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Chipotle Honey BBQ Ribs

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Here’s some Chipotle Honey BBQ Ribs that are a little spicy, a little sweet and a whole lotta yummy!

I’m a big fan of chipotle chiles so I knew I was going to like this recipe. I got this recipe from “The Great Ribs Book” by Hugh Carpenter & Teri Sandison. The original recipe called for roasting individual cloves of garlic but I just roasted the entire head and it was fine.  Charring the tomatoes is a nice touch and added great fire roasted tomato flavor to the sauce which pairs nicely with the smokey chipotles.  The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of chipotle chiles in adobo.  I put the entire can in a blender and gave it a whirl, then measured out the 1/4 cup (use less if you don’t like too much spice).  Tip: Freeze the remaining blended chipotles in tablespoon size portions to add to future recipes.

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Chipotle Honey BBQ Ribs

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Ingredients

Scale
  • Slab of your favorite ribs (spareribs, baby back)
  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 Tbls. olive oil
  • 2 vine ripened tomatoes
  • 1/4 C. chopped fresh oregano
  • 1/4 C. chipotle chiles in adobo sauce*
  • 1/4 C. cider vinegar
  • 2 Tbls. honey
  • 2 Tbls. molassas (or use more honey or brown sugar)
  • 2 Tbls. dark sesame oil
  • 1 Tbls. cumin
  • 1 tsp. salt
  • Opt. 2 Tbls. tomato paste (if you want a thicker sauce)

Instructions

  1. Remove membrane from ribs, place in baking dish.
  2. To roast garlic: Heat oven to 450 degrees. Slice about 1/4 inch or so off top of garlic to expose individual bulbs. Drizzle olive oil over garlic bulb, wrap in foil and bake in oven for 30 minutes. Let cool enough to handle, then squeeze the garlic bulbs from the peel into food processor.
  3. Cut tomatoes in half. Char halves under broiler or on a grill until all sides are nearly blackened. Add to food processor.
  4. Add remaining ingredients to food processor and puree until smooth.
  5. My preferred way to cook ribs is to place them in a roasting pan (add just a little bit of water to keep them moist while cooking and not stick to bottom of pan) and seal tightly with foil. Bake in a low oven, 250 degrees, for at least 3 hours. I typically don’t time them, just put them in early in the afternoon and let them do their thing. Then when it’s time to eat, take them out and finish them on the grill. Slather the extra sauce on ribs before putting them on the grill, then grill both sides to get them charred a bit and look like ribs are suppose to look. Baste with sauce while grilling as well. Since the ribs are already cooked, you really just trying to get the sauce to caramelize a bit and give some good color and BBQ flavor to the ribs.

Notes

Note: If you don’t want to slow cook the ribs in the oven, then coat the ribs on both sides with half the sauce. Let ribs marinate in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes up to 8 hours. Reserve the remaining sauce to baste the ribs when grilling.

*to measure 1/4 cup, just place the entire can of chipotles in adobo in your blender and blend to a puree. Then measure 1/4 cup. Don’t throw out the remaining sauce. Freeze it in tablespoon size portions for future recipes.