Baby Back Ribs with Blueberry Bourbon BBQ Sauce
This blueberry bourbon BBQ sauce incorporates smoky, sweet, spicy, and acidic flavors. Slather onto a rack of baby back ribs and go to town. Sauce recipe adapted from Boulder Locavore.
Servings: 2 (1 rack)
Calories: 1276kcal
Ingredients
- 1 rack baby back ribs
For the dry rub:
- ¼ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon dry mustard
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
For the barbecue sauce:
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 red onion peeled and chopped
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 large chipotle pepper chopped (from a can of chipotles in adobo)
- ½ cup bourbon
- ½ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup Worcestershire sauce
- ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke optional
- 2 tablespoons molasses
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
Instructions
- In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, chili powder, cumin, dry mustard, garlic powder, salt and pepper. Place the ribs on a rimmed baking sheet. Sprinkle all of the dry rub over both sides of the ribs and rub it into the meat to adhere. Allow the ribs to sit in the dry rub for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 300 degrees F. Tightly wrap the pan of ribs in aluminum foil. Bake the ribs for 90 minutes, or until the meat starts pulling away from the bone and is tender.
- Meanwhile, make the barbecue sauce. Heat vegetable oil a large saucepan over medium heat, then add onions. Sauté until tender, about five minutes. Add the garlic and chipotle pepper and sauté two minutes more.
- Deglaze the pan with the bourbon. Add the ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, liquid smoke, molasses, brown sugar, salt, and pepper. Stir to combine. When the sauce starts to bubble, add the blueberries. Using a potato masher, mash the blueberries as they cook in the pot. Reduce heat to low and allow the sauce to thicken and simmer 30 minutes. Taste the sauce and add more brown sugar if needed. Keep warm. Note: If you like your barbecue sauce smooth, you can use an immersion blender or carefully transfer the sauce to a standard blender at this stage. The sauce pictured has not been blended.
- Turn the heat on the oven up to 375 degrees F. Remove the foil from the ribs. Brush the ribs liberally with the barbecue sauce. Return the ribs to the oven to cook, uncovered, for another 30 minutes. Serve the ribs with extra sauce on the side.
Nutrition
Serving: 0.5 rack | Calories: 1276kcal | Carbohydrates: 110g | Protein: 58g | Fat: 55g | Saturated Fat: 18g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 12g | Monounsaturated Fat: 22g | Trans Fat: 0.4g | Cholesterol: 196mg | Sodium: 3033mg | Potassium: 1819mg | Fiber: 7g | Sugar: 88g | Vitamin A: 1040IU | Vitamin C: 27mg | Calcium: 263mg | Iron: 8mg