Sweet & Savory Dr Pepper Baby Back Ribs Recipe  | Tastes Lovely (2024)

Tastes Lovely » Recipes » Sweet & Savory Dr Pepper Baby Back Ribs Recipe

by Natalie on November 2, 2015 — updated November 13, 2023 // 33 Comments »

Tender, fall off the bone, Dr Pepper ribs. These pork ribs start with a sweet and savory dry rub and slow roasted in the oven with Dr Pepper, then finished off on the grill with BBQ sauce so they get crispy and charred.

What Makes This Recipe Great

These cold, crisp October days make me miss our game day traditions Tailgating back in the day. During football season we would trek out to see Shawn’s brother play and the tailgating energy is unmatched.

My personal favorite tailgate food is these Dr Pepper Ribs that Shawn makes. They are a-ma-zing. Seriously, fall off the bone baby back ribs. Our entire family absolutely loves them. Plus they’re made with his favorite soda, so it’s always a treat!

These are such a cinch to make because Shawn slow roasts them in Dr Pepper in our oven at home before leaving for the game. Then, when we get there, he covers them in our favorite BBQ sauce and reheats and chars them up on the grill for 15 minutes. That’s it! The oven does most of the cooking, but Shawn looks like the hero on the grill– win win!

Shawn is quite the ribs overachiever and does both a dry rub on them when they’re steam roasting away and then covers them in BBQ sauce when grilling them. They have such amazing flavor. YUM! This rib recipe is perfect for game day, summer cookouts, Sunday dinner– you name it!

Ingredient Notes

Dry Spice Rub

• Brown sugar
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Salt
• Black pepper
• Thyme
• Paprika

Ribs

• Baby Back Pork Ribs: Approx 4 pounds, extra fat trimmed away (I get my ribs from ButcherBox, which is such an easy way to get quality meat, and I highly recommend).
• Dr Pepper soda: You’ll need 4 cans of Dr Pepper for this recipe.
• BBQ sauce: Use your favorite BBQ sauce or try my homemade barbeque sauce!

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Make the dry rub by combining all ingredients in a small bowl. Stir to combine.
2. Preheat oven to 250 degrees F with the rack in the lower third.
3. Cut each whole rack of ribs in half, so you will now have 4 half racks. This will make them easier to grill later.
4. Pat the racks of ribs dry with a paper towel, and rub evenly on the top of the ribs and sides of the ribs with the dry rub mixture. Place the ribs meat side UP in a large roasting pan with a rack. (I’ll link in the notes to the roasting pan I use).
5. Pour the cans of Dr Pepper to the bottom of the roasting pan. Cover the roasting pan with foil so the Dr Pepper can steam and infuse the ribs. Bake for 4 hours.
6. When the ribs are done roasting, they will have the most tender meat and will want to fall off the bone. Using 2 tongs, gently remove each half rack from the roasting pan and transfer to a large plate. You can either tent them with aluminum foil and refrigerate them to grill at a later time or finish them on the grill right away. Discard the cooking liquid left in the roasting pan.
7. Preheat the grill over high heat—clean and oil the grill grates. Start the ribs meat side UP, and grill for 4 minutes. Brush the tops of the ribs generously with BBQ sauce.
8. Flip, and cook the ribs meat side DOWN for 5-10 more minutes, or until heated through and the BBQ sauce has caramelized. Do not move the BBQ ribs around once they are meat side DOWN so that you will get grill marks.
9. Brush the bone side of the ribs with BBQ sauce. Using 2 tongs, or tongs and a large spatula, gently flip the ribs to be MEAT side up. Grill for 2 more minutes.
10. Transfer the rib meat to a large platter. Cut the ribs if desired and serve warm with additional BBQ sauce.

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posted by Natalie on November 2, 2015

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