Crockpot Wednesday: Thai Style Ribs

Thai Style Ribs
Rating: 4.5/5

If you haven’t figured out already, I love Thai food. So earlier this week you got Thai beef jerky and today you have Thai BBQ ribs.

This is not my recipe and it's really supposed to be done on a grill or in a smoker. I'm adapting it for the crockpot. Basically, I put my ribs in half of the marinade to sit overnight in the frig. I then set them in my crockpot in the morning before I went to work. I set it at low since I would be gone for a good 8.5 hours. When I got home it was more like braised ribs because there was so much liquid. I took out the ribs, and dumped the liquid. I then served the ribs with the other half of the marinade as sauce.

These ribs were falling off the bone. Very tender and moist because they were done in the crockpot. If you want to crisp them up a bit, you can put them on the grill for five minutes and baste them with some more sauce.

The recipe called for 8 serrano peppers, but I just used 6 and found it had a good amount of heat. There is tang from the vinegar, salt from the fish and soy sauce, and sweetness from the honey. It all balances out for a flavor packed sauce. And if you baste it over ribs on the grill, it will be nice and thick and sticky. Yum.


lots of serranos = lots of heat

Thai Barbecue Sauce
adapted from: The Great Ribs Book

By Hugh Carpenter & Teri Sandison


Makes 3 cups

6 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons finely minced ginger
8 serrano peppers or other small hot chiles, minced, including seeds
4 small green onions, green and white parts, minced
1/4 cup minced cilantro sprigs
2 tablespoon lemon grass, minced
1 tablespoon grated or minced lime zest
Juice from 3 limes
1 cup hoisin sauce
1/2 cup wine vinegar
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup honey
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons flavorless cooking oil


To make the sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients and stir well.

Coat the ribs evenly on both sides with half the sauce. Marinate the ribs, refrigerated, for at least 15 minutes. For more flavor, marinate for up to 8 hours. Reserve the remaining sauce to serve as a sauce for the ribs.