Baby back ribs on the Traeger (3-2-1 Style)

We had friends over recently for some barbecue. Not A barbecue but SOME barbecue. Since it’s too hot in Phoenix right now to have a nice outdoor barbecue get together, we decided to smoke some meats and bring the barbecue inside! The menu included smoked pork shoulder (method and recipe in link) and baby back ribs.

This was the first time we had tried baby back ribs, and boy were they a success. They turned out moist, tender, and full of flavor. Hubby was in charge of the recipes and manned the Traeger for all our yummy meats. He did a great job!

Smoking Method, Rub, and Sauce

We decided to follow a tried and true – Traeger’s 3-2-1 Ribs Recipe with just a couple modifications (of course, we had to customize just a bit ;)). First, we used a wood blend of apple, maple, and pecan. Second, we used a different BBQ sauce blend – still Traeger sauces, but a 1:1 mix of Texas Spicy BBQ Sauce and Apricot BBQ Sauce. This blend gave the ribs a nice sweet and spicy twist. I’m also now a big fan of that Apricot sauce – just the right amount of sweet!

It’s also worth noting that the sweet and spicy ribs were a great complement to the smoked pork shoulder, which had a spicy rub and a nice tangy Carolina barbecue sauce topper. Something to keep in mind if you are planning your own multi-meat barbecue 🙂

For the full recipe, check out the link to Traeger’s website above. If you want to add a sweet twist, consider switching up the barbecue sauce to the Texas Spicy/Apricot blend (like we did). Or perhaps there is something else your creative chef mind has come up with 🙂

Time to get grilling!