Sticky Spicy Baby Back Ribs
These sticky spicy baby back ribs are perfectly sweet and spicy. If you don’t own a grill don’t worry. I give directions for making these in the oven too!
Servings: 4 servings
Ingredients
For ribs:
- 2 racks baby back ribs about 4 pounds
- 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1-½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1-½ teaspoons chipotle chile powder
- 1-½ teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
For sauce:
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1-½ cups diced yellow onion
- 6 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons grated fresh ginger
- 1-½ cups ketchup
- ½ cup apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup water
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce
- 1-½ teaspoons kosher salt
- ¾ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
For ribs:
- Line a large, rimmed baking sheet pan with a double layer of foil, and spray the foil with non-stick spray.
- Pat ribs dry and lay racks on the baking sheet pan.
- In a small bowl, whisk together brown sugar, smoked paprika, kosher salt, chipotle chili powder, cumin, allspice, and black peper.
- Rub ribs with spice mixture and marinate, meaty sides up, covered and chilled, 2-½ hours.
- Bring ribs to room temperature, about 30 minutes.
- Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Cover pan tightly with foil; bake 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove foil.
- Make sauce while ribs bake:
For sauce:
- Cook onion, garlic, and ginger in oil in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 6 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, 15 minutes.
- Purée sauce in 2 or 3 batches in a blender until smooth (use caution when blending hot liquids). Set aside 1 cup sauce for serving with ribs.
For grilling:
- Prepare grill for cooking over indirect heat with medium-hot charcoal (moderate heat for gas); see Grilling Procedure.
- To cook ribs using a charcoal grill: Lightly oil grill rack, then transfer ribs to area of rack with no coals underneath, reserving pan juices, and cook, covered with lid, basting generously with pan juices and sauce and turning over and rotating ribs every 10 minutes (keep ribs over indirect heat), until tender and browned, 30 to 40 minutes total. Transfer ribs to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes before cutting into individual ribs.
- To cook ribs using a gas grill: Lightly oil grill rack, then transfer ribs to rack above shut-off burner, reserving pan juices. Grill, covered with lid, basting generously with pan juices and sauce and turning over and rotating ribs every 10 minutes (keep ribs over shut-off burner), until ribs are tender and browned, 30 to 40 minutes total. Transfer ribs to a cutting board and let stand 5 minutes before cutting into individual ribs.
For oven:
- Remove the top sheet of foil and continue to bake ribs, uncovered, basting generously with sauce and pan juices every 10 minutes and turning ribs after 20 minutes, 40 minutes total.
- Then turn on broiler and broil ribs, meaty sides up, 4 to 6 inches from heat until browned, about 3 minutes