Oven-Baked Baby Back Ribs

Name: Oven-Baked Baby Back Ribs
Total time: 3 h 40 min
Yield: Serves 8 (serving size: about 4 ribs)
Ingredients: 1/3 cup kosher salt; 1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar; 3 tablespoons smoked paprika; 1 tablespoon black pepper; 1 tablespoon garlic powder; 1 tablespoon dry mustard; 4 pounds baby back pork ribs (2 to 3 slabs); 2 tablespoons olive oil; 2 1/2 cups bottled barbecue sauce (such as Big Bob Gibson's Championship Red Sauce), divided

16 Ratings
16 Reviews

Don't bother with the grill or smoker. Fire up the oven and give these easy baked ribs a try. Super tender and glazy from the broil, these Oven-Baked Baby Back Ribs are classic in flavor and texture. The smoked paprika makes up for the lack of actual smoking involved in this lunchtime or supper main. That's our Test Kitchen's pro tip for when you want good BBQ flavor sans smoke. Brown sugar and the other rub ingredients, like dry mustard, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, help create the sweet, salty, and smoky flavor ribs were made for. In the store, be sure to purchase true Baby Back ribs, not the larger ribs. This can impact cooking times. After a little bit of brushing and baking, watching the sauce start to bubble during broiling will be your cue that it's time to poor a cold beer and grab the coleslaw.

By Southern Living

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Recipe Summary test

active:

20 mins

total:

3 hrs 40 mins

Yield:

Serves 8 (serving size: about 4 ribs)

Ingredients

1/3 cup kosher salt
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon black pepper
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon dry mustard
4 pounds baby back pork ribs (2 to 3 slabs)
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 1/2 cups bottled barbecue sauce (such as Big Bob Gibson's Championship Red Sauce), divided

Directions

Step 1
Preheat oven to 275°F with rack in middle position. Stir together salt, brown sugar, smoked paprika, pepper, garlic powder, and dry mustard in a bowl. Remove thin outer membrane on back of ribs by loosening with a butter knife and pulling it off; discard. Brush slabs evenly with oil; sprinkle with spice mixture, gently patting to adhere. (If desired, wrap ribs with plastic wrap; place on a baking sheet, and chill at least 4 hours or up to 24 hours.)

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Step 2
Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil; set a wire rack inside sheet. (If you wrapped and chilled the ribs, remove and discard plastic wrap.) Wrap each slab with heavy-duty aluminum foil; place on prepared wire rack. Bake in preheated oven until tender, 2 1/2 to 3 hours. Remove from oven, and unwrap ribs; discard foil and drippings. Place ribs directly on wire rack; brush 1/2 cup barbecue sauce on top of each slab. Return to oven; bake at 275°F until ribs are tender and meat is pulling away from bones, 45 minutes to 1 hour.
Step 3
Remove from oven; brush slabs evenly with remaining barbecue sauce. Increase oven temperature to broil, and return ribs to middle rack. Broil until sauce bubbles and starts to caramelize, 3 to 5 minutes. Remove from oven; let rest 5 minutes. Serve.

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Mike Robinson

10/16/2021

Overall was good BUT I used Kosher salt and reduced the amount and it was still too much salt.

Southern Living Member

10/10/2021

I love how everyone on here complained about the salt. I would bet money that they used regular table salt instead of kosher. Instead of getting mad at the people putting out the recipe, take the time to read and understand what is being asked of you. SMH. Yall, get a 5 star! Came out fantastic. The 1/3 cup of KOSHER SALT worked perfectly.

Southern Living Member

09/30/2021

1. WAY TO MUCH SALT! ( Ruined the ribs) and was discarded- no dinner that night! Couldn’t ‘even fix them!
2 . Dry ingredients should have been listed as “dry ingredients first” not all mixed together as I had to re-read to clarify.
3. Recipe could have been formatted easier for a beginner.
Awful waste of $

Nikkiwaddy

09/26/2021

Be mindful of reading the recipe. The recipe calls for KOSHER salt which is not the same as table salt, which I assume is the issue for many reviewers. We enjoyed it!

Southern Living Member

09/08/2021

I, too, should have checked the reviews. The recipe completely ruined the slab of ribs with the salt!! I also questioned it, but hey, it's Southern Living, so I went ahead with the 1/3 c. per recipe. It is absolutely inedible, although tender! It's even too salty to feed the dogs. This HAS to be a typo! So embarrassed with company over for dinner.

Shannon Hardwick

09/07/2021

Excellent except I would cut the salt down 1/2 of what it calls for.

Southern Living Member

09/06/2021

Great, but I cut the salt in half using low sodium morton salt and still way too salty. The next time I will just use 1 TBL.

Southern Living Member

09/01/2021

The first time I made it, used about half the salt and it was amazing. Second time I used the recipe and agree far too salty to the point it’s over-powering. An amazing recipe, just use half the salt.

Southern Living Member

07/23/2021

I wish I would have read the other reviews before I made them. I just looked at them now when I wrote this.
WAY TOO SALTY! I thought it sounded like too much salt when I was making the rub but did not listen to my common sense. I think maybe it you cut the salt by half and follow the rest of the directions it may be okay.

Southern Living Member

06/15/2021

I had to wash the rub off the ribs because of how salty they were. Otherwise, the recipe is straight forward and easy to follow. If I use this rub again I will reduce the salt from 1/3 C to a tablespoon or two.

Southern Living Member

05/24/2021

WAY too salty! Wasted good meat with this recipe. Would have been good if I had only used a quarter of the salt it called for.

Southern Living Member

04/26/2021

Not sure if it was supposed to be a salty mess but that is how it turned out.

They well falling off the bone but tasted like i was eating one on my horses salt lick. Test the recipe before wasting good meat.

Kelli Corzine

04/26/2021

Awesome recipe! Made it tonight and everyone raved about it. Thanks!

Imma Schmitz

04/25/2021

So easy peasy !!! Didn't have smoked paprika just regular so I added a little jamaican jerk spice.. with the paprika and Bam.. A home run.. Thanks for bringing me to the top of making oven Ribs !!

Southern Living Member

04/17/2021

I'M 75 AND NEVER TASTED BABY BACK RIBS SO TENDER AND SWEET. RETIRED NAVY SO I'VE BEEN AROUND THE WORLD, NOTHING CAN BE BETTER THEN THIS RECIPE AS IT IS EASY AND ABSOLUTELY WORTH YOUR TIME TO TRY THIS....... BIG AL..

Southern Living Member

02/12/2021

Fantastic. I struggled in the past cooking ribs and my northern roots showed. Not anymore! This recipe was easy and took little time to prepare. Most of the time the ribs are marinating or slow cooking leaving the opportunity for relaxing and drinking beer or bourbon. I now consider myself a rib master.

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Oven-Baked Baby Back Ribs

Gallery

Recipe Summary test

Ingredients

Directions

Reviews (16)

All Reviews for Oven-Baked Baby Back Ribs