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Try this unique, quick, and easy baked pork ribs recipe for totally juicy and flavor-packed ribs you’ve ever had. This recipe calls for very few ingredients, and the overall cooking time is much shorter than the usual 2-3 hours of slow cooking them in the oven. Yet, the result is much softer and tastier meat. With this cooking method, the ribs get to retain their juices and thus, softness and flavor. You will find that you do not even need to add barbecue sauce to them because you want to savor the original taste of the ribs (of course, you can add any sauces of your choice when serving).
Try this popular delicacy following this recipe and serve it to family and friends, especially during get-togethers or cook-out events, then sit, relax, and wait for the praises.
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Serving Suggestions
Baked pork ribs are perfect to be eaten alone and they also go well with a ton of side dishes. Think mac n cheese, white rice, beans, kale or collard greens, cabbage, and so much more. Here are my suggestions on what side dishes to serve with this delicacy, and I have included links to awesome recipes for some of the dishes:
- Baked pork ribs with sautéed kale and ugali or white rice.
- Baked pork ribs with chapati and sautéed cabbage.
- Baked pork ribs with mac n cheese (link coming soon)
Additional Tips for Best Baked Pork Ribs
- Consider cutting the slab into pieces of one rib each if it is a long and large (spareribs) slab. The one I used in this recipe was a short and smaller slab, usually called the ‘back ribs.’ I cut it into 2-rib pieces, so they are not too small.
- You can also mix the ¼ cup of water with the ground spices and salt in a bowl and pour the mixture directly onto the ribs in the cooking pot if you would like to move a little faster.
- If you’d like spicy ribs, add ½ tsp of cayenne pepper to the ground spices in step 3 above.
- Do not add too much water into the cooking pot as the ribs will release their own liquid too as they boil. You want all the liquid to have dried up by the time you transfer the ribs to the oven so you can use the thick residue to coat the ribs for added flavor and color. This won’t be achieved if the residue is too runny.
- You can also use parchment paper in place of aluminum foil to line the baking tray. However, note that parchment does not catch oil and residue as well as aluminum foil does.
- The ribs will be well done by the time you place them in the oven. Therefore, you’re only going for browning and texture improvement in the oven. Take them off the oven as soon as you achieve your desired level of brownness.
- Note: Pork ribs are usually fatty. Do not turn the oven heat up more than instructed in the recipe because that could result in rushed browning in which a lot of fat will be retained in the meat. Slower baking will allow time for more fat to melt, giving you crispier ribs.
Storing and Reheating Leftover Baked Pork Ribs
- Store any left pieces in the fridge using an airtight container. Meat dries out when exposed to air for long.
- Reheat leftover pieces in a regular oven or the microwave. Microwaving is a much quicker option, and the result is just as good. Not that these ribs reheat pretty quickly compared to soupy foods. Take off the microwave as soon as they begin to sizzle to avoid drying out.
