Fall Off The Bone Sous Vide Beef Ribs

There’s nothing better than tender and juicy barbecued beef ribs, and this recipe for 24 hour sous vide beef ribs is going to make grilling ribs so much easier! You need just two ingredients and the sous vide method ensures your sous vide ribs are fall-off-the-bone delicious every time!

If your summer cookouts typically involve beef ribs, you’re going to love this simple recipe. The sous vide slowly cooks the ribs for 24-36 hours, making them melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

You just grill the ribs for a few minutes at the end to achieve that classic grilled flavor (or use your smoker if that's your thing). It’s that easy!

While it might seem like a big commitment of time (they take a long time to cook), this recipe involves very little active time (like these sous vide beef cheeks or sous vide boneless short ribs). Your sous vide will do most of the work for you and you'll get ultra tender ribs out of it! 

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And if you're into sous vide, head over and browse through all the sous vide recipes.

But if you like to plan in advance and appreciate hands off cooking, you’ll want to try beef ribs sous vide style to get the most tender meat!

Why this recipe works

1. There’s no need to worry about overcooked and dry ribs when you cook them in the sous vide. These sous vide beef back ribs ribs are cooked in a water bath for 24-36 hours, and they get more tender and juicy as they cook.
2. This recipe is super simple to make. You only need 2 ingredients - beef ribs and seasoning - and it’s pretty hands off in the sous vide. You just need to grill the ribs for a few minutes at the end to get that BBQ flavor! 
3. The long cook time for this recipe makes these ribs ideal for entertaining. You can get the ribs cooking a day in advance, which gives you plenty of time to whip up some fabulous BBQ side dishes!

Ingredients

The full ingredients list and amounts is included in the recipe card at the bottom of the post.

You’ll need 1 ½ - 3 pounds of beef back ribs for this recipe. While I love cooking sous vide beef short ribs, or boneless short ribs, you’re going to want to make sure you have beef back ribs for this recipe. They have a little less meat, but they give you the best results!

You’re going to season the ribs with 2 - 4 tablespoons of Mesquite seasoning. The amount you use depends on how many pounds of ribs you are cooking.

We love Mesquite seasoning with beef, but you can use any kind of spice rub you have on hand. To give it a smoky flavor, add a teaspoon of liquid smoke to the bag if you're not using Mesquite seasoning. Also check out these substitutes for liquid smoke.

You can also add a touch of brown sugar to your rub if you want to add a little sweetness to your ribs.

Step by step instructions

Step 1: Use a sous vide cooker to heat a sous vide bath to 135°F degrees. I've included some other optional times and temperature for sous vide beef ribs below.

Temperature	Time	Results
131°F - 135°F (55.5°C - 57°C)	24-36 hours	Medium rare, tender and juicy
136°F - 140°F (58°C - 60°C)	24-36 hours	Medium, tender, less juicy
141°F - 155°F (60.5°C - 68°C)	36-48 hours	Fall apart, ultra tender, less juicy
156°F - 175°F (60°C - 79°C)	12-24 hours	Shreddable

Step 2: Use a knife to remove any membrane (or silver skin) from the back of the ribs. (Check out this video on how to remove the rib membrane).

Step 3: Rub the seasoning generously over the ribs on both sides.

Step 6: Remove from the water bath and take the ribs out of the bag. Pat the ribs very dry with paper towels. The drier they are, the easier they will caramelize on the grill.

Step 7: Grill on high heat or broil in the oven to crisp the outside of the ribs. (I recommend grilling for the best flavor).

Slice between the bones and serve.

Expert tips

1. Removing the air from the sous vide bag is an important step to ensure the ribs are cooked evenly on all sides.
2. Since we’re cooking these ribs for up to 36 hours, you'll need to ensure the water level stays high enough to prevent your sous vide machine from turning off mid-cook.
3. Don’t skip the step of removing the membrane (or silver skin) from the back of the ribs. The texture is tough and chewy and will take away from the tenderness of the beef. Use a sharp knife to slide it under the silver skin and and pull it back with your hands, gently peeling it off the back of the ribs.
4. The longer you cook the ribs, the more tender they will get.
5. Make sure your grill is heated to a high temperature so the ribs get crispy on the outside quickly.
6. Don't grill or broil the ribs for more than 1-2 minutes per side as they will overcook and dry out. 
7. To enhance the BBQ flavor of these ribs, you can slather on some homemade tangy barbecue sauce before you grill or broil them!
8. You can make sous vide frozen beef ribs by adding an extra 45 minutes to the cook time.

Make it a meal

There are so many delicious grilling sides that we love to pair with these ribs. Here are a few that are sure to be crowd pleasers:

• While your sous vide is hard at work, put your air fryer to work with these air fryer biscuits or this air fryer cornbread. Both are amazing sides for these juicy beef ribs!
• Who doesn’t love a pasta salad with a BBQ? This Mexican street corn pasta salad is a great way to change things up!
• Take advantage of summer produce and make this sous vide corn on the cob or grilled yellow squash to go with your ribs.

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