Easy Air Fryer BBQ Ribs + VIDEO

This air fryer BBQ ribs recipe uses a homemade seasoning blend & your preferred BBQ sauce. Make these low-carb, paleo, whole30 ribs in under 30 minutes!

What Is An Air Fryer?

What is an air fryer exactly? The name air fryer is a little bit confusing, because when you cook food in your air fryer you aren’t actually frying it. An air fryer cooks your food by circulating hot air around the food at a very high-speed, cooking the food and producing a crispy ‘fried’ layer. This is called convection so your air fryer is actually a small countertop convection oven. An air fryer can help you cook your food faster while still getting a nice baked or fried texture on the outside, all with a very small amount of oil. Air fryers come in a variety of different sizes and styles. What you see here in the pics is a 5.8-quart air fryer that easily fit approximately 1 1/2 pounds of baby back ribs.

Removing The Membrane

Pork rib membrane is the tissue that’s attached to the underside of the rib. When cooked, it’s very tough, not soft like rib meat. Trust me, you’ll want to remove this before cooking your ribs. I know it sounds kind of gross, but it’s really not that bad or hard to remove. Rinse & pat dry your ribs. Meat side down, take a common butter knife and stick it between the membrane and the ribs. It should loosen fairy easily. Grab the membrane and simply pull it away.

What Type Of Ribs To Use

You can use spare ribs, baby back ribs, St. Louis style ribs or even country-style ribs. I tend to use either spare ribs or baby backs. What you see in the pics are baby back ribs. Don’t eat pork? This air fryer bbq ribs recipe works with beef ribs as well! When selecting your ribs for this recipe, the main thing to consider is the size of your air fryer. The ribs will need to cook without overlapping too much so be sure to get a rack that will fit. I usually have to cut my rack of ribs in half. If you have a smaller air fryer, you may need to air fry your BBQ ribs in batches even after you cut them.

Seasoning The Ribs

I like to use my homemade seasoning salt on my ribs. You can use your preferred seasoning whether it be store-bought (check the ingredients for compliance) or your own homemade blend. You’ll find my homemade blend in the recipe box below. It’s low-carb, paleo, and whole30.

As Healthy As The Sauce

To me this recipe is as healthy as the sauce. The type of BBQ sauce you use with these air fryer ribs will determine if the recipe is low-carb, paleo, or whole30. Personally I like to use my own homemade bbq sauce. It’s both paleo and whole30. Of course you can use store-bought. If you’re looking for a store-bought paleo/whole30 bbq sauce, I recommend Primal Kitchen classic BBQ sauce. For low-carb I recommend a store-bought sauce because I don’t have a homemade one for you. Personally I like to use G Hughes sugar free BBQ sauce.

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Other BBQ recipes you might enjoy:

Slow Cooker/Instant Pot BBQ Sauce

Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Ribs

Slow Cooker/Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Chicken

Slow Cooker/Instant Pot BBQ Brisket

Slow Cooker/Instant Pot Cranberry BBQ Cocktail Sausages

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I used a 5.8-quart air fryer for this recipe.

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