Salt and Pepper Ribs

Name: Salt and Pepper Ribs | Slimming & Weight Watchers Friendly
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 240 min
Total time: 250 min
Ingredients: 500 g pork ribs (cut into individual ribs); 1 red pepper (deseeded and diced); 1 green pepper (deseeded and diced); 1 onion (peeled and diced); 330 ml diet cola; 70 ml fresh orange juice; 13.5 g brown granulated sweetener; 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce; 1 tsp dried chilli flakes; 1 tsp sea salt (toasted in a dry pan); 2 bay leaves; ½ tsp Chinese five spice; ½ tsp garlic powder

10MINS
4HR
598KCAL

Introducing a slimming friendly version of a tasty takeaway classic, slow cooked to perfection and ideal for Weight Watchers!

Also in these categories:

Easy Peasy

Gluten Free Use GF soy sauce
Dairy Free
Freezable

NutritionPer Serving

Calories598
Carbs22g
Protein50g
Fat34g
Saturates13g
Sugars14g

For the full list of ingredients and comprehensive instructions, please see the recipe card at the end of this post. Before you scroll, there’s important stuff to know in the blurb!

A slimming friendly twist on a restaurant classic, we’ve cooked succulent pork ribs low and slow with some surprising ingredients, until they’re tender and full of flavour.

The addition of diet cola and orange juice may seem a little strange, but trust us, they add a delicious sweetness and depth of flavour that you won’t want to miss. Combined with onions, peppers and a kick of spice, this dish will become a firm favourite in no time!

We like to serve these impressive Salt and Pepper Ribs for guests as it’s quick to prepare and you can pop it in the oven ahead of time, ready to serve later. It makes a great dinner that’s more nutritious than a takeaway, or you can even enjoy them as a treat in front of the telly!

What diets are these Salt and Pepper Ribs suitable for?

This Salt and Pepper Ribs can be made gluten free as long as you swap out the following ingredients for gluten free versions;

Soy sauce

Please make sure to double, and triple check all of your ingredients if you’re cooking for people with allergies.

How Weight Watchers friendly is this Salt and Pepper Ribs recipe?

You need to count 14 Points per portion of this Salt and Pepper Ribs recipe if you’re on WW Green.
You need to count 14 Points per portion of this Salt and Pepper Ribs recipe if you’re on WW Blue.
You need to count 14 Points per portion of this Salt and Pepper Ribs recipe if you’re on WW Purple.

Do you need any special ingredients to make Salt and Pepper Ribs?

You’ll need a good, deep ovenproof dish so you have space to cover in tin foil to bubble away in the oven.

Can I cook Salt and Pepper Ribs any other way?

If you want to speed up the cooking time, this dish can be cooked using an electric pressure cooker. Simply set the pressure cooker to 23 minutes on Manual, then allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes.

This post contains affiliate links: what this means

A deep ovenproof dish is ideal for this recipe, and you can find them on Amazon.

A non stick frying pan makes cooking onions and peppers a breeze, like this one!

How many calories are in these Salt and Pepper Ribs recipe?

There are 598 calories per portion in these Salt and Pepper Ribs, which means it falls into our Special Occasion category. You could always halve the portion size and serve extra fresh veggies if you want to save even more calories.

You could serve this for dinner or an appetiser as part of a Fakeaway meal!

These Salt and Pepper Ribs are perfect if you’re following a calorie controlled diet, and fits well with any one of the major diet plans such as Weight Watchers.

As a guide, an average man needs around 2,500kcal (10,500kJ) a day to maintain a healthy body weight. For an average woman, that figure is around 2,000kcal (8,400kJ) a day. Obviously, if your goal is to lose weight then you might want to adjust these slightly! You can read more about these recommendations on the NHS website.

Step 1

Preheat oven to 140ºC

Step 2

Place ribs, Chinese five spice, half of the chilli flakes, garlic powder, bay leaves, sweetener, soy sauce, diet cola and the orange juice into ovenproof dish and cover with tin foil.

Step 3

Cook in the preheated oven for 3 hours then remove the foil and continue for another hour until ribs are tender.

Step 4

Spray a frying pan with low calorie cooking spray and cook the peppers and onions for 1 to 2 minutes, then add the cooked ribs along with the remaining dried chilli flakes and the toasted sea salt. Fry for 2 to 3 more minutes.

What could I serve with these Salt and Pepper Ribs?

Serve as part of a fakeaway meal with some of our favourite sides:

Easy Peasy

25MINS
361KCal

Fakeaway Fried Rice

Lemongrass & Ginger Rice Noodle Soup pinchofnom.com

Easy Peasy

10MINS
142KCal

Lemongrass & Ginger Rice Noodle Soup

Easy Peasy

35MINS
96KCal

Homemade Oven Chips

Easy Peasy

30MINS
449KCal

Bang Bang Noodles

How do you know when these Salt and Pepper Ribs are cooked?

The spare ribs should be cooked at a low temperature until tender. This takes around 4 hours in the oven, or 23 minutes in the pressure cooker.

Standard advice here in the UK is to cook food until it has reached 70°C and stayed at that temperature for 2 minutes. This is to keep your family safe.

How long can you keep Salt and Pepper Ribs in the fridge?

Ideally you should eat it within 4 hours.

If you allow any leftovers to cool, make sure to refrigerate in a container with a lid and chill. You can keep leftover Salt and Pepper Ribs in the fridge for approximately 3 days or so.

Can I freeze these Salt and Pepper Ribs?

Yes you can! This recipe can be frozen, but please remember to do the following;

Allow to cool thoroughly before freezing and freeze as soon as it’s cold enough.
Use a container or bag that is suitable for freezing.

Don’t forget to add a label with what it is, and on what date you put it in the freezer!

How do I reheat Salt and Pepper Ribs?

Simply defrost fully in the fridge overnight and reheat in the oven for 15-20 minutes until piping hot throughout.

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