Pork baked riblets in oven are delicious. This is how to cook riblets with barbecue sauce to sticky tender bites for dinner. If you don’t have time to Slow Cook Ribs in Oven this is fast with the same great flavors with a dry rub on the outside.
If you haven’t tried riblets in the oven now is your day. Your kids will say it is their favorite finger food meal that is sticky sweet with any sauce you love on top. A cheap high protein sheet pan meal you’ll want to make again and again. (affiliate links present)
How Long to Cook Riblets in Oven at 400
You are looking at about 40 minutes or so start to finish. We prefer 425 degrees F for a bit more browning but either would work. The cook time will vary depending on how large yours are of course. Removing Membrane From Ribs is always recommended before baking for a fork tender result.
In the past we have made batches of Slow Cooker Riblets. As wonderful as those are they take quite a bit of time to cook and don’t get golden brown and caramelized like these do. You could do both, start by slow cooking and then pop them into the oven to broil quickly to get a similar result. Either way this is killer.
Pork Riblets in Oven
You can cut out a little bit of time if you were to make Ninja Foodi Ribs since they are smaller than the whole rack. You pressure cook and then air fry at the end to get this same texture overall. If you have this I’d try both and see what you think. I’d cut the timing by 1/4 and brown to your liking.
These are cuts of meat that comes from the rib section of an animal, typically pork or beef riblets. It consists of small, meaty portions that are attached to the rib bones. Pork riblets are smaller and narrower than traditional ribs, resembling small strips of meat with bones attached.
Use Your Hands to eat riblets. They are typically eaten with your hands, so don’t be afraid to get a little messy. Pick up a pork riblet with your fingers and hold it firmly but gently to avoid dropping it.
Nibble Around the Bones since they are small running through the middle, so you’ll need to nibble the meat off the bones. Take small bites and use your teeth to pull the meat away. Discard once you’ve eaten the meat from them.
If you want to cook vegetables on another baking sheet you could. We share How Long to Cook Ribs in Oven at 350 if you want everything to cook at the same temp. Lower and slower is better than faster with this food all day long, no exception. BUT at the end I’d definitely turn up the heat for these to crisp.
How to Cook Riblets
These are pork, our favorite. You could do the same thing with beef or this is How to Cook Lamb Ribs if you wanted to go all out but those are quite expensive. Normally they are made from a pig or cow but you could essentially do the same thing but other proteins as well.
- Preheat oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Set aside. Slice riblets in between the bone and place into a large mixing bowl.
- Combine paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard, salt and pepper and mix well. Sprinkle on top, tossing to coat well.
- Place riblets, fat side up, onto the prepared baking tray and bake for 20 minutes.
- Flip over and continue to bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Top with barbecue sauce and broil for 1-2 minutes or until caramelized and as browned as you’d like.
If you preferred Riblets in Air Fryer you could use this timing but I would shake 3 times throughout the overall timing to rotate and get the outside crisp. Before your final rotation I would brush on the sauce so it can bake right on to the meat.
If you don’t eat them all store in a freezer bag in the fridge once cooled. They will stay for a few days and then you can make a Leftover Ribs Recipe for another meal with the meat.
How to Cook Pork Riblets in the Oven Fast
You don’t want to really rush ribs of any kind. Cutting them small like this makes it the fastest you’re going to find other than using a pressure cooker. The texture is a different result with those though. What I do is pop these in and near the end make a batch of our Air Fryer Corn Ribs Recipe to serve with them.
I serve those with our Crockpot Ribs Coca-Cola too if all I have is an entire rack. That is the best way to get a similar result but takes a lot more time. You have to give it all day for tenderness and then when home you’d need to remove the riblets to transfer to a sheet pan with your bbq sauce to broil for a few minutes to caramelize.
Ready for fall off the bone Pork Bites? These are delish whether you make your own sauce with brown sugar or use Ray’s which is popular. Jump to recipe and get started with the YUM.
Baked Riblets in Oven
Equipment
- 1 sheet pan
Ingredients
- 2-3 lbs. riblets, pork used
Riblets Dry Rub
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp dry mustard
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425 and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside. Slice riblets in between the bone and place into a large mixing bowl.
- Combine paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard, salt and pepper and mix well. Sprinkle on top, tossing to coat well.
- Place riblets, fat side up, onto the prepared baking tray and bake for 20 minutes. Flip over and continue to bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Top with barbecue sauce and broil for 1-2 minutes or until caramelized and as browned as you'd like.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
