This fall-off-the-bone tender Baby Back Ribs recipe is slow cooked, then smothered in Asian BBQ sauce for finger licking good flavor.
Baby back ribs in the oven
Baby Back Ribs are one of my favorite things to eat. A plate of ribs, served with a side of Mac and Cheese, Veggie Slaw, and Skillet Cornbread is the pretty much my perfect meal. In my experience, pork ribs taste best when cooked low and slow before grilling. That's why my preferred method is to cook them in the oven at a low temperature for 3 hours to allow the meat to tenderize. Finishing them on the grill will caramelize the sauce and make fool-proof, tender, and delicious ribs every time.
Like our Smoked Beef Short Ribs or Spicy Chicken Wings, Baby Back Ribs make an excellent main dish for a barbecue or game day feast.
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Ingredients
- BABY BACK RIBS: we like Chairman’s Reserve® Baby Back Ribs
For the Sauce:
- SWEET CHILI SAUCE: 3 tablespoons
- BROWN SUGAR: light brown sugar or dark brown sugar
- SOY SAUCE: soy sauce or tamari
- RICE VINEGAR: Japanese rice vinegar
- HOT HONEY: we like Mike's Hot Honey
- SESAME OIL: this nutty flavored oil adds bold flavor
- TOMATO PASTE: concentrated tomato paste from (in can or tube)
- GARLIC: fresh garlic cloves, chopped
- GREEN ONIONS: fresh green onions, chopped
For the Dry Rub:
- BROWN SUGAR: light brown sugar or dark brown sugar
- SALT: kosher salt or sea salt
- BLACK PEPPER: ground black pepper
- SMOKED PAPRIKA: adds a pop of bold flavor
*see recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
- Make the rib rub: Mix brown sugar, salt, black pepper, and smoked paprika together. Rub and sprinkle evenly on both sides of ribs.
- Cook ribs in oven: see steps below*.
- Make the Asian Barbecue Sauce: While ribs are cooking, combine sweet chili sauce, brown sugar, soy sauce, rice vinegar, hot honey, sesame oil, tomato paste, garlic, and green onions in a medium sauce pan. Cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often to prevent scorching (product will thicken). Remove when bbq sauce resembles the consistency of pancake syrup.
- Finish Ribs on the Grill: Heat grill to 400°F. Place baby back ribs on grill and cook for 5 minutes. Turn ribs over and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Brush sauce on ribs and allow to cook another 5 minutes. Then flip and repeat, saucing the other side. Remove from grill when ribs are sticky and sauce starts to show some caramelization.
How to cook baby back ribs
- Preheat oven to 235°F.
- Remove ribs from packaging. Score the back of the ribs using a knife. Make 3 long scores from one end of the rib to the other.
- Mix all ingredients in the rub and sprinkle evenly on both sides of ribs.
- Use a large baking sheet with a raised edge and place a cooling rack on the tray.
- Place Ribs on rack (curved side up. Pour ½ C water on tray and then cover with plastic film, then with heavy duty aluminum foil, making sure to seal all edges of the pan to allow steam to stay inside.
- Place in oven and allow to cook for 3-3.5 hours.
- Once ribs have been cooked, remove them from oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes after peeling the corner of film and foil away allowing steam to escape. You can wrap ribs in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days before finishing them with sauce.
🔪Top tip
Once ribs have been cooked in the oven, remove them and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before grilling.
Substitutions and Variations
- Smoke: you can smoke the ribs in a smoker instead of baking them in the oven if you prefer. Finish them off on the grill.
- Sauce: substitute Asian Sauce for regular barbecue sauce, or try our Alabama White BBQ Sauce
- No hot honey? make your own by using regular honey + 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes.
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🍽️ What to serve with baby back ribs
Storage
- Store: wrap fully cooked leftover ribs in plastic and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- Freeze: freeze cooked ribs by wrapping them tightly in foil and placing them in an airtight container. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight before reheating.
- Reheat: Wrap ribs in foil and reheat in a low oven (250°F ) for 20–30 minutes.
- Make Ahead: You can wrap cooked ribs in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days before finishing them with sauce. We like to cook the ribs in the oven the night before we plan to grill to cut down on prep work.
This post is sponsored by our friends and the makers of Chairman's Reserve® Meats. All opinions are our own.
FAQ
Baby back ribs are a cut of pork taken from the upper part of the ribcage, near the backbone. They are smaller, leaner, and more tender than spare ribs, making them a popular choice for grilling and smoking.
Baby back ribs are shorter, more curved, and have less fat compared to spare ribs, which are larger and have more marbling. This makes baby back ribs cook faster and have a slightly milder flavor.
The best way to cook baby back ribs is low and slow. We like to bake them in the oven at a low temperature for 3.5 hours, then finish them on the grill for optimum flavor.
We recommend a combination of salt, black pepper, brown sugar, and smoked paprika for the dry rub. You can also use a store-bought BBQ rub to save time.
Popular side dishes include: coleslaw, baked beans, mac and cheese, skillet cornbread, and grilled vegetables.
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Related Recipes
Baby Back Ribs recipe
This fall-off-the-bone tender Baby Back Ribs recipe is slow cooked, then smothered in Asian BBQ sauce for finger licking good flavor.
- Total Time: 3 hours 15 minutes
- Yield: 4 portions 1x
Ingredients
- 2 Racks Baby Back Ribs: we like Chairman's Reserve® Baby Back Ribs
For the Sauce:
- 3 Tbsp Sweet Chili Sauce
- ¼ C Brown Sugar
- 3 Tbsp Soy Sauce
- 2 Tbsp Rice Vinegar
- 3 Tbsp Hot Honey
- 2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
- 2 Tbsp Tomato Paste
- 2 Garlic Cloves ( chopped)
- 2 Green Onions ( chopped )
For the Rub:
- 2 Tbsp Brown Sugar
- 2 Tbsp Salt
- 2 Tbsp Black Pepper
- 2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika
Instructions
You can either smoke the ribs or use the oven method below:
- Preheat oven to 235°F.
- Remove ribs from packaging. Score the back of the ribs using a knife. Make 3 long scores from one end of the rib to the other.
- Mix all ingredients in the rub and sprinkle evenly on both sides of ribs.
- Use a large baking sheet with a raised edge and place a cooling rack on the tray.
- Place Ribs on rack (curved side up. Pour ½ C water on tray and then cover with plastic film, then with aluminum foil, making sure to seal all edges of the pan to allow steam to stay inside.
- Place in oven and allow to cook for 3-3.5 hours.
- While ribs are cooking, combine all ingredients for the sauce into a medium sauce pan. Cook over medium heat for about 10-15 minutes, stirring often to prevent scorching (product will thicken).
- Remove when product resembles the consistency of pancake syrup.
- Once ribs have been cooked, remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes after peeling the corner of film and foil away allowing steam to escape. You can wrap ribs in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days before finishing them with sauce.
- To prepare ribs, heat grill to 400°F. Place ribs on grill and cook for 5 minutes. Turn ribs over and continue to cook for 5 minutes.
- Brush sauce on ribs and allow to cook another 5 minutes. Then flip and repeat saucing other side.
- Remove from grill when ribs are sticky and sauce starts to show some caramelization.
- Serve Ribs with your favorite sides.
Notes
- let it rest: Once ribs have been cooked in the oven, remove them from oven and allow to cool for at least 20 minutes before grilling.
- make ahead: You can wrap ribs in plastic and refrigerate for up to 3 days before finishing them with sauce. We like to cook the ribs in the oven the night before we plan to grill to cut down on prep work.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Category: Grilling
Nutrition
- Serving Size: ½ Rack
- Calories: 1895
- Sugar: 20.3 g
- Sodium: 4344.9 mg
- Fat: 130.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 28 g
- Protein: 156.3 g
- Cholesterol: 523.3 mg
Jackie says
I LOVE these ribs!!!! This is my favorite recipe for backyard barbecues and football tailgates. The Asian barbecue flavor is out of this world!!