19 Easy Slow-Cooker Barbecue Recipes

You don't need a grill or a smoker for tender fall-of-the-bone barbecue ribs or succulent pulled pork that's just begging for a bun. Cut down the hassle and the mess with your trusty slow cooker. Nobody will be able to tell you took a shortcut.

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Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs

Photo: Hector Sanchez; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller

Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs Recipe

Barbecue season is here, but we'll let you in on a secret: All you really need for crowd-pleasing baby back ribs is the right recipe and a slow cooker. Savory, tender, juicy, and slow-cooked to perfection, this recipe for Slow Cooker Baby Back Ribs is our newest and best. And just because it's easy doesn't mean this recipe lacks character. Add our homemade Rib Rub and Fancy Barbecue Sauce for a foolproof meal that's truly special.

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Slow Cooker Barbacoa Brisket

Photo: Jennifer Causey; Styling: Lindsey Lower

Slow Cooker Barbacoa Brisket Recipe

Slow cooking tougher cuts of meat, such as beef brisket, gives you a meltingly tender texture. For tacos, serve the saucy barbacoa in tortillas with green and red onion, cilantro leaves, jalapeño slices, and fresh lime wedges.

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Crock-Pot BBQ Ribs

Photo: Caitlin Bensel; Food Styling: Anna Hampton; Prop Styling: Audrey Davis

Crock-Pot BBQ Ribs Recipe

If you’re skeptical about ribs in a slow cooker, prepare to be amazed by the tender and delicious results. Cooking ribs doesn’t get easier than this two-step method, and while they serve as the perfect summer entrée, you can make these ribs just as easily at any time of year. Start by selecting the style you like: baby back ribs, spare ribs, St. Louis style ribs, or country style pork ribs. Combine with your favorite sweet and smoky BBQ sauce and let your Crock-Pot take it from there. These easy slow cooker ribs are fall-off-the-bone tasty.

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Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Recipe

Our rub of brown sugar, salt and spices flavor the pork tenderloin overnight. In the morning all you do is add Crushed and Diced Tomatoes along with the pork to your slow cooker. Shred the sweet, yet savory pork and serve on sliders for a crowd or sandwich buns for the family.

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Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas

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Slow Cooker Pork Carnitas Recipe

This slow cooker pork carnitas recipe is a perfectly simple and inexpensive way to feed a crowd. Set out a stack of warm corn tortillas along, with a few simple toppings, and allow everyone to pile on the unbelievably rich and tender pork as they please.

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Slow-Cooker Barbecue Chicken

Photo: Kate Mathis; Styling: Paul Grimes

Slow-Cooker Barbecue Chicken Recipe

Does it get much easier than this summer crockpot recipe? Slow-cook chicken breasts in a mixture of bottled barbecue sauce, Italian dressing, brown sugar and Worcestershire sauce for a tender, sweet, and tangy barbecue chicken that’s great on a bun or even over a baked potato. This is a stress-free and tasty meal of which the whole family will want seconds.

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Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork

Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork Recipe

This slow-cooker pulled pork recipe makes budget-friendly homemade barbecue a breeze! 7 ingredients and 10 minutes of prep time are all you need to get this dish cooking for dinnertime. For delicious barbecue sandwiches, add honey, barbecue sauce, mustard, and soy sauce to the slow cooker when the meat is done and cook for an additional hour on low. Serve on hamburger buns with a side of baked beans, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, and cornbread for the ultimate Southern plate.

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Slow-Cooker Ginger, Sweet Tea, and Whiskey Short Ribs

Photo: Hector Manuel Sanchez; Prop Styling: Mindi Shapiro Levine; Food Styling: Torie Cox

Slow-Cooker Ginger, Sweet Tea, and Whiskey Short Ribs Recipe

Short ribs are often considered a cold weather dish, but we gave them a makeover for summer with a bright, tangy sauce (inspired by spiked sweet tea) and a fresh, herbal topping of parsley, scallions, and lemon zest. Serve these easy-to-prepare slow cooker ribs atop grits, mashed potatoes, or egg noodles or alongside potato salad with a tangy, vinegar-based (not mayonnaise-based) dressing.

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Slow-Cooker Barbecue Beef Sandwiches

Slow-Cooker Barbecue Beef Sandwiches Recipe
Make your favorite creamy coleslaw to serve with or on this slow-cooker barbecue sandwich. Freeze any leftover meat for up to 1 month.

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Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos Al Pastor with All the Fixings

Photo: Greg Dupree; Styling: Buffy Hargett Miller

Slow-Cooker Pork Tacos Al Pastor with All the Fixings Recipe
Start by slow-cooking pork shoulder in an aromatic bath of pineapple, beer (try a floral, spiced white ale like Hoegaarden or Blue Moon), and canned chipotles in adobo. Then shred the meat and set out a taco bar full of fresh flavors, bright colors, and crunchy textures. You can't go wrong here. We like bowls of crumbled cheeses, sliced radishes, chopped onions, avocado, shredded cabbage, and plenty of fresh cilantro.

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Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Sriracha BBQ Sauce

Photo: Iain Bagwell; Styling: Missie Neville Crawford

Pulled Pork Sandwiches with Sriracha BBQ Sauce Recipe

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Couldn't Be Easier BBQ Pork Tenderloin (Crock Pot)

Photo: Lee Harrelson; Styling: Jan Gautro

Couldn't Be Easier BBQ Pork Tenderloin (Crock Pot) Recipe

This is an incredibly easy Crock-Pot recipe that's loaded with flavor. Super tender and moist. Perfect for those days you don't want to mess with dinner.

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Pulled Pork with Bourbon-Peach Sauce

Pulled Pork with Bourbon-Peach Sauce Recipe

Smoked paprika comes from a centuries-old tradition in which chile peppers are slowly dried over low-burning fires of Spanish oak and then ground into powder. In the slow cooker, this earthy, aromatic spice adds outdoor smoked barbecue flavor.

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Crock-Pot Green Chile Pulled Pork

Photo: psfreeman

Crock-Pot Green Chile Pulled Pork Recipe

Roasted green chiles and plenty of Southwest/Tex-Mexern spices infuse the pork as it simmers in the Crock-Pot. The pork stays amazingly moist and juicy. Eat this pork in sandwiches, on salads and in burrito bowls, in tacos and taquitos or all by itself. Recipe by Mary Younkin, Barefeet in the Kitchen.

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Slow-Cooked BBQ Pork Roast

Photo: Whitney Ott

Slow-Cooked BBQ Pork Roast Recipe

The slow cooker makes fall our new favorite season for barbecue. This pork shoulder simmers in a vinegar- and ketchup-laced liquid until tender and juicy. Top with pickled red onions. Pile the pork onto game-day sandwiches or baked sweet potatoes.

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Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork

Photo: Gooseberry Patch

Slow-Cooked Pulled Pork Recipe

With great flavor, this tender and juicy pulled pork recipe couldn't be easier in your slow cooker. Spoon cooked meat over texas toast slices for a delicious open-faced sandwich.

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Slow-Cooked BBQ Fennel, Onion, and Pork Sandwiches

Photo: Johnny Autry; Styling: Cindy Barr

Slow-Cooked BBQ Fennel, Onion, and Pork Sandwiches Recipe
Slow-Cooked BBQ Fennel, Onion, and Pork Sandwiches are a nod to low-and-slow Southern barbecue--using just a little bit of pork shoulder. And just like traditional pulled pork, the meltingly tender vegetables and pork are piled high on toasted buns, slathered with a Greek yogurt mixture, and topped with shredded cabbage.

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Slow-Cooked Cowboy Brisket and Beans