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+ servings
Two slabs of BBQ pork spareribs.
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5 from 4 votes

BBQ St. Louis-Style Ribs

Easy St. Louis-style ribs, the best BBQ ribs of summer! Pork spareribs cooked low and slow on the grill and basted with BBQ sauce until tender.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time2 hours 30 minutes
Total Time3 hours
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 962kcal

Ingredients

  • Your favorite dry rub
  • 1 cup of your favorite barbecue sauce (see note for a simple homemade sauce)
  • 2 slabs St. Louis-style pork spareribs, thin membrane removed from the back side
  • Salt and pepper

Instructions

  • Season ribs with dry rub, starting with the back side first. Don't use too much rub, just a nice coating. Season with salt and pepper. Let sit for a half hour.
  • Heat your gas grill on high, clean and then turn off the center flame and set the two outer flames to medium. You are aiming for a temperature of 250º to 300º.
  • Combine barbecue sauce with one cup of water and set aside.
  • Place ribs on the grill, bone-side down for 30 minutes. Flip ribs and grill for another 30 minutes.
  • After one hour, start basting the ribs with the thinned sauce every 10 minutes. Here's how: start with the meat side up and baste twice, 20 minutes. Flip and baste the back side, 10 minutes, then flip and repeat basting the meat side two more times, 20 minutes.
  • The meat at this point should be pulling away from the ends of the bone like in the first photo above. This is what you're looking for. Baste the ribs one more time, meat side up and turn the heat off. Keep the lid closed for 10 more minutes. Our ribs were done after about 2 hours. If needed, keep basting and flipping every 10 minutes until done, about 2 to 2 ½ hours.
  • Remove from grill. Cut into individual ribs and devour. Serve undiluted barbecue sauce on the side.

Notes

To make the barbecue sauce I made, in a small saucepan combine the following ingredients:
  • ⅔ cup ketchup
  • ½ cup cider vinegar
  • ¼ cup brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
and bring to a simmer and cook for 5 minutes.

Nutrition

Calories: 962kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 51g | Fat: 76g | Saturated Fat: 24g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 13g | Monounsaturated Fat: 28g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 260mg | Sodium: 631mg | Potassium: 869mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 12g | Vitamin A: 80IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 61mg | Iron: 3mg