Easy Baby Back Ribs in Oven
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These tender fall-off-the-bone baby back ribs are baked in the oven in a delicious barbecue sauce. Add your favorite sides for the perfect Southern supper.
I’ve always loved ribs but growing up my dad was the one who made them. He’d spend hours outside around a hot grill or smoker, basting and fussing with them until perfection was reached. They sure were good. But I’m on my own now and daddy lives an hour away. When a rib craving hits I’m not about to stand over a hot grill for hours on end. Instead, I make them the easy way and am just as happy with the results.
Now there are countless ways to make juicy ribs and there is never a shortage of folks to tell you that their way is the only right way to do things. But the way I see it, your kitchen = your rules. So today I’m gonna show you how to cheat at ribs. No grill and no sweat needed, but you’ll still end up with fall-off-the-bone juicy results.
Intrigued? Let me tell you, tender baby back ribs in the oven are a game changer. All you need is a rack of ribs, some barbecue sauce, and a little bit of time. This is such an easy baby back ribs recipe to make and the results speak for themselves. Add your favorite Southern side dishes (I’ve included lots of options below) and you have the perfect supper, at least in my books!
Recipe Ingredients
- Ribs
- Bbq sauce (I’m using my homemade bbq sauce recipe)
How to Make Baby Back Ribs in Oven
Now the trick is to remove that white membrane on the back of the ribs because that will help them be all nice and tender when they cook and when eatin’ time comes.
The way I do this is to slice into it with a sharp knife and then grab it and pull it off as best I can.
This is me removing a good bit of it.
There is still some left but at least I got the main layer off. Sometimes I have better luck than others but as long as you get the majority of it you’ll be fine.
Just think: cavemen made ribs. They can’t be that complex to prepare.
Now you’ll notice that I have the rack of ribs laying on a baking sheet I’ve lined with aluminum foil. This is important because we are fixing to baste them and seal them up all nice and tight.
Baste both sides of them using half of your bbq sauce. We’ll use the other half after they cook for a while.
There we go, all ready for the oven!
Now seal that up really well. Don’t be skimpy on the tin foil here!
Bake in a 300-degree oven for 2 hours.
Remove from oven and open foil.
Baste generously with the rest of your sauce on just the top.
Return to oven, leaving the foil opened like this, for another hour or until that sauce is nice and thick.
Oh goodness, this smells so good. Gotta love some sticky pork ribs.
Enjoy!
My husband, who normally does not care for ribs, ate three helpings of these!
Storage
- Store leftover pork ribs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 300-degree oven or air fryer until heated through. You might want to add some extra sauce.
- You can also freeze leftovers for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating as above.
Recipe Notes
Some recipes include a before the for added flavor. If you want to add one, here’s an easy homemade dry rub recipe, but you’ll need ingredients like , smoked or regular paprika, , salt, (or cayenne pepper), , and .
Recipe FAQs
What do you serve with oven-baked baby back ribs?
Here are some great side dishes to serve with your easy oven-baked ribs:
- Loaded Baked Potato Salad
- Cheesy Garlic Mashed Potatoes
- Oven-Baked Mac and Cheese
- Velveeta Bowtie Pasta Salad
- 3 Bean Salad
- Baked Beans
- Creamed Corn
- Cornbread
- Homemade Biscuits
What kind of ribs do I use?
Look for ribs that say “back” in them, either baby back or pork loin back or something of the like. This is referring to where they come from and means they will have a lot more meat on them and less bone. Spare ribs have more bone and less meat.
What’s the best temperature for baking baby back ribs in the oven?
A low temperature makes for truly tender bbq ribs, which is why we bake them in a 300-degree oven for 2 to 3 hours.
You may also like these recipes:
Slow-Roasted Beef Brisket in the Oven
Slow-Cooked Pork Roast in Crock Pot
Crock Pot Pulled Pork Recipe, Southern-Style
North Alabama Style Pulled Chicken BBQ
Crock Pot Beef Ribs (Tender and Delicious)
Ingredients
- 1 rack pork back ribs
- 1 jar BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Using a knife, slice into the membrane on the back of the ribs (the white part) and use your hand to pull it off.1 rack pork back ribs
- Place the entire rack of ribs in the center of the foil and brush it with bbq sauce on both sides. Wrap well in foil to seal and place on a baking sheet.1 jar BBQ sauce, 1 rack pork back ribs
- Bake in a 300-degree oven for two hours. Remove from oven and open foil. Baste top with remaining bbq sauce and place back in the oven, with the foil still open, for an hour, or until the sauce is nice and thick.
Nutrition
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Christy, I love your recipes. Have you or will you publish the recipe for the canned barbeque sauce ? I don’t like anything in the bottles on the store shelf. They are too strong and spicy for me. I like a sweet mild sauce and have been working on one myself but haven’t got it just right yet. I would sure like to try yours .
sonnys bbq sweet is the best around
Christy,I hope you are feeling better. How much meat per person should be bought. am thinking for 6 – 8 people.
I am not Christy but I usually get 1/2 slab per person… this is about 4-5 ribs but I have found that men eat 6-8 and women eat 4-5 unless they are all big eaters. Kids usually eat 2-3, except mine and they ate more than the men… Hope this helps a little…
Hi Christy,
I made the ribs tonight and the meat was falling off the bones. They looked so delicious like a meal you would see in a magazine. However, even with all of the sauce on top the meat was very bland. No taste at all. We dipped the meat in the barbeque sauce to have some flavor. I had cooked them meat side down – do you think that caused the lack of flavor? Could it just be a bad slab of baby back ribs? I want them to taste as wonderful as they looked. They are definitely falling off the bone just need more flavor in the meat.
Thanks 🙂
I do mine very similar except i cut them into portions and wrap each individually in a tight foil pack. I rub each portion with Bone Suckin Sauce dry rub and cook on 250 for 4.5 hours. Then i open each and baste with our favorite sauce and cook open for 30 min. Then i baste them very heavy and broul on 500 for just a couple minutes to caramelize the sauce. My kids wont even eat the ribs from the best bbq places in the area now!
I used to take the membrane off, but don’t anymore. It actually helps hold the ribs together for me as they tend to fall apart when you’re fooling with them.
For those that want to….the easies way is to grab the membrane from one end with a dry paper towel and pull…the entire membrane will rip off all the way down the length of the slab of ribs.
I have been using this method for a couple of years, since I saw it on Southern Plate. So simple. So easy. I used to try all of the methods to have fall off the bone ribs, like par-boiling, etc. They didn’t work and this is fool-proof. Crazy, but I remember when it was really “iffy” to order ribs in a restaurant, not true so much anymore. I think they are doing this and, maybe, do a little grill at the end. I don’t know, but places that you wouldn’t think could do ribs too well are doing okay. Thank you, Christy. I have made more ribs at home in the last 2 years than I did in 30 years.
This is similar to how I make them when I cook them in the oven. I sprinkle them with salt, pepper & chili powder after I remove the membrane. I double wrap them in heavy duty foil & cook @ 400 dgrees for 2 hrs. Take them out of the oven & brush with BBQ sauce. Put them on the grill for 5-10 mins. YUM! Never thought you could make tender ribs in the oven in 2 hrs. We are making brisket & ribs on our electric smoker for the 4th of July.