Welcome to your new favourite ribs – my honey garlic ribs recipe. I love a good lip-smackingly delicious rib recipe – who doesn’t?! Tender, fall-off-the-bone meat coated in a sweet and sticky sauce.

  • Just 8 ingredients.
  • Perfect soft, tender meat and so much flavour.
  • So easy to make – the oven does most of the work.
  • Perfect for a dinner or for sharing with friends on game day.

I just love ribs and while I grew up with them just simply grilled then smothered in gravy (and still enjoy them this way), I decided to change them up and coat them in a sticky honey garlic marinade. The ribs are slow-roasted in the oven and turn out so perfectly tender and still juicy.

These sticky honey ribs are great served for a dinner with some mash or roasties, but just as good served as an appetiser or as part of a finger food feast, share style. Sure, you might get sticky fingers but that glaze, that coats and sticks to the ribs, is undeniably irresistible. Truly, the meat comes off the bone so easily, you can actually eat these with cutlery.

Want your honey pork without the bones? Try this reader favourite honey pepper pork stir fry.

Top down view of glazed, baked pork ribs on a baking tray.

Ingredients you’ll need for sticky ribs

Ingredients for honey garlic pork ribs on a baking sheet.

Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.

  • Honey: Regular runny honey is what you need. All honeys have different flavour profiles so make sure to use one you know you like.
  • Chicken stock: Chicken stock or broth adds depth of flavour to the marinade and resulting glaze. I prefer to use a low-salt / low-sodium version but if yours is not, cut down on the added salt.
  • Apple cider vinegar: Apple cider vinegar adds balance to the sweet sauce. You can swap it for another, like white wine vinegar, malt vinegar or balsamic vinegar. In a bind, you can always use the vinegar from your pickle jar too.
  • Garlic: Use fresh garlic and plenty of it. These honey garlic ribs still taste amazing without loads of garlic, so if you don’t love it but don’t mind a little, then do that. If you want that real garlic flavour, you’ll need 4-6 cloves but add it to your liking. Garlic powder is handy in a pinch but fresh garlic has a much better flavour and you need that here, when it’s in the title.
  • Pork ribs: Known simply here in Australia as pork ribs, the ribs you’re after are side or back ribs and they’re a slab of 12 or so bones with pork meat in between. You may know them as baby back ribs as well.
  • Seasoning: The seasoning on these sticky ribs is kept simple – fine sea salt, cracked black pepper and dried sage.

If you want to add some heat, try adding a sprinkle of dried chilli flakes (red pepper flakes), cayenne or chili powder to the marinade.

How to make honey garlic ribs (step-by-step)

A collage showing how to make honey garlic pork ribs.

Detailed quantities and instructions in the recipe card below.

  1. Remove the silver skin: On the underside of the ribs, there is a thin membrane called the silver skin. While it’s not imperative that you remove it, doing so will stop the ribs from curling as they cook and will also allow more seasoning to get to the meat. See how to remove it below.  T
  2. Marinade: Combine the marinade ingredients in a large ziplock bag or container large enough to fit the ribs. Add the ribs and flip them around to coat well and marinate for an hour. If some of the ribs are not submerged (which will depend on the container you use), just give them a flip every 15 minutes.
  3. Bake the ribs: Roast the ribs for 2-2 ½ hrs. They will get very dark so if you think they’re getting too dark, too early, just cover them with foil for the rest of the roasting time.
  4. Reduce the marinade: In a saucepan, reduce the reserved marinade, then brush it over the ribs. Reducing the marinade turns it into a gorgeous honey garlic sauce.
  5. Final roast: Roast them for a final 8-12 min, brushing with marinade every few minutes.

These oven baked honey garlic ribs get a really luscious burnished, dark colour – not burnt but right on the edge and it’s important as it gives them so much caramelised flavour. Because of this, you’ll need to keep a close eye on them. If at any point you feel they’re getting too dark and still have time to cook, just cover with aluminium foil.

You’ll get some gorgeous crisp and chewy edges, combined with soft and tender meat that comes away from the bone with ease.

A hand holding a cooked pork rib.

How to remove membrane from baby back ribs

The membrane on the underside of the ribs is called silver skin. Removing the silver skin is personal preference. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don’t. Many people (myself included) like the chewy texture it adds and I grew up eating them with that chewy skin.

This skin will tighten during cooking and can cause the ribs to curl and can also prevent some of the seasoning from getting through to the underside of the meat. You choose what works for you.

To remove it:

  1. Flip the ribs so the back or bone side is facing you.
  2. Slide the tip of a paring knife or even a blunt knife under the membrane at one end of the ribs.
  3. Lift the knife to release the membrane, then grab it with your fingers and peel away. It’s very easy but if you’re finding it difficult to get purchase on it, use a sheet of paper towel to help pull it up.
  4. You should be able to peel it away in 1 or 2 pieces.

What to serve with honey garlic ribs

When I make these, I most often serve them with some sort of coleslaw (pictured here with my apple coleslaw) and some oven chips or wedges. You also can’t go wrong with some mashed potatoes or roast potatoes.

They’re also lovely served with a potato salad, or with some roasted potatoes and this asparagus, rocket and parmesan salad.

Yield and storage

This recipe makes enough for 4 people. I can certainly get carried away and eat way more than a single serve of ribs so, luckily, this recipe is extremely scalable. If you want larger servings, simply increase the ribs and marinade to suit how much you’d like.

Best served fresh, these honey garlic ribs are still great the next day. Leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can reheat them in an oven for 10 minutes or microwave on high for 2-3 minutes. If you have any leftover sauce, it’s great to heat that up and add some more moisture to the leftover meat.

Cooked glazed pork ribs on a baking tray.

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Closeup of pork ribs on a baking tray.
4.8 from 6 ratings
These honey garlic ribs are finger-licking good, just 8 ingredients and so easy to make. Slow-cooked in the oven and coated in a sticky glaze until the tender meat falls right off the bone.

Ingredients

  • ½ cup honey
  • ½ cup chicken stock
  • ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
  • 4-6 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 teaspoon dried sage
  • 2 racks pork ribs (roughly 12 ribs each)
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper

For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided

Equipment

  • Large airtight container (or ziplock bag)
  • Large sheet pan

Instructions
 

  • Remove silver-skin – optional (see notes for more): Flip the rack of ribs over so they are bone side up, meaty side down. Slide the tip of a paring knife under the corner of the silver skin (which is a membrane covering the back of the ribs). Once you can grab it with your fingers, just peel it away.
  • The marinade: In a large ziplock bag or container big enough to fit the pork ribs, combine the honey, stock, vinegar, garlic and dried sage.
  • Marinate the pork: Place ribs into the mixture and marinate for 1 hour, flipping the bag over half way through. If your ribs aren't fully submerged just flip them over every 15 minutes so they're evenly coated.
  • Prepare to roast: Preheat the oven to 160C (140C fan forced) / 320F. Line a large baking sheet or roasting tin with aluminium foil.
  • Roast the ribs: Remove the ribs from the marinade (reserve the marinade) and place them onto the prepared tray. Sprinkle the salt and pepper all over.
  • Roast for 2 – 2 ½ hours until golden brown and tender. Check them from time to time and cover with foil if browning too quickly.
  • Remove the ribs from the oven.
  • Make the glaze: Pour the reserved marinade into a saucepan and bring to a boil for 5 minutes until reduced and thick.
  • Finish roasting: Brush the glaze all over the ribs and roast for a further 8-12 minutes, uncovered, basting every 3-4 minutes. They will be very dark and sticky by this point so be careful not to let them burn.
  • Rest for 10 minutes under foil, then slice between the bones and serve.
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Notes

  1. Honey: You can swap the honey for maple syrup.
  2. Silver skin: On the underside of the ribs, there is a thin membrane called the silver skin. While it’s not imperative that you remove it, doing so will stop the ribs from curling as they cook and will also allow more seasoning to get to the meat.
  3. The dark, burnished finish: These honey garlic ribs get a really luscious burnished, dark colour – not burnt but right on the edge and it’s important as it gives them so much caramelised flavour. Because of this, you’ll need to keep a close eye on them. If at any point you feel they’re getting too dark and still have time to cook, just cover with aluminium foil.

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Have you tried this recipe?Don’t forget to leave a rating and comment below and let me know how it was! I love hearing from you. Nutrition information is approximate and derived from an online calculator. The brands you use may cause variations.