🍖 Baby back ribs
Baby back ribs are short, curved pork ribs cut from the top of the rib cage, near the loin. They are rubbed with a dry mix of paprika, brown sugar, salt and spices, smoked low and slow until the meat pulls away from the bone, then glazed with sticky barbecue sauce. The result is tender, smoky and sweet-tangy, served by the half or full rack with coleslaw or corn on the cob.
Diets
Allergens
None of the 14 major allergens in a typical recipe.
What it is made of
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 racks pork baby back ribs, about 1.6 kg
- 2 tbsp sweet paprika, 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp salt, 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder, ½ tsp chili powder
- 200 ml tomato ketchup-style barbecue sauce
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Method
- Pull the thin membrane off the back of each rack and pat the ribs dry.
- Mix the paprika, sugar, salt, pepper, garlic, onion and chili powders and rub it all over the ribs. Rest for 1 hour or overnight in the fridge.
- Smoke the ribs at 110–120 °C for about 4–5 hours, spritzing with the vinegar every hour, until the meat is tender and pulls back from the bone ends. In an oven, bake covered at 140 °C for 3 hours.
- Brush with barbecue sauce and cook 20–30 minutes more, until the glaze is sticky.
- Rest 10 minutes, then cut between the bones and serve.
How to make it lighter
- Barbecue sauce is mostly sugar: brush on a thin layer and skip extra sauce at the table.
- Count the ribs: a quarter rack with a big green salad or slaw dressed in vinegar is a much lighter plate than a full rack with fries.
- Halve the sugar in the rub — the smoke and spices still give plenty of flavour.
History
Slow-smoking pork over wood is a long tradition of the American South, with regional styles in the Carolinas, Memphis, Kansas City and Texas. The name “baby back” refers to the shorter length of these ribs compared with spare ribs, not to the age of the animal. Today they are a staple of barbecue joints and backyard grills across the United States.
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Values are estimates per 100 g for a typical recipe; home and restaurant versions vary. Diets and allergens are worked out from the ingredients of a typical recipe — always check with whoever cooked the dish. Not medical advice. Nutrition data: Me Nutrition dish database v13. How we count →