How Long Do I Cook Ribs In Air Fryer

These Tender and Saucy BBQ Air Fryer Ribs are the perfect quick and easy recipe for pork ribs. These ribs can be ready for your dinner table in less than 40 minutes and they're full of amazing flavor.

air fryer ribs stacked with bbq sauce dripping from brush

This post contains affiliate links, please read my full disclaimer here.

Full Recipe Ingredients/Instructions are available in the
recipe card at the bottom of the post.
You can find important tips/tricks in the
blog post.

Every once in awhile, someone in my family gets a hankering for ribs. We used to pile in the car and head on over to a bbq spot but then I realized, no, we need to make ribs at home. My initial rib recipe would have me cook ribs low and slow in the oven. But one day, I said…let's try these ribs in the air fryer. We all agreed, that air fryer ribs are pretty darn good.

The benefit of ribs in the air fryer is that they cook quickly and easily. They are tender with a little bit of tug but they are not fall off the bone. If fall off the bone ribs are more your speed, I'd suggest trying another cooking method.

How to make Ribs in an Air Fryer

First, take a full rack of pork baby back ribs and cut it in half so it can fit into the air fryer basket. Then remove the membrane from the back of the ribs.

hand removing membrane from the back of ribs

I'll be honest here, I'm still not sure why I remove the membrane as I've never really noticed a huge difference the times I removed them or left them on. But removing them is quite easy so I just get rid of them.

Then season the ribs with your favorite bbq spice rub, covering both sides of the ribs.

Preheat the air fryer to 380 degrees Fahrenheit for a few minutes, then place the ribs in the basket, meat side down and cook for 20 minutes.

Once the 20 minutes is up, grab a pair of tongs and flip the ribs over, and cook for an additional 10 minutes on 380 degrees Fahrenheit.

Once the timer is up, open the basket and cover the ribs with your favorite bbq sauce.

ribs in air fryer basket with sauce being brushed on it

Close the Air Fryer basket and cook for 5 minutes on 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

Remove and allow the ribs to rest for a few minutes. Feel free to cover with additional bbq sauce if you like saucy ribs.

ribs on white cutting board already cut into sections

And there you have it, amazing tender bbq ribs.

Looking for more air fryer recipes? Try these out:

Air Fryer Chicken Legs (Also BBQ)
Air Fryer Steak with Garlic Herb Butter
Air Fryer Pork Chops
Air Fried Jamaican Jerk Pork

These ribs are great served with these recipes:

Air Fryer Baked Sweet Potato with Hot Honey Butter
French Fries
Cheddar and Sour Cream Corn on the Cob

This Recipe has a full Length Video Tutorial. You can watch the full video on YouTube by clicking HERE.

BBQ Air Fryer Ribs

These tender and saucy bbq ribs come out perfect when cooked in the air fryer. Make air fryer ribs in less than 40 minutes. It's perfect for any weeknight meal.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword air fryer ribs

Prep Time 5 minutes

Cook Time 35 minutes

Total Time 40 minutes

Servings 4 people

Calories 576 kcal

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

1 3 lb rack of pork baby back ribs cut in half, membrane removed
3 Tablespoon bbq rub
½-1 cup bbq sauce

Season the ribs with bbq spice rub, covering both sides of the ribs.
Preheat the air fryer to 380 degrees Fahrenheit for a few minutes, then place the ribs in the air fryer basket, meat side down and cook for 20 minutes.
Once the 20 minutes is up, grab a pair of tongs and flip the ribs over, and cook for an additional 10 minutes on 380 degrees.
Once the timer is up, open the basket and cover with the bbq sauce. Return to Air fryer and cook for 5 minutes on 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove and allow the ribs to rest for a few minutes. Feel free to cover with additional bbq sauce if you like saucy ribs.

The cook times in this recipe are for pork baby back ribs. Beef ribs will likely take longer to cook.
I used my large air fryer (5.3qt) to ensure all my ribs would fit into the basket.

Subscribe to my YouTube Channel for full length recipe videos. Click the bell icon to be notified when I upload a new video.

Although myforkinglife.com attempts to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Under no circumstances will myforkinglife.com be responsible for any loss or damage resulting for your reliance on nutritional information.