This beef short rib dry rub and BBQ recipe combines a flavorful, zesty rub with a rich BBQ sauce and tender, oven-baked short ribs for the perfect beef short rib recipe.
When summer rolls around we’re all about grilling, but sometimes the weather doesn’t cooperate. Heck, sometimes, we want ribs in the winter. That’s when we make these delicious baked BBQ short ribs.
Beef Short Rib Dry Rub
This was inspired by my other oven-baked BBQ ribs recipe on this site and pairs well with this amazing slow cooker bacon mac and cheese recipe.
Ingredients
There are a few ingredients for this recipe, but they’re all readily available at your local grocery store. Besides the beef short ribs most are actually spices.
For the Dry Rub
- Ground cumin
- Paprika
- Granulated or powdered garlic
- Granulated or powdered onion
- Chili powder
- Brown sugar
- Smoked or regular sea salt
- Pepper or cayenne pepper to taste
For the BBQ Sauce
- Ketchup
- Molasses
- Apple cider vinegar
- Hot sauce
- Salt to taste
- Black Pepper or cayenne pepper to taste
See the recipe card below for exact quantities.
Instructions
There aren’t many steps to making these short ribs. It’s mostly just a matter of prep, baking, and broiling. You’ll find that this recipe is much easier than you might think.
Step 1: Prep
Line a large, rimmed baking sheet with foil and set aside. Tear off 2 pieces of foil large enough to completely wrap the ribs. Set them aside, as well. Preheat your oven to 275 degrees.
Then, remove the membrane. Slide a sharp knife between the bone of the ribs and the silver membrane. Beginning in the center, work your way gently outward toward the end of the rack of ribs, pulling up with your fingers as you slide the knife under the membrane and along the bones. It might rip, but that’s okay. Simply pull up on the membrane and continue sliding the knife along the bone. Continue until you’ve removed the membrane from the entire rack.
Step 2: Make the Rub
Combine the cumin, paprika, chili powder, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, and brown sugar in a small bowl. Then apply the rub and completely cover the short ribs with the entire mixture, massaging it into the ribs.
Step 3: Bake the Ribs
Place the ribs, meaty side down, on top of the foil and fold it up over the ribs, completely covering them. Fold the seams to seal. Bake the ribs for 3 to 4 hours.
Step 4: Make the Sauce
While the ribs are cooking, add the BBQ sauce ingredients to a small bowl.
Step 5: Broil the Ribs
Remove the cooked ribs from the oven, unwrap them, and place them on the lined baking sheet, meaty side up. Then, totally cover them in your barbecue sauce.
Place the ribs under the broiler on the middle rack and cook until the sauce starts to bubble and becomes a bit charred with a few brown or black dots.
Enjoy!
Hint: To check for doneness, unwrap part of your rack after about 3 ½ hours. If the meat falls off the bone when pierced with a fork, then it’s done. If not, continue baking for 15 minutes and check again.
Substitutions
Don’t have the correct ingredients on hand or want to change something up? Here are some helpful tips for you to change this short rib recipe using beef short rib dry rub.
- Premade Sauce – You can use premade BBQ sauce if you like. Choose your favorite!
- Mustard – If you don’t have vinegar, you can use mustard to add tang to your sauce.
- Red Pepper Flakes – Red pepper flakes work well if you don’t have cayenne pepper.
Variations
Want to personalize this beef short rib rub recipe? Here are some of my tried and true tips for changing up this recipe.
- BBQ Sauce – Change up your BBQ sauce by adding any of the following ingredients to taste.
– Liquid smoke
– Garlic powder
– Onion powder
– Chili powder
– Worcestershire sauce
– Minced jalapeno or chilis
– Minced chipotle chili in adobo - Pork Ribs – You can use this same rub and BBQ sauce recipe with pork ribs.
If you love recipes like this, you may also enjoy these smoked beef ribs.
Equipment
You’ll only need a few simple pieces of kitchen equipment to make this recipe.
- Measuring cups and spoons
- Bowls
- Rimmed baking sheet
- Foil
Storage
Store leftover ribs in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. For longer storage, wrap the ribs in a double layer of cling wrap and a layer of foil and freeze for up to 3 months.
Tips
This is a fairly straightforward recipe. The only thing that might throw you is removing the membrane, but this tip can help.
- Be gentle when removing the membrane. It will be fairly firmly attached to the back of the rack of ribs, so take your time. This helps avoid excess ripping of the membrane and having to begin working it loose again.
- Work from the center out when removing the membrane. This makes it easier to get an initial hold on the membrane as you lift and separate.
FAQ
Do you have questions about this beef rib dry rub recipe and ribs? Here are some of the most commonly asked questions about beef rib rub and baked ribs.
It’s a blend of spices made to be rubbed onto meat before cooking.
It’s made to add flavor to the meat before cooking.
Yes. If you store your rub in an air-tight container, you can make it and keep it on hand for a few weeks.
Wrap your ribs in foil and bake them at 250 degrees until heated through.
More Rib Recipes
Do you like ribs? Here are some recipes you may also like to try.
Beef Short Rib Rub and Oven Baked Short Ribs
Ready to get cooking? Remember that you can print this recipe if you would like.
Beef Short Rib Rub and Oven Baked Short Ribs
Ingredients
Beef Short Rib Rub
- 1 tablespoon cumin ground
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 2 tablespoons garlic powder or granulated
- 2 tablespoons onion powder or granulated
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ¼ cup brown sugar packed
- 2 tablespoons smoked sea salt or sea salt
- 1 teaspoon pepper or cayenne pepper, more or less to taste
Oven Baked Short Rib Recipe
- 2 racks beef short ribs
- 1 bottle barbecue sauce your favorite, store bought or home made recipe below, approximately 2 cups
Quick Barbecue Sauce
- 1 ½ – 2 cups ketchup
- ⅓-½ cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- salt to taste
- pepper or cayenne to taste
Barbecue Sauce Options
- ¼ -½ teaspoon liquid smoke
- 2-4 tablespoons mustard yellow or Dijon
- 2-4 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2-4 teaspoons onion powder
- 2-4 teaspoons chili powder
- 2-4 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1-2 jalapeño chiles seeded, and minced
- 2-4 teaspoons chipotle chile in adobo minced
- 2-4 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
Instructions
Rib Rub
- In a small bowl combine cumin, paprika, chili powder, garlic, onion, salt, pepper and brown sugar. Mix well and set aside.
Getting Your Ribs Ready
- Prepare a large rimmed baking sheet with tinfoil and set aside. Tear 2 large pieces of tinfoil, large enough to totally wrap each rack of ribs, and set aside.
Remove the Membrane
- Next, we recommend that you remove the silver skin or skin like membrane on the underside or back of the ribs. This is the worst part about making ribs but well worth it. Be patient and try not to give up. Start in the middle of the rack and scrape along the bone with your finger or a knife. You are trying to lift that membrane or skin up. Slide your finger under the membrane and slowly try to tear it off the entire rack. You may need to use a piece of paper towel to get a good grip. Hold your ribs down while you pull the membrane across the back of the entire rack of ribs. You can ask your butcher to do this when you purchase the ribs. It is not necessary but the ribs will taste better. You will be glad you did. Do the best you can. Repeat with your other rack. Rinse and dry ribs completely with paper towel after removing each membrane.
- Preheat your oven to 275 degrees.
- Apply the spice mixture all over your beef rib racks, top and bottom. Use all of it and massage the mixture into the ribs.
- Place each rack on top of each piece of tinfoil and wrap up your ribs.
- Place the ribs with the bony side up or the meaty side down and fold the top and sides over so the ribs are totally sealed inside.
- Do not pile your ribs on top of each other. Put the ribs into the oven, on the middle rack, for between 3 and 4 hours.
Homemade Barbecue Sauce
- You can use store bought barbecue sauce to make this recipe and I did for a long time. Now I always try and use homemade and switch it up a little each time.
- This Barbecue Sauce recipe takes minutes to prepare, makes around 2 cups total and will last in your fridge for up to 3 days in an airtight container.
- Start by using 1 ½ cups ketchup, add the rest of the ingredients and taste. Whisk together all ingredients in a small bowl and decide if you want to add any of the options listed.
- I like starting with the 1 ½ cups of ketchup and if you add too much of anything you can always dilute the flavor by adding in the extra ¼ – ½ cup of ketchup.
- Taste as you go and decide the way you like it. The next time you make it you will know exactly the way you like it or you can keep trying something different.
After Baking Short Ribs
- After 3 or 4 hours, take the ribs out of the oven open up one pouch. Be careful, hot steam will pour out of the tinfoil when you open it.
- We find that our ribs are finished at just over 3 ¼ hours. The ribs are done when you can see more of the bone then when you put it in. The meat will shrink. Using a fork check the meat to make sure it is fall off the bone tender. If they are not ready just reseal the pouch and bake for a little longer. I would check again after 15 minutes.
- Once ribs are cooked, remove from oven and set oven to broil.
Broiling Your Short Ribs
- Remove tinfoil from each rack of ribs and place on your tinfoil lined baking sheet bony side down or meaty side up this time.
- Totally cover top of ribs with your barbecue sauce.
- When the broiler is hot, place your ribs under the broiler on the middle rack until barbecue sauce starts to bubble all over. Little brown or black dots may appear. This is good, do not worry. Remove ribs from oven and you now have two options.
- You can serve the ribs at this point or put more sauce all over the ribs and broil some more. Wait for the sauce to bubble all over again and then serve. I always do it twice.
- Watch the ribs when they are broiling. They can and will burn quickly.
- Cut up the ribs, using a large knife, before serving, if required. Enjoy!
Nutrition
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