Learn How to Grill Boneless Country-Style Ribs that are moist and tender. Great BBQ boneless ribs in only 30 minutes with these quick and easy-to-follow step-by-step photo instructions.
๐Ingredients
Boneless country-style pork ribs
Dry rub of your choice
Barbecue sauce of your choice
Optional brineโwater, salt, brown sugar
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Featured Comment from Michelle:
"5 stars. Finally, a recipe for boneless country-style ribs I really love!! Everyone agreed it was the best ever!"
Boneless country-style pork ribs are one of my favorite "cooking for two" meals. It is about the right size with two large servings or 3-4 more reasonable size servings and economical.
Quick and easy to grill in only 30 minutesโgrilled boneless ribs are lean and healthy with great taste. Plus, if grilled correctly, they are moist and tender boneless ribs.
๐จโ๐ณHow to Grill Boneless Country Style RibsโStep-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Optional: Brine first if you have time.
2. Clean and oil grill grates, then preheat to 450ยฐ-500ยฐ.
3. Trim ribs of any excess fat. Deepen the cuts already in the ribs to about 75% through.
4. Coat both sides of the ribs with the dry rub of your choice.
5. Place over direct heat and close the lid. Flip about every 5 minutes and grill until the internal temperature is about 145ยฐ-150ยฐ, about 20 minutes.
6. For the last few minutes, coat both sides with sauce and grill until brown. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
โฐHow long to grill boneless country-style ribs
It takes about 20 minutes to grill boneless county-style ribs to the best final internal temperature of 145ยฐ on a gill at 450ยฐ. There will be a little pink left, and they will be moist and tender.
- Rare (less than 145ยฐ)โpinkโNot recommended due to USDA safety recommendations
- Medium-Rare (145ยฐ-150ยฐ)โa little pinkโwill take about 20-25 minutesโRecommended.
- Medium (150ยฐ-155ยฐ)โno pinkโwill take about 24-26 minutes
- Medium-Well (155ยฐ-160ยฐ) will take about 28+ minutesโstarting to dry a little.
- Well Done (160ยฐ+)โNot recommended due to dryness and texture.
The exact time will vary by the size and thickness of the pork tenderloin, your grill's surface temperature, and the final internal temperature you want. Use a grill surface thermometer and an instant-read thermometer to get this right.
As always, cook to a final internal temperature and never by time alone.
Boneless Pork Ribs and Related Recipes
For other boneless rib recipes, see Grilled Memphis Boneless Country Style Pork Ribs and Baked Boneless Pork Ribs.
Everybody needs a great sauce and BBQ rub. Try my BBQ Dry Rub and Memphis BBQ Sauce,
โจ๏ธGrill Temperature
Unlike regular pork ribs, these boneless ribs are a lean cut, so there is no need for indirect heat or low and slow cooking. Use a medium grill temperature of about 450ยฐ surface temperature. You can use a higher temperature, but they will dry out more.
You can use either a gas or charcoal grill. To learn about controlling the surface temperature of your grill, please see Guide to Grill Temperature on a Gas Grill.
Serving and leftovers
Serve with your favorite BBQ sauce and side dishes you would use with any ribs like cole slaw, baked beans, potato salad, French fries, or many others.
Leftovers should be sealed airtight and refrigerated for 3-4 days or frozen for 3 months. Reheat leftovers in the microwave or air fryer, but thaw completely if frozen.
โFAQs
Because boneless pork ribs are lean, they can tend to dry if overcooked. But if not overcooked, they can stay moist like a nice pork chop. A brining would fix moisture issues and add taste depending on the brine. But this would add hours and take it out of the weeknight recipe class.
If I have time, I do brine. A suggested brine would be 2 tablespoons of table salt, 1 tablespoon of sugar, and 2 cups of water for 1-4 hours. Other spices, like allspice, garlic, pepper, etc., can be added.
First, you don't have to use a BBQ rub since they are like pork chops. If you have a favorite pork chop recipe, you can use it here.
Here is an excellent homemade rub that I keep around during grilling season. This makes enough for 2 slabs. Cut it in half to have less leftover if you want, but I save it for next time.
8 tablespoons (ยฝ cup) brown sugar
3 tablespoons kosher salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Use your favorite BBQ sauce. I love my Gate's BBQ Sauce from Kansas City, which I buy by the case. Cooks Illustrated recommends Bull's-Eye Original Barbecue Sauce.
Or you can make my fantastic homemade Memphisย BBQ Sauce.ย
The minimum safe internal temperature for boneless ribs is 145ยฐ, according to the USDA. It is the same for any pork that is not ground.
๐What are Boneless Country Style Pork Ribs?
Boneless country-style pork ribs are not real ribs. They are the blade end of the loin cut in half and scored to make "ribs." So, it's more of a pork chop than real ribs.
Unfortunately, there are also "bone-in country-style pork ribs," which may get confused with the boneless variety. Bone-in country-style ribs are more like a slice of pork shoulder and need to be cooked more like a pork shoulder (AKA pork butt), meaning low and slow, while the boneless ribs are lean and are usually cooked more rapidly.
If you have bone-in country-style ribs, check out Slow Grilled Bone-In Country Style Pork Ribs.
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
Have you tried this recipe, or have a question? Join the community discussion in the comments.
๐ Recipe
Grilled Boneless Country Style Pork Ribs
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Ingredients
- 1 slab boneless country style pork ribs
- Dry rub of your choice
- Barbecue sauce of your choice
Optional brine
- 2 cups water
- 1 tablespoon table salt
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
Instructions
- Optional: Brine first if you have time. 2 cups water, 1 tablespoon table salt, and 1 tablespoon brown sugar for 1-4 hours in the refrigerator. Rinse well and use a rub without salt.
- Clean and oil grill grates, then preheat the grill to a grill surface temperature of 450ยฐ-500ยฐ.
- Trim ribs of any excess fat.ย Deepen the cuts that are already in the ribs to about 75% through.
- Coat both sides of ribs with the dry rub of your choice. Be sure to get in the cuts.ย Rub in and let rest for 10 minutes while preheating the grill.
- Place over direct heat and close lid. Flip about every 5 minutes and grill until an internal temperature of about 145ยฐ-150ยฐ. About 20 minutes, depending on the grill and the thickness of the meat.
- The last few minutes, coat with sauce on both sides and grill until brown. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- I remove most/all of the fat pad.
- Extend the "rib cuts" to 75% of the thickness.
- Brine if you have time. If you brine, use a rub without salt.
- Use the rub and sauce of your choice.
- Grill over a medium grill with a surface temperature of 450ยฐ.
- Do not overcook. 145ยฐ-150ยฐ is nice.
- If you don't have a rib, try this version of 8311. This makes about twice what you need so cut in half or keep the extra for later. Also, if you brine, leave the salt out of the rub.
ยฝ cup brown sugar
3 tablespoon kosher salt
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
ยฉ 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Editor's Note: Originally Published March 26, 2010. This has been a constant popular post on this blog, even though it hasn't been updated for over eight years. The post has been completely rewritten, all photos re-shot, expanded options, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Elizabeth Lebens says
Couldn't find the Stars to click on. So here is my rating: ******
I went for lazy and rubbed them with a little olive oil and Penzys Galena Street rub for a couple hours. These weren't connected, but in pieces. Grilled as you said. Delicious. Thanks for your informative instructions!
BThompson says
I doubled the rub recipe and grilled 4 packages of boneless country ribs over hardwood lump charcoal in a cheap Weber grill hot and fast turning every 3-4 minutes for about 20 minutes. The results were outstanding... the meat was tender and the rub was absolute perfection. No need to add any other sauce. I can't thank you enough for this rub recipe.
Darr says
Thanks for the recipe but my very favorite thing here is the beautiful 4 legged family member, absolutely love the photos.
Thank you,
Darr Arizona
Ted says
Really like the recipe and explanation about this cut. Great info.
Peggy Heitz says
I hadn't cooked boneless pork loin country style ribs before and I needed a recipe with step by step instructions. I'm very fortunate to have found Dr Dan's website. I decided to brine the meat. I hadn't done this before either. I followed the easy to understand steps. I made half of the rub omitting the salt. I couldn't find the recommended Bull's Eye commercial barbecue bottled sauce so I bought the on sale store brand sauce for 99 cents! Well the meat was delicious and I have a go to recipe for grilled barbecue ribs. Thanks Dr Dan!
DrDan says
Hi Peggy,
This is one of my older recipes but it still works great.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Naturally simple says
Thank you for ribs "boneless country style" lol cooked to taste excellent and fast! Just what I was hoping for!! Yummmmmy!
DrDan says
Hi Dale, Thanks for the note(s). I recently went PC to a Mac, and the spell checker is so different.
The brine is easy and will help any dryness of this cut.
Good old "me" obviously was not having a good day. I should have just deleted his comment, but it is a common confusion between two totally different cuts and I had a bad day that day also, so I just replied. He did carry it a bit too far.
Thanks again
Dan
Dale Baranoski says
Upon review I see two typos: ISIS should be IDIOTS and SHE should be ABLE to brine.
Dele
Dale Baranoski says
Don't you just love even isis show the world just why they are idiots? I will be trying these instructions tomorrow and will now be she to brine thanks to your info.
I will hopefully update after.
Thanks!
Me says
This "recipe" demonstrates exactly 0 understanding of how fat behaves over fire and will absolutely ruin the meat you've bought. Pork fat will render very well leaving you with succulent meat even in a cheap cut if done low and slow. Cooked high the way this recommends wont allow the pork fat ot render, it will actuaslly SOLIDIFY connective tissue. That the meat was moist is of no value when every other bite is grissle. THe simple fact is even with country "ribs" there's no such thing as a quick meal. All this method will do is waste your money and your time. Save the pork for the weekend when you can do it right.
DrDan says
Well "Me" I'm at least temporarily responding to an anonymous comment.
So letโs talk about what exactly are "country style boneless pork ribs"? They ARE NOT a boneless version of bone-in country style pork ribs. The bone-in variety are more like a slice of pork butt. They have lots of fat and need to be cooked low and slow.
The boneless country style pork rib is the tail end of a pork loin. So it is very lean. This tail is cut down the middle and then scored into โribsโ. So unlike the bone in namesake, these need to be cooked more rapidly or you have dried out not eatable pork. Would you suggest low and slow for a slice of pork loin? I hope not...
You apparently have no clue of the difference, but one look at a picture should have been a clue. If you look around you the site you will find a low and slow method for the bone-in variety. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/slow-grilled-bone-in-country-style-pork/
Thank you...
Rachele Bearden says
Do you warp with foil for the ribs on the charcoal grill? Write be back.
DrDan says
No foil but I don't do charcoal grills.
DrDan
Daphne says
I had never brined anything before, but I was really happy with how this turned out. Also, the rub made the ribs brown up a lot nicer than I've ever been able to achieve with this cut. Next time, I'll omit some of the salt in the rub, but otherwise I'll stick to this recipe. Thanks!
DrDan says
Thanks for the note. Generally if you brine, rinse the brine off well and use a rub without salt or cut down the rub a lot.
DrDan
juned says
nothing, but good
Hollie says
Nothing was sounding good for dinner tonight, so off I went to the market to see if anything inspired me. I came across some country style pork ribs and took them home. Having arrived at the house the same time as my hungry family,I was in a pinch. Desperate to cook these fast AND have them taste good, I went to the iPad and found your recipe. I made the rub and my husband went to work at the grill. (The sauce, we will try next time!) The results were fabulous. We all loved them. You saved the day. Well, at least dinner. Thank you!
DrDan says
Thanks for the note. I do this one over and over with variations. You really need to try the sauce.
DrDan
Joe says
This worked just as the recipe said. It was really fantastic.
DrDan says
Thanks so much for the comment and rating. This is one of my older recipes and had almost no comments. Now it looks better. Also I still do this at least once a month during grill season.
DrDan
Pat says
No idea what I'm doing so not challenging your directions. Just curious why there's both a rub and barbeque sauce? That surprises me. About to give this a try and sure it will be great but doesn't the barbeque sauce smother the rub? Thanks.
DrDan says
The rib is flavor for the meat. The sauce was to caramelize some for at the end for the BBQ taste. You can easily skip the sauce. It just won't brown up as nice.
DrDan
Karen says
Thank you for the great instructions on how to cook these. They came out fabulous with your rub and barbecue sauce recipe. At a birthday bbq, where we served grilled chicken, burgers, hot dogs and these ribs, the ribs were the star of the show. Everyone was slathering the chicken and ribs with extra homemade sauce and raving over it. For the rub, I halved the sugar for the chicken, then added more sugar before rubbing the ribs. If this cut of pork didn't work for me this time, I promised myself I would never attempt them again. You proved to me that they are doable on the grill!
Shannon says
Hi there! Im somewhat new to grilling. I love boneless pork ribs. I grilled them tonight Following your recipe above minus the brine, however I did used the rub and they turned out fantastic! I will definitely be making these again!!!! Signed: Full Belly :)