Summer

Baby Back Ribs with Hatch Green Chile BBQ Sauce

by:
May  7, 2013
4
2 Ratings
  • Serves 6 - 8
Author Notes

Most Texas bbqed ribs are dry rubbed with spices, cooked low & slow and mopped with a thin mopping sauce to keep them moist. Adding water to the foil they're cooked in helps keep them moist without mopping them. Some cooks then finish them with bbq sauce at the end and for some that's a sin! I'm not a pit master or an expert on the subject of bbqing, but this is how WE like our pork ribs and we get no complaints.
We use Post Oak wood in a smoker with an attached cook box where you build the fire separate from where the meat cooks. You can use a regular grill (charcoal or wood) building the fire on one side and cooking the meat off to the other side.
My father used to be the sauce man for our church bbq fund raisers and I used his sauce as a starter for my sauce. —nannydeb

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Ingredients
  • For the ribs
  • 1 rack baby back ribs
  • Garlic salt (or garlic powder and salt if you prefer)
  • Black pepper
  • Cayenne pepper
  • water
  • Hatch Green Chile BBQ Sauce
  • 5 Hatch green chiles, or you can use poblano peppers, Anaheim peppers, etc.
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 2 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1/3 cup Worchestershire sauce
  • 1/4 cup cider vinegar
  • 1/2 cup beer, your choice, I used lager
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 teaspoon each salt & black pepper
  • 1 29 ounce can tomato sauce
Directions
  1. For the ribs
  2. Spread foil out out to fit your rack of ribs. Liberally season both sides of the ribs with the garlic salt, black pepper and cayenne. Set aside.
  3. Build a fire in the fire box of the smoker or on one side of the grill and let it get to 300 degrees. Try to keep it around this temperature throughout cooking.
  4. Add a little water in the bottom of your foil rib pouch and close up loosely. Place the ribs in the smoker, or on the grill away from the flame. Cook for 2 hours or until tender, turning the package around occasionally when you check the fire.
  5. Remove the ribs from the foil package and mop with bbq sauce. Place the rack near the fire or directly over the flame and cook for 5 - 10 minutes or until the sauce starts to caramelize.
  6. Remove to a platter to cool slightly and cut to eat.
  1. Hatch Green Chile BBQ Sauce
  2. Roast the chiles directly over the flames of the fire or in the oven until they blister and char. Remove them to a paper sack to sweat for 10 minutes.
  3. Wearing rubber gloves, remove the charred skin, stem and seeds. Set aside for now.
  4. In a large saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium high heat. Add the onions and garlic and cook until tender.
  5. Add the green chiles and the rest of the ingredients and reduce heat to simmer for about 30 minutes. Remove from the heat to cool slightly.
  6. In a blender, puree the sauce until smooth. Taste and adjust the seasonings to taste. Refrigerate any unused sauce (should keep a couple of weeks).
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Recipe by: nannydeb

Former restaurant manager (and waitress, bartender, etc). I love food: eating, trying new recipes, shopping for it, talking/emailing about it, etc. My foodie friend and pen pal got me interested in recipe contests and also turned me on to food52 and now I'm obsessed!

5 Reviews

BlindDog April 29, 2021
Made this tonight. But I smoked the ribs 4 days ago. Maybe following the recipe would have worked better. Honestly, I usually dont use BBQ sauce of any of my smoked meats. The meat, rub, and smoke usually do a great job by themselves. Also, I have never smoked ribs at 300 degrees either.
The Hatch Green Chili BBQ sauce tasted pretty good. Love the flavor of the hatch chilis (best tasting pepper ever). And while the sauce tasted good, I am thinking more complimentary for a grilled chicken breast with some cheese melted over the top of the sauce.
alaPAMa August 14, 2018
RE: Baby back ribs with Hatch chile bbq sauce. What is the red pepper stuffing?
savorthis September 23, 2013
Yum. My mom just brought me a pile of roasted Hatch chiles and that sauce sounds great!
aargersi May 7, 2013
Yum - I want these now! Would you use anaheim or ancho in place of Hatch for spring time?
nannydeb May 7, 2013
I would think Anaheim would be closest, but Ancho would be smokey and delicious!