Beef Short Ribs with Maple-Bacon Barbecue Sauce

These oven-baked ribs will blow your mind. They're sweet from maple syrup, smoky from bacon, and brimming with the flavors of my signature, tangy barbecue sauce. Plus, they melt in your mouth.

Even better? No brining. No boiling. No grilling. Once you assemble everything (which simply means cooking the bacon and whisking together the sauce), your work is complete. The oven does the rest. You literally pop the ribs in the oven and walk away for 3 hours (yeah, you remove the foil and increase the oven temp at 2 1/2 hours, but c'mon, that's nothing). You can even prep the dish up to 24 hours in advance. I think I checked all those foodie boxes, right?

I like to serve these ribs with rice, pasta or rolls, something to soak up any extra sauce. Of course, fingers work too.

Beef Short Ribs with Maple-Bacon Barbecue Sauce

4-5 slices bacon, cooked until crisp and chopped
2 pounds boneless beef short ribs
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 cup ketchup
2 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees.
Arrange the ribs in a shallow baking dish and season with salt and black pepper.
In a small bowl, whisk together the ketchup, maple syrup vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, chili powder, onion powder, and garlic powder. Fold in the bacon.
Spoon the mixture all over the ribs in the pan.
Cover with foil and bake for 2 1/2 hours.
Remove the foil and spoon over some of the sauce that has dripped off the top. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.
Bake, uncovered, for 30 more minutes, until the top is browned and the meat pulls apart easily when tested with a fork.
Serve the ribs with sauce and bacon spooned over top. And, with napkins.

Serves 4