The Best St. Louis Ribs Recipe

For many first-time cooks, getting the perfect St. Louis-style spare ribs can be a daunting task. But if you follow this quick and easy recipe, you’ll find that achieving tender and mouth-watering ribs is within reach. In this article, we share the ingredients you’ll need for the best, fall-off-the-bone St. Louis ribs you’ve ever had, along with instructions on how to prepare them for your friends and family. 

What are St. Louis Ribs?

Like baby back ribs, St. Louis style ribs are a rack of pork spareribs containing the sternum bone, while the rib tips and cartilage are trimmed off. Doing this can help square off the ribs and make it look uniform enough to serve up the perfect meal. Because both the rib tips and tough cartilage are taken off, this cut of meat is easier to work with but will also cook quicker than a full rack of ribs. 

When prepared and cooked properly, this cut of ribs will deliver meat that’s packed with flavor. Pair it with your favorite BBQ sauce and it will surely impress everyone at your next dinner party. Follow the recipe card below to get started with your perfectly succulent St. Louis ribs! 

Best St. Louis Ribs Recipe

Below are all the ingredients you’ll need to make the best ribs along with quick and easy instructions. 

Ingredients

• 1 rack of St. Louis Cut spareribs
• 1 tablespoon of liquid smoke
• 1 cup of water

Barbecue Dry Rub

• 1½ teaspoons of fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon of ground black pepper
• ¾ tablespoon of brown sugar
• ¾ tablespoon of paprika
• ½ tablespoon of chili powder
• ¼ teaspoon onion powder
• ¼ teaspoon garlic powder

Barbecue Sauce 

• 2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (or apple juice)
• 2 tablespoons of brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon of Dijon mustard
• 1 shot of espresso
• ¾ cup of ketchup
• ½ teaspoon of soy sauce

Instructions

1. The first step is to place all the ingredients for your dry rub inside a small bowl and mix it well. Set it aside and combine all your BBQ sauce ingredients in a medium bowl until everything is smooth and set it aside for later.  
2. Working on the bone side of your ribs, place a butter knife in between the bone and the membrane; grab the membrane with a paper towel, pulling it away from your ribs. Pull on it gently but firmly — if it tears as you’re pulling it, work your knife under any remaining pieces and pull them off too. Trim off any flaps of meat from the bone side as well which you can sprinkle with your rub and add it onto your flavorful ribs.  
3. Season both sides of the ribs and concentrate more on the meaty sides; cut your rack of ribs into 4 equal pieces or cut between every third bone. Add one cup of water and a tablespoon of liquid smoke inside a pressure cooker or an Instant Pot. Make sure to stack your ribs inside the pot and ensure they face bone side down while keeping everything loose. 
4. Lock your lid and set it on high pressure for 30 minutes inside your Instant Pot or any other electric pressure cooker or 24 minutes inside a stovetop pressure cooker. Let the pressure come down naturally which should take about 15 minutes — if you’re in a hurry, you can quickly release the pressure if you’re pressed for time. 
5. Put your ribs bone side down inside a rimmed baking sheet and brush the ribs using your BBQ sauce then place them inside a broiler set on high. 
6. Broil your ribs until the sauce bubbles and starts to brown which will take around 5 minutes. Remove your sticky ribs from the broiler, brush them with more sauce, and serve it immediately to your guests! 

Tips for Making the Best St. Louis Ribs 

People new to cooking will benefit from the following tips which won’t just make the whole process easier but will also help you create more recipes using these tips and tricks. 

Adding Liquid Smoke to the Water

While it might sound weird, you can add a little liquid smoke to add more flavor to your ribs. However, this step is optional and even a little bit can add a depth of flavor to your meal, so try not to overdo it if you plan to use this. 

Scaling the Recipe for a Larger Yield

If you have a bigger pressure cooker at home, this recipe can be adjusted to fit 2 slabs of ribs. At the same time, you can scale down this recipe to cook half a slab of ribs; just remember that the bones may be too long to comfortably fit inside a 3-quart pressure cooker. 

Broil Your Ribs to Bring Out More Flavor

While they won’t help to brown your meat, pressure cookers will deliver beef that falls off the bone. The best bone tender meat should come with a crisp crust, so be sure to brush it with sauce and keep it inside the broiler until it bubbles and browns on top. This step is also optional but it will add plenty of flavor to your ribs. 

Take the Membrane Off Your Ribs

It can be tricky to take the silver skin off from ribs but it’s an important step that you shouldn’t overlook if you want everyone to have a great time at dinner. Because it’s made out of connective tissue, it will stay chewy and tough no matter how much cooking you give the ribs. 

Making Extra Tender Ribs

While the recipe above cooks ribs inside a high-pressure cooker for 30 minutes, you can make extra tender ribs by leaving them inside for 45 minutes inside your Instant Pot. Another thing you can do to make your ribs extra tender is by covering them with aluminum foil if there are any parts starting to become too brown. 

Best St. Louis Ribs FAQs 

People who are new to cooking will often ask questions that can help them perfect their ribs. Below are just a few of the most common questions that you might have. 

Can I Use My Favorite BBQ Rub or Sauce? 

If you don’t have any of the ingredients listed above, you can use your favorite barbecue sauce or homemade recipe. You should use around 1 cup of sauce and 2 tablespoons of rub. 

Can I Substitute Baby Back Ribs Instead?

For this recipe, yes, you can use baby back ribs instead of St. Louis Cut ribs as long as you have the same amount specified in the recipe above. 

Can I Use an Entire Slab of Spare Ribs for this Recipe? 

Because spare ribs will cook for the same time as St. Louis Cut ribs, everything should work out well. While cooking time may be different according to the different kinds of ribs used, an Instant Pot won’t care about the kind of ribs you use and will cook them all until they’re tender. 

Conclusion

When you want the perfect St Louis style ribs, making a homemade rub or at the very least, using a store-bought BBQ sauce is all you need to bring out the meat’s natural flavor. It’s also important to use a pressure cooker such as an Instant Pot to get tender, fall-of-the-bone, and delicious ribs. With the upcoming Christmas celebrations fast approaching, you couldn’t have found a better recipe to serve up a great meal for the whole family!

Sources 

• dadcooksdinner.com
• chefdenise.com
• dontsweattherecipe.com