Fall off the Bone Sous Vide Beef Spare Ribs with BBQ Sauce

Sous vide beef back ribs – aka spare ribs – turn out remarkably tender and fall-off-the-bone with this 24 hour recipe. Since it’s impossible to overcook these bbq sous vide ribs (the sous vide machine cooks them to a precise temperature without drying them out), they’re very juicy and flavorful. In the winter, we slather on bbq sauce and finish sous vide ribs in the oven. Let’s get to cooking!

During warmer months, we finish sous vide beef ribs on the grill. Oh, and one of my husband’s favorite tricks is to use the leftover beef juice from the bag they cook in to make a bbq sauce. I’ll teach you how to cook the sous vide beef ribs and make the sauce in this post. 

How are sous vide ribs different from traditionally cooked ribs?

Sous vide is a type of slow cooking where the food is cooked in a bag, under hot water. A sous vide machine, like the one I use in this recipe from Anova, keeps the water at a very specific temperature. 

Cooking irresistible, juicy, fall-off-the-bone spare ribs is ridiculously easy with a sous vide machine. Unlike ribs that are cooked in an oven or on the grill, these ribs are prepped and then don’t need to be touched again until they are done cooking. That means no basting the ribs or checking them along the way. For the most part, they are hands-off! 

How long do you sous vide beef back ribs? The time takes a bit longer than traditional ways to cook spare ribs. Sous vide beef ribs sous vide in a bag submerged in water for 24 hours. 

Sous vide beef ribs are super juicy and tender. Cooking ribs in a plastic bag means all the juices stay right there, with the beef ribs. 

These ribs don’t dry out. The sous vide machine cooks them to a specific degree. It’s literally impossible to overcook ribs sous vide style. That’s why they never dry out. 

Beef back ribs VS. spare ribs

Don’t be confused!! When purchasing beef ribs, you’ll find there are a few options for beef ribs. Don’t be thrown off by the various names. Depending on where you live and the butcher you purchase your ribs from, beef spare ribs might be called beef back ribs. These are the same cut. They are what most people consider to be standard beef ribs, taken from the mid section of the beef. The meat is very tender, although in this section of the ribs, there is less meat than in the beef short ribs section.

Beef back ribs VS. beef short ribs

Short ribs are a bit different than spare ribs. They are cut by the shoulder. There is more meat on short ribs, but the meat is tougher. See my delicious recipe for cooking sous vide short ribs with a red wine sauce. 

Beef back ribs VS. baby back ribs

Baby back ribs are pork. This recipe can be adapted to make sous vide baby back ribs as well. 

Time and Temperature

Sous vide spare ribs cook at 155 degrees for 24 hours. See the recipe at the bottom of this post for specific tips.

Sous vide beef ribs meal prep ideas

This is a regular bulk-prep main dish in my house. Beef spare ribs are inexpensive and great to pick up in bulk. I like to grab a large slab of beef ribs at Costco to break down into smaller portions. Within a day or two I season, vacuum seal, and freeze them in batches to sous vide later.

I’ll buy a large pack of 2 or 4 sets of ribs and break them down into smaller portions to sous vide when we’re in the mood for ribs. Sometimes I’ll season them differently, but I love these with BBQ seasonings, so that’s a very popular choice in my house! Frozen sous vide spare ribs last a few months in the freezer.

How to cook frozen sous vide beef ribs

Save time by defrosting the spare ribs for 12+ hours before popping them in the sous vide bath. Cooking ribs from frozen is one of my favorite ways to utilize the convenience of sous vide cooking. This means you can purchase meat in bulk, vacuum freeze it with the seasonings, then sous vide bbq beef ribs it from frozen. To sous vide frozen ribs, add 1 hour to the total cook time.

Seasonings and Sauces 

Salt is your friend when seasoning sous vide meat recipes, especially before the meat is added to the vacuum seal bag. There are ways to add flavor before, during, and after cooking sous vide beef ribs. In this recipe, I walk you through how to sous vide beef ribs step by step. Here’s an overview…

• Preseason sous vide ribs with a simple salt pepper seasoning before vacuum sealing, or use any dry BBQ rub
• Finish sous vide beef ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce in the broiler. I like this sampler with Smoked Applewood Molasses BBQ Sauce from local Portland, OR sauce company, Red Duck Sauce. 
• Serve with a sauce made from juice leftover from the sous vide cooking process. Reduced the juice in a pan on the stove and add butter and BBQ sauce to thicken it. See the recipe for specifics.

Finishing sous vide beef ribs in the oven

Living in the Pacific Northwest, outdoor cooking is basically off-limits during the rainy and cold winter months. So that means finishing sous vide ribs in the oven.

The BBQ sauce is added to these spare ribs after the sous vide bath. Once the ribs are done in the sous vide bath, pat them dry with a paper towel, slather on BBQ sauce and pop them in the broiler on high for 3-5 minutes, until the BBQ sauce sets. 

Finishing sous vide ribs on the grill

In the summer, I prefer to finish sous vide ribs in a grill. It just takes a few minutes on high heat to get a nice crust on the BBQ sous vide ribs.

Smoking ribs before sous vide cooking

To add a smokey taste, either use a smoked salt, or smoke ribs before sous vide cooking them for 1-2 hours. 

What to serve with sous vide spare ribs

• Collard greens
• Roasted garlic dill carrots
• Corn fritters
• Mashed potatoes
• Sous vide brussels sprouts
• Honey cake – Robin’s recipe from Always Delicious

Plating Tips 

If you have a wood serving board (or even just a tasteful wood cutting board), put your sous vide beef spare ribs with BBQ sauce on it for people to take as they’d like. Don’t forget to include a little extra cup of BBQ sauce, or individual ramekins. I love these white sauce cups. 

Cocktails Pairings

BBQ sauce and bourbon is a legendary combo, so serving your sous vide BBQ ribs with bourbon is an obvious choice.

Try whipping up a Mint Julep, Bourbon Slushy, Bourbon Apple Cider, or Bourbon Old Fashioned for the occasion. (And if you’re a bourbon fan, check out this bourbon advent calendar from my friend Andrea.)

How to refrigerate ribs

Store leftover sous vide ribs in a shallow container covered with plastic wrap or tin foil for 3-4 days.

What’s the right texture for sous vide ribs?

You want your ribs to be tender, almost falling off the bone and moist, not dry or tough.

What if my ribs are chewy?

Cooking longer will make beef ribs fall off the bone. When people ask me how long to sous vide beef ribs, I tell them 24 hours is a sufficient, but 36 or 48 hours will make them even more fall-apart. 

Tasty Tips and Notes

• Cook sous vide ribs in a flat layer in the bag. Vacuum seal multiple bags if cooking a large batch of ribs.
• Refrigerate leftover sous vide ribs in plastic wrap or tin foil for 3-4 days. 
• Serve ribs with a bourbon cocktail to complement them.
• Change up the flavors by using different BBQ sauces. Try one of my favorites from Red Duck, a Portland, OR company: Smoked Applewood Molasses BBQ Sauce.

Readers also love these sous vide recipes

• Sous Vide T Bone Steak
• Sous Vide Wings
• Sous Vide Turkey Legs
• Sous Vide Turkey Breast
• Sous Vide Pulled Pork
• Sous Vide Short Ribs
• Sous Vide Onions in Beer
• Sous Vide Cookbooks for Beginners
• Sous Vide Pork Chops
• Sous vide beef kebabs
• Sous Vide Tri Tip

What to do with leftovers?

There are so many tasty ways to use them up. See my cook with me style video for quesadillas with leftover bbq pork ribs – swap out these beef sous vide ribs and you’ll have a tasty second day meal. The sous vide beef ribs reheat right in the quesadilla so you don’t have to re-sous vide them.

Let me know when you make this sous vide beef ribs recipe. Be sure to leave a comment and rate the recipe. It means so much to hear from Sip Bite Go readers and I love seeing photos of your food! Don’t forget to tag me @sipbitego on Instagram so I can see how the recipe turned out. And sign up for the Sip Bite Go newsletter.