panel below, this Keto Ribs recipe has 7 grams total carbs and 2 grams fibre so 5 grams net carbs per serve.

Pork is naturally high in fat and protein so is easy to eat on the Keto diet, and generally hard to over eat.

This recipe allows for 250 grams of ribs per serve (4 serves for the whole recipe) so make sure to serve it with my delicious Tangy Keto Slaw and some steamed broccolini for a complete, healthy Keto meal!

Keep in mind this is a high calorie meal because of the fattiness of the pork.

I suggest having meals like this as your ‘relaxed’ meals where you worry less about calories, or after a lighter lunch.

SAVE KETO RIBS WITH BBQ SAUCE TO PINTEREST FOR LATER

These Keto Ribs are so easy to prepare in the slow cooker giving succulent, fall off the bone meat. Finished with the pan juices as a smokey BBQ Sauce, these are finger licking good keto ribs!

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These Keto Ribs are so easy to prepare in the slow cooker giving succulent, fall off the bone meat. Finished with the pan juices as a smokey BBQ Sauce, these are finger licking good keto ribs!

Keto Ribs with BBQ Sauce

Yield: 4 people
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours 15 minutes

These delicious Keto Ribs are perfect smothered in a tangy, smokey BBQ sauce and are slow cooked to perfection. You can use a slow cooker, instant pot or pressure cooker to get that succulent juicy meat falling off the bone and make dinner time a breeze.

Ingredients

  • 1 kg Ribs, I like to use pork
  • 3/4 cup Tomato Sauce / Ketchup, Sugar Free
  • 2 tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
  • 1 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 2 tbsp Sweet Smoked Paprika
  • 1/2 - 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1/4 tsp pepper
  • 1 tbsp cooking oil
  • 1/2 tsp xanthan gum, optional, to thicken sauce

Instructions

Slow Cooker Instructions

  1. In a large frying pan, heat the cooking oil over medium-high heat.
  2. Brown the ribs on all sides, around 2 - 3 minutes per side.
  3. Meanwhile, whisk together all remaining ingredients in a small bowl.
  4. Place the ribs in the slow cooker and pour over the sauce, rubbing it all over the ribs.
  5. Add 1/2 cup water to the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours.
  6. When ready to serve, remove the ribs and whisk the sauce together.
  7. If it is particularly fatty, skim the fat off the top before whisking. If you would like to thicken the sauce further, you can use 1/2 tsp xanthan gum.

Instant pot / pressure cooker instructions

  1. Turn the instant pot to the Brown setting and add oil.
  2. Cut the rack of ribs in half and brown each side evenly.
  3. Meanwhile, whisk together the sauce. Rub the sauce all over the browned ribs and return to the instant pot.
  4. Set to "pressure cook" for 30 minutes then let the pressure naturally release.
  5. When ready to serve, remove the ribs and whisk the sauce. If it is particularly fatty, skim the fat off the top before whisking. If you would like to thicken the sauce further, you can use 1/2 tsp xanthan gum.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 4 Serving Size: 1 grams
Amount Per Serving: Calories: 757Total Fat: 75gSaturated Fat: 32gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 188mgSodium: 763mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 2gSugar: 4gProtein: 41g

If you enjoyed this recipe, don’t forget to rate and review it or share on social media! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

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