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Jack Daniel’s Ribs (TGI Friday Copycat)

Fall off the bone tender Jack Daniel’s Ribs are slow-cooked in the oven and finished off on the grill. Basted with a sweet and spicy whiskey-spiked sauce.

 

Brushing sauce on Jack Daniels Ribs

With it being Father’s Day and all I thought a manly recipe was in order. And what’s more manly than gnawing meat off of bones?

Actually with these Jack Daniel’s Ribs, a copycat of TGI Friday’s ribs, there’s not much gnawing involved. They are fall off the bone tender.

Ribs on a cutting board with bowl of sauce.

 

Ribs are a favorite of just about every dad that I’ve met. Baste on a Whiskey-flavored BBQ sauce and you’ve won major bonus points. These are some ribs that are meant to impress. Bu there’s no need to slave over a hot grill, beads of sweat dripping down your brow.

We’ve got it easy with this recipe girls. After being rubbed with a spice mixture, the ribs slow cook in the oven, during which time they need no attention whatsoever.

 

Just a few minutes on the grill finishes them off with a nice sear and some grill marks. They don’t get basted with the sauce until they are finished to keep the sugar in the sauce from burning. They’re fully cooked by the time you grill them so no need to worry about whether or not they have been on the grill long enough.

The sauce does take some time to make because you have to roast a head of garlic for an hour before you make it. You might want to go ahead and roast an extra head and make some garlic bread to go with the ribs. Just an idea 🙂

Then the sauce takes a while to cook down and if you cook it until it gets nice and thick, there is not a whole lot of it, around 1 cup. You may want to make extra if you like your ribs really doused in sauce. With sweet flavors from pineapple and roasted garlic and a little kick from some whiskey and cayenne pepper, it is one lip smacking sauce.

 

Serve with some Buttermilk ColeslawRoot Beer Baked Beans, and Roasted Corn for a meal dad will enjoy all summer long.

Jack Daniels Ribs on a cutting board.

 

For more recipes your whole family will love follow Spicy Southern Kitchen on Pinterest and Instagram.

Try These Other Rib Recipes:

Brushing sauce on Jack Daniels Ribs

Jack Daniels Ribs

Tender baby back ribs basted with a sweet whiskey infused sauce with just a little heat.
PREP: 15 minutes
COOK: 1 hour 35 minutes
TOTAL: 1 hour 50 minutes
SERVINGS: 4

Ingredients

BBQ Sauce

  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 cup pineapple juice
  • 1/4 cup teriyaki sauce
  • 1 tablespoon soy sauce
  • 1 1/3 cups dark brown sugar
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup finely minced white onion
  • 2 tablespoons Jack Daniel's whiskey
  • 1 heaping tablespoon crushed pineapple
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Ribs

  • 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon celery salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 2 racks baby back ribs

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  • Cut 1/2-inch off of the head of garlic. Remove the outer layers of papery skin. Put the garlic in a small ramekin and drizzle with the olive oil. Cover with foil and bake 1 hour. Let cool.
  • Meanwhile, begin cooking ribs. Mix all spices for rub together (paprika and next 7 ingredients.)Rub mixture on ribs. Place ribs on a baking tray and place in oven (use the same oven that the garlic is in) for 2 1/2 hours.
  • Next, make the sauce. In a medium saucepan, combine the water, pineapple juice, teriyaki sauce, soy sauce, and dark brown sugar. Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Reduce heat to bring it down to a simmer.
  • Squeeze 2 teaspoons of garlic out of the head of roasted garlic and add to the saucepan.
  • Add the lemon juice, onion, whiskey, crushed pineapple, and cayenne pepper.
  • Let sauce simmer for 30 to 40 minutes, or until reduced by half. Yield is 1 cup.
  • Preheat grill or grill pan to high heat. Grill ribs for 3 to 4 minutes per side and then baste with sauce and serve.

Nutrition

Calories: 635kcal
Author: Christin Mahrlig
Course: Dinner, Main Dish
Cuisine: Southern
Keyword: gameday, pork

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Recipe Source: adapted from Top Secret Recipes: Creating Kitchen Clones of America’s Favorite Brand-Name Foods (affiliate link)

Originally published June 15, 2014

These Ribs go great with Corn on the Cob!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links.

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33 thoughts on “Jack Daniel’s Ribs (TGI Friday Copycat)”

  1. I’ve made this a few times and it’s always a hit. An American friend even stole the recipe as said they were better than the one that had been handed down through his family! Haha. I make the rub ahead and marinate the ribs over night or for at least 8 hours before cooking for extra intense flavour.

  2. Super awesome 👏 easy
    Thank you so much for
    sharing this recipe
    Happy new year many blessings to you and your family this year
    Caring is sharing your recipes
    Are awesome

  3. Wonderful recipe, we have made this many times now and it never disappoints. The sauce is as close to TGI FRIDAYS as you can get and is delicious. We cook the ribs covered in foil to ensure that they stay moist due to the time they spend in the oven.

  4. Hi, could you please tell me if the ribs need to be covered with foil before baking them or not, thanks 🙏

  5. the recipe is good, it is missing something in the texture. I added in addition to the 1 1/3 brown sugar;
    1 1/3 cup of golden syrup….and it was bang on. I could not tell the difference

  6. Making them tonight and also added chicken wings to the mix . I will let you know. I also think you need to double up on the receipt.

  7. About to make these for the second time in two weeks. Love the ribs, they taste just like TGI. I doubled the ingredients for two rack of ribs but don’t overdo the celery salt. I also rubbed the ribs in BBQ sauce first and simmered the sauce for 1hour 30minutes

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