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Recipes

These 5-Ingredient Barbecue Ribs Are the Easiest You’ll Ever Make

This article is written by a student writer from the Spoon University at CSU chapter.

My ex-boyfriend’s big claim to fame was his barbecue ribs. They took hours on the grill, he got fancy with wood chips, foil, braising them in sauce and the like. Since then I’ve conducted my own rib experiments and found that this recipe is fool-proof, easy, and it takes less than three hours, with only about 15 minutes of active time (plus they taste better than his did!)

The amounts in this recipe are just a base, and it’s really easy to make more ribs — just add more racks and make sure to season them equally. These ribs are great when served with roasted potatoes and asparagus, or just on their own — you do you. 

Easiest Barbecue Ribs

Difficulty:BeginnerPrep time: 15 minutesCook time:2 hours 30 minutesTotal time:2 hours 45 minutesServings:2 servings

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Rachael Worthington

    First, make sure that your ribs are defrosted. If you bought the frozen variety, the fastest way to do this is to fill a big bowl or your sink with cool water, and submerge the plastic-wrapped ribs for around 30 minutes. You’ll be able to tell by feel if the meat depresses a little when you poke it whether the ribs are defrosted enough. Preheat oven to 350°F.

  2. Rachael Worthington

    Grab a rimmed baking sheet (a casserole dish could also work depending on the size of your ribs) and line it with aluminum foil. It’s important to try to get the pan covered with a tight seal if you don’t want some major cleanup once the ribs are done.

  3. Rachael Worthington

    Place your rack of ribs on the baking sheet bone side down, and rub a generous amount of salt and pepper into the ribs. This is where you can also sprinkle on 1/2 teaspoon of cumin. If you want to get more creative with it, you can incorporate other spices of your choosing, or you can even take the used coffee grounds from that morning to rub into the ribs as well (fresh works fine too). It doesn’t add too much coffee flavor but it does add some complexity and more texture.

  4. Rachael Worthington

    Now brush on a decent layer of barbecue sauce. If you don’t have any kind of basting brush, I’ve found that a spoon works just as well.

  5. Rachael Worthington

    Cover the ribs with foil and crimp the foil to the edge of the pan to keep everything nice and sealed. This will basically steam the ribs in the oven. Place the tray on the lower or middle oven rack, and set your timer for 2 hours.

  6. Rachael Worthington

    Once the 2 hours are up, take your ribs out of the oven and carefully remove the aluminum foil. Some steam will have collected so you don’t want to just unleash that on your poor hands. Up the oven temperature to 375ºF.

  7. Rachael Worthington

    Brush a generous amount of barbecue sauce on the ribs, and then put them back in the oven on the top rack uncovered. Set your timer for 30 minutes, and the ribs will be done once they have an adequate amount of char on top that suits your liking.

  8. Rachael Worthington

    Before serving, slather those babies with even more barbecue sauce, cut them between ribs, and serve. I’d put the remaining barbecue sauce on the table too, so people can have their ribs as saucy as they like them.

  9. Rachael Worthington

    And voila! You’ve just made barbecue ribs fit for company! Ribs can be difficult on the grill, but with this method, you really can’t go wrong.

I'm double-majoring in journalism and graphic design at CSU, and I've always had a passion for food. Cooking and baking are by far my favorite hobbies, whenever I'm not trying out new restaurants or scouring kitchen and spice shops.