Growing up, my family made pork spare ribs a bunch of different ways; my mother’s specialty was to cook them in a tomato based stew so that the meat literally fell off the bones, my father slathered them in sauce and cooked them on our gas grill (sometimes – I even shudder to think of it now – he would boil them first – I know, the horror).
The problem was, no matter what they tried, they were never able to match my all-time favourite ribs (which came from a locally owned restaurant): they were grilled dry, without any sauce on them, and covered in a savoury rub that made them exquisite on their own, and even more amazing when coupled with a sweet-hot sauce (added on your plate as a condiment would be).
A few years back, I decided I would recreate this rub, or at least something approximating it. After some trial and error (which, let’s be honest, were not terrible errors because… grilled meat) I came up with something we all love, and keeps them coming back for more.
As with all recipes, adjust the proportions to suit your tastes. We use white pepper as it adds a warm heat as opposed to the sharp heat from black pepper. The Lawry’s is a great multi-purpose seasoning, especially for pork, but you could probably get away with some combination of table salt and paprika (or better yet, my new favourite: smoked paprika), and increasing the onion and garlic powders. Also, since all the ingredients are seasonings, this mixture will keep well indefinitely if stored in a dry, air-tight container or bag.
Dry Rib Rub
this amount will cover two racks of ribs quite well
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose seasoning salt (we prefer Lawry’s)
- 2 tablespoons onion powder
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 0.5 teaspoon white pepper
- 0.5 teaspoon ground cumin
Simply combine all ingredients well in a bowl or for longer term storage, see the tip above.
Stay tuned for our Ultimate Guide to Grilled Ribs as well as Corn Bread that makes a perfect side dish!
This post was written by my hubby! He says he is “A husband, a father, and an engineer. In that order.”
I’ve never tried dry rub – this is a must try for my house!
mmmmm that sounds delicious! im gonna get hubby to give this a try 🙂
I noticed that my son who lives with me has just bought a rack of ribs, I’ll point him in this direction 🙂
My hubby loves making up his own rubs. I am sure that he will enjoy yours!
Ooo! Do you have a tried and true recipe that he enjoys the most?
Yay, I actually have all those items on hand. I look forward to making this rib rub.
Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
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Sounds delicious, I love trying tried and true recipes.
Love having spice mixes pre-made and ready to go. I’ll definitely mix up a batch of this, it sounds delicious!
I put the rest of our latest batch in a plastic container for next time! Thanks for visiting, Andrea!
Oooo I’m a big rib fan and your recipe looks GOOD, thanks!
Thanks for stopping by, Heather. I hope you enjoy it!
This sounds so tasty, and I’m with Andrea – I love having spice mixes ready to go. Off to pin! Thanks so much for sharing!!
Thank you for stopping by!
I will love and enjoy this rub for my favorite meats.Thank you for posting this for us to have handy.
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Sounds like a good rub, will have to try it next time I do ribs which will be soon 🙂
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I have never used a dry rub but I think we might be using this one. I have saved it for future use. Thank you for this recipe.
Sounds great …..saved for future use
I’m always looking for a good rub recipe…will try it next time we have ribs.
That sounds like a mix I could use on just about anything! What a great idea 😉
That sounds like a great rub.
good recipe I like making own mixture of spices instead of those msg sodium filled prepackaged ones.
I have never used a dry rub I will have to try cause our family just loves ribs 🙂
I have never used a dry rub I will have to try cause our family just loves ribs 🙂
I have never used a dry rub before,but i would love to give it a try !!
This rub is so good i use it all the time