Cranberry Jalapeño Glazed Ribs

By James Kimble November 20, 2024 6 mins read 2 Views

If you’re tired of the traditional holiday feast or just want to spice things up for dinner one night, these cranberry jalapeño glazed ribs are the way to go.

Smoked Cranberry jalapeño ribs

This method is very similar to the 3-2-1 method for smoking ribs. The differentiation comes in the wrap, which adds tart cranberry flavor and jalapeños for spice to create some of the best ribs you’ve ever smoked!

Ingredients you’ll need

Ribs – pork spare ribs or baby back ribs
Olive oil
Dry rub – use a store-bought BBQ rub or whip up a batch of The Ultimate Dry Rub for Ribs.
Cranberry sauce – You can use store-bought or whip it up from scratch. I don’t recommend using the jelly-style sauce for this recipe, as you want some chunks of cranberry in the mix. If you are using a store-bought cranberry sauce, look for the one that says “Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce.”
Jalapeños – you can use pickled or fresh.
Brown sugar – light

ingredients for cranberry jalapeno ribs laid out on a wooden board

Equipment you’ll need

Smoker or pellet grill – I used my Traeger Ironwood XL
Aluminum foil
Instant read thermometer

How to make cranberry jalapeño glazed ribs

1. Prep

You want to start with a rack of pork ribs. You can choose baby backs or spare ribs, they both work well for this recipe.

a rack of raw st louis ribs on a white board — I opted for a St. Louis cut rack of spare ribs.

I like to remove the membrane when I smoke ribs. It can create a tough bite in the finished product, but it’s all about personal preference. If you want to leave it on, that’s fine.

If you need some help removing the membrane, check out How to Remove the Membrane from Pork Ribs.

I also like to use a binder prior to seasoning pork ribs, but this step is optional. Binders help the seasoning stick to the meat more evenly so you get an even bark on the final product. I rubbed them down with a bit of olive oil, you could also use mustard if you prefer.

Once the membrane is off and they are coated in your binder of choice, you can season them with your favorite pork seasoning. You can use a store-bought BBQ rub or whip up a batch of The Ultimate Dry Rub for Ribs.

a raw rack of ribs seasoned on a white board — Give them around 10 minutes to sit at room temperature.

Let the ribs sit at room temperature while you fire up the smoker. This will allow the seasoning to penetrate the meat.

2. Fire up the smoker

Preheat your smoker or pellet grill to 250°F.

I cooked these on my Traeger Ironwood XL. I absolutely love using my Traeger to smoke ribs because it maintains a steady temperature and always gives amazing smoke flavor to whatever you are cooking.

You can use any pellets you like as fuel. Pork lends itself to many different flavors, but I find that oak, hickory, and pecan give me the best smoke flavor when I’m cooking ribs.

Once your grill is fully preheated to 250°F, place the ribs directly on the grates. I like to place them on the side furthest from the fire/heat to prevent them from overcooking.

Let them smoke for 2-½ – 3 hours or until a nice bark has formed. If you’re planning to make the cranberry sauce from scratch, this is the perfect time to start.

3. Wrap the ribs

This is where you are going to pack the flavor into these ribs – the wrap!

Lay down a sheet of foil twice as long and three times as wide as your rack of ribs. If you need to use two sheets of foil and fold them over themselves, that works, too.

On the sheet of foil, lay down a layer of cranberry sauce.

Sprinkle brown sugar on top of the cranberry sauce layer. This will cut the tartness of the cranberries and provide a nice, balanced flavor.

The final ingredient for the wrap is the diced jalapeños. This will add a nice, spicy kick to the ribs. I used pickled diced jalapeños for this recipe, but you can opt for fresh jalapeño if you want more spice.

aluminum foil with cranberry jalapeno glaze ingredients down the middle — If using fresh jalapeños, keep in mind that they can get pretty hot.

Once you have your cranberry sauce, brown sugar, and diced jalapeños laid out on the sheet of foil, you can take your ribs off the smoker and place them meat side down on top of that mixture.

Wrap them up tight in the foil and put them back on the smoker.

a rack of ribs wrapped in foil in the smoker

When you place them back on the smoker you still want the meat side to be facing down. This will allow the ribs to sit and braise in that cranberry jalapeño mixture while they finish cooking.

Let them smoke for another two hours or until the bones are sticking out at least ½”. At this point, they should be around 200°F internally, and they’re good to go.

Be careful when you remove the ribs from the smoker. There should be a significant amount of liquid in the bottom of the foil, and it’s going to be hot.

4. Rest and serve

After you’ve removed the ribs from the smoker, you can flip them over in the foil so that the meat side is facing up again. I like to let them rest this way so that the bark starts to harden.

a rack of cranberry jalapeno glazed pork ribs on a wooden board with a knife

You want to let them rest for 10-15 minutes before slicing. When ready to serve, simply slice between the bones.

The many different ways to smoke ribs