Beef ribs are melt in your mouth, finger licking good Winner Winner Beef Dinner. Before being baked for three and a half hours, they are rubbed with a homemade dry rub. After being basted in barbecue sauce and grilled, they are well worth the time. If you follow my tips and tricks, you’ll be able to make the best oven-baked beef back ribs right away.
We like to get our ribs on with different kinds of meat, like BBQ Lamb Ribs, Sticky Pork Ribs, and Chicken Ribs.
That’s right, the Italian Short Ribs and Red Wine Short Ribs are both great beef short ribs recipes for important events. [feast_advanced_jump_to].
The following points briefly describe everything you will learn and love (LOVE ❤) about the recipe:
The photo below is to show you everything you need to make the beef ribs recipe. Please refer to the printable recipe card for specific ingredient measurements as well as detailed instructions.
Taste Tip: I like to give you a lot of different ways to make my recipes, so you can choose how you want to make them. If you’re not sure about any of the above ingredients or want to know about other options, read this section (below) before you start the steps on how to make the recipe
Here are the step by step instructions to make the baked beef ribs. We start by gathering the ingredients to make the dry rub.
Beef ribs are a classic BBQ dish that is full of flavor. When cooked properly, beef ribs are fall-off-the-bone tender with a beautifully caramelized outer bark. While grilling alone can produce tasty ribs, baking them in the oven first ensures they are braised to perfection before getting that final char on the grill. This method results in incredibly moist, tender beef ribs that melt in your mouth.
In this article, I’ll walk you through my technique for oven-baked beef ribs that are later finished on the grill I’ve made these ribs countless times over the years and finally perfected the method Trust me when I say these are the best ribs you’ll ever make at home!
Benefits of Cooking Beef Ribs in the Oven First
There are a few key benefits to baking beef ribs in the oven before grilling:
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Tenderizes the Meat The long slow bake in the oven helps break down the collagen and connective tissue in the ribs resulting in meat so tender it falls right off the bone.
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Infuses Flavor Baking allows the rub and any liquids to deeply permeate the meat ensuring robust flavor in every bite.
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Partially Cooks: Taking the ribs up to 170°F in the oven par-cooks them, so you only need a quick sear on the grill to finish.
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Easier to Handle: Once braised in the oven, the ribs hold together better for maneuvering onto the grill without falling apart.
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Adds Smoke Flavor: The char from grilling imparts that quintessential smoky flavor after the oven bake.
Ingredients
- 1 rack of beef ribs, 4-5 lbs
- Dry Rub
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- BBQ Sauce
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon molasses
- 1 tablespoon mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Step 1 – Prepare the Dry Rub
In a small bowl, combine all ingredients for the dry rub and mix well. Generously apply the rub all over the rack of ribs, coating both sides. I recommend doing this the night before if possible, to let the rub really seep into the meat. Cover and refrigerate ribs overnight.
Step 2 – Bake the Ribs in the Oven
Preheat your oven to 300°F. Place ribs meaty side up on a baking sheet lined with foil or a baking rack inside a rimmed sheet pan. Pour 1 cup of water, apple juice, or beer into the bottom of the pan to help braise the ribs as they cook.
Tightly cover entire pan with foil and bake for 3 hours. After 2 hours, carefully remove pan from oven, drain and discard any accumulated juices, then re-cover with foil and return to oven for remaining hour.
When oven time is up, the meat should have shrunk back from the ends of the bones and be tender but not quite fall-off-the-bone yet.
Step 3 – Make the BBQ Sauce
While ribs are in the oven, you can prepare the BBQ sauce. In a medium saucepan, combine ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, Worcestershire, molasses, mustard, and garlic powder. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, then reduce heat and let simmer for 5-10 minutes, until thickened slightly.
Let sauce cool before using. The sauce can be made 1-2 days in advance and stored covered in the fridge until ready to use.
Step 4 – Finish on the Grill
Carefully remove ribs from the oven, gingerly transfer to a platter or sheet pan, and slather generously with BBQ sauce on both sides.
Prepare your grill for direct high-heat grilling. Place ribs directly over the heat and grill for 4-5 minutes per side with the lid closed, basting with more sauce each time you flip them. Keep an eye on the ribs and move them to a cooler area of the grill if they look like they’re charring too quickly.
The ribs are done when you see caramelized, charred bits on the outside and the meat has shrunk back from the ends.
Step 5 – Cut, Serve and Enjoy!
Let ribs rest for 5-10 minutes before cutting individal ribs apart to serve. I love serving these oven-grilled beef ribs with classic sides like cornbread, coleslaw, baked beans, and potato salad. Dip into any extra BBQ sauce and enjoy these melt-in-your-mouth beef ribs!
With this tried and true method, you’ll have perfect beef ribs that are incredibly moist, fall-off-the-bone tender, and packed with finger-licking flavor. The oven bake and grill finish means you get the benefits of both cooking methods – braised meat and smoky char. I hope you’ll give this recipe a try soon – these are truly the best beef ribs I’ve ever made or tasted! Enjoy!
Substitutions and Variations
These are my sub ins and outs that you may be thinking about as you read the post. I’ll let you know if I think they will work or not:
- If you don’t want the recipe to be spicy, you can leave out the cayenne pepper.
- You can also use a full tablespoon if you want the recipe to have a little more heat.
- You can add brown sugar to the dry rub (1 tablespoon will keep the amounts the same).
- If you want to, you can just use store-bought barbecue sauce or your favorite barbecue sauce.
- If you want to, you can add a dried herb like oregano or parsley (1 teaspoon is enough).
- The dry rub and sauce can be used on different kinds of ribs, like pork ribs or chicken spare ribs.
Here are my best tips and tricks to help you get the recipe right from the start:
- The dry ingredients most likely to have lumps are mustard powder and baking powder. If you saw these, whisk them out when you mix the dry rub.
- Try to keep any liquids or moisture away from the dry rub. When you rub it into the ribs, you want it to be dry. From one side to the next and one rack to the next, wash and dry your hands.
- Use a butter knife to lift the corner of the membrane if it’s hard to pull off.
- To show the rib bone, the top of the bone will start to stick out as the meat shrinks during cooking. So don’t worry if the store-bought ribs don’t look quite right at first. They will in due course.
- While cooking, you can use water instead of the Worcestershire sauce and apple cider vinegar if you’d like.
- I use cooking spray on both sides of the aluminum foil, the bottom side and the side that goes on top of the ribs.
- If you need to, you can replace the top layer of aluminum foil when you add more water to the baking tray’s base.
- While they are cooking, the ribs are wrapped in foil. When they are grilling, however, they are not wrapped in foil.
- If you’re basting the sauce on the ribs, make sure the tops of the ribs where the bones stick out (not the bottoms) and the sides of the ribs are facing up.
How to Make Beef Ribs
We start the recipe by making the dry rub. Put the onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper in a glass jug. Then, add the mustard powder and mix it with a small whisk. Then set aside.
Remove the ribs from their packaging and rinse them under the tap. Place them onto a chopping board and use paper towel to pat dry.
One rack at a time, turn the ribs over so that the side with the membrane is now facing you. Make a square with a piece of paper towel, and then grab the membrane from one of the corners. Pull this up and off the ribs and discard.
Then, sprinkle some of the dry rub on the ribs and rub it into the meat with your fingers. Then flip the ribs to the other side and repeat.
Cover a baking tray with tin foil and spray a little oil on it.
- Gather cooking liquids (Photo 5)
- Combine (Photo 6)
- Put the ribs on a baking sheet and pour the cooking liquids over them (Photo 7).
- Cover and bake initially for 1 hour (Photo 8)
Next, gather the worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar and water. Add these to a jug and whisk to combine.
After that, put one rack in the middle of the baking sheet and pour in half of the cooking liquid. Cover the tray with aluminium foil and place them into a preheated oven.
Bake the ribs for one hour, then remove and top up the liquids with water. (Really important note, the liquids do not cover the ribs, they sit under them, touching yes, not submerging). Cover with foil again and return to the oven.
- Top with water (Photo 9)
- Gather barbecue sauce ingredients (Photo 10)
- Stir to combine (Photo 11)
- Baste then grill for 10 mins x 2 (Photo 11)
As the ribs cook, the cooking liquids can evaporate. So, every hour, we’ll take the baking sheet out of the oven and set it on a heat-safe surface. Then, we’ll add more water to the baking sheet. It will be around ⅓ cup per tray that you are adding. During this time, you will see how the long bone becomes exposed throughout the cook time.
Next gather the ingredients to make the barbecue sauce. Add them to a jug and whisk to combine.
Remove the cooked ribs from the oven and place the tray on a heatproof surface. Then pull the aluminium foil off and discard. The ribs will look like this at this point.
You can now also change the oven setting to grill at 200°C 392°F6.
Next, place a silicon mat onto a wire rack above an oven tray. Use kitchen tongs to transfer the cooked ribs from the baking tray to the silicon mat. Then repeat for the other rack.
Take a basting brush and liberally coat the top side of the ribs with the homemade bbq sauce. Then repeat for the other rack.
Place the ribs back into the oven on the top shelf and grill them for 10 minutes.
Then take them out of the oven with oven mitts, set them on a heat-safe surface, and bast them again with sauce. The ribs will look like this (dont hold back on the sauce ). Then grill for a further 10 minutes.
After grilling, take the ribs out of the oven, set the tray on a heat-safe surface, and let them rest for a minute or two before cutting them into individual ribs.
Now you are ready to serve the them!! (The best bit right ).
To serve the ribs you might like to whip up a homemade garlic bread. The Garlic Ciabatta, Turkish Garlic Bread or Garlic Pizza Bread are all great options.
As a side dish, simple pastas like Macaroni Alfredo, Rigatoni Alfredo, or Penne Alfredo will go well with your main dish.
The sauce I like to pair these bbq beef ribs with is the Horseradish Yogurt Sauce. It tastes a little different from the sauce we used to grill the ribs because it has a bit of a tang to it.
You can see the sauce I am talking about in the photo above. I add a little parsley to it when I am making it for texture. You can also give the ribs a drizzle of worcestershire sauce for serving. This idea is also shown in the photos above and below.
If you like chilled white wine with your ribs, pinot gris or pinot noir will go great with them.
Oven Baked BBQ Beef Ribs Recipe – How to Make Ribs in the Oven
FAQ
Should I cook ribs in the oven before grilling?
How long to grill beef ribs at 350?
Should I bake ribs at 250 or 275?
How long do you cook ribs on a grill?
Place the ribs in a baking dish. You may need to cut the ribs to make them fit. Then cover them tightly with foil. Bake in the oven for 3 hours. Be sure to start warming up your grill before the 3 hours are up. Once done, remove the ribs from the oven and place on the BBQ over medium-low heat for 10-15 minutes or just until they are browned.
What is the treatment for pain in the ribs?
Rib pain could be due to an inflammatory condition; anti-inflammatory medication and analgesics can bring down the pain. Home remedies include applying a cold compress on the area of pain.
How do you cook beef back ribs?
Simply season your beef back ribs, wrap them in foil, and transfer them to the oven. Leave them to cook low and slow, before returning to perfectly tender and juicy ribs – YUM! You can serve them however you’d like! The quick and easy homemade dry rub included in the recipe is insanely delicious on its own.
How to cook pork ribs in the oven?
Use a knife to gently pull the membrane away from the pork. Once you get it started, you can use your hands to pull it off. Season the pork generously with Salt, pepper and Rosemary. Place the ribs in a baking dish. You may need to cut the ribs to make them fit. Then cover them tightly with foil. Bake in the oven for 3 hours.