My husband, Brian-With-An-I, loves him some ribs. I mean really loves them. In fact, if it was a showdown, he might even choose ribs over his beloved sweet and sour chicken (gasp!). And heaven knows, he loves sweet and sour chicken practically more than our firstborn child.
For Father’s Day, then, it seemed to make sense that I attempt making ribs. For the first time. Ever. I know. Shameful. But I wasn’t going to go with just any ol’ recipe and hope for the best. Scary! Thankfully, my friend, Kim, mother of this delicious summer corn salad, came through with her famous oven-baked ribs. I knew they would be stellar.
And oh diggity, were they ever. Tender, falling off the bone, and so flavorful – you can’t even begin to appreciate the flavor in these ribs, thanks to the dry rub and subsequent “marinating” time. The thing I was most pleased about was that these ribs were easy as all get out to make. I can’t believe I have never made them before! And neither can Brian. He has requested them for every upcoming meal this century to make up for lost time.
One Year Ago: Grilled Chicken Fajita Fettuccine
Two Years Ago: Peanut Butter Brownie Trifle
Three Years Ago: Aunt Alecia’s Famous Chocolate Chip Cookies
Kim’s Oven-Baked Ribs
Printable Version with Picture
Printable Version
*Note: when working with baby back ribs, the silver skin will need to be removed. Here is a great visual tutorial to help simplify the process (it’s not hard, I promise!). Also, take note that the ribs need to be refrigerated with the rub prior to cooking for 8 to 48 hours so plan ahead!
*Makes 2 slabs ribs
INGREDIENTS:
2 whole slabs pork baby back ribs, silver skin removed
Dry Rub:
8 tablespoons light brown sugar, tightly packed
2 tablespoons kosher salt (Morton’s brand – other brands may vary in strength)
1 tablespoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika or regular paprika
1/2 teaspoon Old Bay seasoning
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1-2 cups BBQ sauce (I love this homemade version)
DIRECTIONS:
In a bowl, combine all dry ingredients and mix well. Place each slab of baby back ribs on a piece of heavy-duty aluminum foil or a double layer of regular tin foil, shiny side down. Sprinkle each side of the ribs generously with the dry rub. Pat the dry rub into the meat. Wrap the ribs tightly in the foil and refrigerate the ribs for a minimum of 8 hours or overnight and up to 48 hours.
When ready to bake the ribs, preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
Place the ribs (still in the foil packets) on a foil lined baking sheet and bake the ribs in the oven for 2 1/2 hours-3 hours or until tender when picked up with tongs. The meat will come easily off of the bone!
Remove ribs from foil and place on another foil lined baking sheet. Brush with your favorite BBQ sauce and broil until charred and bubbly. Alternately, you can grill the ribs at this point, if you like, but sometimes they are falling off the bone and are so tender that it is a little difficult. Cut the ribs into individual portions (2-3 ribs per person). Serve with additional BBQ sauce, if desired.
Recipe Source: from my friend, Kim in MD
{ 30 comments… read them below or add one }
I’ve had my eyes open for a bargain on ribs. As soon as I find one I will make them. Your method is very much what I’ve done over the years. If the pork gets tender enough you could put ketchup and mustard on them and go to town with or without a bib.
This looks fantastic!
I make oven-barbecued ribs often and will have to try this rub. I am always on the look out for a new one. Your recipes are always great. I was recently given the Happy 101 Award, and I am passing it on to you. You may pick it up here: http://grandmaloyskitchen.blogspot.com/2011/07/i-got-happy-101-award.html
Have a great day.
What is Old Bay seasoning? I don’t believe we have it here. Is there a substitute?
So you don’t boil your ribs to get out the fat first. Is this not really greasy?
Oh, Melanie! I have dying to find out how these worked out for you! I am so thrilled that Brian loved them…you know how men feel about ribs! Thanks for the shout out-once again I feel like your father-in-law. I’m FAMOUS!
Ooops…I was so excited that I forgot to proof read my comment! I meant to say I have been dying to find out how these worked out for you!
Also, if you really want to finish these off on the grill, just cut back the cooking time a little bit.
Cat- the ribs are not greasy at all. The slow roasting process melts the fat off! Also, if you are unable to find Old Bay seasoning (very popular seasoning here in Maryland) here is another rib rub recipe that I love to use-
Rib Rub
3 Tbsp. brown sugar
1 ½ Tbsp. Paprika (or smoked paprika)
1 ½ Tbsp. Kosher salt
1 ½ Tbsp fresh ground pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
Combine well. Store in airtight container for up to six months. (Enough for four pounds of ribs, but can be easily doubled or tripled.)
The one time I attempted to make ribs they came out dry and burnt! If you declare these so easy and tasty I know I must attempt them again, this time with your recipe!
Mmmm! I’m not a huge fan of ribs but I have to say these ribs look amazing. Maybe because my dad used to always burn them when I was growing up…could have caused psychological damage.
Kim – thanks for helping answer the questions! Cat, I think Kim’s comment is the best info. I didn’t think the ribs were greasy and any excess fat drips into the bottom of the foil and you can lift the ribs out and avoid the grease.
These sound great! I have some ribs in my freezer and one keeps falling out and almost landing on my foot so I really need to make space in my freezer and make these! I love that this incorporates Old Bay in the rub – yum! This is a great recipe and I might finish these off on the grill like Cat suggests.
I never knew to take that skin off! Now I’m embarrassed thinking of my family trying to get around it. So glad I found this recipe. I usually just slab some BBQ sauce on and call it a day. Gonna try this rub for sure!
Looks like we need to have a dinner party at house with these! YUM!
These ribs look amazing. I think I will make ribs for dinner one night this week.
Now I have a serious craving for ribs!!
Will this cooking method (all the foil) work for other kids of ribs, like country style pork ribs? Love to make them for my hunny.
P.S. Last night we enjoyed the sweet and sour chicken and tomorrow I’ll be making your PB chocolate chip cookies. Yum, excited to try the cookies. Thanks for the recipes!
Alicia – I don’t know since I’ve never tried it with country style ribs. I think your best bet would be to search for a BBQ’d country style rib recipe, mostly because I don’t know how the fattiness of the country style ribs would work here. Good luck!
So we just finished eating this for dinner and oh. my. word. Simply heavenly. Better than any restaurant ribs my husband and I have tried (and we love ribs so we’ve tried a lot)!
Also, I had to make a couple small changes to the recipe. One, bone-in country style ribs were what was on sale, so that’s what I bought. They worked like a charm. Two, being over 100 degrees today I didn’t want my oven on all afternoon, so I wrapped it in foil like the recipe said and stuck it in my crockpot on low for about 5 hours. I then broiled it in the oven. Third, I didn’t have any Old Bay seasoning so I tossed in some Lawry’s seasoning salt instead.
Seriously, these were AMAZING. Thanks for another great recipe Mel!
I made this rib for Sunday lunch and they were really good! I will defenitely use this rub for future rib recipes, although they were delicious mine did not fall off the bone, I think it could be since they should of been cooked longer, although I did cook around 2.5 – 3 hours they were a bit bigger than average and I wonder if that’s the reason, either way they were delicious!
I’d been wanting to try this recipe, but knew my hubby wouldn’t be crazy about the idea of not grilling the ribs. Well, the next time we were planning on grilling ribs we got a thunder storm. Your oven baked ribs to the rescue! Hubby gave them the thumbs up!
Just seasoned a slab of baby backs with the dry rub and put in the fridge. Will be having ribs tomorrow for dinner. I’ll post my results asap.
These ribs turned out great. Tender and flavorful. Will be making again. Thanx for this very tasty recipe.
If you don’t mind could you tell me what kinda ribs I should use for the other rib rub you posted? Thanx
Gina – I’m not sure I know what rib rub you are talking about – was it in this post?
LOVE! These are awesome! My husband and I enjoyed every bite!
The rib rub that Kim in MD posted. I don’t buy Old Bay often so I don’t always have it on hand. Soooo the rib rub Kim posted could come in handy if I like it. Thanx a bunch for replying.
Could you use country style ribs for this recipe as well?
Brad – I’ve never tried it with that cut of meat so I’m not sure how they would hold up but it’s always worth a try if you don’t mind taking risks in the kitchen. Let me know if you try it!
After reading Kim’s post more thoroughly, I think I will try it b/c it sounds very tasty.
Mel, you never let me down. My grocery store had a great sale on ribs recently and I stocked up and have been on the lookout for a great recipe. I thought I looked here and didn’t find one (it must have been a moment of confusion or something), so after sifting through the recipes that Google found for me– and not really getting excited about any of them, I turned to Pinterest. I searched for ribs, and seriously, 95% of the pins were for this recipe.
And oh gracious me I’m thankful I found it. SO delicious, and pretty much as easy as crockpot cooking. My mister said that he’s grateful I’m not the kind to take advantage, because after a meal like that, he would have said yes to anything I asked. I will be making this again and again and again.
Thanks for your wonderful blog, and good luck with your upcoming bundle of joy.
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