There aren’t a lot of things I find more appealing then a sticky, sweet, slightly spicy, rack of ribs. The kind of ribs you need a LOT of napkins for if you know what I mean!
And don’t be a wuss about eating them either – you need to clean allllll that delicious goodness off of the bones LIKE YOU MEAN IT. Are you with me on this???
It drives me crazy to see someone take a couple of bites from a rib and set it aside with tons of meaty chunks still sitting there waiting to be gnawed off proper like. Mr. Hungry isn’t a fan of the fatty bits, so he usually leaves a lot of what I consider the best parts on the plate. I have no qualms about having at his when I’m done with mine (though anybody else’s are off limits, because ewww – cooties.)
I’m proud to say that Hungry Jr. is fully on my side in this debate, he thinks pork fat and crispy skin are two of the greatest things ever created. THAT’S MY BOY. Future foodie, comin’ thru.
No matter what your style when it comes to eating ribs, I’m pretty sure that you are going to agree that this low carb smoky rhubarb BBQ sauce is going to make them taste amazing!
Don’t eat ribs? That’s ok, this sauce would be just as good (if not better) on some grilled or baked chicken thighs!! In fact I plan to use the rest of my sauce to try it out myself!
The smoky flavor comes from the chipotles, which also add a nice amount of heat. The sweetness is what keeps you coming back for more though, as it perfectly complements the fatty, savory, pork.
Interestingly, the rhubarb acts as a natural thickener in this recipe, giving it the clingy, sticky consistency that I look for in a great BBQ sauce (which is hard to achieve in a low carb version usually.) The rhubarb also contributes a pleasant tanginess that rounds out the flavors perfectly. You won’t be able to quit eating these – promise.
No matter how good your BBQ sauce is, if you don’t season your meat generously before cooking, that flavor won’t penetrate all the way through. That’s why I like a good spice rub on the meat as a foundation – then I grill, smoke, or roast it low and slow for a few hours before I even think about adding the BBQ sauce.
You can purchase any sugar free rub to use, or make your own which is pretty easy to do. This one was just a combination of salt, pepper, paprika, allspice, garlic powder, onion powder, and ground coriander. If you don’t want to go to all that trouble, at the very least be sure to season your meat with a liberal amount of salt and pepper before cooking.
Then, after it’s roasted for a few hours and is starting to get tender, I slather on my first layer of BBQ sauce and put it back in the oven. I layer on the sauce every 30 minutes or so, for about the next 2 hours. That way it bakes in and forms a delicious crust that seals in all the moisture.
Once the meat is tender enough to pull apart easily, I slice it between the bones and pile the pieces on a plate or platter. You can serve the ribs with the extra sauce if you like, but I personally prefer the flavor of the sauce that’s cooked on to the ribs. Adding more of the other sauce is overkill for me – but this is about you, so go for it if it’s how you want to eat them! Just be sure to have plenty of napkins on hand!
Some delicious side dishes to accompany these ribs would be my Easy Keto Broccoli Slaw and Jalapeno Cheddar Cauliflower Muffins. Then for dessert, try my Keto Lemon Bars or low carb Strawberry Rhubarb Meringue Pie Bars!
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Smoky Rhubarb BBQ Ribs – Low Carb and Gluten Free
- Yield: 6 servings, approx 2 ribs each 1x
Description
These sugar free smoky rhubarb BBQ ribs are packed with flavor! Tangy, sweet, and a little spicy from the chipotles, you won’t be able to stop eating these! The sauce is also great for chicken!
Ingredients
For the BBQ Sauce:
- 2 cups raw rhubarb, chopped
- 1/4 cup chipotles in adobo sauce
- 1/3 cup granulated sugar substitute (I used Swerve)
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup water
- 1/2 tsp mustard powder
- 1 tsp allspice
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 3/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/8 tsp ground cloves
- 2 Tbsp sugar free ketchup
- 1 Tbsp avocado or coconut oil
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp fish sauce
For the ribs:
- 1 large rack of pork ribs
- 1.5 Tbsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
Instructions
For the sauce:
- Combine the rhubarb, chipotle, sweetener, apple cider vinegar, and water in a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for 10 minutes.
- Puree the mixture (a hand held immersion blender works best for this) and return to the stove.
- Add the mustard powder, allspice, onion powder, salt, ground cloves, ketchup, oil, paprika, ginger, coriander, garlic powder, and fish sauce to the pan and stir well until combined.
- Cook over low heat for another 5 minutes.
For the ribs:
- Combine all of the rib spices together and mix thoroughly. Sprinkle generously on all sides of the ribs. Place the seasoned rack in a pan (you can line it with parchment or foil if you desire) and bake in a 350 degree oven for 2 hours (3 hours if it’s a really thick rack.)
- Remove ribs from the oven and baste with a layer of BBQ sauce.
- Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Reduce oven temperature to 325 degrees.
- Remove the ribs from the oven and baste with another layer of BBQ sauce.
- Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Remove the ribs from the oven and baste with another layer of BBQ sauce.
- Return to the oven and bake for 30 minutes.
- Check to see if the middle of the ribs will cut easily. If there is still resistance and they aren’t coming apart easily, baste again and cook for an additional 30 minutes or until done to your liking.
Notes
Approx. nutrition info per serving: 405 calories, 31g fat, 2g net carbs, 27g protein
- Category: Main Dish
- Cuisine: American
Can’t get enough BBQ recipes? Check out my recent post of 65 Best Low Carb Recipes for BBQ’s, Picnics, and Summer Parties!
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Kathy Humann says
Made this exact as recipe noted. SO GOOD! I served as dipping sauce for baked chicken thighs. yum yum! Will be freezing for handy usage!
★★★★★
Sonja says
*** For all RIB first-timers out there – Must READ before follow recipe.
1st – I’ve made lots of your recipes and have loved them. But I really struggled with this one.
The Spice Rub & BBQ sauce are DELICIOUS. Loved the Chipotle peppers, made it smoky and spicy. Use less peppers if want less spice.
BUT….. (Sorry to have to do this, but the pre-prep & cooking instructions for these Ribs is TERRIBLE!)
**** TWO very important and CRITICAL points, that aren’t mentioned anywhere in the recipe, in making “fall-off-the-bone” RIBS, are :
#1 – Remove membrane on the underside of the ribs so they cut easily, and….
#2 – WRAP your RIB RACK in FOIL!!!
I followed your cooking instructions EXACTLY, and they were horribly DRY. ZERO moisture. Dry as the Mojave Desert. It was like eating the toughest, chewiest shoe leather w/ BBQ sauce. AWFUL. I had to throw them out. $30 wasted in the garbage.
So…. I made them AGAIN the next day, using your spice rub & sauce recipe, (delicious), but this time, removed the membrane, seasoned them with spices, wrapped tightly in FOIL, baked for 3 hours at 325 degrees. Then removed foil, basted with sauce & cooked for another 10 min. @ 400 degrees. They were so juicy, and tender and moist….
I had never made ribs before. And the first time, I was skeptical when your recipe had me cooking them for 4-5 hours…. uncovered. I said to myself, “won’t that make them tough?” But I trusted your instructions. Might of worked for others, but sure didn’t work for me!
So… if you don’t want to throw $30 in the garbage, I’d be sure and remove membrane and if cooking in the oven, cover them completely in foil.
** Btw – My 2nd batch of Ribs were delicious with just the spices…. B4 adding sauce. So could have either way. Thank you.
★
Renee says
I made a huge batch of this today. Planning to freeze some and also keep some in the fridge. Do you happen to know how long it will keep in the fridge?
Thanks for your amazing recipes. I refer people to your site all the time. Very trusted recipes and always delicious.
Mellissa Sevigny says
About a week in the fridge, but no longer!
Calvin says
These look divine.. to die for ribs
Becky D says
Can this recipe be done with Country Style Ribs, and can it be done in a slow cooker?
Mickie Gross says
Perfect for Hubby’s new grill! I did have a giggle though @ your serving size :)…2 ribs? Seriously? Hubby & I could demolish this whole recipe in one sitting!
Mellissa Sevigny says
That serving size is more for the calculation purposes Mickie! It’s easy to figure out multiples of 2 so if you eat six just multiply the info by 3 etc. I’ve never eaten two ribs in my life either lol!
Sandra K West says
Fantastic!!! We grow our own rhubarb and it did great job of thickening. I used Cajun Rub, as we like spicy, but ribs had no heat at all. Still delicious and this recipe is a keeper.
★★★★★
Emilee says
Pretty good. I did bbq’d chicken breasts. I also didn’t have chipotle peppers so I added a tiny bit of liquid smoke.
Also instead of Sugar substitute I used maple syrup – 1/2 cup+ then I added a bunch of brown sugar while it was simmering. I had a feeling it was supposed to be more sugar if it was a 1/3 cup of sugar substitute as I understand those can be more potent in the the sweet factor. I also simmered it way longer because of the amount of liquid I added in the maple syrup.
I didd’t have ground coriander so I put in fresh parsley instead. Not sure if this made a difference or not.
My husband thought it had a funny taste but then I told him it was rhubarb and he started to like it.
I’m freezing the rest and will try on ribs when I get around to it!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Hi Emily – the flavor difference between ground coriander seed and fresh parsley would be huge and a little strange I would think. That might be the flavor your husband was detecting. Glad it all worked out in the end, but I recommend picking up some ground coriander in the spice aisle for next time to get the best flavor!
Emilee says
Looks delish! I may try this on some chicken tonight! Can I use maple syrup instead of sugar substitute?
Jody says
Thank you thank you thank you for this recipe! Not only have I been inundated with rhubarb from friends & family, but I have been missing a good old sticky BBQ sauce since entering a LCHF lifestyle. This was a massive hit with my family. Love this – adding it to my regular rotation!
★★★★★
Julie says
This was absolutely delicious! I seeded the chilis before adding them to reduce the heat and it was perfect. Thanks!
★★★★★
Kimberly Pereira says
OMG! I just made this and my house smells amazing. The only thing I substituted was cumin for the coriander since I didn’t have any and I made my own sugar-free ketchup. This is absolutely divine!! So tangy and a perfect balance between sweet and spicy. I grow my own rhubarb so I have a ton of it in my freezer, I was able to make two batches. I’ll be freezing most of it and using the rest on my ribs today.
Thank you for an amazing recipe!
★★★★★
shannon @ a periodic table says
i have never wanted ribs so much in my LIFE thanks to this whole rhubarb situation. I”m like an ADDICT.
cindy soles says
This looks amazing…do you think frozen rhubarb would still yield the same texture…definitely going to make this soon…
Kelly says
Cindy, I hope you tried it. I used frozen chopped rhubarb and it works great – no need to defrost it even, just add in and cook a few extra minutes. Melissa, you did it again – fabulous recipe! Thanks!
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks so much Kelly, I’m so happy to hear that someone else tried it and liked it! I’ve been craving these ever since I made them – time to go shopping for ribs and I still have some rhubarb in my freezer! :)
Linette Houser says
you are such a wonderful person thanks for all that you do I love love love your recipes please continue to give them to us as often as possible I love you have a great day by
Mellissa Sevigny says
Awwwwww! Thanks so much Linette! :)
Nicole says
Could I just leave the rhubarb out if I’m not a fan? Or what could I substitute for it that would be good? Love your page by the way. Thanks for this recipe.
Mellissa Sevigny says
Because so much of the body of the sauce (2 cups) is the rhubarb, I’m not sure what a good sub would be – probably best just to try a different sauce altogether than mess with the recipe. Though you can’t really taste the rhubarb on it’s own, it’s masked by so many other flavors that you might like it more than you thought!
Renee says
My brother in law substituted cranberries once when he couldn’t find rhubarb in the stores. It was amazing!!!
Jan says
Holy smokes! Those ribs look wonderfully delicious. I’m going to save this for sometime when I have friends over (a bit much for me alone)
Mellissa Sevigny says
Thanks Jan! The sauce will freeze well so if you can’t stand to wait, you can make some and just use a little on some chicken or a smaller cut of ribs!