Name: Kansas City-Style Baby Back Ribs
Ingredients: 2 2-pound racks baby back pork ribs; 1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar, divided; 1/4 cup chili powder; 3 tablespoons sweet paprika; 1 tablespoon salt; 1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper; 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper; 1 1/2 cups chopped onion; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 6 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1 1/2 cups ketchup; 1/2 cup cider vinegar; 1/3 cup yellow (ballpark) mustard; 1/4 cup molasses (not blackstrap); 3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce; 1 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste; 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

Slow-cooked and broiled in the oven, these sweet ribs can be made year-round.

Ingredients

2 2-pound racks baby back pork ribs

1/4 cup plus 1/3 cup (packed) light or dark brown sugar, divided

1/4 cup chili powder

3 tablespoons sweet paprika

1 tablespoon salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

1 1/2 cups chopped onion

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

6 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 1/2 cups ketchup

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/3 cup yellow (ballpark) mustard

1/4 cup molasses (not blackstrap)

3 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

1 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste

1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)

Preparation

Step 1
Line a large heavy rimmed baking sheet with foil and put rib racks side by side in pan.
Step 2
In a bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, and cayenne and rub onto both sides of racks. Let ribs stand, meaty sides up, at room temperature, 1 hour.
Step 3
Preheat oven to 325°. Cover pan tightly with foil and bake ribs 1 1/2 hours.
Step 4
Make sauce while ribs bake: Cook onion in oil in a 3-4-quart heavy pot over medium-low heat, covered, stirring occasionally, until tender, 10-15 minutes. Add garlic and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients, including remaining 1/3 cup brown sugar, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes. Cool sauce slightly and purée in a food processor. Set aside 1 cup sauce for serving.
Step 5
Remove foil cover and turn racks over so bone ends curve up, then baste ribs with pan juices and spread generously with some sauce. Continue to bake, uncovered, 30 minutes. Turn racks over, then baste again with pan juices and top generously with more sauce. Continue to bake until tender when pierced with a small knife, 30-45 minutes.
Step 6
Broil ribs, meaty sides up, 4"-6" inches from heat, until browned, 2-3 minutes. Serve with reserved sauce.

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Reviews (12)

We followed the recipe 100% until the broil part. Instead of broiling in the over, we put these on a hot grill to brown/crisp. Brilliant!
- Trish Donlon
- Cambridge, MD
- 6/12/2022
Excellent, fall of the bone good and not that complicated! To ease the prep, I used store bought BBQ sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's). I have not needed to broil the ribs at the end to get a good outer texture (and in some cases the broil step at the end burnt them a bit much for our taste) - so make sure to watch them at this final stage. These give me confidence that if we ever move somewhere that doesn't have BBQ our family can survive and get our fix!
- k5
- Seattle, WA
- 4/14/2020
This is the best recipe I've ever found for oven baked baby back spare ribs. I've used this recipe at least a dozen times and have never been disappointed. I highly recommend it!
- Kips Bay, NY
- 11/27/2019
I am only reviewing the ribs and rub, I used a bottled BBQ sauce(I never have much luck with BBQ sauce). The rub is sweet and spicy, and added a nice flavor to the ribs, they turned out very tender. Preparation was easy, every one really enjoyed them and I had rave reviews from all the guests. This is a keeper for our family.
- riker65
- WI
- 6/16/2019
Have made these twice to rave reviews.
- mashpaug
- Naples, Fl
- 2/13/2019
I use this method for bone in pork chops. Dry rub, bake tightly covered at 325 for 45 minutes. Uncover, slather with bbq sauce and continue to bake at 400 until the sauce caramelizes, about 20 minutes. Let the chops rest for 10 minutes.
- beezus228
- Woodbury, CT
- 2/2/2019
I've made this recipe 3 or 4 times and honestly don't know why I don't make them more often. The instructions are easy to follow and the ingredients are always on hand. They turn out delicious and if you want to tweak the flavors a bit to make them more spicy, or whatever, it's easy to do. I love these, as does everyone I've made them for... so much better than those pre-sauced ribs you find in the grocery store.
- sukipoodle
- Ashland, Oregon
- 12/22/2018
These were delicious! My hubby is very picky abotu his ribs and sauce and he loved these. The sauce is sweet, smokey and spicy, the BBQ trifecta. I used a sweet smoked paprika that I picked up at a spice boutique. I left out the optional smoke flavor because of that. The ribs cooked perfectly, fall-off-the-bone tender and finishing under the broiler gave a nice char and carmelized the sugar. I wouldn't change a thing
- lornakb
- Katy, TX
- 7/31/2016
Great for when you either don't have the time or can't grill them outside. This has become our standard oven recipe. Easy and tasty. We generally use store bought sauce, but the rub is great .
- pmorows
- Chicago, IL
- 7/4/2016
I've never quite understood why there are so few reviews of this recipe. When I made it the first time, we loved it, and I've since made it maybe a dozen times. The taste is fantastic, and the ribs have always melted in the mouth. VERY juicy, tender and flavorful. The nice thing is that the recipe is very forgiving and flexible in the sense that I can make it less spicy if I'm cooking for the folks and more spicy if I'm cooking for the kids. Also, if I don't have the exact ingredients, it still tastes good with reasonable substitutions or varying amounts. Ball I almost always make a double batch of the sauce and then it's super easy to make again, if you just start early enough. Give these a shot. I'd be surprised if you didn't like them.
- mediachef
- 4/18/2015
I had high hopes for these since they smelled so good cooking. I made the recipe exactly as written, except (thank goodness) I cut it in half. These are awful. They're dry, the barbecue sauce has a terrible texture and a boring flavor, and upon reheating my leftovers, they became practically inedible. I've made other ribs in the oven before with a different flavor profile that stay moist and tender, but I was looking for a BBQ flavor so I tried these. Stay away!
- millerer
- Mt. Holly, NJ
- 2/5/2015
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- Joan huber
- Alamo? Ca
- 7/17/2023