Slow Cooked Ribs in the Oven

Making oven baked baby back ribs is a terrific way to get that slow-roasted flavor and fall-off-the-bone end result you crave. Our easy barbeque ribs recipe teaches you all the tips and tricks for truly making the BEST slow-cooked ribs in the oven! They're a Whole Lotta Yum!

These oven baked ribs are so good!

We're showing you how to make melt-in-your mouth baked ribs with a dry rub or how to add BBQ sauce, learn the difference between pork spare ribs and baby back ribs, plus get easy adaptions to make these low carb, gluten-free, or keto friendly too.

• Cooking the easy ribs on a very low temp means they turn out juicy and tender every time
• Our method works for EITHER pork spare ribs or baby back ribs
• Learn how to make a pork rib dry rub that is so tasty you might just skip the BBQ sauce!
• They're easy to adapt to various health plans like paleo, low carb, gluten-free, or to make keto ribs.

Ingredients you'll need

Our recipe just takes a few ingredients, ribs, dry rub seasoning, and BBQ sauce. We include a recipe for our homemade pork rub, but you can easily use a store brand, or just season them with salt and pepper if you prefer super saucy ribs with BBQ sauce.

• 1 rack of ribs (pork ribs or baby back ribs) - This is very easy to double, two racks will fit on a large baking sheet.
• 2 T dry rub mix - we love to make our own, but your favorite store-bought brand works too. This is easy to make with brown sugar or to make it sugar-free for keto ribs.
• BBQ sauce (optional) - Our favorite store-bought national brand is Sweet Baby Ray's and if you're wanting to make baby back ribs without sugar (that's also low carb and paleo) is Primal Kitchen's BBQ sauce. 

Dry Rub Ingredients

Our recipe for a dry rub for ribs makes more than you'll need for this recipe. The mix will keep in a lidded container for 6 months or more. You'll need about 2 tablespoon of mix total for each rack of baby ribs you're baking.

• 1 tablespoon cumin 
• 1  tablespoon chili powder
• 1 tablespoon ground dried garlic
• 1 Tbsp  ground onion powder 
• 1 tablespoon smoked paprika 
• 2 tablespoon sea salt 
• 1 tablespoon ground black pepper 
• ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper 
• 2 teaspoon brown sugar (or 2 teaspoon golden monk fruit for keto ribs)

Tools

• Foil
• Large baking sheet

Foil is an essential supply, you must have it for this recipe. Tightly sealing the oven-baked ribs and steaming them in their juices is how they turn out so moist and tender.

How to make ribs in the oven

Our process is super simple. You'll just need to sprinkle them with seasoning, cover with foil, bake, and add sauce after cooking. So easy!

Preheat the oven to 275F and put the oven rack in the middle position.

1. Prep the Ribs

Cover the baking sheet with aluminum foil to make for easier cleanup. This isn't a required step but will definitely make it easier when it comes time to wash the pan.

Remove the membrane from the backside of the ribs if it's still attached. With a sharp knife, lift the point of the knife under the white membrane. Once it's a little loosened you can take your clean hands and slowly pull the membrane from the back of the ribs.

This is also optional, but baby back ribs in the oven will turn out slightly more tender without the tough membrane attached.

Lay the baby back ribs on the baking sheet.

2. Season

If you're making a homemade dry rub mix, put all of the ingredients in a small bowl and combine.

Sprinkle 2 T+ of dry rub mix on each rack of ribs and gently press the mix into the meat to help it stick to the surface. We like our ribs heavily seasoned, but you can cut this back to 1 tablespoon per rack if preferred. Gently press the rub into the meat with your clean hands.

If you have extra time, putting the ribs in the fridge for 2 hours (optional) to allow the rub flavors to infuse with the meat is ideal.

Skipping this step when you're short on time and instantly putting the baby back ribs in the oven immediately after spreading the dry rub is perfectly fine also. I have done this MANY times and the ribs are still fantastic!

3. Cover and Bake

Tightly wrap the baking sheet with foil to cover the ribs and keep the steam from escaping.

Cook the baby back ribs until a thermometer inserted into a center portion of the meat reads 185 to 190F. The meat is technically done before that point but wouldn't be cooked to a fall off the bone level, which is definitely what you want for baby back ribs.

Check the ribs after 3 hours of cooking on 275F, they'll be at the perfect point if you can easily wiggle the bones and the meat is very soft. They'll take about 3-3 ½ hours to cook.

Racks of baby back ribs come between 1 ½ lb and 3 lb, the lighter they are the less time they'll take to cook.

4. Add BBQ Sauce

There's a great debate in the BBQ world on whether ribs should be served with BBQ sauce or without. In our family, we enjoy them both ways, and we often cook 2 racks--one with just the dry rub and the other rack with rub AND sauce.

If you prefer adding barbecue sauce, which definitely gives a "hot off the grill" appearance, you can broil the ribs for 3-4 minutes until the top of the baked baby ribs is lightly brown on top. Pull them out before the sauce starts to burn.

You can also put them on the grill after brushing sauce on after they cook for a BBQ ribs recipe that's oven then grill cooking.

Serve and enjoy! Each BBQ ribs rack makes about 3 generous servings.

Recipes notes

• The baked ribs should be literally fall off the bone tender, if your ribs aren't doing this, that means they need to cook LONGER. Baby back ribs aren't properly cooked until the tough collagen breaks down.
• Be sure to tightly cover the baking pan with foil, if the foil isn't on there tight enough the ribs won't properly steam. They'll still taste great but they won't be as tender as they should've been.
• Cook with the meat side up, flipping during cooking isn't necessary.
• The baby ribs can be served just with dry rub, many people prefer them this way! Adding barbeque sauce is totally optional.
• Brush BBQ sauce on the meat briefly grill or broil to get that "just grilled" appearance.
• Pork spare ribs can be substituted for baby back, they'll take longer to cook since they weigh more.
• Just have a 9x13 pan? Cut the rib rack in half before seasoning and baking them.

Serving ideas

We love serving baked ribs with bourbon baked beans,  boiled corn, and our healthy coleslaw recipe, the classic BBQ meal is total comfort food.

And if you're looking for more ways to cook rib recipes indoors, be sure to try our instant pot baby back ribs, instant pot country style ribs, or beef short ribs.

Since we’ve been following a low carb program we usually serve these ribs with coleslaw or a kale Caesar salad. Serving roasted vegetables on the side like broccoli, mushrooms, onions, and peppers are also great ideas.

Classic Sides

• Coleslaw
• Caesar salad
• Corn on the cob
• Roasted vegetables
• Baked beans 
• Macaroni and cheese
• Collard Greens

Low Carb Sides with Ribs

• Baked cauliflower mac and cheese
• Keto coleslaw
• A simple green salad
• Collard greens (a Southern fave!)

Storing and leftovers

Store: Leftover ribs can be stored in the fridge for up to 5 days.
Freezer: To freeze leftovers, wrap them in plastic wrap and then in a double layer of foil. They can be frozen for up to 3 months for the best taste and texture.
Reheat: To reheat them, preheat your oven to 350 F. Wrap the leftover ribs in foil, making sure they are tightly wrapped. Cook in the oven on a baking sheet for 20-30 minutes until they’re heated through. You can broil them for 1-3 minutes to get a crispy crust.

What's the Difference Between Spare Ribs and Baby Back Ribs?

Have you ever gone to the store and all you could find were "pork ribs"? Are those baby back ribs or what type of ribs are they exactly? Pork ribs and spare ribs are the same cut of meat and come from the belly area of a pig, whereas baby back ribs are a smaller cut of pork that comes from the loin section.

Baby back ribs or back ribs are considered more tender and more expensive than pork spare ribs. Pork spare ribs are larger and can be cooked with the same method as baby back, you'll just need to cook them longer since they'll weigh more and are a larger rack of meat.

Do ribs cook better in foil?

Cooking ribs in foil is a technique known as "foil-wrapping" or "foiling" and it can help to make ribs more tender by creating a moist, steamy environment. There’s pros and cons to using foil or not using foil. Foiling prevents the meat from drying out and can make the rib meat moister, however, it also stops the meat from developing a crispy crust (or burnt ends) as it’s called. This is why we like to pop our ribs under the broiler before serving to still get that crisp “just off the grill” texture.

Making Keto Ribs?

If you're following a keto or low carb plan, you might be wondering if baby back ribs are keto. Meat on its own is basically a no-carb meal, where the carbs come in is with the sauce or rub mix you plan to add.

As long as you use keto dry rub for the ribs and if you add BBQ sauce at the end, make sure that's also a low carb and no sugar brand.

A serving of baked baby back ribs with just the dry rub is only 1 net carb! Be sure to adjust the carb count if you add the sauce.

Likewise, if you also use a sugar-free homemade dry rub and a sauce like Primal Kitchen's paleo/whole30 BBQ sauce, then these are a paleo and whole30 rib recipe too.

Recipes for ribs

• Instant Pot Country Style Ribs
• Pressure Cooker Baby Back Ribs
• Instant Pot Beef Ribs
• Air fryer pork ribs
• Baby back ribs air fryer recipe

Recipe