Sweet & Sour Ribs in the Oven require no barbecue grill so they are a perfect choice to make year-round in any weather. The resulting ribs are tender and juicy with almost no effort on your part. You’ll want to save the yummy homemade barbecue sauce to use with other meats and poultry. In fact, if you like your ribs loaded with sauce, better make a double batch. It’s quite tasty.
Try this method with beef ribs as well. You may need to adjust the roasting time, depending on the thickness of the ribs.
Sweet & Sour Ribs in the Oven Recipe
4 pounds pork spareribs
Spice Rub Mix:
1-1/2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1-1/2 Tablespoons Hungarian sweet paprika
1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon roasted ground cumin (or traditional ground cumin)
1/4 teaspoon cayenne or chipotle pepper, or to taste
Sweet and Sour Barbecue Sauce:
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/2 cup fine-minced sweet onion
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce
1/4 cup ketchup
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 Tablespoons lemon juice (about the juice of 1 lemon)
1 Tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or chipotle pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a 16- x 11- x 3-inch roasting pan with non-stick foil.
Whisk together the brown sugar, sweet paprika, onion powder, thyme, kosher salt, garlic powder, cumin, and cayenne pepper. Coat both sides of the ribs with the spice mix and place in the prepared pan, bone side down. Bake uncovered for 1 hour.
While the spareribs are baking, prepare the barbecue sauce. Add the olive oil and minced onions to a small saucepan. Sweat the onions over low heat, stirring often, until they become soft and translucent, but not browned.
Stir in the balsamic vinegar and simmer until reduced by half. Add the tomato sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, lemon juice, Dijon mustard, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and garlic powder. Continue to simmer for 10 minutes, stirring often, until thickened and flavors meld together. You should have about 1-1/2 cups of sauce.
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Remove the spareribs from the oven and pour off any fat drippings. Turn the spareribs over and slather with the barbecue sauce. Return the ribs to meaty side up. Brush generously with the sauce, taking care to cover the surface of the ribs entirely. You should have about half of the sauce left. Reserve to serve with the ribs.
Reduce the oven heat to 325 F. Cover the ribs with heavy-duty foil and seal around the edges, leaving airspace so the foil does not touch the ribs. Bake an additional 1 to 1-1/2 hours, depending upon the thickness of the ribs. Meat should be shrinking back from the tips of the bones and the bones should wiggle fairly easily in the meat. Let rest 10 minutes before serving. Cut into 2 to 3 rib-bone portions and serve.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
If you like Sweet & Sour Ribs, try Pomegranate Oven BBQ Spareribs.
