BBQ Party Ribs are a super easy, hands off way to get dinner on the table for a party! This recipe makes party planning and dinner time so easy!
We love rib recipes of all kinds! Be sure and try our Whisky Glazed Deep Fried Ribs too or these addicting Sticky Root Beer Ribs!
A Make Ahead BBQ Rib Recipe
Ribs are so easy to make for a crowd because you can pre-cook them low and slow in your oven and then finish them off on the grill when it’s time for dinner. You can even cook the ribs in the oven a day or two before your party!
Pre-cook your ribs, let them cool, them wrap them in foil and put them into your refrigerator until dinner time comes.
The secret to getting super tender, fall off the bone ribs is to cook them in your oven at a low temperature for a few hours before getting them on the grill with your BBQ sauce. Then just throw the ribs on the grill, baste them with your BBQ sauce of choice and these ribs will be done in minutes!
WHEN Do You Put The BBQ Sauce On Ribs?
This is where a lot of people get confused, don’t want to Add the sauce to your ribs too early on in the game. Most BBQ sauce has a good amount of sugar in it so if the sauce is on the grill too long it will burn.
Get your ribs on the grill and give them a few minutes to warm through first – THEN once they are warm you can start basting the ribs with the BBQ sauce.
Since the ribs have already cooked in the oven, the only job you’re doing on the grill is warming them up (if you’ve made them ahead of time and had them in the refrigerator) and getting the sauce on.
And yes, we LOVE serving BBQ Ribs for parties, but we actually make them pretty often just for dinner. Our boys absolutely love ribs (and so do we) so we do make them a lot.
It’s funny how we think of ribs as more of a summer time meal? Well, I guess we do make ribs more in the summer but we actually make ribs all year long.
They are just too good to limit to only eating them in the warm weather, especially if you live in New Jersey like we do and those are only a few months out of the year.
What Can I Serve With BBQ Ribs?
Here are a just few of our favorite options!
- HOMEMADE SHOESTRING FRENCH FRIES (3 WAYS)
- THE BEST ROASTED BRUSSELS SPROUTS
- DEVILISH BUFFALO PASTA SALAD
- GRILLED ITALIAN STREET CORN
- OVEN ROASTED BBQ POTATO SALAD
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BBQ Party Ribs
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 3 hours
- Total Time: 3 hours 5 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
This super tender BBQ Rib recipe is an easy, hands off dinner for any dinner or party!
Ingredients
- (4) 3 lb. pork baby back ribs
- BBQ Sauce, your favorite kind or a few different flavors
For the Dry Rub
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Add all the ingredients for the dry rub to a small bowl and mix together.
- Divide the rub evenly between the four slabs of ribs and rub in well on both sides.
- Wrap each slab of ribs tightly in foil then place onto a baking sheet.
- Bake in the oven for 2 1/2 to 3 hours until tender.
- At this point you can cool the ribs and keep in the refrigerator for up to 2 days before cooking.
- When you’re ready to grill the ribs, preheat your grill to medium heat, then place each slab of ribs onto the grill.
- Let the ribs warm up for a few minutes, then start to baste the ribs with bbq sauce on the bottom side of the rack. Let the sauce set on the bottom for 2-3 minutes, then flip the racks over to the top and baste with BBQ sauce generously. Close the lid and let the sauce set for 2-3 minutes on the top. Baste with one more layer of sauce and remove the ribs from the grill.
- Let the ribs rest for a couple of minutes, then slice into sections (2-3 ribs per sections) and serve with extra sauce on the side if desired.
- Category: dinner
- Method: oven/grill
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: bbq ribs, rib recipes, party food, pork recipes, ribs on the grill, ribs in the oven, dinner recipes, barbecue ribs
BBQ Party Ribs has been compensated by Collective Bias, Inc. and it’s advertiser. All opinions are mine alone.
Oh yumm!!! Those ribs look so delicious and I love how you’re making it so everyone can have their BBQ just the way they like it! I’m pretty sure I’d have to try all of those sauces!
★★★★★
Thank you Nicole! I can tell you that we tried them all…a few times!
It’s just not summer without ribs! These look great!
No it’s not! Thank you Dessert for Two!
I am loving this recipe, and what a fun and easy party!
Thanks Rachel! It’s so much fun to do at a party!
My mother in law loves barbecue ribs so we are totally doing this!!
★★★★★
Great Shadi – let me know how it goes!
Love grilling season!
Yes, me too! My favorite time of the year for sure.
Must try these sauces for our next BBQ!
They were really good! Let me know if you try them Courtney!
Those sauces look awesome!
Thanks Jocelyn – they were good!
I can’t wait to get a new grill and make some ribs!
New grills are the best – I’m jealous!
I would like to make these for Christmas, am I biting off more than I can chew? I live in a cold climate and was wondering if I can start them on the grill to get that flavor a day early and then cook them long and slow in my oven Christmas Day. What do you think?
If you oven bake them first they’re pretty much done, so I do think this is an easy recipe for the holidays! If you do all the work the day before, all you’d have to do Christmas Day is get them on the grill for a few minutes and they’d be ready to serve! I think the grill flavor would be lost after they bake in the oven.
These ribs are fantastic! Please everyone try this recipe and you can’ t go wrong!
★★★★★
So happy you like them! Thanks for letting me know!