Cajun-Spiced Barbecue Ribs Recipe

By
Joshua Bousel
a photo of Joshua Bousel, a Contributing Writer at Serious Eats
Joshua Bousel
Joshua Bousel is a Serious Eats old-timer, having started sharing his passion for grilling and barbecue recipes on the site back in 2008. He continues to develop grilling and barbecue recipes on his own site, The Meatwave, out of his home base of Durham, North Carolina.
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Updated Mar. 05, 2019
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Joshua Bousel

I mixed a huge bowl of Cajun seasoning, and spent the day grilling or smoking a bunch of meat in it. This led to some pretty awesome results, including these Cajun-spiced dry-rubbed ribs. In contrast to traditional barbecue ribs, where the rub is usually a balance of sweet and spicy, these bones are more herbal and earthy, with a slight kick of heat. The meat comes out smoky, moist, and with all the right pull-off-the-bone tenderness.

Recipe Details

Cajun-Spiced Barbecue Ribs Recipe

Active 60 mins
Total 6 hrs
Serves 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

For the Rub:

  • 2 tablespoons paprika

  • 1 tablespoon kosher salt

  • 1 tablespoon white sugar

  • 2 teaspoons garlic powder

  • 2 teaspoons onion powder

  • 2 teaspoons dried thyme

  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano

  • 1 teaspoon cumin

  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper

  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

For the Liquid Seasoning:

  • 1 (12-ounce) can beer, at room temperature

  • 1/4 cup (4 tablespoons) butter, melted

  • 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

  • 1 tablespoon liquid crab boil

  • 1 tablespoon Louisiana-style hot sauce

  • 2 racks St. Louis-cut spareribs

Directions

  1. To make the rub, in a small bowl, mix together paprika, salt, sugar, garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, oregano, cumin, black pepper, white pepper, and cayenne pepper. Set aside.

  2. To make the liquid seasoning, in a medium bowl, whisk together beer, butter, Worcestershire sauce, liquid crab boil, and Louisiana-style hot sauce. Set aside.

  3. Remove membrane from back of each rack of ribs and trim meat of excess fat. Season ribs liberally with rub all over.

  4. Fire up smoker or grill to 225°F, adding chunks of smoking wood when at temperature. When wood is ignited and producing smoke, place ribs in smoker or grill, meat side up. Smoke until ribs darken to a deep rusty red color, about 3 hours.

  5. Lay each rack of ribs on top of a sheet of extra-large heavy duty aluminum foil; tilt foil edges upward. Pour half of liquid seasoning over each rack of ribs, then seal ribs in foil and place back on smoker or grill for 1 hour.

  6. Open one end of foil and pour liquid seasoning into a small bowl and reserve. Remove ribs from foil and place back in smoker and continue to cook until ribs have a slight bend when lifted from one end, 1-2 hours more.

  7. Remove ribs from smoker, brush with reserved liquid seasoning. Serve immediately.

Special equipment

Smoker or Grill

This Recipe Appears In

Nutrition Facts (per serving)
675 Calories
54g Fat
8g Carbs
38g Protein
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Nutrition Facts
Servings: 4 to 6
Amount per serving
Calories 675
% Daily Value*
Total Fat 54g 69%
Saturated Fat 19g 93%
Cholesterol 203mg 68%
Sodium 1186mg 52%
Total Carbohydrate 8g 3%
Dietary Fiber 2g 5%
Total Sugars 3g
Protein 38g
Vitamin C 4mg 22%
Calcium 85mg 7%
Iron 4mg 23%
Potassium 613mg 13%
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice.
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)