Easy Oven-Baked Barbecue Ribs Recipe

These are the easiest barbecue ribs you will ever make. And because they’re baked in the oven, you don’t have to babysit them and can take back that time to do other things. With just a few ingredients and a couple of key techniques, you’ll have deliciously tender ribs that’ll make you want to eat the entire rack by yourself.

What Do You Season Ribs With?

This recipe keeps it super simple with just salt and pepper, which I tried doing for the first time back over the summer. As much as I love a good spice rub with brown sugar, paprika, onion powder, and such—which you can certainly use here—sometimes simple is best. But feel free to use whatever spices and seasonings you want to make them your own. (I’ve even used the North African spice blend ras el hanout before.)

When it comes to sauces, if you want to go the extra mile by making your own homemade barbecue sauce, then I certainly won’t stop you. But to keep with the “easy” part of this recipe title, your favorite store-bought sauce will certainly do the trick.

What Temperature and How Long Do You Cook Ribs in the Oven?

These ribs are cooked low and slow so that they become fall-off-the-bone tender. So that means cooking them at 275˚F to 300˚F for about 2 hours to get them to the point where they melt in your mouth. I finish them off with a coating of barbecue sauce at high heat to get some nice color and voila! You’re ready to chow down. (If you want to cook ribs in the oven quickly, then you can certainly increase the temperature to 350˚F to 375˚F, but the tradeoff is that they won’t be as tender.)

What Do You Serve With Barbecue Ribs?

Southern-Style Potato Salad
Cucumber Tomato Salad
Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Coleslaw
Skillet Cornbread

Easy Oven-Baked Barbecue Ribs

These are the easiest barbecue ribs you will ever make. With just a few ingredients and a couple of key techniques, you’ll have deliciously tender ribs.

Ingredients

• 1 rack of ribs
• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon coarse-ground black pepper
• 1 cup barbecue sauce

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 300˚F.
2. Remove the membrane that covers the boney side of the ribs. You can do this by running your knife along the bones and then pulling the membrane away. Coat the ribs all over with the salt and pepper. Wrap them in aluminum foil, put them on a rimmed baking sheet, and bake them in the oven until very tender, about 2 hours.
3. Take the ribs out of the oven and increase temperature to 450˚F. Open the foil packet, brush with the barbecue sauce, and bake until the ribs have taken on some nice color, 10 to 15 minutes. Let cool slightly before serving.