Slow-Baked BBQ Short Ribs
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
BBQ short ribs make an easy dinner that pleases kids and adults alike.
For easy, family-pleasing comfort food, you can’t beat meltingly tender short ribs in a sweet and tangy barbecue sauce. Inspired by Sunny Anderson’s BBQ short ribs, this simple recipe requires just 15 minutes of hands-on prep, and then the oven does the rest. Unlike many roast or stew recipes, it’s not necessary to sear the meat first. Instead, you season the meat with salt and pepper and slather them with a quick homemade BBQ sauce – a mixture of ketchup, brown sugar, cider vinegar, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, and seasoning. Then you put the dish in the oven to bake for 3 hours, go about your day, and let deliciousness ensue. Serve with mashed potatoes or cornbread and a roasted vegetable.
Table of Contents
What You’ll Need To Make Slow-Baked BBQ Short Ribs
Count on about one pound of boneless short ribs per person. I know it seems like a lot but they shrink significantly while cooking, and people tend to eat generous portions. If you can only find bone-in short ribs, they will work but may take a bit longer to cook.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Begin by cutting the short ribs in half and seasoning them with salt and pepper. Place them in a 9×13-inch baking dish.
Next, make the homemade BBQ sauce by combining the ketchup, dark brown sugar, cider vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, Dijon mustard and spices in a small bowl.
Whisk to combine.
Slather about 2/3 of the sauce all over the meat, and reserve the rest for the finished dish.
Cover the pan with aluminum foil and bake at 300°F for about 2-1/2 hours.
Remove the foil, pour off some of the cooking liquid and cook for 30 minutes more, or until the meat is tender and browned.
Transfer the meat to a platter, leaving the cooking liquid behind, and slather with the reserved BBQ sauce.
You May Also Like
Video Tutorial
Slow-Baked BBQ Short Ribs
BBQ short ribs make an easy dinner that pleases kids and adults alike.
Ingredients
For the Ribs
- 4 pounds boneless beef short ribs, cut into 4-inch long pieces
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
For the BBQ Sauce
- 1 cup ketchup
- ¾ cup dark brown sugar, packed
- 1½ tablespoons cider vinegar
- 1½ tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1½ tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 1½ teaspoons chili powder
- ¾ teaspoons garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F.
- Season the ribs all over with salt and pepper, then arrange in a 9x13-inch baking dish (it will be a tight squeeze).
- Combine all of the ingredients for the BBQ sauce in a small bowl and stir until smooth.
- Pour ⅓ of the sauce (about ½ cup) over the ribs. Using tongs, flip the ribs over and spoon another ⅓ of the sauce over top. Reserve the remaining BBQ sauce to spoon over the cooked ribs. Cover the pan with aluminum foil and roast for 2½ hours. Remove the foil and, if the cooking liquid is covering the meat, use a large spoon or ladle to remove some of the liquid so that the tops are exposed. (Note: the meat will look unappetizing at this stage; don't worry, it will look much better once it's done!) Cook for 30 minutes more, uncovered, until the meat is tender and browned. Cut off any excess fat that remains around the short ribs. Transfer the short ribs to a serving platter. Discard the cooking liquid, as it will be very greasy. Slather the reserved BBQ sauce over the short ribs and serve.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The ribs can be frozen for up to 3 months. Reheat them tightly covered with foil in a 300°F oven until heated through.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Per serving (4 servings)
- Calories: 1,320
- Fat: 87g
- Saturated fat: 37g
- Carbohydrates: 59g
- Sugar: 54g
- Fiber: 1g
- Protein: 80g
- Sodium: 2327mg
- Cholesterol: 331mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
Really delicious, easy recipe.
Jenn, props to you! Your recipes are easy, reliable and consistently great. There’s very few chefs whose recipes I’ll make for the first time for guests, but like Barefoot Contessa, Maida Heatter and the Silver Palate folks, I know your recipes are reliably great.
❤️
Best dish. Really enjoyed it. Thanks for sharing
I was NOT happy. Meat was tough. Followed recipe to a T. I’m a great cook…family and neighbors literally beg me to open a restaurant. I always follow your recipes…NEVER had a fail til now!
Hi Michele, I’m sorry that these didn’t come out as expected. If they were tough, it’s likely they were undercooked. As long as you used the right cut of meat, they should’ve eventually have gotten tender (you really can’t overcook these).
Missed the ” boneless” part, so I’m cooking with bones in…hope they come out as delicious as everyone that used boneless did
I followed the recipe to a “T” and after 2.5 hrs the meat was very tender and looked great!
But when I uncovered and did another .5 hr, they came out tough and black!!!!
It took me awhile to understand that the amount of sugar in the sauce burned at 300 degrees for that long
Lesson learned: don’t uncover the meat , serve it after the 2.5 hrs or keep it covered on warm.
The bbq sauce recipe was delish, I added a tsp more of vinegar was all
Thanks for a great recipe!
Absolutely delicious! My fourth time making this dish. My husband loves it and so do I.
I bought a smaller pack of boneless short ribs at Costco, 4 pieces, 2 were thinner, all just under 2 lbs. So I used a 8″ square glass pan, cut the ribs in half and put the 2 thinner pieces in the middle of pan. I cut the bbq sauce recipe in half. (I always worry about reducing a recipe) There was no water on top but all around the outside so I didn’t remove any.
This recipe was so easy with no fuss and they turned out so tender and delicious. Even the thinner cuts. Thank you.
Loved the BBQ sauce recipe! Great ratio of sweet to spicy. Meal came out really well.
I believe I might have overcooked the ribs as they were not as moist and flaky as I would have liked even though I paid close attention to the cooking time and visually checked them often.
Any suggestion on how I can know they are cooked through? Would a meat thermometer be helpful?
Thank you.
Hi Kevin, sorry to hear that the ribs weren’t moist. It’s really hard to overcook these but if you want more of a guarantee next time, you could use a meat thermometer – you’d be aiming for 200°. It could be that the ribs that you got were not a great cut and just not fatty enough. Hope that helps at least a bit!
delicious over rice. i used a korean bbq sauce marinade and added a bit of brown sugar. will do again. perfect!
I made this recipe last summer and served the BBQ ribs over mashed cauliflower instead of potatoes. These ribs were incredibly delicious and my guests ate multiple servings. What a compliment! Thank you for sharing this.