These Air Fryer Ribs are a game changer! The delicious barbecue rub gives them a hint of smoky flavor and crisps up on the edges to give these ribs amazing texture.
Ribs were just about the last thing I ever thought I’d make in my air fryer, but it turns out they’re one of my favorites. The meat comes out so tender and juicy inside, with a crispy, salty crust outside. Perfect solution when it’s not grilling weather.
This air fryer ribs recipe starts with a great blend of spices and brown sugar as a dry rub. And of course, I encourage that you brush them with BBQ sauce before serving.
- Video: Ways To Cook Ribs
- How Do You Fit Ribs In An Air Fryer?
- How Long To Cook Ribs In The Air Fryer?
- Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs In The Air Fryer
- The Best Rub For Ribs
- Type Of Ribs That Are Best For The Air Fryer
- Reheating Ribs In An Air Fryer
- More Recipes For Ribs
- Podcast Episode About Making Ribs In The Air Fryer
- Air Fryer Ribs Recipe
Video: Ways To Cook Ribs
How Do You Fit Ribs In An Air Fryer?
Trust me, this was the first thing I grappled with when I decided air fryer ribs needed to happen. Air fryer baskets are small and I wanted a decent amount of ribs.
At first I considered cutting them into individual ribs and staking them in the air fryer basket, but they cooked too fast that way and didn’t get tender.
Then I had a revelation: Keep the rack of ribs together and snake them around the outside edge of the air fryer basket. I’m able to easily fit 3 pounds of ribs in my 2.6 quart air fryer.
If you have a bigger air fryer, you don’t even need to wrap them around the side. Cut the rack of ribs in half and put them in the air fryer with as little overlap as possible. They can touch, but shouldn’t be covering each other up, they can go up the sides of the basket a bit if needed to fit. You can see how I managed this in the photo below.
How Long To Cook Ribs In The Air Fryer?
Ribs are traditionally cooked low and slow for hours. Even grilled, they take well over an hour to cook. But in the air fryer, you’ll be rewarded with tender, juicy ribs in just 45 minutes! You won’t believe how tender they get in so little time.
Some recipes call for the ribs to be cooked at a steady medium-high temperature, but I’ve had the best results cooking them for about 35 minutes at 325°F until they’re almost cooked through, then you can cut them and brush with sauce, and blast them at 400°F for 10 minutes to finish the cooking process and crisp up the outside.
Tip: For well-done ribs, you’ll want the internal temperature of the meatiest ribs to be 170°F. A pen-style thermometer is great for checking this quickly!
Look how good these ribs look once they are cut, sauced, and finished in the air fryer!
Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs In The Air Fryer
The ribs in the recipe below are very tasty and tender, but they’re not fall-off-the-bone tender. The trick to fall-off-the-bones ribs is to cook them low-and-slow for quite a while before turning up the heat. That’s more difficult to do in the air fryer because the circulating air can start to darken and toughen the outsides of the meat before the insides soften up. But it is possible!
What you’ll do is to cook the ribs at 325°F for 35 minutes as instructed. But then, do this optional step:
- Turn the ribs over as best you can, and then cook them at 300°F for another 20 minutes. Have a look every 5-7 minutes to make sure they’re not darkening too much, and flip them if they are.
After the 20 minutes at 300°F, proceed with the recipe below by turning the heat up to 400°F and cooking the ribs for another 10 minutes.
The Best Rub For Ribs
Good ribs are all about the rub. This dry rub recipe uses:
- Brown Sugar, which caramelizes and gets you that nice bark on the outside of the meat
- Smoked Paprika, for color and to mimic the smoky flavor of grilling
- Chili Powder, Black Pepper, and Cayenne Pepper, for a touch of heat
- Garlic Powder, for flavor
- Kosher salt
Mix everything together and then slather it on both sides of your ribs. It’s so good!
Type Of Ribs That Are Best For The Air Fryer
The best ribs for the air fryer are Baby Back Ribs. Why? Well, I’ll start by explaining why the other kinds aren’t ideally suited to air fry, and then explain why the baby backs are perfect.
St. Louis Style Ribs, which are cut from Spare Ribs, are not ideal for the air fryer. The reason is that these kinds of ribs have darker pork meat. As you might know from my Roasted Boston Butt recipe and Roasted Pork Shoulder Recipe, that darker meat really benefits from low-and-slow cooking because the collagen can break down and make the meat extra tender and juicy. You can cook these cuts slowly getting their internal temperature up as high as 200°F, and they’re so juicy at that point. Air fryers are typically small, and their convection fans really circulate the air inside. Even at low temperatures, if you cook things for a long time in there, they can dry out. The long cooking time that St. Louis Ribs and Spare Ribs need is going to result in them getting a bit dry. So, if you have St. Louis Style Ribs, I recommend you cook them in the oven like this. And if you have Spare Ribs, I recommend that you cook them like this.
In contrast, whiter pork meat doesn’t have a lot of fat or collagen that can break down. Cooking it for longer just makes it dryer. That’s why my roast pork loin recipe and my baked tenderloin recipe have you cook them fairly quickly, just reaching 145°F (160°F if you like your pork more well done).
Baby Back Ribs have a lot of loin meat on them. There are therefore best cooked more quickly and to that lower internal temperature which is best for loin. The air fryer is perfect for this. You can cook them at 325°F in there and they cook through in a short time without drying out. A bit of higher heat at the end gives them some nice color and charred flavor.
Reheating Ribs In An Air Fryer
Air fryers are also great for reheating Instant Pot ribs, on the off chance you happen to have leftovers. Since these ribs are always tender and cooked through, they only need 10 minutes at 400°F to crisp up and get hot.
More Recipes For Ribs
Decide you don’t want to use the air fryer? Try these other delicious ribs recipes and maybe serve them with some corn on the cob and potato salad. Yum!
- Grilled Beef Ribs
- Perfectly Cooked BBQ Ribs
- The Best Oven-Baked Ribs
- Flanken-Style Ribs Recipe
- Country-Style Pork Ribs
- Rib Tips Recipe
Podcast Episode About Making Ribs In The Air Fryer
Listen to me explain briefly about how to make these ribs, along with some other great tips, by clicking the play button below:
Listen to more Recipe of the Day episodes here.
Print
Air Fryer Ribs Recipe
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 6 servings
- Category: Entrée
- Method: Air Fryer
- Cuisine: American
DESCRIPTION
These air fried pork ribs are a game changer! The delicious barbecue rub gives them a hint of smoky flavor and crisps up on the edges to give these ribs amazing texture.
Ingredients
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1 Tbsp. Kosher salt
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1 Tbsp. light brown sugar
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1 Tbsp. smoked paprika
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1 Tbsp. chili powder
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1 tsp. black pepper
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1 tsp. garlic powder
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1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
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2 1/2 to 3 lbs. baby back ribs
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Barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Mix together the salt, sugar, paprika, chili powder, black pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper in a small bowl.
- Rub the seasoning rub all over both sides of the ribs.
- Keeping the ribs together, arrange them in a circle around the edge of your round air fryer basket or cut rack in half and set in square air fryer basket.
- Cook for 35 minutes* at 325°F.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the meat between the bones into individual ribs. Brush ribs all over with the barbecue sauce.
- Increase the heat to 400°F and cook for 10 minutes, or until the meatiest part of the ribs reaches an internal temperature of 170°F.
Love this recipe? I’d appreciate it if you could scroll down and add a *5 star rating* to help others know they’ll love it as well!
Notes
*If you want extra-tender rib meat, after the first 35 minutes, flip the ribs over and cook them at 300°F for another 20 minutes. Then proceed with the recipe by turning the heat up to 400°F to cooking them for 10 minutes to crisp up the outsides.
This post originally appeared in March 2020 and was revised and republished in June 2024.
I am honestly amazed how good this turned out. Thank you. Didn’t change a thing and used Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce.
I’m happy you loved it, Keith! Thanks for coming back to comment.
Absolutely delicious. Had no idea you could do ribs in an air fryer. So tender and moist but with a nice crusting. And so fast. A new go to. Thank you!!
Thank you, Diane! I’m glad you loved it.
Amazing ribs. I cooked them for the extra 20 mins and they were delicious. Thank-you so much. I never seem to succeed on my own.
You’re welcome, Lisa! So happy you loved them.
Turned out spectacular!! I used a premade spice rub, and the directions worked perfectly. Thank you.
Teresa, I actually made these again this week too and was blown away again by how good they are. I’m so happy you liked them too! Thanks for coming back to let me know :)
Maybe it’s my air fryer but after 35 minutes at the prescribed 325 the ribs were cooked black
I’m sitting here waiting for the vegetables to cook
I’ll let you know about the ribs later
Rick, that seems like it shouldn’t be the case. I’m going to add this to my list for re-testing. I have a couple of different air fryer now so I can try it in all of them and see what I find out. Thank you for letting me know, and I apologize for your experience.
I was surprised how good this turned out! Definitely recommend.
Thank you, Steve!
Great recipe everyone in the house loves them…even the fussy people
Glad to hear it, Ron! Thanks for coming back to comment, if you have a moment, I’d really appreciate you adding a 5 star rating which helps others find this recipe too. Thanks!