This is indoor barbecue at its finest! The sauce is the star of the show. What a great sauce! The peach preserves, brown sugar, molasses, paprika, garlic, onion, bacon, and thyme make it taste so good. Wow! A bowl of creamy garlic mashed potatoes are perfect with these.
This recipe is perfect for a rainy day, because you don’t need an outdoor grill. The homemade barbecue sauce is truly the star of the show. It’s so flavorful– a little sweet, and little tart and packed with flavor.
Sprinkle the ribs with salt and pepper and a little olive oil before putting them in the oven at 250F for about 1 1/2 hours. In the meantime, make the “killer” sauce:
The sauce was simple to make. You start with a thick slice of bacon, wrapped around fresh thyme and tied with string.
With just a little oil (I use avocado oil), the bacon is cooked long enough to render some fat and give it a smoky taste. Add some onion and garlic and cook until softened.
The rest of the sauce ingredients are brown sugar, peach preserves, molasses, and a few other things I’m sure you already have in your pantry.
The sauce is amazing! The peach preserves, brown sugar, molasses, paprika, garlic, onion, bacon, and thyme make it taste so good. Wow! You should make the sauce ahead of time. If you have any extra, it tastes great on chicken.
Remove the ribs and slather with the sauce. Place under a preheated broiler until crisped to your liking.
TASTING NOTES: The ribs were “good”. Well, slow-cooked ribs outside are pretty hard to beat, but we weren’t complaining—it’s too cold to grill right now. Seriously, the sauce is the star of this show!.
I can hardly wait for our California warmer weather to come, and longer daylight. I will be firing up the Weber and making this sauce for our ribs.
Bacon-wrapped ribs deliver finger-licking, melt-in-your-mouth tender pork paired with smoky, salty bacon flavor. While grilling imparts delicious smoky notes, baking these ribs in the oven lets you achieve incredible tenderness and makes the prep easy anytime.
Follow this simple guide to learn how to bake bacon-wrapped ribs in the oven. We’ll cover tips for choosing ribs, preparing them, oven temps, basting techniques, and more so you can make these amazing oven-baked bacon ribs at home.
Benefits of Baking Bacon Ribs in the Oven
Cooking ribs in the oven offers some advantages over grilling:
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Convenience – Bake ribs any time without needing a grill Great for winter or rainy days
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More tender meat – The low, indirect heat and moist environment helps break down collagen for fall-off-the-bone texture
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Less checking – Rib don’t need constant monitoring like on the grill, Just set the temp and check periodically
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Easier basting – Basting ribs while baking is simpler than carefully flipping on a grill.
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Infuses flavor – Sauces deeply penetrate the meat when baked vs grilled.
While oven baking takes longer than the grill, the results are remarkably tender ribs with wonderful flavor.
Ingredients for Oven-Baked Bacon Ribs
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Ribs – Pork baby back or spare ribs work well. Look for meaty racks around 2-3 lbs.
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Bacon – Use regular sliced bacon or wider slab bacon cut into pieces to wrap around the ribs.
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Rub – A dry spice rub adds lots of flavor. Use your favorite blend or make your own.
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Sauce – Baste the ribs with barbecue sauce during the last half of baking.
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Wood chips – Soak barbecue wood chips in water for 30 minutes then scatter on the baking sheet for smoky aroma.
How to Prepare Ribs for Baking
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Remove membrane – Trim off the thin translucent membrane from the back of the ribs. This helps the rub and smoke penetrate.
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Apply rub – Generously season both sides of the racks with a dry spice rub. Let sit for 10-30 minutes.
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Wrap with bacon – Wrap partially-cooked bacon slices around the edges of the ribs. The bacon helps baste the meat and adds flavor.
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Refrigerate – For more intense seasoning, refrigerate the rubbed and bacon-wrapped ribs overnight.
The ribs are now ready for the oven.
How to Cook Bacon-Wrapped Ribs in the Oven
Follow these simple steps for baking incredible ribs:
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Heat oven to 300°F – This low temp gives the collagen time to slowly break down into tender gelatin.
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Prepare baking pan – Line a large rimmed baking sheet with foil and top with a wire rack. The rack allows airflow underneath.
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Arrange ribs – Place ribs meaty-side up on top of the rack. Avoid overcrowding.
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Add wood chips – Scatter soaked barbecue wood chips over the baking sheet for smoky aroma.
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Cover tightly – Seal the pan very tightly with a double layer of foil to trap moisture.
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Bake 2-3 hours – Let the ribs slowly cook low and slow until meat is fork tender and pulls away from the bones.
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Uncover and baste – Remove foil, baste ribs with barbecue sauce and bake uncovered 15-30 minutes more to caramelize the sauce.
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Rest 10 minutes – Let ribs sit before cutting so juices redistribute.
The long, slow baking results in incredibly flavorful, fall-apart tender ribs with melt-in-your-mouth bacon.
Oven-Baked Bacon Ribs Tips
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Choose wide slab bacon and cut into 1-inch wide pieces to wrap around the ribs. Regular sliced bacon works too.
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Spray the foil with nonstick spray before adding ribs to prevent sticking.
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For smokier flavor, double wrap ribs in an inner foil pouch plus outer foil layer.
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Add liquids like broth, juice, or beer to the baking pan to help steam and baste.
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Use bone-in ribs for more flavor. Remove bones afterward for easy eating if desired.
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Bake ribs up to 4 days ahead. Cool, cover, and refrigerate. Reheat in a 300°F oven.
Oven Baked Rib Recipes from Inspired Taste and A Feast for the Eyes
For step-by-step instructions on baking incredible ribs in the oven, check out these recipes:
Bacon Bourbon Oven Baked Ribs from Inspired Taste – These ribs are coated in a sweet and savory bacony bourbon barbecue sauce. Baking makes them super tender.
Tyler Florence’s Ultimate Garlic and Bacon Ribs from A Feast for the Eyes – A garlic spice rub and peach preserves make these oven-baked ribs irresistible. Wrapping them in bacon keeps the meat extra moist.
Both recipes use low, indirect oven heat around 300°F to achieve fall-off-the-bone texture in a few hours. Frequent basting with flavorful sauces gives incredible taste.
The next time you’re craving tender, juicy ribs, skip the grill and give oven baking a try. Following the tips above will help you make bacon-wrapped ribs with amazing texture and fingerprints-only pieces of meat that slide right off the bone. Oven-baked ribs are worth the wait!
The Ultimate Oven Ribs
- 2 slabs baby back ribs about 3 pounds
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 bacon slices
- 4 sprigs fresh thyme
- 1/2 onion chopped
- 3 cloves garlic smashed
- 2 cups ketchup
- 1 cup peach preserves
- 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/4 cup molasses
- 2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- Preheat oven to 250°F.
- Put the ribs on a baking sheet and sprinkle them with olive oil, salt, and pepper. Put the ribs in the oven and cook them slowly for one and a half hours.
- Put kitchen twine around the middle of the thyme sprigs and wrap the bacon around it. This will make a nice bundle. In a large saucepan, heat two tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Put in the thyme bundle and cook slowly for three to four minutes. This will render the bacon fat and give the sauce a smokey taste. It will take 5 minutes of slow cooking without color after you add the onion and garlic. Add the rest of the sauce’s ingredients, stir it, and lower the heat to low. Cook slowly for 20 minutes for the flavors to meld. Set aside some sauce for basting in a separate bowl, and save the rest for serving.
- Brush the ribs with the sauce, and cook for another 30 minutes, basting twice more. Take the ribs out of the oven when they’re done. They can stay here until you’re ready to eat.
- Set the broiler to high for 5 minutes when you’re ready to eat. Brush the ribs with the sauce as you broil them until they are crispy and a little browned, or until you like them.