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All Posts / Barbecue St. Louis Ribs with Hickory Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce

Barbecue St. Louis Ribs with Hickory Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce

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By Rosie Published: June 24, 2015 Updated: July 16, 2024
This post may contain affiliate links.

These sweet and saucy ribs are grilled to perfection
Table of Contents
  1. A Finger-Licking Good Recipe for Grilled St. Louis Ribs
  2. Now That I’ve Done All That Yapping, Let’s Get to Grilling Some St. Louis Ribs!
  3. St. Louis Ribs with Hickory Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce

A Finger-Licking Good Recipe for Grilled St. Louis Ribs

Recently I’ve added a new big toy to my collection- A Napoleon Prestige 500 Grill!! This is by far the prettiest and biggest grill that I have owned to date, and I love it. I adore my grill so much that I HAD to name him. Everyone, welcome Big Daddy to the family!

A brand new, shiny, silver Napoleon Prestige 500 Grill, perfect for grilling up some St. Louis Ribs!

After my hubby and I assembled Big Daddy, I couldn’t wait to put him to work. As a matter of fact, as soon as he was delivered to me, I knew exactly what I wanted to grill: St. Louis ribs with lots of sauce!!

A stack of saucy and tender St. Louis ribs on a white platter.

In this post I’m going to show you how to grill up some St. Louis ribs, and make a homemade hickory brown sugar barbecue sauce! No need to worry. Just like many of my other recipes, this is going to be really easy!

A whole rack of pork ribs drenched in BBQ sauce on a silver grill grate.

Big Daddy (the grill that I am using for these ribs) is a gas grill. I made sure to heat the grill to 325° F. If you are using a charcoal grill, do the same! If your grill does not have a thermometer, be sure to buy one. Don’t try to guess the temperature, LOL!

St. Louis ribs drenched in sauce and piled on a white serving platter.

Making the barbecue sauce is the easiest part! You simply add all of the ingredients into a pot, cook and simmer. Once done, you will have about 4 cups of sauce.

I used a lot of sauce for my ribs. You can use less if you choose. Once that the ribs were done, I cut them and then poured on more sauce. Instead of pouring the sauce onto the ribs, like I did, you can serve the remaining sauce on the side.

Keep in mind that you can use this sauce on food other than these ribs!

Try using the sauce on:

  • beef ribs
  • burgers
  • chicken
  • pork steaks
  • pork chops
  • pulled pork
  • as a dipping sauce & more

Now That I’ve Done All That Yapping, Let’s Get to Grilling Some St. Louis Ribs!

St. Louis Ribs

St. Louis Ribs with Hickory Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce

Perfectly grilled, tender ribs drenched in a sweet, smokey homemade BBQ sauce is the summer combo you need!
Watch Video Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Course BBQ
Cuisine American
Keyword Barbecue Ribs with Hickory Brown Sugar BBQ Sauce, St. Louis Ribs
Prep Time 15 minutes minutes
Cook Time 2 hours hours 20 minutes minutes
Total Time 2 hours hours 35 minutes minutes
Servings 4 servings

Ingredients

  • 5-7 lbs of St. Louis Pork Ribs
  • 1/4 cup barbecue rub
  • 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 3 tbsp apple cider vinegar

Hickory Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce

  • 29 oz of tomato sauce
  • 2 tbsp dijon mustard
  • 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1/3 cup molasses
  • 1 cup dark brown sugar
  • 2 tbsp liquid hickory smoke
  • 1/4 cup barbecue rub

Instructions

Hickory Brown Sugar Barbecue Sauce

  • Add all of the ingredients needed for the sauce into a large pot.
  • Mix until everything is well combined.
  • Bring the sauce to a boil, and let it cook for about 5 minutes.
  • Reduce the heat (from high to low-medium) and let the sauce simmer for about 45 minutes to 1 hour.
  • Use!

Ribs

  • Remove the membranes and excess fat from the ribs.
  • Combine 1/4 of my homemade barbecue rub, 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, and 3 tbsp of apple cider vinegar. Combine until it turns into a paste.
  • Rub the "paste" all over the ribs (front, back, sides).
  • Preheat the grill to 325° F, then place the ribs on the grill.
  • Flip the ribs every 15 minutes.
  • About 45 minutes into grilling, start brushing on the sauce.
  • Continue to flip the ribs and brush on the sauce every 15 minutes, until the ribs are fully cooked (it took my ribs about 1 hour and 10-15 minutes).

Video

Notes

Use my Barbecue Rub recipe for the sauce and seasoning.
If you loved this recipe, leave me a review below. This helps future recipe makers and ensures continued high-quality recipes for years to come!
© 2025 I Heart Recipes
Recipe by: I Heart Recipes

Don’t forget to tag and follow me on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest, subscribe to I Heart Recipes on YouTube, and check out all my cookbooks! I just released a brand new cookbook, Super Soul Food with Cousin Rosie, with many recipes you can’t find anywhere else.

If you enjoyed my St. Louis Ribs, check out these other recipes perfect for the grill!

Honey Jalapeño Mesquite Chicken Breasts with Grilled Pineapple Salsa!

Grilled Lobster Tail Recipe

Grilled Sirloin Steak , Onions, and Sweet Pepper Kabobs Recipe

Grilled Lemon Pepper Chicken

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MEET THE RECIPE AUTHOR

Rosie

I’m a Soul Food blogger living in the Pacific Northwest, bringing Southern cooking to gorgeous Seattle, Washington. I was born and raised in the PNW, but my family roots go all the way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where my grandparents were born and raised. I live every day to bring the traditional values, recipes, and love of food to life for my family—whether they’re online or in real life. So, welcome to the party, family!

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Comments

  1. ANTIONETTE NIX says

    June 24, 2015 at 6:51 pm

    looks great can’t wait to try these ribs

    Reply
    • Rosie says

      June 30, 2015 at 5:04 pm

      Thank you!

      Reply
  2. keiotta Colbert says

    December 24, 2015 at 4:49 pm

    Ur website recipes looks delish Omg! Cnt wait too try majority of ur recipes!

    Reply
  3. Lisa Horton says

    August 19, 2023 at 11:10 am

    5 stars
    This looks outstanding! We usually use bottled bbq sauce but this homemade one seems too good not to make. Thanks again, Rosie, for another wonderful recipe!!

    Reply

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Hey cousins, it’s Rosie!

I’m a Soul Food blogger living in the Pacific Northwest, bringing Southern cooking to gorgeous Seattle, Washington. I was born and raised in the PNW, but my family roots go all the way to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where my grandparents were born and raised. I live every day to bring the traditional values, recipes, and love of food to life for my family—whether they’re online or in real life. So, welcome to the party, family!

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