Barbecue Ribs with Spiced Rum Pineapple Sauce
24 Comments
Updated Feb 07, 2023
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Are you ready for the best ever barbecue ribs? These super tender, barbecue ribs are glazed in the most delicious spiced rum pineapple sauce.
The last few weeks of weather have been gorgeous in SoCal. We’re not quite into summer yet, but let’s be honest…it’s summer 9 months out of the year here! Yep, we’re spoiled.
The warm weather also means it’s time to dust off the outdoor grill cover and put that thing away for a while. ‘Cause it’s time for my favorite way of cooking – grilling!
I love the smoky flavor that grilling imparts, but even more so, I love that there’s less pots and pans to clean. I call that kitchen clean-up tricks 101. We’re all busy, so why spend time unnecessarily cleaning dishes, right?
When it comes to making a delicious meal, quality ingredients are key. And barbecue ribs are no different. I typically source my pork from local farmers who pride themselves on antibiotic-free, hormone-free, crate-free pigs.
But what makes these barbecue ribs extra delicious is the sauce. Commercial barbecue sauces have added fillers, processed sugars and nasties, which may include:
- high-fructose corn syrup
- corn syrup
- modified food starch
- potassium sorbate
- sodium benzoate
- guar gum
- carob bean gum
- caramel color
Instead of ingesting those chemicals and unnecessary ingredients, it’s best to make a barbecue sauce from scratch. Once you do, you’ll never go back to store-bought again – promise! This spiced rum pineapple sauce is a little bit sweet, a little bit spicy and a whole lot of yum!
The best barbecue ribs are juicy and fall of the bone…and this recipe delivers, by oven steaming them first.
Enjoy!
Barbecue Ribs with Spiced Rum Pineapple Sauce
Description
Ingredients
- 1 rack of baby back pork ribs
Barbecue Sauce
- 1 cup ketchup
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
- 1 cup crushed pineapple with juice
- 2 tbsp spiced rum
- 1 tbs Dijon mustard
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce, (ensure that it's gluten-free)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1/4 tsp ginger
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
Instructions
- In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, stir together the ketchup, maple syrup and molasses. Keep at a low simmer for 2-3 minutes.
- While your pot is simmering, add the remaining ingredients into a high-powered blender and blend until smooth. Add the blender ingredients to the simmering pot and stir for 3-4 minutes more. Then turn off the heat.
- To prepare the ribs, line a large baking sheet with aluminum foil (enough to wrap the ribs).
- Take 3/4 cup of the sauce and mix with an equal amount of water. Pour this evenly around the ribs, then lightly wrap the foil around them.
- Place the ribs in a 275 degree oven for 3 hours. This process steams the meat, making it tender while infusing it with flavor.
- After the ribs have finished cooking, remove from the oven. Using tongs, place on a large platter to carry to your grill.
- Heat the grill to medium-high heat. Use the remaining sauce to generously brush both sides of the ribs.
- Place the ribs on the grill and cook for 3-4 minutes each side. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
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Ribs dry out and become flavorless when you steam it with so much liquid and then discard the drippings. No water should be added! Again, this leaches out the flavor! It’s better to let the meat stew in its own juices. There’s already water in the meat! Even better to cook the ribs with dry heat low and slow on a grill or smoker. This recipe is only good for the sauce! I wasted hours of my life on this and it was a huge disappointment. I should have known better.
OH MY GOODNESS! THESE RIBS ARE EPIC!
First time trying this one. We used real lean baby back pork ribs. I’m a convert! I don’t think I can go back to BBQ ribs with my favorite sauce.
This is the perfect way to eat ribs when it’s summer-out-by-the-Q time. We had coleslaw as the side dish. SAVE THE LEFTOVER SAUCE! It’s like gold!
You could use this on prime rib beef ribs, chicken, roasted pork tenderloin, or just drink the sauce! (might need to add extra rum). We used Captain Morgan Spiced Rum, it really took it up a notch.
Thanks for leaving a review and I’m so glad you’re loving these barbecue ribs!
Love the spiced rum pineapple sauce – it’s my go to barbecue sauce. Just noticed the recipe calls for the following:
2 tbsp spiced ru
1 tbs organic Dijon Mustard – is that suppose to be tbsp?
1 tbs Worchestire sauce – again, suppose to be tbsp?
Please advise and again thank you.
Hi Janet – yes, those are supposed to be tablespoons! I need to go back and update this post soon as this was an older one :)
The recipe was on point, the sauce was exceptionally delicious and the meat literally falling off the bone! Will be doing this one again for Thanksgiving. Thank you for the recipe!
The Pineapple sauce really does make all the difference here :)
Hello,
I would like to use your recipe and have it cooked on our green egg grill. Would I do the same have it for 275 wrapped in foil for 3 hours?! Or can I have it smoked for couple hours than wrap it in foil for another hour under 275?
My fiancé said this was his favorite meal in a long time 😆 score! Neither of us had made ribs before, but we ordered some in our most recent ButcherBox because we wanted to try. This recipe was easy to follow and they turned out wonderful. Thanks Lisa!
Amazed to hear this recipe was a success Lauren! :)
I kept this recipe for awhile and finally made for first time tonight. This was sooooo good and soooo easy to make. I’ve made ribs twice before and just didn’t come out where the meat falls off the bone. This slow and low was perfect-no knife needed. The sauce is amazing.
I don’t have a grill so I used the oven broiler instead and that worked great!
I really appreciate your simple “clean eating” recipes!
Happy to hear you loved these barbecue ribs :)
I wasn’t so sure about adding the pineapple to the sauce as per the recipe. However, best pork ribs I ever made! My family devoured the ribs and said it was one of their favorite recipes! The ribs were very tender and flavor was perfect.
Wonderful! So glad everyone enjoyed the sauce on these ribs :)
Fabulous sauce!! How long does it last in the fridge?
Hi Anne! This will last about 3-5 days :)
Wow etc! That is the response and more I got after making your ribs for a birthday dinner event last weekend June 2nd/19. The sauce is fabulous! I also wrote to you about your vinegar coleslaw which went perfectly with these ribs!
So Thanks again Lisa for your amazing recipes. I do enjoy your website so much and told my girls about you as well as my very happy rib eater guests from England. I gather as a result of this you will have some new followers!
Take care!
Deena
Oh yay! I’m happy you loved this recipe as well Deena! I’ve actually been meaning to update this recipe with new photos (and it’s a good excuse to eat it again). ;) Thanks so much for spreading the Downshiftology love, I truly appreciate it! x
“The best ribs are juicy and fall of the bone… and this recipe delivers, by oven steaming them first.” Really?! I think you need to come up w/ a better description of how amazingly tender these truly are. Seriously! I couldn’t transfer the rack from the foil packet in 1 piece much less get them on the grill w/ any semblance of grace or professionalism. I wonder if 1st tearing away most of the foil, draining the liquid, placing a cutting board on top of the ribs, & then inverting them would keep the rack intact. How did you keep yours together?!? Anyway, none fell through the grill’s cooking grids, which is good, because I may have gone after them w/ or without the tongs. I didn’t bother plating them nicely; I put the cutting board on the table, threw down a couple of paper plates, scattered a few napkins, then The Hubbs & I proceeded to tackle them Fred Flintstone style. ¾ of the way through the meal, he looked up & stated, “Oh, by the way, these are really good. The dressing on the salad is great, too.” Then he disappeared into his food again. For the salad, I threw together a baby spring mix, chopped dried cherries, honey candied pecans (from our trees), seeded grape tomatoes, seeded Kalamata olives, a small very thinly sliced – then halved – Granny Smith apple, sprinkled it w/ Feta crumbles, then topped it w/ the lemon vinaigrette (using very finely diced red onion instead of shallot since that’s what was on hand) from your arugula, !spargel!, & avocado breakfast salad. Dessert was, once again, your chocolate pudding topped w/ chopped hazelnuts (I over toasted them this time – still good – gave it a smoky, robust characteristic), chopped pistachios for giggles (they need to be used before they go stale), & coarse sea salt since I still don’t have flakes. We were so full from dinner that I already had a bowl of pudding for breakfast. (But I did sneak one after midnight. I couldn’t sleep, so I raided the fridge.)
Ha – best picture ever! So glad you liked them – and yes, maybe I should stress a little bit more how tender they are. ;) x
LOL “Liked them” is an understatement. Next time I won’t grill them in the dark so I can better slop on the sauce. I barely had enough of Annie’s Dijon, so I subbed an organic, gluten-free horseradish Dijon for the remaining amount. Past recipes were “off” so I bought an oven thermometer & discovered the oven ran 25 degrees hot. I’m sure there’s a set screw somewhere to adjust that, but now I know to simply adjust the temp. I followed your instructions to the letter. SERIOUSLY. How did you get the ribs from the oven to the platter w/out them falling into pieces / sections? Maybe I should steam them less than 3 hours (that makes me scared they won’t be so tender)? Try the “inversion tactic?” I have a little over a cup of leftover sauce & will use it w/ chicken later this week. Love Love Love this & it will be my go-to rib recipe forevermore. xo
I made them a week later & instead of using regular tongs to move the ribs from the roasting pan to the grill, I supported the majority of them w/ a spatula that has a 3″ x 7″ surface & used large tongs to carefully balance the rest them. I was more careful flipping them, &, voilà! They made it to the table in perfect order. Then, of course, the meat slid off when sliced & the bones were picked clean. I also made them for Super Bowl Sunday & used the hostess’ grill; they disappeared within minutes. A, “I’m not a rib guy,” tried one after some prompting & said he was glad he did because, “Man. Those are really good.” Oh. & if you don’t check supplies & pull off a 9″ piece of foil from the roll just as you’re getting ready to prep them for oven time, a roasting bag like you’d use for a turkey (if luck is shining upon you & a grocery store run isn’t necessary), works just as well.