Summer means grilling and grilling means ribs. I know I have a lot of rib recipes on this site but I’m always trying something different with one of my favorite foods. This time around, I decided to mess with the sauce a little bit. I wanted something that had a little fruity tang so I added some marmalade and a juicy, fresh, nectarine to the sauce. The slightly sweet sauce with a little acidic bite from the apple cider vinegar balanced out the rich and decadent ribs. The slight change in sauce flavor made for a completely different and delicious taste! Besides tasting delicious, my favorite part about these ribs was the manner in which I prepared them. Ribs typically aren’t a quick weeknight meal, but by using an old restaurant and catering preparation technique, I was able to make them into an easy workday dinner! I cooked the ribs low and slow in the oven for 4 – 5 hours, like I wrote in the recipe, but once they were cooked, instead of taking them straight to the grill, I cooled them down and then refrigerated them. When I got home from work the next day, all I had to do was fire up the grill, brush them with sauce and grill for a few minutes until they were hot throughout. By adjusting my preparation and thinking ahead a bit, I was able to turn low and slow, juicy and succulent baby back ribs into a quick weeknight meal!
I cooked these a day ahead of time and then sauced them and grilled until hot throughout.
Just a pile of meaty goodness…
Up close..juicy and tender.
Baby Back Ribs with Tangy Homemade BBQ Sauce
Baby Back Ribs with Homemade BBQ Sauce
Ingredients:
- **For the BBQ Sauce**
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup orange marmalade
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 ripe nectarine
- 2 tbsp. apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tbsp. honey
- 1 tbsp. ground fresh chili paste (I always usually Sambal Oelek by Huy Fong Foods)
- 1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
- **For the Rub**
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 3 tbsp. chili powder
- 2 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. white pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. dry thyme
- 1/4 tsp. all-spice
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 2 slab baby back ribs, silver skin removed (about 3 pounds total)
Directions:
- Add all the BBQ sauce ingredients to a blender. Blend for 20 – 30 seconds until smooth.
- Pour sauce into a medium pot over low heat. Cook, stirring often, for 30 minutes.
- Remove from heat and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Add all of the rub ingredients, except the ribs, to a medium bowl. Mix well to combine.
- Evenly rub the rub onto both sides of the ribs.
- Wrap ribs in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 4 hours, up to 24.
- Remove ribs from refrigerator about 30 minutes before you plan on cooking.
- Pre-heat oven to 250 degrees.
- Remove ribs from plastic wrap and wrap each slab in foil, closing at the top to form a pouch.
- Place foil pouches onto a sheet pan and bake for 4 – 5 hours, basting both sides of the slabs of ribs with sauce every 30 minutes.
- After 4 – 5 hours, remove ribs from oven and foil.
- Pre-heat grill to medium heat.
- Brush ribs with more sauce and grill both sides, for 5 – 7 minutes, brushing with more sauce as needed.
- Remove from grill and let rest 5 minutes before cutting.
- Serve immediately.
Tagged: baby back ribs, grilling, homemade bbq sauce, marmalade, molasses, nectarine, oven-baked ribs, pork, summer, summer recipes
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