Easy oven-baked pork ribs

Make-ahead method yields the most tender, flavourful ribs!

I love this super simple rib recipe not only for its excellent flavour but also because it doesn’t ask you to pre-cook the ribs or finish them on the grill to caramelize them. Best of all, since the racks are cut into individual ribs up prior to cooking, they come out of the oven ready to serve! As a bonus, you can prepare the ribs and sauce ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze before baking. We like to enjoy these ribs with baked potatoes so we can spoon a little of the sauce on top; coleslaw is also a great accompaniment.

Ingredients

• 1 cup (250 mL) ketchup
• 1 cup (250 mL) water
• 1 tablespoon (15 mL) Worcestershire sauce
• 1/3 cup (90 mL) cider vinegar
• 1/2 cup (125 mL) brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon (5 mL) powdered mustard
• few drops liquid smoke (optional but delicious)
• 1 small-medium onion (enough for 1 cup chopped)
• 2 – 3 pounds (1 – 1.3 kg) lean pork back ribs

Method

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• In a medium bowl or large measuring cup, whisk together the ketchup, water, cider vinegar, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce, powdered mustard and liquid smoke (if using) to create the sauce. Set aside.
• Finely chop the onion and set aside.
• Remove the thin skin-like membrane on the bone side of the rack of ribs to make them cook up more tender and flavourful. Working on bone side of ribs, slit thin membrane at the end of each rack with the tip of a sharp knife. With a piece of paper towel, pull membrane off the back of the ribs. Click here for a quick demo!
• Once the membrane is off, cut the racks into individual ribs.
• I recommend lining your roasting pan with foil for easy cleanup. Lay ribs down on their sides, close together. The pan should be pan just large enough to hold the ribs in one layer. Lay the ribs on their sides in the pan.
• Sprinkle chopped onions over ribs, tucking them between the ribs. Pour sauce over ribs and onions. Cover pan with foil. At this point the ribs can be refrigerated for up to 48 hours or frozen and then tightly wrapped for up to 3 months’ storage.
• When ready to cook, place the ribs (thawed, if frozen) in oven, preheated to 350F.
• After one hour of cooking, remove pan from oven. Remove foil covering and turn ribs over using tongs, so that the side that was exposed is now nestled in the sauce. Leave foil off and return pan to oven for 1 hour if planning to pause the cooking (see below) or, if serving soon, leave in oven for 80 minutes rather than 1 hour.
• If you wish to pause, after the second hour of baking, the ribs can be removed from oven, recovered with foil and placed in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours then return them to a 350F oven for 20-30 minutes at serving time.
• Ribs are ready when nicely glazed and the sauce has reduced and thickened. Serve hot, with additional sauce spooned over top (or on hot baked potatoes), if desired.

Serves 4 – 6.