Oven-Baked BBQ Ribs Recipe
Cooking a full rack of pork ribs in the oven has never been easier. These sticky ribs are covered in a sweet and smokey dry rub and topped with your favorite BBQ sauce.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 1 rack baby back or spare pork ribs roughly 3-4 lbs
- BBQ sauce of your choice I like Sweet Baby Ray's
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Aluminum foil for wrapping
Rib Dry Rub
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300°F.
- For the dry rub, combine all spices in a small bowl and mix. Set aside.
- Remove ribs from the packaging and pat dry with a paper towel. Remove the silver skin from the back of the rack if it’s still on.
- Place the rib rack in the center of a large sheet of aluminum foil. Be sure foil sheets extend 8 inches longer than the rack length. If using a dry rub, rub the entire rack (top and bottom) until completely coated. You won't need all of the rub). Fold over the short sides first followed by the longer sides. Seal tightly and wrap with one more sheet of foil, covering the top seam. Place on a foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 2 hours.
- To finish ribs on the grill (which is my preferred method), preheat the grill with the cover down for about 10 minutes. Bring to medium-high heat and clean the grates well. Remove ribs from the foil and cover with an additional coating of BBQ sauce. Sear for 1-2 minutes per side, or until the exterior is grilled to your liking.
- To finish the ribs with the oven's broiler, uncover the ribs from the foil and either discard or flatten. Coat ribs fully (both sides) with additional BBQ sauce. Turn the broiler on high and ensure the ribs are 5-6 inches from the heat source. Broil for 1-3 minutes per side or until ribs reach desired seared exterior. Note, the broiler will cook very fast so be sure to monitor very closely.
- Brush ribs with additional BBQ sauce before serving if desired. Serve cut into individual ribs or 3-4 rib sections.
Notes
To remove the silverskin from the ribs, use the back of a knife and slide it under a section of the silverskin. Lift a sizable portion of the skin from the meat and then use a paper towel to grip the skin and pull it off the rack. Here is a really helpful video.
Most ribs will be ready in about 2-2 1/2 hours. If the meat is not tender (bone easily separates from the meat), the ribs need more time in the oven. Seal them back up and cook for another 20-30 minutes before checking again.
at 300°F, ribs should cook in about 2 hours, at 350°F, ribs will cook closer to 1 1/2 hours. Low and slow is better for tenderness and juiciness.
Foil Prep Tips
1. Stack two identical sheets of foil (8 inches longer than a rack of ribs) on top of each other on the counter. Take the left edges of the long side of each foil sheet and fold over together in a 1/2 inch wide strip. Flatten/crease tightly and fold over one more time, pressing down firmly on the folds.
2. Open the top sheet of foil like a book and press down on the new middle seam to lock in and flatten. You now have a double-wide sheet of aluminum foil. Here's a video of what I mean.
1. Stack two identical sheets of foil (8 inches longer than a rack of ribs) on top of each other on the counter. Take the left edges of the long side of each foil sheet and fold over together in a 1/2 inch wide strip. Flatten/crease tightly and fold over one more time, pressing down firmly on the folds.
2. Open the top sheet of foil like a book and press down on the new middle seam to lock in and flatten. You now have a double-wide sheet of aluminum foil. Here's a video of what I mean.
Nutrition
Serving: 1/4 rack | Calories: 708kcal | Carbohydrates: 55.2g | Protein: 29.3g | Fat: 41.5g | Saturated Fat: 15g | Cholesterol: 137mg | Sodium: 1417mg | Fiber: 4.4g | Sugar: 35.9g