Tender, fall-off-the-bone ribs made in the oven with a finger-licking-good sauce. These Maple Glazed Ribs are super easy to make with just four ingredients and are absolutely irresistible!
Ribs are definitely up there in the top 5 favorite meats. Maybe even the top 3.
The good thing is that really ribs are so easy to make at home without any special equipment. You don't need any smokers, grills, or Instant Pot. Just an oven.
In fact, I've tried making ribs every other way, and while they always come out good, these are truly the BEST.
My oven-baked ribs recipe comes out perfect every time, and I'll show you how to make Maple Glazed Ribs as well as a few other glaze ideas.
Low and slow
The trick to perfect, fall-off-the-bone pork ribs is to cook them low and slow in the oven. As in 275 degrees Fahrenheit low. For a couple of hours, maybe more depending on the size of your rack of ribs.
The other key trick is to cover the ribs with foil while they are roasting, to keep them from drying out and keep all the juices in.
A lot of people claim that removing the membrane from under the ribs is key when you want to make tender ribs. And yes, removing the membrane helps. But when you cook the ribs for that long, the membrane almost melts away on its own.
I never remove the membrane and it's NEVER been a problem. I just find that removing the membrane is a lot of work and is super messy with yucky and involves holding a knife while your hands are slippery from the ribs, and it's just not something I want to do.
So I skip that step.
After the ribs are roasted at 275F, they will release lots of juices and they won't look particularly appetizing, but that's OK. It gets better once we get the maple glaze on.
Rib seasoning / dry rub for ribs
This oven-baked rib recipe has two main sources of flavor: the dry rub seasoning massaged into the ribs before roasting, and the maple syrup glaze that coats the ribs after their initial roast. We'll talk about the maple glaze in a bit.
Let's start with the dry rub.
I make my own dry rub that is a mixture of:
- Smoked paprika
- Ground coriander
- Garlic powder
- Onion powder
- Dried oregano
- Ground cumin
- Brown sugar
- Cayenne pepper (just a bit!)
- Salt
- Pepper
I wish I had the exact ratios, but unfortunately I don't. I just use a large empty spice bottle and add the spices, shake them, and taste them until it feels right.
The ingredients are listed roughly from highest amounts to lowest, just to give you an idea of where to start.
I like making my own pork rub because salt is not the #1 ingredient, giving the other spices a chance to shine and flavor the food before it becomes too salty.
I also like making my own because it has a complex mixture of flavors (because there are a LOT of flavors lol), unlike most of the ones you can buy which only have salt, paprika, garlic, onion, and spice (whatever that is).
But I've also made ribs with store-bought pork seasoning and it turns out great. Here are lots of good options on Amazon. You really can't go wrong as long as you have some salt, garlic, paprika, and any other seasonings you like.
Maple glaze
After the ribs roast for about 2 hours at 275F (or 2.5 - 3 hours), I remove them from the oven and let it preheat to 375F. During that time, I mix together 2:1 maple syrup:apple cider vinegar and brush the maple mixture onto the top of the ribs.
Then the ribs go back into the oven - uncovered this time - for about 5-7 minutes.
I repeat this last step of glazing + roasting at 375F about 2-3 more times, until the ribs start to really brown and almost form a nice crust on top.
The sugars in the maple syrup caramelize at 375 and makes the ribs so so delicious, a little sticky on top, and give the ribs a nice sweet & savory flavor.
That's it! Super simply.
We usually eat ribs with a baked potato or with some rice, and a side salad. (This Beet and Blue Cheese Salad is great!)
Other glazes for ribs
Aside from these maple-glazed ribs, my other go-to flavor for ribs is honey glazed and BBQ glazed. I use the same technique for all my rib recipes (I mean, why mess with perfection??): I roast the ribs slowly, the brush the glaze on.
For the honey glaze, I do the same ratio of 2:1 honey:apple cider vinegar.
For the BBQ glaze, I just simply brush the ribs with my favorite BBQ sauce. It already has sweetness and acidity, so it caramelizes nicely too.
I hope you get a chance to try these ribs! They truly are fantastic and are a great family-friendly rib recipe - my three year old LOVES these ribs!
Looking for more easy meaty dinners?
- Juicy ground pork burgers (15 minutes from scratch)
- Instant Pot BBQ pulled chicken (this is definitely in my top 5 favorite meat recipes!)
- Juicy venison burgers
- Cajun spiced pork chops
- Maple glazed pork chops
- Honey sriracha glazed pork chops
- Creamy pork chops with mushrooms (these consistently get GREAT reviews from my readers who make them)
If you enjoyed this recipe, let me know with a comment and a star rating below. And don't forget to share it on Facebook and save it on Pinterest for later!
Oven Baked Maple Glazed Ribs
Ingredients
- 1 rack baby back ribs
- ¼ cup pork rub - (or as needed, to cover the ribs on all sides)
- ½ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
Special equipment
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 275F.
- If you want to remove the membrane from the bottom of the ribs, carefully remove it. Rub the ribs generously with the pork rub, making sure to rub the seasonings into any creases.
- Place the seasoned ribs in a large baking pan and cover with foil.
- Bake for about 2 hours, covered, at 275F. Add up to 30-60 minutes if your ribs are large or extra thick.
- While the ribs are baking, mix together the maple syrup and apple cider vinegar in a small bowl.
- Remove ribs from the oven, increase the oven temperature to 375F, and remove the foil from the baking pan, being really careful not to burn your fingers or face from the steam.
- Brush the ribs with the maple syrup+apple cider vinegar mixture, then place them in the oven uncovered for 5-7 minutes.
- Repeat Step 7 two to three more times, or until the ribs are nicely browned and caramelized.
Notes
Nutrition
The nutritional information displayed is an estimate and not to be used as dietary or nutritional advice. Consult a nutritionist or dietician for nutritional info based on the exact ingredients you use.