Baby Back Ribs:
This baby back ribs recipe comes with smoker and oven instructions so you can cook these no matter what you have. They are tender, juicy, deliciously flavored, and so easy to make. Perfect for summer entertaining, and outdoor eating!
These smoked ribs are perfect with corn on the cob, smashed potatoes, and cucumber salad. The perfect summer meal.
These smoked baby back ribs are the ultimate summer recipe. They are meaty, tender, juicy, and slathered in BBQ sauce, which just makes them oh so good. Don’t let the long cook time intimidate you, these are worth every single second of effort. Everyone will rave about these perfect ribs. But if you are short on time, try these Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs, which are done in an hour!
Baby Back Ribs
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There is just something about a great big platter of ribs, corn on the cob, watermelon, potato salad, and all the other summer fixings that just makes me happy! I love having all my neighbors over for BBQ.
I am obsessed with Traeger smoker, and cook on it all the time. But with all that recipe testing, I need someone to help eat the food. And my neighbors don’t seem to mind. No one has complained yet anyway.
Well these ribs were particularly special, and a recipe I made over and over until I felt I got it right.
And trust me, they are exactly what you want from baby back ribs. Tender, juicy, meaty, almost fall apart, but still on the bone. And so much flavor!
How to Make Baby Back Ribs
There are a lot of baby back rib recipes out there, and some debate as to whether or not you should cook your ribs in the oven or on a grill or smoker/pellet grill.
My preference is a pellet smoker. But no matter how you do it, they are going to turn out great if you follow these 3 basic steps to making the ultimate baby back ribs:
- Rubbing them down and smoking them. (Or flavoring them in the oven)
- Glazing them, and roasting/grilling them.
- Slathering them with BBQ sauce and finishing them.
When done in this order, and with the right combination of seasonings, you get magically delicious rib meat that you won’t be able to get enough of.
Brush with Mustard
For these baby back ribs, I start by brushing them down with a mustard rub.
You could use yellow mustard, but I prefer a combination of dijon and spicy brown.
If you do not like any heat, stick with the yellow mustard.
Season with Spice Rub
Once my mustard is in place, I whip up a spice rub made up of all my favorite flavors.
Of course you could just use a pre-made rub.
I like this mixture enough that I will sometimes make a big batch ahead of time so I can rub it on all the things during grilling season.
On to the Smoker
Then I place my ribs on my Traeger smoker, and smoke them for 2-3 hours.
I use a hickory pellet.
But I have found that a pellet blend is also really nice when smoking baby back ribs.
Add Butter + Glaze
After smoking them for about 3 hours, I dot the top of my baby back ribs (also works with spare ribs), with butter, and then pour a honey and apple juice glaze over the top.
The glaze is optional, but it makes them oh so delicious.
No matter what, at this point, you want to have some liquid to put in with your ribs, this is how you are going to help them be nice, tender, juicy, and not dried out.
The butter helps!
Wrap in Foil and Cook
Now you wrap them in foil, seal it tight so none of that liquid spills out, and return them to the grill.
You will turn your grill up a little, and let them cook for 1 1/2-2 hours. Longer if you are using spare ribs instead of baby back!
Add BBQ Sauce
I love using the Traeger sauces, they have a sweet heat one that is really delicious if you like sweet with a little kick.
But of course, use whatever your favorite BBQ sauce is.
So the last step is essentially to add your BBQ sauce and return your ribs to the grill without the foil to let them finish, and to get that beautiful sticky shiny BBQ sauce, that makes it finger stickin’ and finger lickin’ good!
These ribs have ruined me for restaurant ribs because nothing beats the flavor of these super tender ribs. And they are so easy to make too!
Baby back ribs in oven
While I prefer to prepared baby back ribs in the smoker, it is possible to make them in the oven and still get great flavor.
I have included the instructions in the recipe card, but it is the same idea. You establish flavor early, slow roast, then sauce. And the results are easy to make, tender ribs that everyone loves!
How long to cook ribs in oven at 350
It depends on the rib type, if you are using spare ribs you would cook them for 2-21/2 hours, if you are using baby back ribs, you would cook them 1 1/2-2 hours.
Baby Back Rib Recipe Tips:
- Rinse your ribs: Sometimes they are packed in a salt solution, so give them a good rinse before prepping.
- Rub with mustard rub and seasoning rub up to 24 hours in advance, wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for even deeper flavor.
- Using apple juice makes the ribs more moist and tender, you could even place a small up of it on your grill during the smoking phase to create a flavored steam.
- It takes a while to cook, but you only have to actively tend to your meat twice during the smoke, so make at least two racks to make it worth your time and effort.
Baby Back Ribs
Ingredients
- 2 racks Baby Back Pork Ribs Hickory pellets for smoking/pellet grill
Mustard Mixture
- 1/3 cup Dijon Mustard
- 1/3 cup Spicy Brown Mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
Rub
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 Tbs black pepper
- 1 Tbs chipotle
- 1 Tbs cumin
- 1 Tbs granulated garlic
- 1 Tbs granulated onion
- 2 Tbs kosher salt
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tsp coriander
Glaze
- 1/2 cup Apple Juice
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 Tbs butter
Finish
- 1 cup BBQ sauce of choice
Instructions
Smoker Instructions
- Turn smoker on to smoke setting (180 degrees), and leave lid open 4-5 minutes until you see the smoke.
- Meanwhile, mix your rib rub together if making your own, or grab a pre-mixed rub, and set aside.
- If still in tact, remove the thin silverskin membrane from the bone-side of the ribs by working the tip of a knife underneath it, and then use your hands to tear the membrane off.
- In a small bowl combine mustards and garlic powder.
- Brush the mustard mixture all over your ribs
- Season ribs with rub mixture. Be generous.
- Place your mustard and rub slathered ribs, meat-side up, on your smoker, and close the lid. Smoke for 2 1/2- 3 hours, depending on how large your ribs are.
- Just before your 3 hours is up, mix together the honey, brown sugar, and apple juice, and set aside.
- Transfer the ribs to a baking sheet and leave the grill on, turn the temperature up to 225 degrees.
- Place ribs on a large sheet of foil. Dot with butter.
- Pour the honey, apple juice mixture over the top, and be sure to fold the edges of the foil up so it doesn't leak out.
- Lay another piece of foil on top and tightly seal the edges together. Repeat with the remaining rack of ribs.
- Return the foiled ribs to the grill and cook at 225 for an additional 2 hours.
- After two hours Is up, remove the foil, and brush your ribs generously with BBQ sauce. Return to the grill for 20-30 minutes, until sauce is a little caramelized, and sticky.
- Remove ribs from smoker, and turn it off, let the ribs rest for 15 minutes before serving.
- Serve with additional BBQ sauce if desired.
Oven Instructions:
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and place a cooling rack over the foil.
- If still in tact, remove the thin silverskin membrane from the bone-side of the ribs by working the tip of a knife underneath it, and then use your hands to tear the membrane off.
- Mix together your mustards and garlic powder, and brush all over the ribs.
- Mix together your rub, or use an existing rub mixture, and generously season the ribs. (This can be done up to 24 hours ahead and refrigerated for a deeper flavor)
- Lay the ribs on top of the cooling rack in your baking sheet, in a single layer.
- Make sure the meaty side of the ribs is facing up.
- Broil the ribs for 5 minutes, or until the rub and mustard mixture is bubbling and the ribs are browned evenly.
- Turn oven on to 300 degrees. Move oven rack to the middle position.
- Roast ribs in oven for 1 hour (longer if using spare ribs instead of baby back).
- Halfway through cooking, mix apple juice, brown sugar, and honey glaze together, and pour over top of the ribs. Also dot ribs with butter.
- Cover the ribs with aluminum foil to protect them from drying out, and return to the oven for an 45 minutes.
- Remove ribs from oven, and brush with BBQ sauce, and recover with foil, hen return to the oven for 15-20 minutes to finish cooking.
- The ribs are done when a knife slides easily into the thickest part of the rib meat. At this point, remove from oven.
- Let them rest covered for 15 minutes after removing them from oven.
- Cut, serve, and enjoy with extra bbq sauce if desired.
Nutrition
Our recipe card software calculates these nutrition facts based on averages for the above ingredients, different brands, and quality of produce/meats may have different nutritional information, always calculate your own based on the specific products you use in order to achieve accurate macros for this recipe.
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