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Last Updated on October 3, 2019

I don’t know about you, but in my house, my husband is the grill master. There’s nothing he loves more on a summer day than to slowly smoke some meat over the grill. He doesn’t mind even if it takes several hours because then the meat is so tender, it falls off the bones.

Barbecued ribs are always a favorite. But to cook ribs the right way on the grill takes a minimum of three hours, and sometimes you just don’t have that much time. When you want BBQ ribs but you don’t have the hours to spend over the grill, you don’t have to give up. Try these delicious oven barbecued ribs instead.

Baked BBQ Ribs

The biggest challenge with making barbecue ribs is that sometimes the weather won’t cooperate with grilling. Whether you live in a place like the Pacific Northwest where it’s frequently raining or you get a craving in the middle of winter, sometimes you just can’t spend hours over a grill.

Baking them in the oven isn’t necessarily faster than grilling them, so you still get that slow-roasted tenderness. But the one advantage of baking them in the oven is that you can more or less just fix it and forget it. You won’t have to spend a lot of time actively tending to the ribs.

And if you normally use a charcoal grill, you don’t have to worry about getting that smoky smell on your clothes!

The amount of taste you get from oven-baked barbecue ribs is just as flavorful as when you cook them on the grill. The meat will still be tender and falling off the bone. And when you make your own barbecue sauce as this recipe calls for, you’ll have a dish that’s all your own.

You can still call yourself the BBQ master if you serve them to company because the sauce doesn’t come pre-made from a bottle.

Best Way to Cook Ribs in the Oven

Who hasn’t missed barbecued meat in the middle of winter? When your back yard is covered in snow, it’s easy to feel wistful for the breezy days of summer. But rather than try to brush the snow off your grill and stand out on a freezing cold deck to try winter grilling, take the easier route instead.

The advantage of making your ribs in the oven (other than sparing yourself the challenge of grilling in bad weather) is that your whole house will smell like ribs. What could be more delicious than that? I think they should make scented candles that smell like barbecued meat— I would buy one!

It’s important to prep your ribs before you make this recipe. Make sure you remove the thin silvery membrane before putting the ribs in the oven; otherwise this will make them tough and a bit difficult to chew. I’m sure everyone’s had some ribs that were tougher than others. Tough, chewy ribs are a waste of perfectly good meat!

The secret to making tender ribs is not only removing the membrane but also cooking them for a long time. This is still true whether you cook them on the grill or in the oven. The recipe calls for cooking them for two hours total at 350 degrees F, but you can cook them even slower if you have the time.

If you have some extra time and want to make sure that your oven-baked barbecue ribs turn out great, try cooking them at 300 degrees F for three hours. Just make sure they’re covered in plenty of sauce and they’ll turn out perfect either way.

If you enjoyed this recipe, make sure to check out our Chicken Thighs with Brown Sugar Glaze and our Chicken Cacciatore.