Beef Back Ribs in the Oven

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Learn how to make ribs without a grill using my foolproof beef back ribs recipe, which bakes them in the oven and produces insanely juicy, flavorful, fall-off-the-bone tender ribs every single time! Finish these oven baked beef back ribs with a slathering of your favorite barbecue sauce and enjoy!

BBQ beef back ribs piled on parchment paper.

See recipe card below for full list of measurements, ingredients, and instructions.

Why This Is Your New Favorite Way To Make Ribs

The oven takes all of the guesswork out of cooking this particularly tricky cut of meat! Simply season your beef back ribs, wrap them in foil, and transfer them to the oven. Leave them to cook low and slow, before returning to perfectly tender and juicy ribs with fall-apart meat.
The quick and easy homemade dry rub included in the recipe is insanely delicious on its own. However, if you’re like me and crave even more flavor, finish your ribs off with your favorite barbecue sauce.

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What I Learned Testing This Recipe

Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs before seasoning. There’s a thin, papery membrane (called the silverskin) on the bone side of the ribs. Slide a butter knife under it at one end to loosen it, then grab it with a paper towel and peel it off in one piece. Removing it helps the seasoning penetrate better and gives you more tender ribs.
Resist the urge to pull the ribs before at least the 3 hour mark. I’ve found that by baking them wrapped in foil, the meat soaks in as much flavor as possible. If you check on them too early, you risk releasing too much steam, and therefore flavor, from the beef back ribs. Been there, done that!
Do not attempt to increase the temperature of your oven to speed up cooking time. Cooking these beef back ribs low and slow encourages the collagen in the meat to slowly break down, creating super tender beef. Again, been there, done that!

Ingredients

Beef Back Ribs – Beef back ribs are the meat remaining after the butcher removes the ribeye roast off the bones. These ribs are known for being particularly lean since they don’t contain much meat. Though you’ll still find a decent amount of beef that when properly cooked is juicy and delicious! You can make this recipe using either a full rack of beef back ribs, or sliced ribs. I used sliced ribs since an entire rack is sometimes hard to come by.

Smoked Paprika – Since we’re cooking these ribs in the oven, the smoked paprika emulates that delightful smokey flavor as if you’d cooked them on the grill. However, you can definitely use regular paprika instead and the ribs will still taste great.

Garlic & onion powder – These add so much depth to the homemade dry rub, adding layers of onion and garlic flavor in a way that really absorbs into the meat.

Salt & black pepper – I usually skip these off ingredient lists as they seem rather obvious, but don’t skimp here as you won’t be able to season the meat the whole way through by adding salt and pepper at the end of cooking if you forget to add them to the rub!

BBQ sauce – Use your favorite, this recipe can be keto, paleo and Whole30 compliant if your sauce is also compliant.

How To Make It

Prepare the ribs – If your ribs have a membrane (silverskin) on the bone side, remove it: slide a butter knife under it at one end, grip with a paper towel, and peel it off. Then preheat oven to 275° Fahrenheit. Line baking sheet with sheet of aluminum foil and set aside.

Make the dry rub – Combine all the dry rub ingredients in a mixing bowl small mixing bowl. Mix until ingredients are well blended, then cover ribs with dry rub on all sides.

Seasoned beef back ribs lined up on a cutting board.

Wrap the ribs – Place seasoned ribs on foil-lined baking sheet, bone-side up. Cover ribs with second sheet of foil and wrap edges of foil sheets tightly to seal foil around ribs.

Seasoned beef back ribs on a sheet pan lined with aluminum foil.

Bake – Place baking sheet in oven and bake ribs bone-side up for 4 hours.

Remove the foil – Unwrap the ribs and discard aluminum foil. Drain any remaining fat from baking sheet, then return ribs to baking sheet with bone side facing down.

Coat with BBQ sauce – Brush ½ cup BBQ sauce on ribs, coating ribs thoroughly on all sides.

Broil – Set the broiler to High. Place baking sheet approximately 6 inches below broiler and broil 3 to 5 minutes, or until skin of ribs is crispy and caramelized.

Caramelized BBQ beef back ribs on baking sheet.

Storage and Serving Suggestions

There are so many classic recipes that go with these ribs! Sliced bread and bread and homemade pickles, boiled corn, baked potatoes, mac and cheese, potato salad and creamy slaw are the obvious choices, but really any side dish that works with barbecue would be great here.

These ribs are best enjoyed immediately after cooking! However, you can store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days. To reheat, transfer the ribs to a baking sheet, cover them with aluminum foil, and bake at 350° Fahrenheit for 15 to 20 minutes or until warm throughout.

Frequently Asked Questions

Can I skip the broiling and finish these ribs on the grill?

I’ve written this recipe to be 100% oven based, but if you’ve got the grill going for some quick sides (rather than set up for a long slow cook) you can totally finish the ribs on the grill. Be sure to turn them quickly however as the sugar in the barbecue sauce will probably go from nicely caramelized to burnt very quickly depending on which brand you use.

Can I make these beef back ribs ahead?

Yes! Take them to the foil step then chill them in the foil up to a day ahead. Brush with BBQ sauce and broil slowly on the lowest setting allowing them to warm through while they slowely caramalize.

Can I use pork ribs instead of beef?

This recipe is built around beef’s cooking time and fat content, so pork ribs (which are usually smaller and cook faster) would need a shorter cook time — closer to 2 1/2–3 hours. If you want to swap in pork, check for doneness at the 2 hour mark. I do have recipes written specifically for pork ribs in the Instant Pot, using a sous vide method, and which are Whole30-friendly.

Side view of BBQ beef back ribs showing tender, juicy meat.

Making changes to a recipe can result in recipe failure. Any substitutions or variations listed are simple changes that I believe will work in this recipe, but results are not guaranteed.

overhead close-up image of beef back ribs

Recipe By: Sam Guarnieri

4.93 from 93 votes