Jump to:
- About This Spare Ribs Recipe - Understand the Cut of Meat
- Ingredients for This Spare Ribs Recipe
- You Will Also Need
- How to Slow Cook Fall Off The Bone Ribs in Oven
- How Long to Cook Pork Spare Ribs in the Oven
- Dry Rub or BBQ Sauce?
- Serve Fall Off The Bone Ribs Oven
- Side Dishes
- Variations of Spare Ribs
- Other Recipes You Might Enjoy
- Recipe
About This Spare Ribs Recipe - Understand the Cut of Meat
The spare ribs are a cut of pork that comprises a section of the rib cage of the pig. They start at the end of the very popular Baby Back Ribs located on top of the animal and extend to the end of the rib bones.
Pork spare ribs are typically removed before the bacon located underneath them is accessed. They have flat bones with meat concentrated in between them as opposed to on top of them. On average a rack has 10 to 13 bones and weighs around 3 lbs.
A full rack of pork spare ribs (shown below) incorporates a tempered meaty part called a flap and an elongated meaty section that runs across the length of the rack and is commonly called the brisket bone or the rib tips (it contains the tips of the ribs and is a part of the sternum (breast bones). There are also miscellaneous small bits of meat and extra fat that can be trimmed.
You can remove the parts indicated below if you so choose. The resulting cut is known as St. Louis style spare ribs - very much a perfect rectangle of meat. (Watch this tutorial on how to trim a full rack if you are interested).
Ingredients for This Spare Ribs Recipe
For this recipe we are working with the full rack of pork spare ribs and not trimming it. We are also using a dry spice rub made with brown sugar, kosher salt, black pepper, onion powder, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder and a teaspoon of cayenne pepper. Feel free to use your favorite rub.
The meat of pork ribs is a little tough, with plenty of fat and a rich flavor. Consequently they lend themselves particularly well to simmering/braising and then grilling or slow roasting in the oven. As much as people want to rush the process and cook the spare ribs fast - this is not a cut of meat that will taste best if you rush it.
The best way to cook spare ribs is low and slow and this definitely carries over to this ribs recipe.
You Will Also Need
To slow cook a rack of ribs in the oven make sure you have a baking sheet large enough to fit them (half sheet usually works), parchment paper, aluminum foil, paper towels, sharp boning knife or kitchen scissors, salt and pepper, your favorite pork seasoning blend/BBQ ribs rub and/or barbecue sauce.
How to Slow Cook Fall Off The Bone Ribs in Oven
Step 1. Prep the ribs while your oven is heating. Pat dry the rack with a paper towel and turn it with the meatier side facing down. You will notice that on the back of the ribs the bones are covered with a translucent membrane that helps hold them in line, similar to silver skin. It will only become tough and chewy in the oven, so remove it.
Using the tip of a knife or scissors lift the membrane up, get a hold of it using a paper towel and peel it off.
NOTE: There is typically a section of meat hanging flat over the center area of the spare ribs (part of the diaphragm). You can remove it or leave it. We usually leave it, it is tasty and even though it cooks faster than the rest becomes nice and crispy.
Step 2. Next nicely season the ribs on both sides with salt and pepper at a minimum or liberally apply a dry rub blend. If the full rack is really large consider cutting it in two (completely optional).
Step 3. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil first and then parchment paper. It is best if the ribs are 'sandwiched' in between two layers of parchment paper before you wrap them with aluminum foil. The reason is food safety - when aluminum foil comes into contact with seasonings on the surface of meat a lot of aluminum can seep into the meat. The parchment paper creates a barrier, plus no bits of aluminum will get stuck to the ribs.
Step 4. Place in the oven and let cook. We recommend 275 to 300 F as ideal oven temperature, depending on the calibration of your oven. If you know it it to be a bit stronger go with 275 F. The lower heat will slowly melt the fat, dissolve the connective tissue and convert the meat into a tender, flavorful delicacy.
Step 5. When the rib meat becomes tender to your satisfaction, uncover, season a bit more of brush with BBQ sauce and cook for another 20-30 minutes to get a nice, crispy skin before you serve it.
How Long to Cook Pork Spare Ribs in the Oven
The actual time to slow cook ribs in oven depends on the actual temperature and size of ribs rack. It can take anywhere from 2 to 3 hours total time.
We usually check them after two hours and decide how much longer to let them cook.
While an internal temperature of 145 F is food safe, 190 F is typically when the meat will begin to pull away from the bones. Give higher priority to your visual perception than your food thermometer.
If you are satisfied with how tender the meat has become after the 2-hour mark you can go ahead and remove the aluminum foil and parchment paper and cook uncovered to let the outsides get nicely caramelized and crispy.
Dry Rub or BBQ Sauce?
It is totally up to you. If you choose to stick with a dry rub only, this is absolutely fine. Be sure to use it liberally and apply a bit more after the meat is almost cooked to your liking, this will contribute to a nice, tasty crust.
If you'd rather use a BBQ sauce, choose your favorite. Brush it on both sides of the rack after you check the ribs around the 2 hour mark, then again once they are out of the oven.
We used this homemade Beer BBQ Sauce.
Serve Fall Off The Bone Ribs Oven
Slow cooked ribs in oven are so perfectly fall-off-the bone tender that they are primarily a finger food. Make piece with this fact and have:
- plenty of napkins/paper towels/wet naps, especially if BBQ sauce is involved;
- plenty of BBQ sauce on the side;
- classic sides such as mashed potatoes, fries, onion rings, coleslaw, baked beans, sliced (beer) pickles or pickled jalapenos, etc.;
- plenty of beer - to that end we recommend flavorful German lagers and ales with a pronounced malty backbone but tastefully hopped (red ales/American ambers or red IPAs are a favorite pairing)
Side Dishes
To accompany the tender pork ribs serve tried and true sides such as corn on the cob, potato salad, mashed potatoes, pasta salad, garlic green beans, coleslaw or mac and cheese.
Variations of Spare Ribs
Another great method to prepare pork spare ribs is to cook them with moist heat. You can take the route of a high pressure cooker and finish them in the oven or make braised spare ribs (or slow cooker ribs).
Other Recipes You Might Enjoy
Pork Shoulder Steaks | Lamb Ribs (Denver Style Lamb Spare Ribs) | Slow Cooked Pork Brisket | Pork Tenderloin with Apples | Braised Spare Ribs |Pork Schnitzel
Recipe
Spare Ribs Fall Off The Bone Tender
Ingredients
- 1 full rack pork spare ribs usually 2.5 to 3.5 lbs*
- pork dry rub about ¼ cup or to taste, see below or use your favorite**
- 1 cup BBQ sauce use your favorite, optional
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 275-300 F (depending on how strong your oven is) and line an appropriately sized baking sheet with aluminum foil (for easy clean up), then place a sheet of parchment paper on top***
- Trim the rack of spare ribs from any excess fat, pat them dry with a paper towel. Turn the rack with the meaty side down and identify the membrane that runs across the length of the rib bones. Peel it off using a paper towel to eliminate slipperiness.
- Liberally season the rack of ribs on both sides and place onto the baking sheet. If you need to cut the rack in two to achieve a better fit, do so.
- Cover the ribs with a sheet of parchment paper, then aluminum foil - tuck it around the edges of the baking sheet to create air tight seal.
- Place in the oven for 2 hours.
- After 2 hours unwrap the cover and check the meat for tenderness. If satisfied, remove the covering, season with more dry rub or brush with BBQ sauce on both sides. (If you feel that the meat can use a little longer in the oven, go for another 20 mins and check again).
- Place the uncovered ribs back in the oven for 20-30 mins more, as needed (you want a nice crust to form and the meat to be super tender).
- Transfer to a cutting board, use tongs and a sharp chef's knife to slice the ribs, brush with BBQ sauce again (if using) and serve.
Notes
- 3 teaspoon brown sugar
- 3 teaspoon kosher salt (reduce to taste*)
- 2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoon paprika
- 2 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional, tune it down as needed to correspond to your preference for spice)
Bree
Your recipe is so easy to follow with very useful explanations. I just made ribs that elicited a number of compliments from my father-in-law (unheard of, lol). Thank you for giving me the confidence to cook ‘the best damn pork ribs I’ve had in years’ 😉 His exact words.
Catherine Johnson
The ribs were fantastic! Tender and moist.
I like that you clearly explained everything including the cuts of meat.
I have never heard of removing the membrane that holds the ribs together nor about sandwiching the ribs between sheets of parchment paper.
I learned so much from you in this recipe.
I look forward to trying more of your recipes and learning so much more.
Thank you 😊 for a great cooking experience.
Milena Perrine
Glad you had a good experience cooking spare ribs in the oven, Catherine! Thank you so much for circling back here to share it.
Hanna
i followed your clear, detailed recipe instructions and my ribs turned out perfectly - 5 stars here. Delicious, fall off the bone meat. Thank you!
Debbie
I love when you get a recipe that explains why you have to do a certain thing, like dry the ribs thoroughly, remove the membrane on the back, cook them slowly and between both aluminum foil as well as parchment paper. I’m learning new facts that may help us in other recipes and I remember the recip easier to remember. And these ribs are absolutely fall of the bone delicious! Thank you so much for this concise and delicious recipe.
Milena Perrine
Debbie, thank you for taking the time to share! We try to be useful:) You made our day, cheers!
Donna Bernskoetter
I give this recipe a 5-star!
I have never cooked my own ribs— it seemed intimidating. But we bought a hog from a friend’s grandson, who was raising piglets to hogs, to make money to go to college. I had to either try a recipe or give them to one of my sons!!
I used the rub with the recipe. After I took them out of the oven, I cut them apart and put KC Masterpiece BBQ sauce on them and put them back in for 20 minutes. They were so tender and delicious! Thank you for making a recipe so easy!
Milena Perrine
Donna, thank you so much for taking the time to comment! Hopefully now you will make pork ribs more often, including baby back ribs, they can be cooked the exact same way:)
Kristel
Making this recipe for the 2nd time tonight, absolutely fabulous! Ribs are out of the package and in the oven in under 8 minutes. Fall off the bone tender and so juicy, we love them. Thank you!
Milena Perrine
Thank you, Kristel for finding the time to come back and give us positive energy! Enjoy!
Ellyn
I prepared these, but only added half of the salt. They were still too salty for our tastes. (I normally do not add salt to recipes.)
They were very tender when done, so I will be following your directions for the ribs going forward.
Anna
This recipe works like a charm! Fall off the bone tender ribs with minimal effort and clean up!
Cara
This method of cooking pork ribs in the oven is a keeper! I was amazed that with so little effort you can get such fall of the bone tender meat. You basically prep the racks, put them in the oven and ignore them:)
Kyle
Delighted! Followed the recipe and the pork ribs were truly fall off the bone tender and with such good flavor. I opted for dry rub only for a carb free version and the porkiness was fabulous!
Steveo
Is there an alternative to parchment paper?
Milena Perrine
You can simply skip it.
Millie
The spare ribs turned out exceptionally tender, truly fall off the bone. What an easy to follow recipe! I will be making ribs this way from now on, absoultely a breeze of a process. Thank you!
Cuisine du Mboa
Absolutely fabulous! This recipe is so flavorful. It is simple in preparation but the outcome is enormously delightful and delicious! Just perfect
Patricia Shirley
Fix spare ribs using this recipe and I received rave reviews, thank you! My aunt and I are dieting and one rib was filling and kept us on track; not that I didn’t really want a second one because they were so tasty and tender. I used chili seasoning, onion powder and garlic powder for the “rub” about an hour before baking and added more before popping in the oven.
Rebecca
BRAVO!!! ?? going through recipes to find a great one and haven’t tried this yet but LOVE the comment about aluminum foil and using parchment paper. I passed on other recipes because of their use of aluminum foil around the meat. Thank you!! I will be trying out your recipe tomorrow.
Polly
I am an experienced cook. I was just looking up timing for ribs and saw this recipe. I used it and they were the most tender, juicy ribs I've ever had. My husband (who thinks he is a smokin' master) said the same. Great way to cook them.
Dan
Turns out there’s nothing wrong with the recipe. Our oven broke and wouldn’t go above 200°.
CraftBeering
Dan, sorry to hear about your oven letting you down. Technically you could cook them at 200 F but it will take several hours to get them tender and up to temperature. In case you want to finish cooking them before your oven is fixed:)
Dan
Not sure where I went wrong, but after 2.5 hours in the oven the meat was still mostly raw and the internal temperature was barely over 100°F.
Alba Dudzinski
Just wanna comment on few general things, The website design and style is perfect, the written content is rattling excellent : D.
Julia Elliott
The Best! I just tried ur whole recipe & it is quite a bit of work - worth every second.
Wow!... I have to eat without teeth mostly & these ribs were/are heaven.
Thank you so much!
Julia in NM
CraftBeering
This is great to hear, thank you, Julia for taking the time to share your experience!
Roseann Hampton
Wow - these look delicious! I never thought about the aluminum getting into the meat - great tip! Thanks for sharing with us!
Katherine | Love In My Oven
Ribs are one of my family's favourite meals. The kids devour them! These look so succulent and delicious, and the tip about the parchment paper is such a clever one.
Jennifer @ Seasons and Suppers
I want to just dig in! These look perfect and I love all your spare rib tips 🙂 I need a feed of these.
Kelsie | the itsy-bitsy kitchen
This is so interesting! I never really knew what spare ribs were. . .I so love learning about food! These look perfectly tender and delicious!
CraftBeering
Thank you, Kelsie!
Leanne
We love pork ribs in our house and my preferred way to prepare them is low and slow in the oven. These look particularly tender, juicy and fall of the bone delicious! As usual, you've provided some really great cooking tips, including sandwiching the ribs between parchment paper. I need to try that!
CraftBeering
Thank you, Leanne!