Sweet and Smoky Dry Rub For Ribs

How do you make the best ribs? Start with this rib rub, designed specifically for tastier ribs. It’s deliciously sweet and smoky and everyone loves it!

Video: Making The Best Rib Rub

Ingredients

The ingredient list is fairly short and you probably already have everything you need. The difference in the final result is big though when you use this sweet smoky spice mixture.

All you need is brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic and onion powders, dried mustard powder, and salt and black pepper. You really do want smoked paprika instead of another kind to get that slightly smoky flavor on your ribs. 

The nice thing about making your own seasoning mix is that you can adjust it to be perfect for your taste. You can add some chili powder or cumin for a deeper flavor. Or spice things up by adding some cayenne pepper. You can see over here on our basic pork seasoning recipe how to switch up the flavors to your preference.

How Much Do I Need?

The recipe below is the amount that is needed for a 2 pound rack of ribs. Here’s the amounts you’ll need for typical rib cuts:

Baby back ribs range from 1.5 to 2 pounds usually, so you can use all or most of it on there. Learn how to cook baby back ribs in the air fryer here and baby backs in the oven here.

Trimmed St. Louis ribs range from 2.5 to 3 pounds so you can use the whole amount on there, and maybe go in and add an extra sprinkle of salt all over. Learn how to cook St. Louis-Style ribs here.

Spare Ribs are essentially untrimmed St. Louis ribs. They’re the St. Louis rack with a strip known as rib tips attached. A rack of spare ribs is typically 5-6 pounds, so you’ll want to double the seasoning recipe for that for sure. Learn how to cook spare ribs here, and how to cook the strip of rib tips here.

I usually use this rib rub for pork ribs, but you could use it for beef ribs as well. A rack of beef ribs is usually about 3-4 pounds, so you’ll double the seasoning for that. Here’s how to cook beef ribs. For short ribs, you’ll use one batch of seasoning for 2 pounds of ribs. Learn how to cook beef short ribs here, and how to cook short ribs that are cut flanken-style here.

How To Use A Dry Rub For Ribs

I like to put this dry rub right on the raw rack of ribs, on both sides. Then I wrap the ribs in foil and put them in a 300°F oven or on a grill over indirect medium-low heat for 1.5 hours. 

If I’m cooking in the oven, I then open up the foil packet for the ribs to get direct heat. If I’m grilling I remove the foil entirely at this point. Either way, make sure the meatier side of the ribs are facing up as you continue to cook for another hour and a half.

After cooking, they can be cooled completely to be sauced and heated later. Or cut them into individual rib portions, brush with BBQ sauce, and then finish them on a hot grill or under the broiler to char up a bit before serving.