Thai Slow Cooker Ribs with Pineapple Slaw
Slow cooker Thai-inspired pork ribs with pineapple slaw are an easy weeknight dinner packed with bold flavor and minimal prep.
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These slow cooker Thai-inspired pork ribs are an easy dinner packed with warm spices and fresh flavor. Tender pork ribs cook low and slow while a simple pineapple slaw adds a bright, crunchy finish.
Sometimes the hardest part about dinner isn’t cooking, it’s deciding what to make.
It’s easy to fall back on the same meals over and over, especially during busy weeks when everyone is hungry and you don’t have the energy to experiment.
And honestly? There’s nothing wrong with that.
But recipes like this are a great reminder that adding variety to your meal rotation doesn’t have to mean making dinner harder.
The slow cooker does most of the work here, and the flavors are bold without being overwhelming. You get something that feels a little different from the usual weeknight dinner, but still easy, familiar, and family friendly.
And that’s often the sweet spot for busy families.
What you’ll love about this recipe
- The slow cooker does most of the work: Just a few minutes of prep, then dinner cooks while you move on with your day.
- Big flavor without extra effort: Warm spices, pineapple, and fresh herbs make this feel special without making it complicated.
- A fun way to add variety to dinner: Different enough to keep things interesting, but still approachable and family friendly.
How this recipe comes together
Below is a brief overview of how this recipe comes together so you know what to expect when it’s time to cook. For the full set of written directions including ingredient amounts, please scroll down to the recipe card below.
- Mix together the sauce ingredients and pour half into the slow cooker.
- Add the ribs, top with the remaining sauce, and cook low and slow until tender.
- Right before serving, quickly mix together the pineapple slaw.
- Transfer the ribs to a baking sheet and broil for a few minutes until caramelized and slightly crisp on the edges.
- Serve with rice and the pineapple slaw.
Easy Shortcuts
Using a pre-shredded broccoli slaw mix keeps prep quick and easy while adding lots of crunch and color to the meal.
Adding these easy to make Turmeric Pork Ribs is a great way to add a delicious and weeknight friendly dinner to your meal rotation to help get you out of that “chicken for dinner every night” dinner rut!
These pork ribs would also be amazing with a small bowl of this Spiced Coconut Potato Soup or Instant Pot Coconut Rice on the side!
Try these other great Thai inspired recipes:
For busy, real life families
A calmer way to figure out dinner
Dinner doesn’t have to feel like a daily scramble. In this short, practical workshop, you’ll learn a simple rhythm that helps you decide what to cook, use meals your family already likes, and make dinner feel manageable again, even on your busiest days.
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Slow Cooker Thai Pork Ribs with Pineapple Slaw
Ingredients
Equipment
Method
- In a medium bowl, mix together the crushed pineapple, tamarind paste, minced garlic, minced ginger, minced shallot, brown sugar, 5 spice powder, chili powder and turmeric. Pour half of this into the bottom of the crock pot.
- Place the ribs into your crock pot (you might need to cut them into 2-4 pieces to fit in – just slide a knife between two bones and allow it to follow the curve. As long as it fits in your crock pot, its fine!
- Pour the remaining sauce on the top of the ribs and throw in the star anise and lemongrass stalk.
- Place the lid on the crock pot and cook on low for 7 hours.
- Preheat your broiler to high with the rack about 10″ from the heat source and allow to heat up while you mix the pineapple slaw.
- In a small bowl, mix together the honey, apple cider vinegar, lime juice and pineapple juice. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the mint, cilantro, broccoli slaw, cucumber, green onion and pineapple.
- Drizze the dressing over the slaw, season with salt and pepper to taste and mix thoroughly.
- Set aside while you finish the ribs.
- Line a rimmed cookie sheet with tin foil (seriously, don’t skip this step!)
- Carefully place the ribs onto the cookie sheet bone side up (the ribs will look really saucy and be very tender, so be careful!)
- Broil for 4 minutes.
- Carefully turn the ribs over so the rib side is down and broil for an additional 9 minutes.
- Remove from oven and serve with rice and pineapple slaw.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is provided as a general estimate and may vary based on ingredients, brands, and substitutions. For specific dietary needs, we recommend calculating nutrition using your preferred tool.
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!
I love Thai food and these ribs have me drooling! Beautifully seasoned and that pineapple slaw is so refreshing and perfect to pair with these ribs… gorgeous!
I’ve been visiting family and friends back home for the past month and next week I return home. I can’t wait to make this recipe with the hubs as I know he’ll be all over these Thai ribs!
I love pork and fruit combinations and these pork ribs with pineapple slaw are something I would definitely love. Can’t wait to try this.
Tumeric with the pineapple slaw is such a good combo. I bet that slaw is good on so many things and so flavorful and fresh!
I love slow cooker meals but have never thought to make ribs in my slow cooker. Thanks for the suggestion, and I hope to try this out soon!
Such a good way to use turmeric. So many flavors in the dish. Looks so good.
This dish is perfection! I love the spices you use for the pork and the pineapple slaw is perfect to counterbalance the spicy, flavourful pork with some sweetness and freshness!
This looks so amazingly good! I like your tip about using a prepackaged slaw mix. I do that all the time. The kale and broccoli slaw mix from Trader Joe’s is my go to. Also, weird question, what font do you use?
Wow so many amazing flavours in this dish!! And LOVE that it’s made in the slow cooker, soo convenient!
Pork and pineapple slaw sounds perfect. The pork looks so tender and full of flavor. This is one meal my family would love so I’m definitely making this for dinner one of these days
I agree. It is hard to get out of a dinner rut. But I think I could get out of my pasta and potato rut that I am in with this meal! Love using my slow cooker, especially in the summer when I want to get out of the house and DON’T want to hang around the stove all day.
The pineapple slaw is so light and refreshing and pairs perfectly with the seasoning on the pork! So yummy!
Such a great way to use turmeric! And the slow cooker is so handy in the summer when I don’t want to heat the oven!
What delicious flavours! Love the slaw!
Yum! I love the slaw on top of this. Perfect for a dreary winter day to brighten things up.
The main dish sounds flavorful but you had me at pineapple slaw!
These look so flavorful! Yum!
Jenni, I think I could LIVE on that pineapple slaw. WOW! Love it!
I love how a simple and quick broil after makes it so browned! It’s a pain to brown meat before you slow cook it and i hate it when slow cookers dinners come out all pasty looking and gross.
This looks so summery and delicious. Just looking at the exotic ingredients I can tell that this tasted delish. I love pineapple and this sounds so yum…
Wow so many flavors going on! Been looking for more ways to cook with turmeric so this is great!
You’ve got a ton of flavor going on in this dish — and I love that it can be made in the slow cooker! Great recipe!
Love how fast this is to put together and that pineapple slaw looks so fresh and delicious!
I’ve been obsessed with Thai flavors lately! And that pineapple slaw.. oh my goodness, so colorful and fresh! Looks like the perfect pairing.
Wow. That looks sooo good!