Easy Fall-Off-The-Bone, Oven-Baked Ribs | Memorial Day Cookout

Do you want to make fall-off-the-bone ribs in half the time with no fuss? Read on.

Easy fall-off-the-bone, oven-baked ribs are so simple and quick to make. They require no grill, no smoke, and just a few ingredients. Serve these ribs for your next picnic or gathering. These simple oven-baked ribs will be the star of your Memorial Day, Father's Day, or July Fourth feast. In less than two hours, you will have tender and delicious ribs and even that coveted crusty bark. You can bake these ribs the night before and, on the day of the picnic, quickly finish them under the broiler or on the grill. My friends and family love this recipe and can't believe I bake them in the oven and use store-bought sauce.

Can You Bake Ribs in the Oven? Yes, You Can!

BBQ is an art form and a big deal. Cities the world over hold annual rib fests where vendors train all year long to flaunt their meaty muscles, like Pittsburgh's Rib Fest.

So much goes into BBQ and it takes a long time. A pit master might tend to the fire up to 15 hours. Other factors matter, too, like the type of wood used, the number of coals, the surrounding wind, and the temperature.

Watch Me Make Easy Fall-Off-The-Bone, Oven-Baked Ribs | Memorial Day Cookout on YouTube!

Traditional Barbecue

Traditional barbecued ribs is a labor of love: that tender, juicy meat, that smoky bark, that sticky, tangy, spicy, sweet sauce that coats our fingers and our faces as we go all in.

With all that time and knowledge, it seems natural that when upon seeing a pack of vacuumed-packed ribs in your local supermarket, you might shudder with fear and hurry by.

Make no mistake, I am not comparing this recipe with those of a rib master, but it still delivers tasty, fall-off-the-bone ribs, and even a little bark too.

How To Make Fall-Off-The-Bone, Oven-Baked Ribs

I first discovered this method from Bobby Flay. Most oven-baked recipes involve the "low and slow" approach, cooking ribs at a temperature of around 225 degrees F for three hours or more. Flay cooks his ribs at the maximum heat for just over an hour.

The trick is to set the ribs on a raised rack inside a pan with at least 2-inch sides. (I use a half-sheet cake pan.) Fill the pan with liquid, and cover tightly with foil, allowing for the ribs to steam. The other thing I do that would make a pit master's eyes roll is buy jarred barbecue sauce. Many of those great masters actually bottle their own sauce anyway, and you can buy them, but I just buy what I like or what's on sale and it turns out great every time.

For the steam, Flay uses water, orange juice, ginger, and soy sauce, but you can just use water or impart different flavors by getting creative with other ingredients.

Tightly wrap your ribs in foil and let them cook on your oven's highest setting. After an hour and a half, remove the foil and brush the ribs with barbecue sauce. Broil each side for 3-5 minutes. Brush them again with a little more barbecue sauce and broil for a few more minutes. You can repeat this process until you achieve the bark you desire.

Make Oven-Baked Ribs Ahead of Time

I love making these ribs for a Memorial Day cookout, a Father's Day feast, or a Fourth of July Picnic. But when I host these gatherings, I want to enjoy my guests. The easiest way to do that is to make recipes that can be made ahead of time.

The night before a cookout or barbecue, I make my oven baked ribs, cooking them in the oven for an hour and a half. I then transfer them onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, wrap them tightly with foil and refrigerate overnight.

When I'm ready to finish my oven-baked ribs, I take them out of the fridge an hour before (so they can come to room temperature). I then brush them with BBQ sauce and broil them on each side. You can also finish them on the grill.

Recipes That Go Well With Oven-Baked Ribs

Tomato and Bread Panzanella Salad

Roasted Veggie Salad

Penne Pesto Salad with Mozzarella and Tomatoes

How to Get Your Ribs to Fall Right Off the Bone

After cooking these ribs for an hour and a half, they will be super moist and tender, but if you want them completely to slide off the bone, I'll share a little secret with you. Do nothing. Just take your ribs out of the oven and let them rest with the foil on. The steam bath will continue working. Let your oven-baked ribs rest like this for another hour, or longer if you like, and your ribs will slide right off the bone.

The Easiest Way for Making Tender Ribs

It feels so good when people ask you to make a recipe over and over. These easy, fall-off-the-bone, oven-baked ribs have become a favorite of my children's friends, my friends' husbands, and my own husband and family as well. This method for making oven-baked ribs is the easiest and offers the biggest reward - moist and tender ribs, sticky barbecue sauce, and that awesome bark on top.

Easy Fall-Off-The-Bone, Oven-Baked Ribs | Memorial Day Cookout

Want tender, fall-off-bone-ribs without all the time and fuss. These oven-baked ribs will be the star of your Memorial Day, Father's Day, or July Fourth picnic.

5 from 1 vote

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Course Dinner

Cuisine American

Ingredients

  

• 1 rack baby-back ribs (2½-3½ lb)
• 2 TBSP vegetable oil
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 8 cups water
• 2 tsp ground ginger
• juice of one orange
• 2 tsp kosher salt
• ½ tsp cracked, black pepper
• 2 cups BBQ sauce (plus more if desired)

Instructions

 

• Preheat your oven to the broil setting (550 degrees F)
• Pour soy sauce and water into the pan. Add the ginger and orange juice and stir.
• Place a raised rack inside a pan with sides at least 2 inches high. Pat the ribs with paper towels until they are dry. Remove the membrane from the underside of the ribs and then place the ribs on the rack. Rub the ribs on both sides with oil and season with salt and pepper.
• Cover the ribs tightly with foil. Place covered ribs on the middle rack in the oven and bake for 1 ½ hours.
• Open the oven and carefully remove the foil. Baste the top of the ribs with barbecue sauce and broil for 3-5 minutes or until desired brownness is achieved. Flip ribs over and repeat on the ribs' underside. Make sure to keep a close watch.
• Carefully take the pan out of the oven (the liquid will be extremely hot). Baste with more sauce and serve.

Notes

For the steaming liquid, the original recipe calls for water, orange juice, ginger, and soy sauce, but you can just use water or impart different flavors by getting creative with other ingredients.

Once your ribs are cooked, you can finish them on the grill (following the same steps listed above). Also, I find the easiest way to cut ribs is from the underside. You'll see the bones instead of the meat and easily cut between them. Lastly, if you want the meat to fall completely off the bone, once they’ve been cooked, covered, for 1 ½ hours. Shut the oven off and keep them in there for another hour or two then finish as directed above.