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You will not be able to stop eating these ribs, trust me! They’re perfectly seasoned and fall-off-the-bone tender. My homemade recipe for Kansas City dry rib rub is the perfect balance of sweet and spicy flavors. Baby back rib grilling instructions included!
Grill Season = The Best Season!
It’s that time of year where the unofficial start to summer can begin and most days are spent outside on the deck, the beach, or by the pool. Also the season where so many of our meals are cooked on the grill and I eat my weight in healthy side dishes! A few of my summertime staples include the Best Grilled Pork Tenderloin and my Shrimp Skewers with Pineapple Mint Sauce. But my little guy, his absolute favorite recipe in the world are these Grilled Baby Back Ribs!
My husband, a.k.a. the guy who doesn’t cook, wanted to experiment with a childhood favorite of his: Grilled Baby Back Ribs. We were hosting an American Style BBQ dinner party once early in our marriage, and he wanted to feature the best possible Baby Back Ribs.
He discovered a recipe for a Kansas City Rib Rub many years ago in a Wall Street Journal article. Unfortunately, we are not quite sure the original source, but we have tweaked this over the years to make it absolutely perfect. This is the one meal he makes every year, and one of our family favorites. It’s quite a crowd pleaser, as we have made this many times for our friends who all wipe their plates clean.
If you’re looking for more delicious ideas, check out my other pork recipes for easy, family-friendly meals that are perfect for grilling season!!
How to make Kansas City Rib Rub and Grilled Baby Back Ribs:
So to get you started, you mix together a simple rib rub. It’s full of delicious spices and brown sugar to balance out a slightly sweet and spicy dish. Here the simple rub ingredients:
- Brown sugar
- Paprika
- Black pepper
- Kosher salt
- Chili powder
- Garlic powder
- Minced onion
- Cayenne pepper
You want to make this rub ahead of time the night before, or the morning of your BBQ. To prepare the meat for the rub, you’ll need to strip the membrane (this is easily done with a paper tower). You’ll rub the ribs with the blend of spices only on the meaty side (nothing goes on the bone side of the ribs) and place back in the fridge until it’s grill time!
Grilling the baby back ribs:
We use our Big Green Egg for Baby Back Ribs. But we’ll start with instructions for a Charcoal Grill, or propane grill for this recipe. For a charcoal grill, you’ll warm up your charcoal and then spread out the coals.
The most important part of grilling ribs is: never place the ribs directly over the fire! Otherwise you’ll be eating beef jerky for dinner.
Here are 2 different ways to grill it this way: for a propane grill, heat the outside grills and place the ribs (bone side down) on the inside burners. This allows them to cook slowly without direct heat. For a Weber, do as my husband does below:
The ribs are placed around the perimeter of the grill, avoiding the direct fire. As you can see, the meat side with the rub is facing up: another important aspect of grilling ribs. If cooked properly, it will take around 45 minutes of nice and slowly grilled meat.
Using the Big Green Egg or smoker:
You will follow the same instructions for the Kansas City Rib Rub, but then use a different preparation.
- Set the Egg for indirect cooking at 300 degrees F.
- Remove the membrane from ribs and apply seasoning to both sides.
- Place ribs in a roast rack, bone side down, and cook for one hour. Flip the ribs and rotate rack 180 degrees, cook for another hour.
- You can add preserves at this point if you want (Apricot or peach works well!), then wrap tightly in foil.
- Cook for an additional 30 minutes, then unwrap the ribs and place directly on the grill for final 15 minutes.
- Rest for 10 minutes before serving!
Serving:
These ribs are so flavorful they hardly need anything else, though you can always add a favorite sauce if you like. We usually enjoy them with just the rub and preserves when cooking on the Big Green Egg. For sides, I love pairing them with my German Potato Salad or keeping things light and refreshing with a Basil Lime Fruit Salad.
Make sure to get the paper towels handy!
Kansas City Dry Rib Rub and Grilled Baby Back Ribs
Ingredients
- 4 lbs or 4 racks of Baby Back Pork Ribs
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup paprika
- 1 tbsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp Chili Powder
- 3/4 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp minced onion
- 1 tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Begin by preparing your ribs. Peel off the membrane on the bone side of your rib racks. This is best done with a paper towel.
- Mix together the remaining ingredients into a small bowl.
- Rub the spices on the Meat side of the ribs and place into the fridge.
- Let sit for at least 8 hours, or overnight.
- For the charcoal grill: begin by lighting your charcoal and preparing a pyramid shape. Once the coals are gray and the grill is ready, spread out the coals slightly.
- Place the ribs bone side down (look at picture in the above post) on the perimeter of the grill and avoid any direct heat.
- Slowly cook for about 45 minutes, or until the meat is no longer pink. Meat should be juicy and tender.
- For a propane grill: light the outside burners and heat up to a medium high. Place the ribs on the inside burners that are not heated to avoid the direct fire.
