• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
A Foodcentric Life
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Living Well
  • Subscribe
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About
  • Recipes
  • Living Well
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • search icon
    Homepage link
    • About
    • Recipes
    • Living Well
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Father's Day

    Oven Baby Back Ribs

    Published: May 30, 2011 · Last Updated: Jun 8, 2022 · 10 Comments

    415 shares
    Jump to Recipe

    There’s something about the flavor of grilled meat that makes our primal instincts kick in. Fire and meat equals wonderful flavors. With summer cooking and grilling ahead, certain dishes capture the essence and enjoyment of summer. Oven baby back ribs, coated with a caramelized Chinese-inspired barbecue sauce, is one of them. Best served with plenty of napkins.

    baby back ribs | AFoodCentricLife.com

    Oven Baby Back Ribs

    With smoky flavor and a finger-licking barbecue sauce, pork ribs are an irresistible summer treat. By adapting my mom’s recipe, starting ribs in the oven and finishing them on the grill, you can have delicious, easy to prepare baby back ribs in under an hour and a half.

    For folks in some parts of the country barbecue is practically a religion. Doing ribs anyway but “low and slow” on a smoker would be unthinkable. I don’t have a smoker to do the traditional slow-cooked style and not often the hours it may take, but my adapted recipe tastes terrific in a relatively short time frame. No matter if you have a big oven and grill or a small oven and grill on an apartment balcony, you can make tasty ribs.

    Citrus, Lemon, Onion and Spices

    My mom started her pork spareribs in an electric skillet. She covered them with thinly sliced onion and lemon and finished them on the grill. For my version, I prefer leaner, baby back ribs and season them with kosher salt, smoked black pepper and granulated garlic. I top the ribs with orange, lemon and onion slices and squeeze on any extra juice.

    Wrap and Bake

    Wrapped in a heavy foil packet and placed on a sheet tray, the ribs bake for about an hour. They come out tender and juicy, ready to be finished on the grill, slathered in barbecue sauce.

    As a note, when you unwrap the ribs from the foil there will be delicious juices accumulated. Pour them into a cup and save them in case you need to thin the barbecue sauce.

    Barbecue Sauce: Bottled or Homemade

    You can use your favorite bottled or homemade barbecue sauce. Most bottled sauces are very high in sugar and salt so I usually make my own.

    My rib sauce is based on Chinese Hoisin sauce, adding orange juice, garlic, ginger, smoked spices, espresso powder and spirits – either dark rum, Bourbon or whiskey. If you don't do spirits, just skip it. No espresso powder? Skip it too. It's still delicious.

    Smoked spices are available at many grocery store, and online at specialty spice shops and Amazon. They add to the smoky flavor. If you don’t have smoked spices use the regular version of the spices.

    Grill Finish & Enjoy

    After baking in the oven, finish your ribs on a hot grill over low heat for about 20-25 minutes. Turn your rib racks about every 5-7 minutes, brushing with barbecue sauce. You want a good coating of sauce to caramelize on the ribs. Remove from the grill, slice and enjoy. Tip - it's easier to slice them on the back side where you can see the ribs.

    How Much to Buy

    On quantity, I buy ¾ - 1 pound per person of baby back ribs. It will depend on the size of the appetite and what you are serving along side. Anyway, just enjoy. And be sure to offer plenty of napkins. These really are finger-licking good.

    baby back ribs | AFoodCentricLife.com

    Oven Baby Back Ribs

    There’s something about the flavor of grilled meat that makes our primal instincts kick in. Fire and meat equals wonderful flavors. Baby back pork ribs coated with a Chinese-inspired barbecue sauce, is one of the great dishes of summer. Best served with plenty of napkins. Use your favorite BBQ sauce to simplify the recipe and make it faster.
    Print Recipe Rate Recipe
    5 from 1 vote
    Prep Time: 10 minutes
    Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
    Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
    Course: Main Course
    Cuisine: American
    Keyword: Ribs
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 531kcal

    Ingredients

    Ribs

    • 3-4 pounds baby back ribs
    • 1 ½ teaspoons sea salt
    • 1 ½ teaspoons granulated garlic
    • 1 teaspoons black pepper
    • 1 large onion sliced thin
    • 1-2 large oranges sliced thin
    • 1-2 lemons sliced thin

    Hoisin Barbecue Sauce (or use your favorite bottled)

    • 1 cup Hoisin sauce: homemade or bottled for homemade Hoisin see my recipe
    • ¾ cup orange juice fresh squeezed
    • 2 large garlic cloves finely chopped
    • 2-3 teaspoons ginger puree or finely zested fresh ginger
    • 1 ½ teaspoons espresso powder
    • ½ cup bourbon, whiskey, dark rum, or cognac OPTIONAL
    • ⅓ cup ketchup
    • 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
    • ½ teaspoon smoked black pepper or regular black pepper

    Instructions

    Prep the Ribs

    • Remove baby back ribs from the refrigerator about 45 minute ahead of baking time come to room temperature (really just getting the chill off). If not already done, remove the silverskin (tendon) from the underside of the rib rack. Lift an edge of the silverskin with a table knife, then pull the piece with a piece of paper towel. It will come off either in 1 long piece or a few pieces. Pre–heat oven to 350 degrees.
    • On a half-sheet (13” x 18”) size rimmed baking sheet, place a large piece of heavy duty foil. Place rib racks in a single layer. Two racks will fit on one half sheet baking pan. Sprinkle ribs liberally with salt, garlic, and pepper. Top ribs with the onion slices, lemon and orange slices. Squeeze any extra orange pieces over the ribs. With more heavy-duty foil, enclose the ribs in a foil packet.
    • Place the ribs in a 350 degree oven for 50-60 minutes. When ribs are done, open the foil packet carefully, releasing the steam away from you. Drain the juices into a container and reserve if needed to thin sauce. If not, discard.

    Make the Hoisin Barbecue Sauce (or skip and use bottled)

    • While the ribs are baking, make the sauce or use your favorite bottled barbecue sauce. Combine Hoisin, orange juice, garlic, ginger, espresso, spirits, ketchup and spices in a small saucepan. Simmer on low heat until combined and a bit reduced, about 10 minutes. Set aside.

    To Finish the Ribs

    • Brush ribs with sauce on the top side (rounded side). Place ribs on a hot grill turned down to low and allow to cook for 20-25 minutes, turning occasionally with brushing with additional sauce until the ribs are thickly coated with caramelized sauce. Remove ribs from the grill, slice between the bones, serve with extra sauce on the side. For easier slicing, turn the ribs over and slice from the under side where you can see the ribs.

    Notes

    Note on Hoisin Sauce – it’s worth seeking out an organic brand of Hoisin Sauce, like from Whole Foods and their 365 brand. The standard stuff in the Asian aisle has caramel coloring as well as food dye red 40, along with other unhealthy additives. For homemade, here is the link to my recipe. 
    No grill? Finish the ribs in the oven, coating them with sauce until nicely caramelized. 
    Nutrition note: As I do not know what sauce you will use, this nutrition analysis is for the ribs only. 

    Nutrition

    Calories: 531kcal | Carbohydrates: 13g | Protein: 42g | Fat: 35g | Saturated Fat: 12g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 6g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 148mg | Sodium: 1062mg | Potassium: 729mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 160IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 104mg | Iron: 2mg
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!
    « Grilled Chicken Breast with Lemon and Mint
    Summer White Bean Salad »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Ang says

      June 07, 2011 at 4:54 am

      I came across your blog on a friends FB page, and the sight of these ribs have me salivating as I type. I would love to make these for my Moms Birthday coming up:)

      Reply
    2. Razorblogger says

      June 07, 2011 at 6:33 pm

      I think the pictures look awesome. The sauce sounds amazing. I think letting the meat get to room temperature "is asking for trouble", i think keeping meat at a cool temperature. Beneficial to keeping away bacteria that will turn your dish. Check out my tasty baby backs with Kansas Style BBQ sauce. They were a crowd pleaser.

      Reply
      • Sally says

        June 08, 2011 at 1:18 am

        Dear Razorblogger. I'm glad you commented so I can clarify something for everyone about meat temperatures. Allowing meat to sit out for 45 minutes is completely safe. What you are doing is allowing the meat to get the chill off. It will roast better and you'll get better results. It's not really coming to room temperature. No fears about food safety. I'm Food Safe Certified and am very careful about such things. Now if you let it sit out for several hours, there could be issues.

        The temperature danger zone is 41 degrees to 135 degrees. When food is in that range for more than four hours pathogens can grow to high enough levels to cause illness. Thanks again for the comment. Good chance to help everyone learn. Here is a link to more info on food safety. http://www.foodsafety.gov/.

        Reply
    3. Vicki Bensinger says

      July 30, 2011 at 1:59 pm

      These sound delicious and look so pretty with the sliced oranges. I do something similar but not with the oranges. I'll have to try that.

      Reply
    4. OlegT says

      November 08, 2011 at 2:00 pm

      Sally you said to put it in the over for 50-60 minutes, My questions is will I be able to leave it in for lets say hour and a half for more tender ribs or that’s perfect the way you have it. I don’t have much experience in cooking ribs
      Thank you,

      Reply
      • Sally says

        November 08, 2011 at 11:11 pm

        Hi Oleg. If you are cooking baby back ribs, the hour should be plenty. I don't think another 30 minutes would give you much in terms of additional tenderness. Please let me know how they come out. And thanks for the comment.

        Reply
    5. CestKoi says

      November 13, 2011 at 8:53 pm

      I made those ribs last night for my brother's family and they were a success! Thank you for sharing this recipe

      Reply
      • Sally says

        November 13, 2011 at 8:55 pm

        I'm so glad they were a hit. Thanks for sharing. I love to hear that!

        Reply
    6. Sawyer says

      October 20, 2012 at 9:14 pm

      I made these tonight and they were a HUGE success... my first time I've ever made ribs, and I'll use this recipe forever. They were gone in a blink of an eye. I didn't use baby back ribs because the store didn't have them, but I used regular back ribs. These clearly took longer to cook but I took them out after 60 minutes after some color came into the meat and put them on the grill, which made them perfect. The flavor was amazing and it was incredibly tender and juicy. Thanks so much for this awesome recipe!

      Reply

    Trackbacks

    1. Babyback Ribs « Cupcakes and Kale says:
      07/05/2011 at 5:12 pm

      [...]   from A Food Centric Life [...] Yummy first attempt at ribs – pretty easy too. We tried both babyback and spare ribs and they both came out fine, but babybacks were a little better.

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    chef sally cameron | afoodcentriclifecom.bigscoots-staging.com

    Hi!, I'm Sally, a professionally trained chef and health coach. Join me in living and cooking gluten-free for your best life ever!

    More about me →

    Popular Recipes

    • Spiced Apple Pecan Coffee Cake
    • Easy Gazpacho Andaluz | Sub-Zero Wolf
    • Roasted Tomato Marinara Sauce
    • Grilled Scallops with Prosciutto
    • 10 Tips for Using Dried Herbs and Spices
    • Grain and Gluten Free Almond Flour Tart Crust

    Gluten Free

    • Green Goddess Dressing and Dip (Dairy Free)
    • Fresh Strawberry Muffins (Gluten-free)
    • Creamy Spiced Pumpkin Smoothie
    • 12 Ways to Dress Up Green Beans
    • Colorful Hearty Vegan Chili
    • Easy Instant Pot Chicken Broth

    Footer

    as seen on

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer
    • Terms & Conditions

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Menu

    • Home
    • About
    • Contact
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest

    As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.