The Best Oven Baked Ribs (2024)

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The Best Oven Baked Ribs – fall off the bone tender baked ribs with a smoky-sweet crunchy bark – straight from the oven! I’ve been making ribs in the oven for decades, especially when we can’t get to the grill outside – and this recipe is the absolute best foolproof way to make tender, juicy ribs that pack a punch… without having to tend to a smoker for hours and hours.

This is the best oven baked ribs recipe – incredibly easy with a crunchy bark like you’d get on the grill but right in the oven, with tons of classic BBQ flavor.

You can use your favorite BBQ sauce – and you won’t need any special equipment, at all.

Don’t want all the extras in a recipe post? We provide a skip to recipe button in the top left corner, as well as a clickable table of contents, just below, to help make this page easier to navigate.

At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe – my goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

I want each reader to walk away with a solid knowledge of each recipe, with all of the tips I’ve gathered from extensive testing of each recipe. I also answer questions my friends and family have asked about my recipes, to help everyone better understand the processes we use – and why!

What makes this Oven Baked Ribs Recipe the best

This deliciously tender fall off the bone juicy ribs recipe tastes rich, smoky, and delicious – with a crunchy crust and sticky BBQ sauce glaze – just like it was smoked on a grill for hours.

It is my hands-down favorite way to make ribs without grilling them – and tastes so great, you’d never know these ribs are baked right in the oven!

If you’re looking for a delicious, no-fail way to make the most amazingly flavorful ribs, look no further than this simple and easy recipe for the best baked ribs ever – with absolutely no special equipment required!

That’s right – no standing over the hot grill, keeping the fire the right temperature, or fussing with ribs all day.

Simply pop these in the oven and baste occasionally with sauce and you’re on your way to lip-smacking delicious ribs baked in the oven!

Oven Ribs Recipe ingredients

To bake ribs, we will need the following ingredients:

• Pork ribs. Whether you pick baby back ribs, or St. Louis style ribs, this recipe is perfect for tender, delicious, juicy fall-of-the-bone pork ribs with a flavor that will melt in your mouth.

For the rub:

• Garlic powder. Garlic powder brings a pungeant, addictive flavor and is easier to add to meat than fresh garlic without burning or taking on an acrid flavor from overheating.
• Seasoning salt. Seasoned salt is a blend of table salt, herbs, spices, other flavorings, and sometimes MSG. It helps to tenderize meat, draw out water, and enhance flavor.
• Oregano. Oregano bings a citrus, peppery kick to pork that isn’t overpowering, while being lightly vegetal.
• Cumin. Cumin has a smoky, earthy flavor that is well known in BBQ dishes, enhancing the cooked for hours flavor and rich, crispy bark that develops as pork bakes.
• Brown sugar. Brown sugar adds a sweet kick to pork without being overpowering – it is more like a molasses than overly sugary, and helps to make ribs sticky and have a natural glaze.

For the mop:

• Apple cider vinegar. Apple cider vinegar helps infuse more sweet flavor, and light acid to pork as it cooks, as well as provides additional liquid to keep pork from drying out, acting as a baste.
• Light beer. Beer acts as a base, and also an aromatic flavoring agent, leaving ribs with a lovely flavor as it cooks and infuses pork with beer notes as well as providing a steam-like function in your oven to cook ribs faster without drying them out.

See Also

Parmesan Tahini Kale Salad with Breadcrumbs and Crunchy Chickpeas.Dairy-Free Spinach QuicheThe Best Way to Cook Corn on the Cob - Big Bear's WifeHoney Mustard Salmon with Caesar Roasted Potatoes

How to make Oven Cooked Ribs

Once you’ve gathered your ingredients, we will use the following method:

1. Prep. Preheat oven to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix spice rub and rub on ribs.
2. Bake. Bake in oven for 2-3 hours until tender, basting with mop every 20-30 minutes.
3. Baste. When meat separates from bone, baste with BBQ sauce, turn up oven to 350 degrees. Continue to baste ribs with sauce every 15 minutes until desired finish is reached, approximately 2-3 times.
4. Enjoy! Remove from oven and add one more layer of sauce, serve immediately.

Tips and tricks for the Best Oven Baked Ribs

Trim extra fat from ribs. Ribs are a cut of meat that need to be trimmed well for the best flavor – and so they aren’t chewy and tough.

Know what sauce you want to use. This recipe for the best oven baked ribs is crazy versatile – you can use your favorite sauce! There are a couple of things you will want to consider when looking for the best sauce to use for these ribs:

• Sauces with more sugar (Kansas City style sauce like KC Masterpiece) will have a lot more crunch when baking, since the sugar caramelizes and crisps to help make it crunchy.
• Sauces with a lot of mustard can become overpowering when layered all day – so go light when you baste.
• Sauces that are thinner won’t become as sticky as thick sauce and may have less of a glazed texture. This doesn’t harm your flavor – just something to consider depending on what texture you want your baked ribs to have.

Trim silver skin from ribs. Ribs come with a silver skin often over the ribs – trimming the most of this tough tendon off the rib will greatly improve the flavor of your oven baked ribs – so don’t skip this step.

• Run a knife under the silver skin to separate the membrane from the rib meat.
• If the silver skin resists in one spot, try another.

• Once you have separated enough with a knife, grab silver skin tightly and pull to remove from the ribs.
• If silver skin breaks in one spot, loosen it again with a knife to remove it completely.

Start with a dry rub. After removing silver skin from your ribs, generously cover with dry rub to help create a “smoky” flavor – right in the oven! Smoked paprika helps bring out a grilled meat flavor, without the grill.

Cover with foil for first half of cooking. To help the ribs cook without drying out, it is best to cover them with foil for the first half of cooking ribs in the oven.

Baste with sauce lightly. This recipe really relies on basting multiple times to create a rich, crunchy bark like you would get from grilled or smoked ribs. Add sauce a little bit at a time so it can build in layers – don’t drown your ribs in sauce or it won’t get crunchy and crisp.

Flip and rotate ribs when you baste. For evenly cooked ribs, flip and rotate them when you baste.

Remove foil halfway through to form crust. After the ribs have started to cook and lock in their natural juices, remove the foil so the BBQ sauce “crust” can form.

Add liquid smoke for extra smoky flavor. If you are really craving an extra smoky flavor, you can add a drop or two of liquid smoke to your bbq sauce.

How to Store Oven Ribs

To store oven-baked ribs: Allow them to cool to room temperature, then wrap them tightly in aluminum foil or place them in an airtight container. Store them in the refrigerator for up to 3-4 days. If you want to keep them longer, freeze the ribs for up to 2-3 months. When ready to eat, reheat the ribs in the oven at a low temperature to maintain their tenderness.

Oven Ribs FAQs

What to serve with Oven Cooked Ribs

This Oven Baked Ribs Recipe is perfect with some of my other favorite easy side dishes!

To see the rest of our side dishes, visit our side dish recipe index here.

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