This Korean BBQ Baby Back Ribs recipe serves up thinly sliced bone-in beef short ribs slathered in a delicious honey and soy sauce. Easy to make and so good!

Korean Kalbi Baby Back Ribs with drink

 

Why These Korean BBQ Baby Back Ribs Are So Good

  • Ribs slathered with Korean BBQ flavors: sweet, ginger-garlic soy glaze
  • 10 minute prep time for fool-proof baby back ribs
  • Tender baby back ribs
  • Cooks in oven, easy cleanup

Ingredients

  • Baby back ribs
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Onion and green onion stalk
  • Garlic Cloves
  • Ginger
  • Honey
  • Brown suagr
  • Soy Sauce
  • Sesame seeds
  • Dark sesame oil 
  • Rice vinegar

How To Make These Korean BBQ Baby Back Ribs – Step By Step

  • Heat oven the 375F. (optional) Using a butter knife to pry it up, separate the membrane from the back of the ribs and discard. Generously season both sides of the ribs with salt and pepper.
  • Wrap the ribs in foil, meaty side up and seal completely. Bake for 90 minutes. To make the Korean Kalbi sauce, mix together the remaining ingredients in a bowl.
  • After the ribs are cooked, remove from the oven and carefully open up the foil — be careful of the hot steam! Slather 3/4 of the Korean Kalbi sauce on the tops of the ribs.
  • Place the oven rack in the top third of the oven and heat the broiler to high. Put the ribs back in the oven, foil still open, and broil until the sauce bubbles and caramelizes, about 3-5 minutes.
  • Keep a watch on the ribs – it’s so easy to burn them! Just before serving, pour the remaining Korean Kalbi sauce on top of the ribs.

close up of bbq baby back ribs

Kalbi

That’s why we love making Korean food at home, but it also means that I have to modify ingredients and cooking methods a bit. You might be more familiar with Bulgogi, a popular Korean BBQ dish that features shaved rib-eye beef slices marinated in mixture of soy sauce, brown sugar and sesame seeds. But the lesser known dish is Kalbi, or thinly sliced bone-in beef short ribs flavored in a similar marinade. Bulgogi and Kalbi are both cooked over an open flame – usually hot charcoal set in the middle of the table!

Delicious BBQ Baby Back Ribs

I’ve modified the Korean BBQ Kalbi recipe to use easy to find pork ribs to make Korean BBQ Baby Back Ribs, since my grocery store doesn’t carry the short ribs cut like this. Regular beef short ribs that are available are too chunky and clunky to eat by hand. Baby back ribs are perfect – tender, flavorful and simple to cook.

Oh, and I’m not about to carve out the middle of my dining table to install a charcoal grill, so we’re going with a simpler technique – the oven.

Korean BBQ Baby Back Ribs Recipe

Easy Clean Up Ribs

The first time I played with this recipe, it was a disaster. Not the recipe, but the oven was a crazy mess. I had cooked the baby back ribs on a cookie sheet, thinking it was the perfect size to fit 2 racks of ribs.

Unfortunately, I failed to remember that baby back ribs are JUICY and release a lot of FAT when cooking. Guess where that all ended up? All over the bottom of my oven where it then sizzled and burned. Burning fat in a hot oven is just not a good combo. While my family enjoyed the ribs for dinner, I spent the better part of the evening trying to scrub off all of the black, burned spots.

So, learn from my hot mess. Use a roasting pan at least 2-inches high.

Korean Kalbi Baby Back Ribs Recipe

Top Tips For These BBQ Baby Back Ribs

  • Make sure you seal the ribs completely in foil and watch out for the steam when you open it!
  • Use a roasting pan at least 2-inches high, to avoid dripping juices all over the oven!
  • Keep a close eye on the ribs as they are easy to burn!

Korean BBQ Baby Back Ribs Recipe Video

 

Check Out These Other Delicious Rib Recipes

Have you tried these Korean BBQ Baby Back Ribs? Feel free to leave a star rating and I’d love to hear from you in the comments below!

Korean BBQ Baby Back Ribs

Jaden Hair
5 from 3 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 35 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes
Course Main Course
Cuisine Korean
Servings 6 servings
Calories 689 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 6-7 pounds baby back ribs
  • salt & freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 onion grated
  • 3 cloves garlic finely minced
  • 2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
  • 2 tablespoons honey
  • 1/4 brown sugar
  • 1/4 cup soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon dark sesame oil
  • 1 stalk green onion chopped
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar or white/cider vinegar

Instructions
 

  • Heat oven the 375F. (optional) Using a butter knife to pry it up, separate the membrane from the back of the ribs and discard. Generously season both sides of the ribs with salt and pepper. Wrap the ribs in foil, meaty side up and seal completely.
  • Bake for 90 minutes. To make the Korean Kalbi sauce, mix together the remaining ingredients in a bowl. After the ribs are cooked, remove from the oven and carefully open up the foil -- be careful of the hot steam! Slather 3/4 of the Korean Kalbi sauce on the tops of the ribs.
  • Place the oven rack in the top third of the oven and heat the broiler to high. Put the ribs back in the oven, foil still open, and broil until the sauce bubbles and caramelizes, about 3-5 minutes.
  • Keep a watch on the ribs – it's so easy to burn them! Just before serving, pour the remaining Korean Kalbi sauce on top of the ribs.

Notes

Make sure you seal the ribs completely in foil and watch out for the steam when you open it!
Use a roasting pan at least 2-inches high, to avoid dripping juices all over the oven!
Keep a close eye on the ribs as they are easy to burn!

Nutrition

Calories: 689kcalCarbohydrates: 8gProtein: 56gFat: 48gSaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 197mgSodium: 839mgPotassium: 752mgFiber: 1gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 83IUVitamin C: 2mgCalcium: 108mgIron: 3mg
Keyword baby back ribs, bbq ribs, korean bbq
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