Fall-off-the-bone-tender Tuscan-style balsamic glazed ribs are giving barbecue ribs a run for their money! Just a little sweet, and packed with flavor, they’re oven-baked making them the perfect ribs to enjoy all year round.
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I’ve been making barbecue ribs for decades now, and usually in my outdoor smoker, but when the weather turns cold, I opt for these delicious oven-baked Tuscan-style ribs.
Using an oven makes the process so much easier and since they’re cooked low and slow, they are super tender and easy to eat.
These ribs go perfectly with sauteed garlic spinach and roasted garlic mashed potatoes.
Recipe Ingredients
All ingredients for this recipe are shown in the pic below and special notes are made in this bulleted list to assist you.
- Ribs. Pork baby back ribs are the ribs of choice for this recipe. You can often find great prices on baby backs at Costco.
- Balsamic vinegar. The glaze calls for 1 1/4 cups of Balsamic vinegar so I don’t recommend using your finest balsamic. Though in Tuscany I’m sure they are using at least a 5 year aged vinegar. Anyway, save the expensive vinegars for drizzling over cheese. Again, Costco has great prices on Balsamic vinegar so if you have access to one, look there.
- Seasoning. I’m using a blend of kosher salt, fennel seeds, rosemary leaves, smoked paprika, onion powder, black peppercorns, and ground cinnamon for the rub. Fennel does have a strong flavor, and definitely stands out in these Tuscan ribs, but if you’re not a fennel fan, you can reduce the amount or omit.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to make it
Each number corresponds to the numbered written steps below.
- Line a baking sheet with foil. Remove the ribs from their packaging and dry them off with paper towels. If the membrane has not already been removed, position the ribs bone side-up on a cutting board, and starting at one side of the rack, use a butter knife to slide under the silver skin to loosen it. Then, use paper towels to grab the loosened skin and pull off the membrane across the whole rack.
- To a spice grinder or mortar and pestle add 1 tablespoon of fennel seeds, 1 tablespoon of rosemary leaves, 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon of onion powder, 1 teaspoon of black peppercorns, and 4 teaspoons of Diamond Crystal kosher salt and pulverize the mixture to a fine powder.
- Rub the spice mixture evenly on both sides of the ribs.
- Wrap each rack in foil and place them on top of the baking sheet and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 250F and set the rack to the middle level. Remove the ribs from the fridge and bake them for 2 1/2 hours. While the ribs are baking, add 1 1/4 cups of balsamic vinegar, 1/2 cup of water, 1/4 cup of honey, and 1 sprig of rosemary to a saucepot and bring to a boil. Once boiling, lower the heat to a simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the glaze has thickened and reduced by about half. Remove the rosemary sprig and taste-test the glaze. Season with salt and pepper as needed.
- After the ribs have cooked for 2 1/2 hours, check for tenderness. If they aren’t fork tender, close the foil and bake for another 30 minutes, then check again. Once tender, remove from the oven.
- Turn the broiler on and set the rack to the second-highest level. Unwrap the ribs and place them on top of the foil-lined baking sheet. Pat the ribs dry of any accumulated juices then baste with the glaze on both sides.
- Return to the oven and broil for 1-3 minutes per side but watch carefully to prevent burning. Remove the ribs from the oven and slice. Glaze the cut sides of the ribs, then serve with any remaining glaze on the side. Enjoy!
Top tips
- Seasoning the ribs. I recommend letting the ribs sit with the rub for at least 1 hour in the fridge, but they’ll be even more flavorful if they sit overnight.
- Double the glaze. If you like a lot of sauce, you can easily double the glaze so there is plenty left for serving with the ribs.
- Broiling. Between the balsamic vinegar and honey, the glaze has a good amount of sugar so it can caramelize and burn very easily when under the broiler. For this reason it’s imperative that you watch very carefully during this stage and remove the ribs if needed. Alternatively, you can glaze and cook the ribs at 450F until charred if you are worried about burning.
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Tuscan-Style Balsamic Glazed Ribs
Ingredients
For the ribs
- 2 racks baby back ribs about 4 pounds (1.8kg)
- 4 teaspoons (13g) Diamond Crystal Kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon Rosemary leaves
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon black peppercorns
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the glaze
- 1 1/4 cups (300g) balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup (120g) water
- 1/4 cup (85g) honey
- 1 sprig Rosemary
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Instructions
- Dry off the ribs with paper towels. If the membrane has not already been removed, use a paper towel to grab and pull it off.
- Place the fennel seeds, rosemary leaves, cinnamon, smoked paprika, onion powder, black peppercorns, and kosher salt into a spice grinder and pulverize to a fine powder. Rub the spice powder evenly on both sides of the ribs. Wrap the ribs in foil and place them on top of a foil lined baking sheet. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 250f and set the rack to the middle level.
- Bake for 2 1/2 hours then check for tenderness. If the ribs aren't tender, closeup the foil and bake for another 30 minutes and check again. Once the ribs are tender remove them from the oven.
- Meanwhile, add the balsamic vinegar, water, honey, and rosemary sprig to a saucepot and bring to a boil. Once boiling lower the heat to a simmer and cook until the glaze has thickened and roughly reduced by half. Remove the rosemary sprig and taste test the glaze. Season with salt and pepper as required.
- Turn on the broiler and set the rack to the second highest level.
- Unwrap the ribs and place them on top to the foil-lined baking sheet. Pat the ribs dry of any accumulated juices then baste with the glaze on both sides. Broil for 1-3 minutes per side, watching carefully for burning! Remove from the oven and slice. Glaze the sides of the ribs then serve with any remaining glaze on the side. Enjoy!
Notes
- To remove the membrane – Position the ribs, bone side up on a cutting board and starting at one side of the rack use a butter knife to slide under the silverskin and loosen it. With paper towels, grab the loosened silver skin and pull off the membrane across the whole rack.
- If the ribs are not fork tender after 2 1/2 hours of baking, simply rewrap and cook for another 30 minutes and check again.
- Be very careful when broiling the ribs. They will get caramelized very quickly and can burn easily.
- Leftovers can be saved for up to 3 days and can be reheated in the oven or microwave.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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SO, I always trim up my ribs St. Louis style by hand, and I decided to try making this from the leftover trimmings. Boy am I glad I did, they smell awesome,the glaze tasted awesome and ribs are definitely 5 stars! Cant wait to do this on my BBQ this summer for my whole family!
So happy you enjoyed, Charles!
Phenomenal. Very easy. My ribs took 2:45.
Glaze is delicious. Excellent flavor with the herbs. Paired this with a Caprese salad.
So happy you enjoyed, David!
Great tasting ribs and nice to make on a cold winter day.
This recipe makes really tender ribs without needing to go outside and make fire! I generally love every single recipe you post, but this one gets 4 stars based on the glaze. Not bad, but my family made me take the leftovers and redo the glaze with a more traditional barbecue sauce. I love balsamic, but it didn’t work for us. Still, a very good indoor method that is simple and easy. We’ll continue to use the recipe!
Hi Craig, thanks for the commment and appreciate the feedback.
Fantastic flavor blends. We did add a little brown sugar to help thicken and sweeten the sauce a bit.
So happy you enjoyed, Michael!
We thought our southwestern rubbed, oven baked ribs were the best until we tried these. Great reviews from my picky dinner invitees!! This is my go-to recipe from now on. Bravo, James!
We’re so happy to hear that, Peter!
Can I leave out the fennel?
Yes, you can – see the notes on Seasoning in the Recipe Ingredients section where Jim addresses this.