Bacon Wrapped Ribs

About

It’s the 21st century – why wouldn’t you wrap ribs in bacon? Meaty pork ribs are marinated in a red-orange dry rub until they tenderize and absorb the flavors. Contrary to how traditional ribs are made, you’ll be slicing your ribs before cooking them and wrapping each rib in slices of bacon. Instead of grilled, your Keto bacon wrapped ribs are cook in an oven at a high heat and then a very low heat for multiple hours. This way, the bacon is crispy on the outside and the rib meat is still juicy and easy to pull off the bone. No rack of ribs are complete until they’re glazed in a sticky-sweet sauce – this recipe is no different! Your bacon wrapped ribs are finished with a brushing of honey butter sweetened with Keto-friendly liquid stevia. Use this recipe for meal prepping or as the main course to your lunch or dinner.

Should I Weigh My Servings In Grams Or Ounces?

Whether you’re portioning your meals for meal prepping or eating at the dinner table, you need a small kitchen scale to weigh out your macros. If you live in the United States, you’ll be more used to weighing things in ounces and pounds. However, grams are much smaller than ounces, and therefore more accurate. While on the Keto diet, you will be best off measuring your meals in grams.

Use Thin-Sliced Bacon

You might be tempted to pull out the thick-sliced “good” bacon. In this recipe, however, it’s best to use thin-sliced bacon. Thinner slices are easier to manipulate and wrap around the ribs. Plus, thicker slices would make the ribs too salty. Remember, protein only makes up about 25% of your daily Keto diet, and the focus should be on healthy fats!

Ingredients

11 oz pork ribs
1 teaspoon olive or extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
¼ teaspoon thyme, dried
¼ teaspoon oregano, dried
¼ teaspoon basil, dried
8 slice – 6" long bacon
2 tablespoon butter, unsalted
½ teaspoon honey
10 drops liquid stevia

Instructions

Prepare the ribs in advance so they have time to marinate. Please note the ingredients list only accounts for the rib MEAT. For each ounce of meat, include an ounce of bone. To make 4 servings, you will need at least 22 ounces of raw ribs with bones. Rub a clean rack of ribs down with olive oil, making sure to massage any fat marbling. Combine salt, pepper, paprika, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, oregano, and basil to make the dry rub. Rub the spices into the oiled ribs until the meat is completely coated. Place the ribs in a Ziploc bag or airtight container to marinate in your refrigerator for at least 6 hours, but overnight to a full 24 hours would be best.
After marinating, you can turn on your oven to preheat to 500 degrees. Line a sheet tray with aluminum foil to catch drippings, and set a baking rack over the tray. Slice the marinated ribs into individual pieces, leaving the bone intact. One by one, wrap each rib in 2 slices of bacon, tucking loose ends under the slices. Place the wrapped ribs on your prepared baking rack.
Place the tray of bacon wrapped ribs in the oven to bake for 30 minutes. Near the end of the 30 minutes, melt butter in a small dish and mix it with honey and liquid stevia. You can adjust the liquid stevia at your discretion for more or less sweetness. After 30 minutes, take the ribs out of the oven and reduce the temperature to 300 degrees. Brush the sweet honey butter mixture all over the ribs until they are completely coated and glossy.
Return the ribs to the oven to cook for an additional 2 hours, minimum. This will leave the rib meat tender and juicy but it will still stick to the bone. If you’d like the ribs to cook to fall-off-the-bone doneness, you can reduce the temperature to 250 degrees and cook for 4 or more hours. When the ribs are done cooking, take them out of the oven to rest for several minutes. Let the ribs rest for 10-15 minutes before you cut into them. If you’re measuring your servings with the bone intact, each serving will be about 3 ½ ounces. Without the bone, each serving will be about 2 ¾ ounces.