How to Air Fry Baby Back Pork Ribs

Find more recipes at feastgloriousfeast.com

It can be a little bit of a squeeze to Air Fry Baby Back Pork Ribs in a smallish air fryer but I've mastered the best way to do it, even in my 3.8l/4qt basket fryer! First cooked with a seasoning rub, the rack of ribs is then glazed with sauce for a sweet and sticky tasty treat.

5 from 3 votes

Prep Time: 3

Cook Time: 17

Total Time: 20

Servings full rack

Author Chloe

Equipment

Air Fryer

Chopping Board - Plastic

Sharp Knife - Large

Measuring Spoons

Silicone Tongs

Silicone Pastry Brush

Ingredients

1 rack Baby Back Ribs - around 450g/1lb
2 tsp Vegetable Oil - see notes
1 tsp Seasoning - see notes
2 tbsp Sauce - see notes

Instructions

If your air fryer requires pre-heating, Start this setting now.
Thoroughly dry 1 Rack Baby Back Pork Ribs.
Use a sharp knife and cut midway between 2 bones. Use the size of your air fryer basket as a guide to how you think the rack will fit and cut the rack in a way that it will best fit. For me this is just less than half.
Drizzle over 2 tsp Oil and 1 tsp Seasoning and toss to thoroughly coat the ribs.
Place the rack into the air fryer basket.
Position them so there is as little overlap as possible.
Cook for 9 minutes at 200c/390f.
Turn the racks over and cook for a further 4 minutes at 200c/390f.
Use a brush to glaze the underside of the racks with 1 tbsp Sauce.
Cook for a further 2 minutes at 200c/390f.
Turn the ribs and brush over the remaining 1 tbsp Sauce.
Cook for another 2 minutes at 200c/390f to finish glazing.
Check the pork is cooked through, you can see this by making a cut and checking that the meat is nearly white in the centre of the thickest part. Unlike chicken, pork can be eaten with a slight pink blush but if you prefer it more cooked, put it back in for 2 minutes at a time.
Allow to rest for at least 3 to 4 minutes before tucking in. Spoon over any juices that have collected in the bottom of the air fryer for extra flavour.

To Cook From Frozen

Cook for 10 minutes at 200c/390f. Turn and cook for another 4 minutes then glaze as before.
Check that the pork is sufficiently cooked in exactly the same way as if cooking from fresh!

Notes

Oil - Choose your oil to match your flavouring. For example use garlic, salt and rosemary with olive oil or for a more neutral flavour, sea salt and black pepper with vegetable oil.
Seasoning - Choose any seasoning mix, spices or dried/fresh herbs. Make sure that salt is included in the mix. You can also add a little citrus juice.
I used vegetable oil with a 50/50 mix of garlic salt and paprika.
Sauce - Sweet and thick sauces work best like BBQ sauce or sweet chili.
The air fryer version of this recipe is tested in a Cosori Lite (‎CAF-LI401S) with a 3.8 litre capacity. The square(ish) shaped basket is 21cm x 21cm and 24cm on the diagonal.
Not all models advise preheating is required. Please follow the recommended instructions for your model. Mine has a specific preheat setting which is 4 minutes at 205c.
For this recipe, I can just fit 1 rack of baby back ribs in the basket at a time but only if it is cut in half first This gives enough room to allow air to circulate even though the halves need to overlap slightly.
As all air fryer models are a little different, you may find that you can fit more or less in at a time. Some models include stacking shelves which will increase capacity.
Required cooking times and temperatures can also vary between models and brands. If you know that your air fryer runs a little hotter than most recipes suggest, use a lower temperature. And vice versa. Equally if you find that food cooks more quickly in your machine than instructions usually state, reduce the cooking time (or check it earlier) and vice versa.

Nutrition (Approx)