To-die-for Pork Ribs recipe with fall apart meat slathered in a sticky homemade barbecue sauce! These oven Pork Ribs are rubbed with a spice mix, slow cooked until fall-apart-tender then basted generously with the tangy, sweet sauce. Can’t-stop-eating it, finger-licking’ good!
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
Pork Ribs recipe
If you nibble daintily at a rib, holding it delicately between 2 fingers, and wipe your fingers clean with linen napkins, you and I will probably never be friends.
If you grab them with your hands, devour with gusto, get sauce all over your mouth, smearing up towards your cheekbones, then drop the bones sucked dry of every fibre of meat and sauce so they clatter dramatically on your plate, then noisily suck each and every one of your fingers clean of all that sticky barbecue sauce….
….if that’s you, then you are my kind of people.
And welcome to the pork ribs of your dreams!
These oven baked pork ribs recipe are:
super easy
the meat is tender
ribs are infused with flavour from a rub AND braising the ribs in apple cider;
finished with a simple but incredibly tasty homemade barbecue sauce.
These Oven Pork Ribs are fall apart tender and slathered with an incredible homemade barbecue sauce!
How to make Oven Pork Ribs
Here’s how I make pork ribs in the oven. There’s a few key things here:
Rub for the pork ribs – to add flavour;
Liquid for cooking – this is a key step for this pork ribs recipe! It creates a steamy situation while the ribs slow cook in the oven to keep them nice and juicy. My liquid of choice is alcoholic apple cider (also known as hard apple cider) because as with many things, alcohol adds extra layers of flavour. But there’s loads of other options: beer, apple juice, broth or even water;
Homemade barbecue sauce – Ribs are a bit of an occasion around these parts so using store bought Barbecue Sauce doesn’t even cross my mind. It’s also one of those sauces that’s astonishingly simple to make at home and really is that much better than store bought because it tastes pure and real and doesn’t have that slight artificial edge of store bought. Try it once and you’ll be converted for life!
Baste, bake, baste, bake! The more you baste-bake, the better your sticky barbecue sauce coating on the ribs.
Type of ribs to use
Oven Pork Ribs are ideal for Baby Back and St Louis Style Pork Ribs. It will also work for Pork Spareribs but the oven cook time should be reduced by 20 minutes (as they are less meaty).
🇦🇺In Australia, we do not (yet!) distinguish between various cuts of pork ribs (most are a Baby Back / St Louis style hybrid or they are very skimpy Spare Ribs). There’s also a great deal of inconsistency with how pork ribs are cut between butchers and the big grocery chains (Costco, Aldi, Woolies, Coles).
Just look for meaty pork ribs that are nice an fatty. Avoid the ribs that are cut so close to the bone on both sides there’s barely any meat – miserable eating experience plus it’s criminal to pay for 70% bone!
What you need for Oven Pork Ribs with Barbecue Sauce
And here’s what you need. Nothing unique here, except perhaps the molasses in the barbecue sauce.
I can’t remember where I first saw it, but I added it to my barbecue sauce once then I never looked back. It adds colour and intensity of flavour that can’t be replicated! Truly worth using if you can get your hands on it. If not, don’t fret – substitute with golden syrup or use dark brown sugar instead of normal brown sugar. Similar result!
Barbecue Sauce for Pork Ribs
The barbecue sauce in this recipe is used for both glazing and serving. It is literally a plonk and simmer job. Low maintenance and effortless, and really tastes of pure flavour compared to store bought (says she who has done side-by-side taste testing!).
It will look like we’re making a LOT, with the recipe calling for 1 1/2 cups of ketchup. But trust me when I say you want to have more rather than too little. There’s nothing worse than being stingy when glazing the ribs – you want to slather generously with abundance without worrying about saving some for serving!
(PS And if you’re a sticky BBQ Sauce lover, try this BBQ Brisket and BBQ Beef Ribs next…)
What to serve with Pork Ribs
In the spirit of a Southern barbecue feast, serve up your sticky oven pork ribs with a side of Macaroni Salad and corn on the cob (try the most amazing GRILLED Buttered Corn!).
Other favourites include:
Potato Salad – Classic creamy Potato Salad or for lighter options, no-mayo Lemon Potato Salad and Red Potato Salad with Charred Corn and Bacon
Corn Bread or Corn Bread Muffins (or try these Cheese Muffins)
And for something fresh, try this Tomato, Corn and Avocado Salad or a cooling German Cucumber Salad.
This is a forgiving pork ribs recipe – and it’s loaded with plenty of flavour!
As long as you get nice juicy, fatty ribs (which they typically are), it will be pretty hard to stuff this recipe up! Ribs are a tough cut of meat so they’re made for slow cooking until it’s nice and tender.
It’s quite forgiving with the cook time, unlike some other types of proteins like poultry. So even if you cook it 30 minutes too long, it will still be juicy and delicious.
There is simply no way to look elegant eating pork ribs. Just accept you will have very sticky fingers, sauce smeared on your face and a huge goofy grin! -Nagi x
Watch how to make it
This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”!
More rib recipes
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Oven Pork Ribs with Barbecue Sauce
Ingredients
Barbecue Rub for Ribs:
- 2.5 tsp paprika powder
- 2 tsp garlic powder (sub with onion powder)
- 1.5 tsp onion powder (sub with garlic powder)
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper (omit for not spicy)
- 1.5 tsp dried thyme
- 1.5 tsp dried oregano
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp black pepper
Ribs
- 2 – 2.5kg / 4 – 5lb pork ribs (2 racks)
- 3/4 cup sweet alcoholic apple cider (hard cider) , or apple juice (Note 2)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Homemade Barbecue Sauce
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar (Note 3)
- 1 1/2 cups tomato ketchup (or Aussie tomato sauce)
- 1/2 cup water (or use remaining apple cider!)
- 1 1/2 tbsp molasses , orginal (not blackstrap, Note 4)
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp mustard powder
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp Tabasco or cayenne pepper (optional, for spiciness)
Instructions
- Combine the Rub ingredients and rub onto both sides of the ribs (most on meaty side). Set aside to marinate for 20 minutes (or overnight).
- Preheat oven to 160°C/320°F (all oven types).
- Place ribs on a tray in a single layer. Pour apple cider underneath the ribs, cover with foil then bake for 1 hour 30 minutes or until the meat is pretty tender (Note 5).
- Remove from oven, turn up to 180°C/350°F. Remove foil, drizzle with olive oil, then return ribs to oven for 15 minutes or until rub becomes nice and crusty.
- Line a new tray with foil then baking / parchment paper (you'll thank me later).
- Remove ribs from oven, transfer to lined tray. Pour any juices from tray over the ribs.
- Flip ribs so the bonier side is up. Slather with Barbecue Sauce, then bake 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven, then turn ribs over so the meaty side is up. Slather with Barbecue Sauce, bake 5 minutes. Repeat 2 or 3 more times until you've got a thick glaze on the ribs.
- Cut ribs into individual or multiple rib portions and serve with remaining Barbcue Sauce!
Barbecue Sauce
- Place all ingredients in a saucepan and simmer over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 45 minutes or until thickened.
- Adjust to taste: sweetness with brown sugar / honey, salt and sour with vinegar. Use for glazing ribs and as a sauce for serving.
Recipe Notes:
- Follow recipe to end of Step 4 (ie 2nd baked uncovered to make Rub crusty)
- Brush bony side of ribs with sauce, then cook on BBQ indirect heat on high (bony side up) with lid down for 5 minutes.
- Flip so meaty side is up, baste, cook with lid down for 5 minutes. Repeat 3 times until you have a nice caramelised glaze!
Nutrition Information:
Pork ribs recipe originally published January 2016. Updated August 2019 with new photos, improved recipe, brand new video and new Life of Dozer section added!
Life of Dozer
He doesn’t need a 4 leaf clover for luck. He was BORN lucky….. at least, from the moment he became MINE!! #spoiltbrat #wantfornothing #PrinceDozer
Third time making these and the best ever. Ended up marinating them overnight due to some changes of plan. Delicious!!
This was great! I didn’t have molasses so I used my home-made maple syrup (real maple syrup, not butterworths or equivalent) and it added a little maple flavor and then finished them on the grill. I could die-they were so good.
The best ribs recipe I have ever made. Will only be using this one from now on
Hey Nagi,
Thank you for recipes like these. So much appreciated. I’ve tried this heaps of times and it’s always the bomb.
I need your wisdom though. If I need to cook 6 racks ( having a gathering at home and 4 racks/ 2 kgs won’t be enough), can I do the first part (pre basting) by having the largest oven trays I can find and cramming 3 racks for each trays?
Or would having 3 trays of 2 racks each tray would work in the oven? I only have standard size home oven.
Trying to avoid 2 separate batches in the oven. But if it’s the only way, so be it.
Thanks
Hi Trixie, I would do 3 trays of 2 racks each here – I hope they’re a hit!! N x
Sorry for dumb question 🙂 Ribs on a rack? Or directly swimming in the cider?
Hi Maggie, they are sitting in the cider – you can see this in the video for reference 🙂 I hope you love them! N x
Omggggg, these were so, SO good! I ate way more than I should have because I couldn’t bring myself to stop! We made a giant mess of a big pan by not liking it properly with foil, but it was worth it. It was a little labor intensive but I will for sure be making these again when the time comes!
I made these a few months back and loved them 🙂 A few days ago I boldly challenged my sister and niece to a rib-off this weekend. It’s serious now as they have smokers and we call Kansas City home! I have a gas grill with an wood chip accessory. What do you think of finishing the ribs (step 4 onward) with hickory smoke on the gas grill?
Thx! Marc
Aw Nagi, you and Jamie Oliver are my go to’s for recipes but you’ve lost me with all the ads 🙁
My page keeps jumping around as the ads refresh so I jump from step 2 to step 5 back to 1 to 3 to aaargh!!!
Hi Natalie, thanks so much for bringing that to my attention! Yes, the ads are how I make income from this website. A necessary evil! My long term goal is to reduce and hopefully eventually get rid of them altogether. As for how they are impacting the view ability though, I am very particular about this so thank you for bringing it to my attention, I will report it. The ad management company I use is pretty good at controlling ads but sometimes the odd obnoxious one slips through I’m afraid!
Thank you again for letting me know – N x
I’ve tried many different recipes for Pork Ribs, and this is, by far, the absolute best (although I cheated and used bottled sauce). But the cooking method, temperature, and time were spot on. Fall off the bone, melt in your mouth gorgeous. Thank you for the recipe. Will be used again and again.
Hi Nagi,
What is the reasoning behind layering a tray with a cooking sheet? Is it meant to be layered over a foil? Can I just use a foil without the cooking sheet? xx
I’m using spareribs; they’re pretty wide and can’t fit them in any of by oversized pans! I’m cooking them in the largest pan I own at 320 and they are overlapping. I uncovered at 1 hr. 10 minutes as you recommended for spare ribs and they’re still bloody. Should do you have a suggestion for how much longer to cook them under these condiments? Thanks!
Hi there- excited to try your recipe for hubby’s birthday! We will be out all day. If I make them the day before, what’s the best way to finish them the following day for dinner? Speak to me like I am 5 years old, please:)
Are the oven temperatures based on a fan oven or conventional? Ie. Do I need to reduce temp by 20deg if using a fan oven?
Hi Carly – as per the recipe, it’s the same temp for all oven types. I’ll specify a different temperature in my recipes if required 🙂 N x
Hello Nagi, Love this recipe! Quick question, is pomegranate molasses ok to use in the sauce? Thank you
I haven’t tried sorry Phoebe, it’s slightly more tangy so you may need to balance the flavour with a little more sugar. N x
Thank you for another great meal.
You’re so welcome Richard!! N x
Sooo delicious and easy! We used 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar and 3/4 cups of water under the ribs and it turned out so yummy. I love the heat from the cayenne. Another great recipe Nagi, thank you!!
the BBQ sauce recipe is my go-to for lots of meat, not just these ribs (which are also yummy). Sunny day here in Port Moody, BC Canada so first BBQ of the year!
A big thank you for this amazing recipe. The best ribs I have ever cooked. So delicious and easy with just the right amount of heat. Used 1.5kg ribs and made half the sauce which was just perfect. 5 star recipe.
Loved this recipe. Followed instructions and let meat sit in BBQ rub overnight. Then put in oven bag with bbq sauce ingredients and cooked for less than an hour because we ran out of time to follow all the recipe steps. It was melt in your mouth….yum. Love your recipes Nagi xxx
Can you make this the day before?
Yes 100% Amy! N x
Brilliant! Cant wait to try the recipes!! Loving your sweet fur baby too!