Best BBQ Ribs

There is nothing better than ribs with crispy browned edges where the meat falls off the bone. These easy Best BBQ Ribs are slow-roasted in the oven with just a few simple spices but a lot of flavor. This BBQ ribs recipe requires only 5-10 minutes of hands-on prep time and the rest of the work is done by the oven.

While the Best BBQ Ribs are only AIP after the reintroduction phase, they’re still Paleo and incredibly healthy. They’re made without traditional BBQ sauce with a simple glaze that gives the ribs a wonderful flavor and the same char you could expect if you were to cook these ribs on the grill.

Enjoy these satisfyingly sticky, delicious, nightshade-free ribs with a side salad or some roasted vegetables, which can be conveniently cooked while the ribs are finishing their time in the oven.

Spices used for the Best BBQ Ribs

The spices used in this Paleo-friendly ribs recipe include salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, coriander, and cumin. The cumin and coriander give the ribs a nice smokey flavor and they’re packed with nutrients such as copper, zinc, and iron.  

Make sure to massage the spice mixture into the ribs thoroughly on both sides to ensure that every bite of BBQ ribs is full of flavor.

Ribs without traditional BBQ sauce

These nightshade-free ribs are made without a traditional, tomato-based BBQ sauce. In its place, I used a 1:1 mixture of maple syrup and raw apple cider vinegar, which I brushed onto the ribs after they were roasted. Both of these are Paleo-friendly ingredients and will not trigger an inflammatory response in the body the way traditional BBQ sauce could. 

You could also enjoy these ribs if you’ve reintroduced maple syrup after the first 30 days of AIP diet. Maple syrup is a delicious natural sweetener that offers phenolic compounds and can be a part of a healthy diet if used sparingly. If you are still following The Myers Way® or AIP diet, then I recommend to skip the maple syrup.

The secret to tender, fall-off-the-bone ribs

The secret to tender, fall-off-the bone, oven-baked ribs is to roast them low and slow. This recipe uses a 3-lb rack of pork ribs which are roasted in the oven for 2 hours at 275° F. My trick to getting perfect ribs every time is to cover the ribs, either with foil or with an oven-safe cover, so that the ribs are self-basting and the juices don’t evaporate.

The extra fat will melt off the ribs as they roast slowly, which can be drained out of the roasting pan after they come out of the oven. The ribs might not look super appetizing after roasting in a covered pan, but a maple glaze finish and some extra uncovered time in the oven will fix that!

After 2 hours of roasting the ribs at a lower temperature, turn up the oven up to 375° F, brush the ribs with the maple syrup (optional) and apple cider vinegar glaze, and roast uncovered for 5-10 minutes. Repeat this 3-4 times, or until the ribs have browned to your liking.

At this point, the ribs will smell amazing, have the classic sticky-sweet BBQ glaze you want, and practically fall apart as you cut into them. 

Enjoy the Best BBQ Ribs with roasted vegetables or a side salad. You can roast your veggies in a separate baking dish at 375F for 25-35 minutes while you glaze the ribs with the maple sauce. Some vegetables that taste amazing when roasted and will cook in a half-hour are asparagus, zucchini, yellow squash, or turnips.