This recipe is for one of the easiest dishes you’ll make, and it’s delicious. The baby back ribs just have to cook for a few hours, so you can throw the meat in the oven, run some errands, come home, watch the news, then pop those ribs out of the oven, add barbecue sauce, then act as if you’ve been cooking all day as you place this dish on the table.
Don’t forget to sigh as you wipe your brow to show your family how hard you worked in the kitchen. And you should get bonus points for making the barbecue sauce.
What Do I Do First?
You’re going to need to remove what’s called the silver skin from underneath the rack of ribs. It’s normally easy to do, but on occasion, I’ve had a tough time separating the membrane from the rack of ribs. But it’s important to remove if you want tender, fall off the bone ribs. Very tender meat. And covering the ribs with foil will ensure that they don’t dry out.
Removing the silver skin
There is a thin silver skin or membrane along the back of the rack of ribs that must be removed so that the meat will fall off the bone after it’s cooked. You need to find a place at one of the ends where you can start pulling the membrane from the bone and the meat. If you can’t do that, then use a knife to create a place where you can remove the skin. I use a paper towel to help me get a grip on the membrane since the meat is slippery. This gentleman shows us how to do it. And that’s how you make your ribs tender.
Be Sure To Choose A Good Rack Of Ribs From The Store
The last time I cooked a rack of ribs, I bought it from my local store. Unfortunately, I couldn’t really see the meat clearly through the plastic with all of the stickers plastered on it. And there’s nothing worse than spending the day cooking something that ends up being thrown out, but that’s what happened. There was so much fat, and very little meat that it wasn’t edible. Yeah, that was a huge letdown. Hey, but the potato salad was good, but there was no meat with the meal. Just potato salad and southern green beans. No meat dish, just a rack of ribs in the trash.
What Can I Serve With Baby Back Ribs?
This is the fun part. There are so many side dishes that go well with baby back ribs. Corn on the cob is always good, and Mexican street corn is even better, in my opinion. Cornbread, fried green tomatoes, Mac and cheese, southern green beans, coleslaw, a nice green salad, tomato salad, collard greens, macaroni salad, baked beans, roasted potatoes, french fries, and my favorite, loaded potato salad, all go well with ribs.
Can I Grill Baby Back Ribs?
You sure can! However, it takes about 2 1/2 hours to grill them, so be prepared to wait it out and have a lot of fuel if you have a propane grill. And if you have a charcoal grill instead of a propane grill, get ready to keep it going for hours. I love charcoal grills, but they are more work. You have to be dedicated to grill food for a lengthy period of time. I have an indoor grill, and I use it all the time. I guess that’s the lazy person’s way of grilling, but honestly, my Ninja 6 Foodi in 1 with an indoor grill makes the juiciest hamburgers I’ve ever had. Grill, baby, grill.
We use our indoor grill a lot, and we especially enjoyed grilling on it in the winter. And you have to be pretty good with the grill for the ribs to come out right, keeping a consistently low temperature to keep them moist. Otherwise, if you maintain a high temperature on the grill, be prepared to eat some dry ribs. By making this dish indoors, you don’t have to stand around the kitchen for three hours as they cook, but with a grill, you probably wouldn’t want to leave the grill unattended. To grill or not to grill, that is the question. Oh, just go for it. Throw them on the grill, and have a family day. You can wrap them in foil, the same way that we use foil when cooking them indoors.
What Seasonings Am I Going To Use?
Removing the membrane from the meat is probably the most difficult part of making these ribs, and that was easy. Ribs are a perfect example of comfort food. We will toss the baby back ribs in the oven with very little seasoning added. You just don’t need it. However, if you’d like to apply a rub to the meat, you most certainly can. When done seasoning the ribs, you’ll cover them well with foil.
And while they are in the oven, you can make a barbecue sauce that takes about only ten minutes to whip up. And once you’ve had homemade barbecue sauce, you won’t ever want to go back to the store-bought sauce. That said, all you need is salt and pepper. Yup, that’s it. Of course, the homemade barbecue sauce really completes this dish. And you don’t have to keep checking on the ribs. I check on them once in 3 1/2 hours, and I only do that because, well, I have no idea why I do that. But the sauce is fantastic.
Here Comes The Hard Part (cough cough)
Cut the rack of ribs in half, salt and pepper them on both sides so that the meat is liberally seasoned, then stick them in the oven in a dish covered with foil. Be sure that the foil covers the ribs. I’ve used two pieces of foil before to be sure that they come out moist and tender. I just let the foil overlap.
You can, of course, apply a rub to the meat if you prefer. That’s it. <wipes brow> In a few hours, you’re going to be eating the most tender, fall off the bone ribs you’ve ever eaten.
At some point, while the ribs are cooking for 3-4 hours, you can throw some homemade barbecue sauce together. You can use a store brand, but this is really easy to make, and homemade is always better, in my humble but always right opinion:)
Put some olive oil in a small pot, and throw in some diced onions, ketchup, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, sriracha sauce, brown sugar, & salt and pepper to taste. Easy peasy!
When the tender, tender, tender (did someone say tender?) ribs are ready, take them out of the oven, ditch the juices, take off the foil (hey, it would look weird to serve them while they are covered in foil:) put them on a serving dish, and apply the sauce liberally to both sides. Or, you can apply the sauce, then let them broil in the oven for a few minutes to caramelize the sauce.
Serves 4
Ingredients for ribs
2 pounds ribs
Salt and pepper
Ingredients for barbecue sauce
2 tablespoons olive oil
¼ cup diced onions
¾ cup ketchup
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar
2 teaspoons of paprika
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon sriracha sauce
Salt & pepper to taste
Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 275°
Remove the silver skin. Flip the ribs over and try to find one end of the rack where you can get ahold of the membrane to pull it off. It helps to use a paper towel to get a grip on the skin. If that doesn’t work, use a butter knife to get under the skin, then pull it off.
Rinse the ribs, salt and pepper both sides of the ribs, cut the rack in half, and place in a roasting pan that’s sprayed with cooking oil, cover with foil, then place it in the oven for 3 to 4 hours.
Make the sauce while the ribs are cooking.
Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a small pot, then you’re going to add the diced onions for 4 minutes, then stir. Now add ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, sriracha, salt and pepper. Stir for a few minutes, then turn off the heat. It’s done.
Generously slather the barbecue sauce on the ribs after you’ve removed the foil, and it’s good to go. Alternatively, you can put let the ribs broil for a few minutes without the foil to caramelize the sauce. That’s up to you.
Nutrition:
The Best Ever Fall Off The Bone Baby Back Ribs
Ingredients
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 275°
- Remove the silver skin. Flip the ribs over and try to find one end of the rack where you can get ahold of the membrane to pull it off. It helps to use a paper towel to get a grip on the skin. If that doesn’t work, use a butter knife to get under the skin, then pull it off.
- Rinse the ribs, salt and pepper both sides of the ribs, cut the rack in half, and place in a roasting pan that's sprayed with cooking oil, cover with foil.
- Place it in the oven for 3 to 4 hours.
- Make the sauce while the ribs are cooking.
- Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a small pot.
- Add the diced onions for 4 minutes, then stir.
- Now add ketchup, brown sugar, apple cider vinegar, paprika, Worcestershire sauce, sriracha, salt and pepper. Stir for a few minutes, then turn off the heat. It’s done.
- Generously slather the barbecue sauce on the ribs after you've removed the foil, and it’s good to go. Alternatively, you can put let the ribs broil for a few minutes without the foil to caramelize the sauce.
- Enjoy!
Nutrition
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Note: Ribs can be frozen, but I doubt you’ll have any leftovers. But if you do, they’re perfect for taco night, and we love taco night around here.
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