Indulge in these addicting Root Beer BBQ ribs made with a sweet and tangy root beer barbecue sauce. These tender pork ribs are slow roasted to perfection, then grilled for a sticky, caramelized finish that makes them irresistible.
We love making ribs of all flavors! Try our over the top Deep Fried Whiskey Ribs or these easy, Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs that can cook away in your crock pot. These BBQ Party Ribs can be made ahead of time and finished off on your grill in just minutes!
How To Pre-Cook Ribs In The Oven
I used to request BBQ Ribs for every birthday dinner. My second request was for my grandmother to be flown in from Chicago, and that happened almost every year. My dad who taught me how to make the best bbq ribs, and being from the mid-west where meat is king, I figured he knew what he was talking about.
First you season the ribs with a dry rub. There’s store bought rubs you can use or make our famouse seasoning blend that we use on these ribs and just about everything else.
At this point you can let the ribs cool, wrap them in foil and keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready to eat. Who knew a ribs recipe could be such a make ahead dinner recipe?
While the ribs are cooking, make the root beer barbecue sauce and have that ready for you.
Just look at how juicy these bbq ribs in the oven turn out! You can also throw some bbq sauce on here right at this point and call it dinner. No judging, they’ll be super delicious.
Because maybe you want to make these bbq ribs in the winter or colder weather and you don’t have a grill out? Baste them with bbq sauce and place them under the broiler for 5 minutes, you’ll be good to go.
But if you do have your grill available, these pork spareribs only need about 10 minutes to get a good char and warm the sauce through. It’s definitely worth the step if you can!
This Root Beer Barbecue Sauce Is So Addicting!
Hang on to your seats because you’re going to LOVE this barbecue sauce recipe!
Make this simple but delicious barbecue sauce ahead of time and then you can warm it up on your grill burner or stove top when it’s time to baste the ribs.
Pro tip here! You only want to start basting the ribs with the bbq sauce during the last few minutes of cooking. Like many bbq sauce recipes, this sauce has a good amount of sugar in it so if you add it too soon it will burn on the grill.
What Can I Serve With These BBQ Ribs?
There are SO many options here, ribs go with just about anything so head over to our side dish menu and take a look for yourself, but here are some of out favorites!
- OVEN ROASTED BBQ POTATO SALAD
- BUDDHA’S LOADED BAKED BEANS
- OVEN ROASTED BALSAMIC ASPARAGUS
- SHEET PAN LOADED BRUSSELS SPROUTS
- HOMEMADE SHOESTRING FRENCH FRIES
- DEVILISH BUFFALO CHICKEN PASTA SALAD
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Root Beer BBQ Ribs REcipe
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 25 minutes
- Yield: 8 Servings 1x
Print Recipe
Pin RecipeThis bbq ribs recipe has the most amazing bbq sauce ever! It’s sticky and sweet and coats the pork spareribs perfectly!
Ingredients
- 2 racks of pork spareribs (about 3–4 pounds each)
- 1/2 cup All Purpose Seasoning
For the Root Beer Barbecue Sauce
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 tablespoon garlic
- 12 ounces of root beer (1 can)
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1/3 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup ketchup
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees.
- Pull the silver skin off the ribs by using the point of a sharp knife to pierce the skin, get under the skin and then pull back until it’s removed.
- Season the generously ribs on both sides using all or most of the dry rub.
- Place the ribs on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil, then cover the sheet pan with foil on top.
- Bake the ribs in the oven for 2 – 2 1/2 hours until tender. Remove from the oven and set aside until ready to grill.
- While the ribs are in the oven, make sauce by heating the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute, being careful not to brown the garlic.
- Slowly pour in the root beer, bring to a simmer and let reduce for 10 minutes. After the root beer has reduced, add in the rest of the sauce ingredients and stir.
- Cook the sauce on low heat for 10 minutes, then cover and set aside.
- Heat your grill to a medium heat (about 400 degrees) and place the ribs on the grill top side down. Baste the bottoms of the racks with a thin layer of the barbecue sauce and let it set for 2 minutes.
- Turn the ribs over, baste generously with the sauce, close the lid and let the sauce set for 2 minutes. Baste with another layer of sauce, close the lid and let the sauce set for another 2 minutes.
- Once the ribs have cooled slightly, cut the racks into sections of three to four ribs and serve with extra sauce on the side.
Recipe Notes
Note: You can pre-cook these ribs and keep them in the refrigerator until you’re ready, just add a couple of more minutes to heat them up on the grill!
Store: Store ribs in an air tight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Reheat: Reheat the ribs (cut into sections) in the microwave, warm them up in the oven or back on the grill wrapped in foil.
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Oven / Grill
- Cuisine: American
I am just making the sauce and Idid find some root beer liqueur, the sauce is not thickening, any idea what I should do. Le
Did you let the root beer reduce for 20 minutes before adding the rest of the sauce ingredients? I would just keep the sauce on simmer, uncovered until it’s the consistency that you like.
Very confused , in your ingredient list you call fir a can of root beer, a d I. Your comments you talk about loot beer liqueur. If I use regular root beer ,will it still thicken
This is an old recipe, we used to add a small amount of root beer liquor but many people were having a hard time finding it so we reworked the recipe to just use root beer. Yes, it will still thicken.
I’m confused. Is it Rootbeer liquor or just a 12-oz can of rootbeer soda? Thanks!
Do you have an older print out of this recipe?
You mention … “By the unique addition of ‘Hoisin’ sauce” in the Sauce recipe.
Hoisin Sauce is not listed in the Ingredients. Please tell me how much to use.
I adore Hoisin Sauce. Thanxxx … :)
That was an update to this recipe I forgot to take out in the text. We updated the BBQ sauce and decided that it didn’t need the extra ingredient of hoisin, but if you want to use it cut the ketchup down to 3/4 cup and add 1/4 cup of hoisin sauce.
What do you recommend for the final cooking step if we live in apartment building and we don’t have a grill?
You can finish the ribs off under the broiler if you don’t have a grill.
Found your blog today and have enjoyed it! Root Beer Liquor-do use like the Dekuyper Liquor or Not Your Father’s RootBeer for the BBQ sauce? Thank you!
Root beer liquor for the sauce, but you could make it extra boozy and swap out Not Your Father’s Root Beer for regular root beer too! Thank you for stopping by!
WOW!!! The ribs came out AMAZING! The sauce is to die for. I subbed molasses for the root beer liqueur but I can definitely see how the root beer liqueur would be so flavorful. I think I’m going to invest in a bottle. Outstanding recipe. Thank you!!
I’m so happy it worked out for you! I think after reading your comment I’m going to have to have to make these again soon myself too! Thanks Sheri!
I would love to try this but is the root beer liqueur absolutely necessary? I can’t find small bottles where I live and I don’t want to purchase a big bottle. Or is there a substitute or just leave it out? Thank you for your help.
The liquor does give the ribs a great flavor, but I totally get it. I would try using 1/4 cup of dark molasses as a substitute! Let me know how it turns out!
Thank you for your quick response! I’m making these today. I’ll try the dark molasses in place of the root beer liqueur & let you know how it goes. Thanks again.