With BBQ season here, we are ready to make our favorite Dominican ribs: Costillitas de puerco en salsa verde. With traditional Dominican flavors and cooking methods, these simple but juicy, tasty fall-off-the-bone ribs are 100% savory and absolutely worth trying.
Why we ❤️ it
The aromas and flavors of these costillas de puerco a la parrilla are very tempting to any meat-lover, but what cooks will love is just how easy they are to make.
Cooked until they are oh-so-tender that they almost come apart, and served with a savory, flavorful mojo (green sauce) perfect for drizzling over your costillitas or side dish.
Costillas de puerco
For this dish, I bought spare ribs, which I usually find easily in Dominican supermarkets, and they are typically more inexpensive than baby back ribs.
While whole racks are routinely available nowadays, they are not a traditional Dominican cut, and finding already separate ribs are more common and – as a bonus – easier and faster to cook.
Costillas de cerdo en salsa verde.
Serving suggestions
Serve the costillitas with either wasakaka sauce, or a nice mojo de ajo. I more often than not saw costillitas served with tender boiled yuca, but tostones, batata frita, and yuca fries are also great with it.
If you have some avocado slices, they'll be welcome, and for some people, a few lime wedges are a must when eating fried or grilled pork.
Check our favorite parrilladas recipes for more ideas for your cookout, and more homemade non-traditional BBQ sauces you can try.
Top tips
- You can pre-cook the costillitas in the Instant Pot or pressure cooker (which is what my mom did) and reduce the cooking time to less than half.
- Don't discard the liquid in which you boil the ribs; freeze it to use as broth in soup another day.
- If you don't have a grill, this recipe works well with a skillet on the stove. It must be a non-stick pan.
About this recipe
While we love and very much enjoy a rack of smoky baby back ribs smothered in sweet BBQ sauce, that's not the Dominican old-fashioned way. Homemade Dominican ribs are savory and seasoned with traditional Dominican sazones and spices.
This costillitas de cerdo recipe requires no special equipment or oven.
Video
Recipe
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Costillitas de Puerco [Recipe + Video] Dominican Ribs
Ingredients
- 4 pound pork ribs, [1.81 kg] spare ribs, separated
- 1 teaspoon oregano powder
- 1 teaspoon pepper (freshly-cracked, or ground)
- 1½ tablespoon salt
- 6 cloves garlic
- 1 large red onion, cut into wedges
Instructions
Adding the seasonings
In the Instant Pot, pressure cooker or regular pot, combine the ribs, oregano, pepper, salt, garlic, and onion.Add enough water to come to the same level as the ribs.
Boiling
- In Instant Pot: Close the lid and set the valve to SEALING. Set to HIGH PRESSURE and the timer to 30 minutes. When the cycle finishes, set the valve to VENTING. Once the pressure is released, carefully open it, and check that the meat is very tender. If needed, repeat this but set the timer to 10 minutes.In pressure cooker: Close the lid and place the valve. Boil for 30 minutes, turn off the heat, and 5 minutes later, carefully remove the valve to release pressure. Once the pressure is released, carefully open it, and check that the meat is very tender. If needed, repeat the process above, but boil for just 10 more minutes.In regular pot: Close the lid and place the pot on the stove. Boil over medium heat for about an hour, turning the ribs, and checking that it has enough liquid every ten minutes or so. Check that the meat is very tender. If needed, keep boiling, turning, and adding liquid as necessary until the meat is tender.
Removing from the liquid
- Remove the ribs from the liquid onto a tray, tapping lightly to leave behind as much liquid as possible.Don't discard the liquid; freeze it to use as broth in soup another day.
Grilling
- Cook at the maximum temperature on both sides for 3-5 minutes, or until they have a nice golden-brown color.I had to use a BBQ liner to be sure the ribs would not fall through the grill grate, but it's not absolutely necessary.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is calculated automatically based on ingredients listed. Please consult your doctor if you need precise nutrition information.
Más recetas de cerdo
If you are looking for more pork ribs recipes, you will love this tender ribs recipe with sweet and spicy sauce. Other favorite traditional pork recipes include chicharrones, cerdo guisado, and puerco asado.
FAQs
Pork ribs should be pre-cooked before grilling them, and there are several methods used, from boiling, to steaming or cooking them in the oven over very low heat for a long time. Each recipe will call for the adequate method for that recipe.
Spare ribs are longer and have more meat than baby back ribs, though BBQ ribs are more tender, and some consider them more flavorful than spare ribs.
