Brit's Recipe Book

Family faves and more.

← All recipes

Grandma Fair's Sweet & Sour Ribs

Pork back ribs baked low in a sweet-sour glaze of vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, and soy. From Grandma Louise Fair, who got it from her mother-in-law, Great-Grandma Cora Fair. Double the sauce for spooning over rice.

10 min prep · 120 min cook · 130 min total · 4 people

Adapted from Grandma Louise Fair (originally from Great-Grandma Cora Fair)

Ingredients

people
  • 2.5 lb pork back ribs (about 1 rack)
  • 0.5 cup vinegar (white or apple cider)
  • 0.5 cup brown sugar
  • 0.5 cup ketchup (or tomato paste — see notes)
  • 1 tsp soy sauce
  • 0.5 tsp salt (to taste)
  • 1 tbsp cornstarch
  • 2 tbsp cold water (for the cornstarch slurry) (to taste)

Steps

  1. Preheat oven to 325°F (165°C). Place the ribs meat-side up in a baking dish that holds them snugly in a single layer.
  2. Make the sauce. In a small saucepan, combine the vinegar, brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, and salt. Bring to a boil over medium heat, stirring until the sugar dissolves.
  3. Thicken. Whisk the cornstarch into the cold water until smooth, then stir into the boiling sauce. Cook another 30–60 seconds until glossy and lightly thickened. Taste and adjust salt.
  4. Sauce and bake. Pour the sauce evenly over the ribs. Cover tightly with foil and bake for 1.5–2 hours, until the meat pulls easily from the bone. Baste once or twice with the pan sauce if you remember.
  5. Rest and serve. Let the ribs rest 5 minutes. Spoon the pan sauce over rice on the side.

Notes

  • A two-generation recipe. Grandma Louise Fair passed this on, but it actually came from her mother-in-law, Great-Grandma Cora Fair.
  • Back ribs, not short ribs. Louise specifically used pork back ribs — they stay juicy through the low covered bake. Beef short ribs would need a totally different braise.
  • Double the sauce. Louise always doubled the recipe because the leftover sauce is the whole point — spoon it generously over rice.
  • Sauce on from the start. Some cooks bake the ribs dry first and add sauce at the end. Louise found that dried them out. Sauce-on, covered, the whole way.
  • Ketchup vs. tomato paste. Ketchup gives a sweeter, glossier sauce; tomato paste makes it deeper and less sweet. Louise’s original says either works.

My Notes

(your own tweaks go here — Louise mentioned the recipe has “a lot of guess work” so expect to dial it in over a few tries.)

porkribsdinnerfamily-recipeoven