Country-style Pork Ribs ribs are a great rich and fall-apart tender alternative to traditional ribs. Cheap, easy to make, and SO good, this might just be your new favorite way to eat pork.
One of the first really popular recipes on this site was my No-Fuss Easy Oven-Baked Ribs. The recipe’s designed to use beef back ribs, but since the post went live people have been asking about using it to make country-style pork ribs.
And asking.
And asking.
And asking.
And every single time, I would have to admit that I had no idea because I’d never eaten, let alone cooked, country-style ribs.
Whelp, I finally got sick of saying “I don’t know,” and feeling like I was missing out on something (because clearly, people love these things), so I tried them for myself, and now I am so angry.
Guys, I am so angry I haven’t been making these for years because country-style ribs ARE AMAZING. And this is coming from someone who is usually firmly Team Beef Ribs over pork.
These ribs are so tender and rich and easy to make. Two ingredients, ten minutes of hands-on prep time, and you end up with these absolutely beautiful ribs with meat you can shred with a fork.
And if you’re sitting there going sure, that sounds great, but WTF are country-style pork ribs? Read on, friend.
What Are Country-style Pork Ribs?
Country-style pork ribs aren’t ribs at all. They’re cuts of pork shoulder, which is the same meat you use to make pulled pork and carnitas. If you get bone-in “ribs,” you’ll recognize the distinctive y-shaped bone you get when you buy a bone-in pork shoulder roast.
This means that one, just like pork shoulder roasts, country-style ribs are super cheap, usually about $2/pound.
Two, they’re way meatier than regular pork or beef ribs (and don’t have all that gross cartilage), so you’re getting more meat for your buck.
And three, they have that wonderful marbling of fat which helps keep them moist during the long, slow cooking process on the way to tender, fall-apart ribs.
And speaking of long, slow cooking…
How to Cook Country Style Pork Ribs in the Oven
For fall-apart meat, country-style ribs really need to cook long and slow. Otherwise you’re going to get chewy pork.
The good news is that the cooking time is almost entirely hands-off. After a minimal amount of prep to get the ribs ready to cook, your oven’s doing most of the work here.
You start by salting and peppering your ribs and placing in a single layer in a roasting pan or baking dish. If you use a baking tray, make sure it has a fairly high rim, as the meat will release a lot of liquid as it cooks.
Cover with foil and bake at 300°F for 2 hours. Go read a book and sip some lemonade in front of a fan.
When your timer goes off, carefully uncover the meat–the steam will be hot–and drain the liquid from the tray. The meat looks super gross and sad at this point, but don’t worry. The next time it comes out of the oven, it will be beautiful.
Brush a generous coat of your favorite BBQ sauce over the meat.
Lower the temperature to 275°F and then bake uncovered for another hour. Your ribs are done when the meat has a beautifully baked-on coat of BBQ sauce and when you can pull it apart with a fork.
Brush with a little more sauce, give the ribs a couple minutes to rest, and then serve with some mashed potatoes or macaroni salad, and a simple veggie side like Garlic and Butter Green Beans or Oven-roasted Broccoli, and enjoy!
Country-Style Ribs Recipe Notes
This post may contain affiliate links, which means I receive a small commission if you make a purchase using them. There is absolutely no additional cost to you.
- If making for guests, I recommend making two ribs per person. That’s going to be a really generous serving, but you won’t have to worry about anyone going hungry. If making a lot of ribs, you can make two trays at a time. Just add 15 minutes to the initial cooking time and swap them halfway through both cooking periods so that they cook evenly.
- You can use bone-in or boneless country-style ribs for this recipe. Since they are covered for most of the cooking time, both come out equally moist and tender. My local stores sell them in mixed packs, so I usually cook with both at the same time.
- Be very careful removing the ribs from the oven the first time. Hot liquid can slosh out of the pan, and the steam will be very hot when you remove the foil.
- For brushing on BBQ sauce, I love these silicone basting brushes that can go through the dishwasher.
- Looking for more simple meaty mains? Try my Tri-tip in the Oven, Broiled Steak with Mustard Sauce, Carne Asada, and Quick Rosemary Pork Chops.
Easy Country-Style Pork Ribs in the Oven
Ingredients
Special Equipment
- Foil
- Roasting pan or rimmed baking sheet
- Silicone basting brush optional
Country-style Ribs
- Country-style pork ribs*
- Salt and pepper
- Your favorite BBQ sauce
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 300°F. Salt and pepper both sides of your ribs and place in a single layer in your pan, fattier side up.
- Cover the pan tightly with foil and bake for 2 hours. Carefully (steam and liquid in the tray will be hot!) remove ribs from the oven and check the meat. They should be starting to become tender. If they still feel tough, re-cover them and place them back in the oven for 15 to 30 minutes.
- Transfer ribs to a plate and drain liquid from the pan. Return ribs to tray and brush with a generous coating of BBQ sauce.
- Turn oven down to 275°F and bake ribs, uncovered, for 1 hour more, or until you can pull the meat apart with a fork (if your ribs were small and already pretty tender when you put them back in the oven, start checking after 20 minutes). Brush with another coat of BBQ sauce, rest for 5 minutes, serve and enjoy!
Allison says
These were absolutely perfect! So delicious and ridiculously easy!!
For those who had drying issues…I have a porkchop recipe that says the key to cooking without drying them out is to put them in a pan that fits them exactly in size (like the chops should be more or less touching with no room between them ). It keeps them from drying out. So, when choosing a pan for this rib recipe, I kept that in mind. I used one of those larger disposable aluminum pans and it worked like a charm! Made clean-up a breeze also! 🙂
I got the Boneless Country Pork Shoulder Ribs for this at Costco… they worked great!
I will only make this recipe now for ribs. Thank you for such a wonderful, easy recipe!
Tracy says
Thanks for sharing the extra tips, Allison!! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Troy T says
This was absolutely awesome. Very tender and juicy. I’ve read some replies saying theirs were too dry. They had to have done something wrong. Either used actual ribs with the bone in or didn’t cover it with foil or used smaller strips of meat. I’m not sure, but I’ll tell you what I did to give you an idea. I used country ribs. Just like the recipe calls for. (Which of course are not ribs at all) There were 6 strips that were roughly 1 1|4″ x 1 1/2″ thick. about 8″ long. Only 2 of them that had just a little bone in them. I lined my pan with foil. Dull side up. Laid out the meat, sprinkled salt, pepper and my pork rub that I make and use for smoking. Then covered it with foil, shiny side up and pressed it down a little on the inside of the edge to make sure the moisture would drip back into the pan. The rest is exactly as the recipe says to do. My daughter said it was the best thing I’ve made in awhile. What can I say, I’ve had some flops lately. Thanks for the recipe.
Tracy says
Thanks for the detailed comment, Troy! So glad you guys enjoyed them!!
Lori M says
My “ribs” also came out very dry and I followed the recipe exact. I have two suggestions: one is that I wish I had lowered the oven temp to 250° – 275° for the first two hrs, and two, that I had bought country style ribs with more fat within each piece. I chose very lean ribs and they didn’t have enough fat to keep them tender. If you consider beef, a great and tender piece of beef such as a filet mignon, has a lot of marbleized fat in the steak. Normally I pre-cook them by par-boiling, but didn’t want to deviate…
Cee says
Country style not rack… it’s the cut
Try again with country style ribs( that is the cut of meat)
Natalonious says
The first time I did this recipe I forgot to drain the liquid after the 1st two hours and it was perfect, best ribs ever!
2nd time I drained the liquid and it was still good but not as amazing as the first time.
I’ve got my 3rd batch in the oven and I’m not going to drain the liquid. I’m hoping this will recreate my first attempt that was sooooo good!
Kathy C says
These were the best Country Style Bone In Pork Ribs by far. Followed the recipe exactly with one added change. I put 1/2 inch of water in the bottom of the pan as others suggested. Foiled tightly to keep steam in and cooked for 2-1/2 hours Took all liquid out of roasting pan and smothered all sides with bbq sauce and placed back in oven uncovered for little less than an hour. All these years of trying to get tender good tasting bbq ribs and finally I hit the jackpot. My husband said these were the best ribs he’s ever had. Thank you for the easy delicious, moist and tender country style rib recipe.
Tracy says
Thanks, Kathy! So glad to hear it!
Chelle Thompson says
Tried this and it is the best recipe for country ribs baked in the oven.
They were delicious and so tender.
Thank you!
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed them, Chelle!!
William Griggs says
Fork tender and easy. Great. Thanks.
Tracy says
So glad you enjoyed them!!
Bonnie says
Wow!!! This was the 1st time in my 51 years that I have made ribs so darn good! The only thing i did differently from the original post was adding a 3 to 1 ratio of water to apple cider vinegar during the 1st 2 hours of cooking. Fall off the bone delicious!!
Thank you for this easy, foolproof recipe! I can’t wait to make it for a large group.
Tracy says
This makes me so happy to hear!! Thanks, Bonnie!!!
Patti says
This has been my go to rib recipe ever since I found it. Always tender and juicy. Delicious! Thank you for the recipe.
Tracy says
So thrilled to hear it, Patti!!
Tom Lord says
Your method of cooking these are OLD throwback way to do them. When I mentioned these to my wife, she immediately responded “Sounds like Bernadine ribs!” Bernadine was her mother who grew up in the depression. I’ve used her simple BBQ braise recipe for years in doing the first part. Draining as you advise and brushing MY favorite sauce to finish.
You may also may like them done in a dutch oven with BBQ sauce and Sauer Kraut. I serve these with/over boiled potatoes.
misha says
I made these because my boyfriend had randomly bought them. I had never heard of them, neither did he they were on sale. So I followed this recipe and wow!! Sooo good! Now we purposely buy this cut of meat just to make these!
Tracy says
So thrilled to hear it, Misha!!
Samantha says
Made these for my bday dinner. They were cooked after 4 hours but the 2 hour steam bath at the end…… mint just what they needed! Fellow smokers were very impressed!
Victoria Chevoor says
These are fall off the bone delicious and so easy! (licking my fingers…yum!!) Thanks for sharing this recipe.
Brian says
If tough, keep cooking! Please add a note in the directions that if the meat is tough that you just need to give it more time at the same temp! It’s gonna take time A whole lot of precious time It’s gonna take patience and time, To do it, to do it, to do it, to do it, to do it To do it right
I made two large pans and it took 4.5 hrs covered to become fall apart tender. I was worried when it was still very tough after 3 hours, but more time helped. We were all very hungry so after draining the juice I put the bbq sauce on and carmelized it under the broiler for a few minutes. They turned out amazing! This was my fourth time making it and I’ve had mixed success because some came out tougher than desired (thank goodness for good sauce to save it), but I realize now that I just didn’t cook it long enough.
Tracy says
Thanks for reporting back, Brian! Glad to hear you got these to work out for you!
Brian says
I wish I knew what I was doing wrong. This is the fourth time I’ve made these. The first time was perfect. My memory is bad, so I can’t remember if I followed the directions perfectly the first time or if I had to Keep them in longer. The next two times they came out tough. I’m on the fourth time and the initial 2.5 hours covered at 300 is up and they are tough. My setup is that I’m using two disposable foil pans and pork shoulder ribs from Costco. Marbling seems decent. I noticed from the comments that they aren’t supposed to be touching, so that may be one mistake because they were crammed in there (feeding 19). I also cut them in half this time because the last time they ended up tough and I wondered if the huge Costco portions had something to do with it. Maybe my oven is too hot and they’re overcooked and tough (doesn’t seem to be an issue cooking other items)? Maybe it hasn’t cooked long enough? Maybe the foil pans are a bad idea? For now, I’m going to keep cooking and hope they tenderize. Any suggestions?
TFelske says
OMG!!! Best ribs I’ve ever had!!! Made them w/my homemade Peach Sauce.
Wish I could upload a picture here.
Tracy says
Thank you!! Peach sauce sounds AMAZING! And if you want to send me a picture of them ( tracy@bakingmischief.com ), I’d love to see them.