We're friends right? Good. I feel like I can tell you something that might get my black card snatched--I don't like barbecue ribs. I have never really gotten into blobs of sauce poured over perfectly good bits of pork. Too often, in my opinion, barbecue sauce is used to cover shitty cooking technique and non-existant seasoning. I blame my mother.

My mom rarely fired up the grill. She left that job to my grandfather (who also wasn't a big fan of barbecue sauce). When we did have food that was normally meant for the grill, she usually baked it. One of my absolute favorite things she made was her rosemary and garlic baked ribs. She cooked them for hours and by the time they came out of the oven, the meat literally fell off the bone and you were left with this salty, herby yumminess that was just beyond.

When I moved to Atlanta to live with Shep, my mom made us these ribs and my husband asks me to make them at least every other week. The ingredients are super simple: fresh rosemary, garlic, salt, pepper and some time spent in the oven. The result? A recipe that is so good, you might never use barbecue sauce on your ribs again.

Print

With ImageWithout Image

Rosemary Garlic Oven-Baked Ribs

Yield: 2

Author: Ryan Shepard

Prep time: 15 MinCook time: 1 H & 20 MTotal time: 1 H & 35 M

These no-fuss, tender ribs come together with the help of rosemary, garlic and time spent in a hot oven.

Ingredients

• 3-4 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 3 large sprigs of fresh rosemary, coarsely chopped
• 1 rack of baby back ribs (about 3 pounds)
• 3 tablespoons Kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons freshly cracked black pepper
• Canola oil
• Not stick cooking spray

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Add rosemary, garlic, salt and pepper to a bowl and toss to combine. Set aside. 
3. Place ribs on a large baking sheet and drizzle both sides with oil. Use seasoning liberally on both sides of ribs.
4. Place ribs bone side down on a baking sheet and put them in the oven. Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees. 
5. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue cooking for another hour or until ribs are fork tender.

Notes:

You don’t have to use all of the seasoning from the salt mixture. You will likely have some left over. This seasoning mix would work really well on roasted chicken thighs or even on some steamed broccoli or green beans.  

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @ryannicoleshepard on instagram and hashtag it #brownsugarandbourbon