Easy Air Fryer Ribs

4.60 from 120 votes

Air Fryer Ribs are so easy to make and you'll be surprised how well they turn out, with tender meat and perfect crispy edges.

Prep Time5

Cook Time30

Total Time35

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Air Fryer, Beef, ribs

Servings: Servings

Calories: 783kcal

Preheat the air fryer to 380° F (195° C), for 5 minutes.
Peel off the silver membrane from the back of the ribs. Season the ribs with the dry rub on both sides.
Cut the rack of ribs in half to fit in the air fryer. Place meat side down in the air fryer tray and cook for 20 minutes, turning the ribs over halfway through the cooking.
After the 20 minutes is up, pull out the basket and baste the ribs on both sides with BBQ sauce. Return them, meat side up, to the air fryer. Crank up the heat to 390° F (200° C) and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, or until they are a bit charred on top.. Brush with additional BBQ sauce and serve.

The amount of time needed to cook may vary depending on the size of your ribs and the size of your air fryer.
These times are for a 1.5 pound rack of pork baby back ribs cooked in a 4.8L air fryer.
You can cook up to 2 racks of ribs at a time in a large air fryer (5L or larger). You will need to cook them for 30 minutes, changing the arrangement of the pieces every 10 minutes
Start by cooking the ribs meat down and then flip them over to bone down halfway through cooking. This helps get a great browned sear on the top.
Cut the ribs in half if they will fit in your air fryer basket that way. If not, you can cut them into quarters. I just try to avoid cutting them any smaller than that because they get too crispy when they’re individual ribs.
Slather with BBQ sauce at the end of cooking and give them at least 3-5 more minutes on a high heat in order to get a nice crispy char on the top.