Lemon & Herb Ribs
These Lemon & Herb Ribs are fall off the bone tender and coated in a delicious sticky garlic, lemon and herb sauce. They are baked in the oven until tender and then quickly grilled or broiled in the oven until they are charred on the edges. These ribs are Whole30, Paleo, Keto and SCD legal.
Ribs are my guilty pleasure. Super tender and often dripping with sauce they are a messy but delicious dish to enjoy at a summer barbecue. While most ribs are coated in a barbecue sauce that’s packed with sugar and preservatives, in this Lemon & Herb Ribs recipe I lightened things up with fresh and healthy, all natural ingredients.
A variety of fresh herbs including rosemary, thyme, sage and parsley are finely chopped and then stirred into a thick paste with lemon juice, zest, garlic, olive oil and honey. The ribs are marinated in the mixture overnight and then baked for 2 hours in the oven until they are fall off the bone tender. The marinade coats the meat and becomes deliciously sticky when cooked so be sure to have lots of napkins on hand (although licking your fingers is much more fun!).
After cooking the ribs for 2 hours in the oven I like to finish them off on the barbecue for just a few minutes to crisp up some of the corners and add some smoky grilled flavour. This also makes preparation easy as the ribs can be marinated and cooked up to a day in advance and quickly thrown on the grill for 3-5 minutes right before serving.
Here are a few other barbecued meat recipes that you might enjoy:
- Chimichurri Steak Salad
- Grilled Chicken with an Easy Spiced Marinade
- Tandoori Chicken & Grilled Peach Salad
- Moroccan Chicken Skewers with Cauliflower Couscous
- Loaded Hamburgers with Special Sauce
If you make this recipe let me know in the comment section below, I would love to hear what you think or take a photo and tag me (@everylastbite_) on Instagram, I love seeing your photos!
Lemon & Herb Ribs
Ingredients
Ribs
- 2 racks of ribs
- 1 tbsp lemon zest
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 medium yellow onion grated
- 3 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp fresh rosemary
- 1 tbsp fresh thyme
- 2 tbsp flat leaf parsley
- 1 tbsp fresh sage
- 1/2 tbsp honey (omit for Whole30)
Salsa Verde
- 1/4 cup flat leaf parsley
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp capers
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 tsp salt
Instructions
- Remove the membrane from the ribs: Put the ribs on a cutting board with the meaty side down and run a knife under the opaque layer of tissue to separate it from the meat and bones. Once you have begun to loosen the membrane, you should be able to use your fingers to peel it all up as one piece. Make sure to take time to do this step; it’s the key to getting the tenderest fall-off-the-bone ribs
- In a food processor or blender, combine the lemon zest and juice, olive oil, onion, salt, garlic, herbs and honey. Blend until a thick paste has formed. Place the ribs in a large Ziploc bag or container and pour the marinade over top. Allow to marinate in the fridge for a minimum of 6 hours but preferably overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 150º Celsius (300º Fahrenheit). Lay 1 sheet of tin foil on the base of a baking sheet. Place the ribs side by side onto the lined tray and then lay another sheet of tin foil on top, folding in the sides so that the juices will be well contained.
- While the ribs are cooking make the salsa verde by combining all of the ingredients in a food processor and pulsing until broken down into a chunky consistency. Set aside in the fridge until ready to serve.
- Bake the ribs in the oven for 2 hours, flipping half way through cooking. After two hours the ribs should be tender, to gently brown them you can 1) turn the temperature up to 400ºF (200º C), remove the top layer of tin foil and grill for 10 minutes until they begin to brown in colour or 2) transfer the ribs to the barbecue and grill on medium high heat for 3 to 4 minutes per side until brown.
- Cut the ribs into pieces and serve warm topped with salsa verde
Nutrition
I did scrape most of the marinate off. My main issue with this recipe is that is has no salt… At any stage when salt is truly needed twice at least.. I let it get to room temperature for 80min before I put it in the oven. Also I used dry herbs so use less.
Good recipe though I made some tweaks I used dry ingredients and didn’t bother with sage or parsley. I used half a medium onion.
I used a bit more garlic. And I used home made lemon pepper lemon zest .. I also added more salt and cracked pepper. Did them for 45 min on each side not one hour per side and I didn’t marinate more than 5 hours 6 hours max you don’t want that lemon to cook the meat. Tossed the whole wrack in the BBQ with Montreal steak spice and salt 4 more min each side around 375 to 400 each side get a good chat l.
I did scrape most of the marinate off. My main issue with this recipe is that is has no salt… At any stage when salt is truly needed twice at least.. I let it get to room temperature for 80min before I put it in the oven. Also I used dry herbs so use less.
These were very good, but I felt like the recipe needed salt. I added garlic salt before I threw it in the oven. I tasted it after the two hours, and it didn’t seem to be enough still. So I hit it again before transferring to the grill. The end result was just right for our taste.
Thanks for the feedback Scott! I will definitely have to test this one out again to see if it needs adjusting! Happy that they turned out well in the end!