St. Louis-Style Ribs

St. Louis Style Ribs are one of our favorite things to make on our smoker that also take little prep and effort. These fall-off-the-bone pork ribs are made with a mix of spices and seasonings that will make your taste buds tingle! Glazed with a sweet and tangy Kansas City-Style BBQ Sauce, they’re always the hit of any barbecue!

Slices St. Louis style ribs in a pile on top of more smoked ribs.

These St. Louis Style Ribs are finger-licking good! Loaded with seasoning, spices, and a deliciously moreish BBQ sauce, they are some of the best ribs I have ever eaten! If you want to learn some serious barbecue pitmaster skills at home, I’m giving you all of my tips that I’ve learned over the years.

We love smoking meats and we love ribs, so it only makes sense to share one of my favorite smoked rib recipes with you representing Missouri, home of Kansas City-style barbecue. This is part of my American Eats series where I’m exploring some of the most famous foods from each state, one state at a time. Anytime I serve these smoked St. Louis ribs in the summertime, there are never any leftovers, so be prepared and make a double batch.

Try my Texas Smoked Brisket, this Smoked Pulled Pork, or these delicious Smoked Pork Belly Burnt Ends for more barbecue inspiration!

What are St. Louis-style Ribs?

St Louis Ribs refer to a fatty cut pork spareribs that are perfect for low and slow smoking. The smoking method allows the flavors to permeate the seasonings, meat, and BBQ sauce, making them so flavorful and tender.

You may wonder how they are different than baby back ribs. Baby backs are also pork ribs but not as meaty or fatty as St. Louis-style.

A close image of smoked St. Louis style ribs.

Why We Love This Recipe

Customize these smoked St. Louis ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce, or easily change the seasoning and spices to suit your preference.
Made with 4 simple ingredients that you may already have in your pantry. It’s about as hassle-free as it gets!
These ribs look so impressive to serve, but they’re easier to make than you’d think! The smoker does the hard work for you.

Ingredients

Scroll down to the recipe card below this post for ingredient quantities and full instructions.

Ribs – We’ll use racks of St. Louis ribs or spare ribs for this BBQ dish, without the silver skin.
BBQ Sauce – My Kansas City-Style BBQ Sauce is so delicious with the dry rub on these BBQ ribs.
Sugar – Dark brown sugar gives this dry rub a rich sweetness to it. You can use honey, maple syrup, or molasses if you prefer.
Seasoning – We’ll use a combination of paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, celery seed, and kosher salt for this rub for a rich and aromatic blend of seasonings and spices.

Ingredients for making St. Louis-style ribs.

Equipment

Smoker – We have a little Traeger and it works great, but any smoker will work.
Wood or Pellets – We typically use the Traeger Texas blend or oak pellets, and then hickory would be our next choice.
Digital Meat Thermometer (affiliate link) – This is a link to our favorite thermometer but we do have a few.
Heavy-duty aluminum foil – To wrap the ribs in before smoking to let them marinate.
Cutting board – For preparing the rib meat.

How to Make St. Louis-Style Ribs on the Smoker

Make rub. Combine the paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, freshly ground black pepper, cayenne pepper, celery seed, and kosher salt in a small bowl.
Rub meat. Remove the silver skin from the back side of the ribs and pat them dry with a paper towel. Rub the dry rub all over the ribs.

A homemade dry rub for making pork spare ribs.

St. Louis ribs rubbed with dry rub on a baking sheet.

Refrigerate. Place ribs in foil and wrap. Store overnight in the fridge to marinade (optional).
Prepare smoker. Start the smoker and get the temperature to around 225°F. Fill a disposable roasting pan with water and set it on the smoker to create humidity. You will want the water pan to be full during the smoke.
Smoke. Cook the ribs in the smoker at 225°F for 5-6 hours.
Add Sauce. Baste the top of the ribs with Kansas City BBQ Sauce during the last 30 minutes of the cooking time.

Brushing Kansas City style BBQ sauce onto St. Louis ribs on the smoker.

Expert Tips

The best way to know when the ribs are done cooking is by using a using a Digital Meat Thermometer. Look for 195ºF to 202ºF.
Make sure to marinate the meat for at least 30 minutes. For best results, leave it for 2 hours or overnight before cooking it. This allows the salt in the rub to tenderize the meat for a better, more flavorful result overall.
Always remove the silver skin before cooking. This is what makes them so tender when smoking. It allows the meat and fat between the bones to cook evenly.
Only baste with the sauce the last 30 minutes of smoking. We don’t want the sauce to burn, so by waiting until the end it will become beautifully caramelized.

Make Oven-Baked St. Louis-Style Ribs Instead

You can bake St. Louis-Style Ribs in the oven if you prefer. You won’t get the same smoky flavors as smoking them, but it does considerably cut down the cooking time. Simply prepare the ribs in the same way as if you were smoking them, but instead of putting them in the smoker, put them on a baking sheet and in the oven at 350 degrees F for 2 hours. Then brush the BBQ sauce and bake again for 25 minutes.

Cooked St. Louis-style ribs on a baking sheet in front of bowls of Kansas City BBQ sauce.

An overhead image of three racks of st. louis style ribs.

Substitutions and Variations

Use honey or molasses instead of dark brown sugar if you prefer.
Grab your favorite store-bought sauce for ease. I’ve used my Kansas City-Style BBQ Sauce in this recipe because it’s sweet and tangy and so flavorful, but you can use a different sauce or store-bought barbecue sauce if you prefer. Try my Alabama White BBQ Sauce, this South Carolina Gold BBQ Sauce, or my Rhubarb BBQ Sauce for some alternative flavors.
Make it spicy. Add a little bit of hot sauce to the BBQ sauce, or serve with hot sauce on the side. Alternatively, you can add some heat by adding some hot pepper flakes to the top of the ribs.
If you want to an an Asian-inspired flavors you an also stir in some teriyaki sauce to the barbecue sauce to use in the glaze.

Storage

Once completely cool, wrap any leftover ribs in plastic wrap, put them in a Ziploc bag, or place them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat in the microwave, oven, or grill.

Freeze your cooked ribs for up to 3 months. Defrost in the refrigerator overnight before reheating in the microwave, oven, or grill.

Racks of barbecue ribs on a baking sheet.

Recipe FAQ’s

What does “St. Louis style” mean for ribs?

The term “St. Louis Style Ribs” refers to the cut of ribs as opposed to how they are prepared. St. Louis ribs are from the belly part of the pig, so they are fatter than other ribs. They are typically seasoned with a dry rub that is made with a combination of spicy and salty flavors. They are then coated with mustard, though in this recipe we’ll use my delicious Kansas Barbecue Sauce. They can be cooked any way you like, either in your oven, on the grill, or in the smoker.

What is the difference between St. Louis ribs and regular ribs?

St. Louis-style ribs are fattier than baby back ribs as they’re cut from the belly area of the pig. These ribs have a straighter, more uniform shape than baby backs. This rectangular shape allows them to cook more evenly, which is useful when smoking!

Is it necessary to remove the silver skin from the ribs?

The “silverskin” on ribs is a thin membrane of connective tissues covering and holding ribs together. You will need to remove the silverskin from the rack of ribs before cooking them, as the membrane prevents rubs and brines from actually getting into the meat to flavor it. You don’t even need a sharp knife to do it; a blunt butter knife should be fine.