Make the most succulent BBQ pork ribs – without a grill! These oven-baked sticky Korean BBQ Gochujang Ribs are slathered with a sweet and spicy gochujang bbq sauce, then slow baked until they’re juicy and falling off the bone! They’re faster than grilling or smoking and cleaning up is as easy as throwing away foil!
If you don’t have a grill or don’t feel like freezing your booty off in the middle of winter to satisfy your BBQ ribs craving (bc same lol), these oven baked Korean BBQ pork ribs are a MUST!
We enjoy them all year and they spice up homemade Korean BBQ night! Serve up an epic platter of meats – slabs of Kalbi, thinly sliced Beef Bulgogi, fatty Spicy Pork Bulgogi, juicy Chicken Bulgogi, and fall-off-the-bone tender Gochujang Pork Ribs!
They’re infused with smokiness throughout the recipe and if you love Spicy Korean Fried Chicken, you’ll be licking your Gochujang BBQ Sauce covered fingers clean! These are sauces sisters with similar flavors! It’s already a crazy easy recipe, but you could save even more time by making the spice rub & Gochujang BBQ Sauce ahead of time! I always keep extra to sprinkle on eggs or popcorn, drizzle on chicken, or slather on burgers! The only limit is your imagination.
🎥 Watch How to Make the Recipe
🥘 Ingredients
- Pork Ribs: For this gochujang pork ribs recipe, pork spare ribs are a fave in our house because they’re meatier (& typically cheaper than baby back ribs!). Baby back ribs would work too, but you’ll just need to slightly adjust the cooking time (which I note below).
- Gochujang: This Korean fermented chili bean paste is the base of the BBQ sauce! It’s sweet, full of umami, and comes in different spice levels so choose your spice level!
- Liquid Smoke: Since we’re baking these gochujang ribs in the oven, a small drizzle of liquid smoke gives us that smokey flavor without grilling for half a day!
- Apple Cider: Note that this is NOT apple cider vinegar. We’re adding a squeeze of lime already for acidity and plain apple cider adds sweetness and subtle tanginess. It also steams the spare ribs for succulent tenderness!
- Gochugaru: To stay on theme with the Korean flavors, we’re using Korean chili flakes in the spice rub for a smokey chili flavor! These are mild is spice & mostly for flavor.
- Mirin: This cooking wine is commonly used in Korean recipes to amplify flavors in marinades (like in Beef Bulgogi and Chicken Bulgogi) or sauces like this Gochujang BBQ sauce.
See recipe card for quantities.
🔪 How to Prepare Ribs
My goal is fall-off-the-bone tender ribs, so I remove the tough membrane/silver skin on the back of the ribs. Use a butter knife to wiggle it under the membrane, then use a paper towel to slowly pull it off the ribs. If you’re using spare ribs like me, I trim them to be St. Louis style but this is optional.
Don’t be nervous, it’s quick and SO easy! You can check my video for a step-by-step too!
First, make the top of the rack straight by looking for the tallest rib (usually 3-4 ribs in) and use that as a reference to cut horizontally straight across. I also trim off the last 1-2 small ribs to make the ribs a rectangle shape (plus these usually dry out more). I cook the trim separately since they cook up faster – no waste here!
Transfer ribs to a foil-lined baking sheet, then set aside.
In a bowl, mix together the dry rub seasoning, then set aside with ribs (btw this seasoning is SO good on other meats too!)
To add flavor & help the seasonings stick to the ribs, mix together butter, lime zest, fresh lime juice, & liquid smoke. It won’t completely mix together, but that’s okay.
Slather it on both sides of the ribs, then sprinkle on the seasonings and pack it on well.
Turn meat-side up, then pour apple cider on the tray around the ribs – not on the ribs. Cover with foil and seal well with a kiss because now it’s baking time!
🔪 How to Cook Gochujang Ribs
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- Bake for 2 ½-3 ½ hours. If you’re cooking baby back ribs, bake for 1 ½ – 2 hours. Cooking time may vary depending on size of ribs & how fall-off-the-bone tender you prefer (tips below), so check and adjust cooking time as needed.
- In a mixing bowl, combine gochujang BBQ sauce ingredients. Heat a saucepot on medium-low heat with oil, then saute garlic & ginger. Pour in gochujang sauce, stir, & simmer for 15-20 minutes, or until it’s thickened to a thick BBQ sauce (it’ll continue to slightly thicken & the flavors will further develop as it cools). Remove & set aside.
- Remove ribs from the oven, brush with gochujang bbq sauce, then broil on the top rack until charred and caramelized. If you like your ribs sticky with bbq sauce, brush & broil again. Cool for 5-10 minutes then slice & enjoy!
👩🏽🍳 Key Tips
- Checking for Doneness: Again, this will vary depending how tender and how much bite you like on your ribs! The general rule of thumb is to stick a toothpick or wooden skewer between the ribs and it should glide in like butter! If you feel resistance, they need to cook longer. If you want them REALLY fall-off-the-bone, wiggle a rib to test the resistance.
- Wrap Ribs to Steam Well: Seal the ribs VERY well in foil when baking so steam doesn’t escape. This is KEY to tender juicy ribs, otherwise, your ribs will dry out. Sadness.
- Watch Closely While Broiling: Every oven works differently, so keep a close eye when broiling so the sugars from the BBQ sauce doesn’t burn.
- Make Seasonings & Gochujang BBQ Sauce Ahead: Save time by pre-mixing the dry rub & cooking the bbq sauce ahead of time! Just keep the bbq sauce in the fridge so it’s ready to use when you are!
💭 Recipe FAQs
🥗 What to Serve with Korean Ribs
Make a whole feast with easy Korean recipes and veggie banchan like refreshing Korean Cucumber Salad, gooey Corn Cheese or sticky Korean Braised Potatoes!
And we could never forget the carbs! Pile on the Korean Fried Rice, slurpy Vegetarian Japchae, chewy and Cheesy Tteokbokki, and Crispy Kimchi Pancakes!
Let’s get cooking!
Get into my secret stash of Goody-Packed Newsletters with meals planned for you & time-saving tips! Want step-by-step videos of how to make my recipes too? I gotchu over at my youtube channel. Aight, enough chatting, more eating!
Korean BBQ Gochujang Pork Ribs
Watch How to Make It!
Ingredients
INGREDIENTS
- 2 4-5 pound spare ribs two slabs of ribs
- 4 tablespoons salted butter
- 2 teaspoons fresh lime zest from about 1 lime
- 3 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1/3 cup apple cider
DRY RUB
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- ¼ cup gochugaru
- 1 ½ tablespoons salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
GOCHUJANG BBQ SAUCE
- 1/3 cup gochujang
- 1/3 cup ketchup
- ½ cup water
- 3 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 3 tablespoons honey
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons mirin
- 2 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon gochugaru
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 7 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tablespoon ginger grated
Instructions
PREP & BAKE RIBS
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.
- In a small bowl, combine butter, lime zest, lime juice, & liquid smoke. It may not completely combine, but that’s okay. In a separate bowl, combine spice rub.
- If you’re using spare ribs, I like to trim the ends for a cleaner cut of ribs (see video or blog post), but this is optional. For fall off the bone ribs, remove the membrane/silver skin on the back of the ribs using a butter knife (see video or blog post). Pat dry the ribs well, trim excess fat, then smother the ribs with the lime butter. Sprinkle the spice rub on both sides of the ribs, packing it into the meat, then transfer ribs to a foil-lined baking tray in a single layer, meat-side up.
- Pour apple cider on the sides of ribs, cover well with foil, & bake on the middle rack for 2 ½ – 3 ½ hours for pork spare ribs, or 2 – 2 ½ hours for baby back ribs. Cooking time may vary depending on the size of the ribs & how fall-off-the-bone tender you like your ribs, so check at the first time benchmark & adjust as needed (more tips in notes)!
MAKE GOCHUJANG BBQ SAUCE
- Meanwhile, make the gochujang bbq sauce! In a mixing bowl, combine gochujang, ketchup, water, rice vinegar, honey, brown sugar, mirin, soy sauce, gochugaru, & sesame oil until brown sugar has dissolved, then set aside. Heat a small saucepan on medium-low heat with about a tablespoon of oil.
- Saute garlic & ginger for a few seconds, until soft & fragrant, then whisk in gochujang sauce. Increase heat to medium, then once boiling, reduce heat to medium-low & simmer for about 20 minutes, or until it’s a thickened bbq sauce. Stir occasionally to prevent burning. If it thickens too much / becomes too salty, add a splash of water. Remove & cover to keep warm – the flavors will continue to develop as it sits.
BRUSH & BROIL RIBS
- Remove ribs from the oven, uncover, & generously brush with the gochujang bbq sauce.
- Broil (or bake at 500 degrees f) on the top rack until caramelized. Keep a close eye because every oven works differently & the sugars in the bbq sauce easily burn.
- Remove from oven, if you like sticky ribs, brush with BBQ sauce & broil again (optional). Remove from oven, wait about 5-10 minutes before slicing. Serve with extra bbq sauce if desired & enjoy!
Notes
- Ribs: This recipe uses pork spare ribs since it’s meatier (& usually cheaper!). I walk through how to clean & trim them in the blog post above. Babyback ribs would also work, just adjust the baking time to 1 1/2 – 2 hours.
- Gochujang: This is a Korean chili paste that’s sweet, savory, and sometimes spicy. You can get gochujang at different levels of spice and has become so popular, it’s available in the Asian section of some local grocery stores. Otherwise, you can easily find it at local Asian and Korean markets.
- Liquid Smoke: Since we’re not grilling or smoking the ribs, liquid smoke is a quick & easy way to infuse smokey flavor! Find it online or any grocery store.
- Apple Cider: This is different that apple cider vinegar, since we’re already adding lime juice! This apple cider steams the ribs for juicy tender ribs.
- Gochugaru: These are mild smokey Korean chili flakes. Find it online, Korean, or Asian markets.
- Mirin: A Japanese cooking wine commonly used in Japanese and Korean dishes. Find it online or at Japanese, Korean, or Asian markets.
Nutrition
Exact calculations may vary. For the most accurate nutritional information, use your preferred nutrition calculator, actual ingredients, and quantities used for the recipe. Please consult with your physician or registered dietitian if more precise nutrition calculations are needed for health reasons.
hey homie! I’m Mikha!
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