These delicious, tender air fryer pork ribs are rubbed with a flavorful seasoning, cooked to perfection in an air fryer, then smothered with an awesome AIP BBQ sauce. It's a fairly easy recipe and only takes about 30 minutes to make.
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Ingredients for Air Fryer Pork Ribs
- Pork Ribs (St. Louis style or baby back)- I used my St. Louis style pork ribs from ButcherBox for this recipe. This type of ribs tends to be fairly thin ribs. If you are using thicker ribs, it's worth noting that you may need to extend your cooking time a little longer to make sure they are done. The internal cooking temperature of ribs should be at least 145° F.
- Garlic Powder- The garlic powder, sea salt, and onion powder are combined to make a rub which will be applied to both sides of the ribs.
- Sea Salt
- Onion Powder
- AIP BBQ Sauce- The barbecue sauce I created for this recipe is cherry-based (cherries to the rescue again!). It's pretty easy and I think it tastes pretty close to actual BBQ sauce.
I also have a couple of other barbecue sauce recipes on this site if you are interested in checking them out: Pineapple Bacon Dipping Sauce and Nightshade Free BBQ Sauce.
If you don't feel like making a barbecue sauce, the rub on these ribs is amazing and they will be super flavorful even without a sauce.
Your other option is to go with a store-bought BBQ sauce. KC Naturals has an AIP-friendly barbecue sauce. Of course, if you're not doing AIP/ Paleo there are plenty of other barbecue sauce options out there.
BBQ Sauce Ingredients:
- Sweet Dark Frozen Cherries- I just use frozen cherries because they are easy to find any time of year and they are already pitted. I just put them in the microwave for about a minute and then they are ready to go. You can of course use fresh cherries if you prefer- just be sure to remove the pits
- Canned Pumpkin Puree
- Balsamic Vinegar- You could sub in apple cider vinegar if necessary but I'd recommend using the balsamic for best results.
- Sea Salt
- Garlic Powder
- Dried Ginger
- Coconut Aminos- This really helps to pull the BBQ flavor together.
How to Make Air Fryer Pork Ribs
- Remove the silverskin from the back of the ribs (see below on how to do this).
- Cut the rack of ribs into 2-3 sections so they can fit into the fryer basket.
- Make the spice rub. Mix the garlic powder, onion powder, and salt in a small bowl.
- Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Pat the ribs dry and rub the mixture onto all sides of the ribs.
- Once the air fryer is ready/hot, place the ribs into the fryer basket meat-side down and cook for 12-15 minutes minutes.
- Make the BBQ sauce while the ribs are cooking. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small food processor or blender cup. Blend until smooth.
- Flip the ribs with tongs, brush with BBQ sauce and continue cooking for another 10 minutes or until the meat reaches an internal temp of at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the ribs from the basket and allow them to cook for a few minutes before serving. Add more sauce if desired.
What Kind of Ribs to Use for the Air Fryer
This recipe calls for St. Louis style ribs (I got mine from ButchBox) or spare ribs but you can also use baby back ribs. Note that baby back ribs are generally smaller than St. Louis style and spare ribs so the cooking time will be lower.
What’s the Difference Between St. Louis Style Ribs and Spare Ribs?
St. Louis-style ribs are basically just spare ribs that have been cut down to form a more uniform shape. St. Louis style are a little easier to cut and work with but either will be fine for this recipe.
What is Silverskin and How Do You Remove It?
Silverskin is the thin white layer of connective tissue found on the back of most ribs. To remove it, flip the ribs over meat-side down then use a butter knife to get under the silverskin from one of the edges. Once you get under it slightly, use a finger to separate the two layers and pull it off.
Notes
*Note that cooking times will vary depending on the size and thickness of your ribs. The ones I used for this recipe were fairly thin. If you find that your ribs are not quite done cooking at the end of the recommend cook time, just continue cooking a little longer until the internal temp of the ribs is at least 145 degrees F.
If you enjoyed this post, you may also like:
Honey Lemon Pepper Wings- Air Fryer Chicken Wings
Conclusion:
I hope you love this recipe Please leave a comment below and let me know what you thought!
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Air Fryer Pork Ribs with AIP BBQ Sauce
Equipment
- Small Food Processor or blender
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pork ribs (St. Louis style or spare ribs)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp onion powder
AIP BBQ Sauce (or use BBQ sauce of choice)
- 2/3 cup sweet dark frozen cherries thawed
- 3 tbsp canned pumpkin puree
- 2 tsp balsamic vinegar or apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp dried ginger
- 1 tsp coconut aminos
Instructions
- Remove the silverskin from the back of the ribs. See below on how to do this.
- Cut the rack of ribs into 2-3 sections so they can fit into the fryer basket.
- Make the spice rub. Mix the garlic powder, onion powder, and salt in a small bowl.
- Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Pat the ribs dry and rub the mixture onto all sides of the ribs.
- Once the air fryer is ready/hot, place the ribs into the fryer basket meat-side down and cook for 12-15 minutes minutes.
- Make the BBQ sauce while the ribs are cooking. Combine the sauce ingredients in a small food processor or blender cup. Blend until smooth.
- Flip the ribs with tongs, brush with BBQ sauce and continue cooking for another 10 minutes or until the meat reaches an internal temp of at least 145 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the ribs from the basket and allow them to cook for a few minutes before serving. Add more sauce if desired.
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