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Looking for a special occasion meal to make at home? These finger-lickin’ good, fall-off-the-bone-tender pork ribs are actually very simple to make and pack succulent flavor at a fraction of the price of a steakhouse. I purchased a package of 3 large pork loin back racks of ribs at Sam’s Club for about $25; that’s a half rack apiece for our family of 6, but we were full on 2 racks for supper and some of us enjoyed the other rack the next day for lunch! That comes to about $2.78 per serving…which really isn’t that bad when you’re talking about a special rib meal. Yup, the whole family enjoyed Bri’s Baked Barbecue Ribs, even my dad.
I included my rib sauce recipe below. Yes, I have several barbecue sauce recipes already (which you can see HERE and in Necessary Food), but I’m the kinda girl that likes to have a barbecue sauce recipe for every occasion. This one has a little bit of sweet, a little bit of spice (thank you, sriracha!), and a little more mustard than some of my other recipes (but not a lot). It’s thick enough to make a great basting or dipping sauce, and I used the whole batch on these ribs because I like sauce. The barbecue sauce on its own is a THM:FP, so if you use it on a lean meat like chicken breast, you can stay in Fuel Pull territory. (These ribs are already a THM:S because of their fat content.)
Try them for yourself! It’s way cheaper than eating out!
You may also enjoy:
- Starting THM
- my recipe index
- my recipes grouped by fuel type, allergy info, and theme
- Bri’s Kickin’ Barbecue Sauce
- Perfect Barbecue Sauce
As always, check out the Notes section of the recipe for extra info. Check out the links in and below the recipe to see the products I use and recommend. Some of the links included in the recipe and blog post are affiliate links, which means that if you make purchases through these links, I make a small commission to help defray the costs of running this blog (at no extra charge to you). Thanks for your help!
You can pin this recipe here:
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- 3 racks pork loin back ribs (8-9 lbs.)
- 1 T. each chili powder, paprika
- ½ T. each onion powder, salt
- 1 tsp. each dry mustard, THM Super Sweet Blend, black pepper
- ½ tsp cumin
- 1½ c. no-sugar-added ketchup*
- ¼ c. prepared yellow mustard
- 2 T. salted butter
- 2 T. sriracha
- 1 T. THM Super Sweet Blend (or more, to taste)
- 1 T. apple cider vinegar
- 1½ tsp. molasses**
- 1 tsp. each chili powder, onion powder, paprika
- 1 tsp. liquid smoke
- ½ tsp. cumin
- Whisk the spice rub ingredients together. Place the ribs on two baking sheets (two racks on one, one rack on the other), flesh side up, and rub the spice rub evenly over the top of each. Cover the baking pans with foil and bake at 250* for 5½ hours.
- Turn the oven up to 350*, remove the foil from the pans, and bake the ribs for an additional 30 minutes, basting the top of the rib racks with barbecue sauce twice within that time. (I remove the ribs from the oven, baste them, return them to the oven for 15 minutes, remove and baste again, and bake for the last 15 minutes.) You can use my rib sauce or about 2 cups of your favorite sugar-free barbecue sauce. Don't skimp on the sauce, and enjoy those ribs!
- BRI'S RIB SAUCE: Whisk the ingredients together in a saucepan and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Taste and adjust sweetness and spices as desired. I used the whole batch on these ribs.
**This amount of molasses stays within the ¼ tsp. per serving guideline for THM.

Do you remove the membrane? A lot of recipe sites say to, but I’ve only made ribs once or twice, so not an expert.
I don’t usually bother but I’m sure that’s probably the correct way to do it. I like to keep things as easy as possible. 🤣
These were fabulous. I will definitely be making them again and again and again:).
Bri, do you think I could can this BBQ sauce? I loved it and wouldn’t mind having it just on hand!
Hi Jackie! I’m so glad you liked the sauce! I’m afraid I’m not very well versed in canning and what makes things acceptable to can (and stay preserved correctly) or not. I’m sorry! I hope to do more research on the subject in the future. 🙂
Wow, these are so delicious! I used your your and your sauce, but I cooked my ribs in the Instant Pot for 25 minutes, then broiled for 4 minutes with the sauce. This will be my go-to recipe for ribs from now on.
Thanks for letting us know how you did it in the Instant Pot! So glad it worked for you!
Briana, these are amazing! My husband and I thought they were fabulous and most of the kids were on board as well (which is saying a lot). Thanks for sharing this recipe, and by the way I have your cookbook and love it too!
Wonderful! I’m so glad you all liked them!
I made this sauce tonight to use as a dip for chicken wings, and it is DELICIOUS!! Thank you so much for such a great, true-to-bbq sauce!!
You’re so welcome, Nancy! So glad you liked it!
Hi Briana…. I’m quite new at all this healthy eating and I’ve been trying to follow thm the last few weeks. Even though I’ve fallen off now and then I seem to be getting the hang of it 😛 Your recipes are a big help and I’ve tried several of them with great success! thank you!
I’d love to make these ribs later this week and I’m just wondering what …Liquid Smoke… is and where I can buy it? I’m up in Canada so I don’t know if that makes a difference?
Thanks
Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth! I’m glad you’re getting the hang of things! Liquid Smoke is a smoke flavoring that we can find at local grocery stores. Here’s an example so you know what to look for: https://www.colgin.com/hickory-liquid-smoke/