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These oven baked BBQ ribs are super easy to make, fall-off-the-bone tender and glazed with a sweet, sticky and Paleo homemade BBQ sauce. Try serving them with a big batch of crunchy Dill Pickle Slaw or your favourite side dishes. No grill or smoker required!
What You Need for the Baked BBQ Ribs
- Pork Ribs: You can use either St. Louis Style side ribs or baby back ribs. Side ribs have longer bones with more fat content. Baby backs are a bit leaner and have less meat on the bone overall. Since side ribs are larger, they usually require a slightly longer cooking time.
You can substitute beef back ribs or beef plate if you don’t eat pork. Just keep in mind that beef ribs will require a slightly longer cooking time than pork, especially if they’re large in size. All of the other ingredients can be kept the same though. - Spice Rub: Feel free to season your ribs however you like. Whether it’s your own secret rub or a store-bought one you love. I personally like to make my own spice rub because it’s easy and allows me to control the ingredients and sugar content.
I prefer to season the ribs without any added sugar in the rub because I find that the sugars start to caramelize during the initial cooking process, leaving the meat a bit too firm.
Instead, I like to glaze the ribs with a sweet and sticky BBQ sauce at the end. That way only the glaze caramelizes, leaving the meat tender and juicy underneath.
Make Your Own BBQ Sauce
Just like the spice rub, I prefer to make my own BBQ sauce so that I can control the ingredients and use a natural sweetener like honey or maple syrup instead. It’s incredibly easy to make and requires only a few readily available ingredients.
One of the secrets to a well-balanced homemade BBQ sauce is to caramelize the honey with the spices first. This gives the spices a chance to bloom and release some essential oils. It also allows the honey to reduce more than if you were to just add it with all of the other ingredients at once, resulting in a more concentrated sweetness.
I like to use a sugar-free ketchup, such as Primal Kitchen brand, as the base for my BBQ sauce. It has a more complex flavour profile than just using tomato paste.
What You Need for the Dill Pickle Coleslaw
- Cabbage: You can roughly chop or thinly shred the cabbage depending on your personal preference. I like to use white cabbage for its texture and taste, but you can substitute Napa cabbage, purple cabbage or even mix in some kale if you want even more nutrients.
- Dill Pickles: If you’ve never tried adding some chopped dill pickles to your coleslaw, now’s the time! It adds a delicious tang, texture and flavour that will have you coming back for more and more.
- Green Onion: I like the colour and subtle bitterness of green onions in this coleslaw, but you can substitute any variety of onion you like.
- Fresh Parsley: You can use flat leaf or curly parsley here. If you want to echo the flavour of the pickles, try substituting some fresh dill instead!
- Apple Cider Vinegar: I like the sweetness, complexity and tang of apple cider vinegar in this coleslaw. Especially if I’m serving it with the oven baked BBQ ribs because there’s some of the same vinegar in the BBQ sauce.
- Avocado Oil Mayonnaise: To keep things Paleo-friendly, use avocado oil mayonnaise that is refined-sugar free. You can make it from scratch using the recipe in my cookbook or use your favourite store-bought jar, such as Chosen Foods.
- Honey: This is optional, but I like to sweeten the coleslaw ever so slightly with a spoon or two of honey. If you want to keep the slaw Whole30 compliant, omit the honey.
Easy Oven Baked BBQ Ribs and Dill Pickle Slaw – Paleo, Gluten-Free
These oven baked BBQ ribs are super easy to make, fall-off-the-bone tender and glazed with a sweet, sticky and Paleo homemade BBQ sauce.
Ingredients
For the Oven Baked BBQ Ribs:
- 2 racks St. Louis style side ribs or baby back ribs
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon granulated onion
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
- 1 serving homemade Paleo BBQ Sauce, see below
For the Paleo BBQ Sauce:
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/2 teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon granulated onion
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
- ½ cup sugar-free ketchup
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar, plus more to taste
For the Dill Pickle Slaw:
- 1/3 cup avocado oil mayonnaise
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey, optional
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt, plus more to taste
- ¼ teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
- 1 small head of cabbage, around 2 pounds, thinly shredded
- 4 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/4 cup finely chopped fresh parsley
- ¼ cup roughly chopped dill pickles
Instructions
For the Oven Baked BBQ Ribs:
- Preheat oven to 325F.
- In a bowl, combine the smoked paprika, garlic powder, granulated onion, paprika, salt and pepper. Stir to incorporate.
- Pat the ribs dry with paper towel and trim excess fat. Place the ribs meat-side down and use a paring knife to scrape off an edge of the membrane. Grab hold of the membrane with a piece of paper towel and slowly peel it back until it is all removed.
- Generously season both sides of the ribs with the spice rub and massage to coat. Place the ribs, bone-side down, on a roasting pan lined with a wire rack. Cover the pan with a layer of parchment paper and tightly seal it with aluminum foil. Transfer the pan to the oven and roast until the meat is fork-tender and starts to peel back away from the bones, 1.5 to 2 hours, or more depending on the thickness of the ribs.
- Remove the foil and parchment paper. Increase the heat to 375F. Brush both sides of the ribs with the BBQ sauce and return to the oven, bone-side down, and cook until the sauce has slightly caramelized, around 30 minutes. The ribs should be tender and easy to peel off the bone. If they are still firm, cover the pan with foil and return them to the oven, testing them every 30 minutes.
- Brush the ribs with another layer of BBQ sauce before serving with the Dill Pickle Slaw.
For the Paleo BBQ Sauce:
- In a small saucepan, combine the honey, smoked paprika, paprika, garlic powder, granulated onion, salt and pepper. Place the pan over low heat and cook, whisking to combine, until the honey starts to bubble and has reduced in volume by ¼, around 3 minutes. Add the ketchup and vinegar and whisk to combine. Cook over low heat until the sauce has reduced in volume by ¼, around 5 minutes. Taste for seasoning and adjust with salt, pepper and vinegar as desired. Transfer the sauce to a bowl and let cool fully. The sauce can be refrigerated for up to 5 days.
For the Dill Pickle Slaw:
- In a large bowl, combine the mayonnaise, vinegar, honey, salt and pepper. Whisk the dressing to combine.
- Add the cabbage, green onion, parsley and pickles. Toss everything to coat, cover and refrigerate 1 hour. Taste the coleslaw for seasoning and adjust with salt and pepper as desired. The coleslaw can be made 4 to 5 days in advance.
Video
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About the Author
Hi, i’m Ronny! In 2013, after a lifetime of struggling with my weight and body issues, I rehabilitated my relationship with food, lost over 40 pounds and completely changed my life.
Absolutely fantastic ribs! Always my go-to. Juicy, tender, fall off the bone. I have more in the oven as I type this…perfect very late night snack.