How Texas Roadhouse Cooks Fall-Off-The-Bone BBQ Ribs Every Time

While it's the affordable steaks that get most customers in the door at Texas Roadhouse, the chain serves other beloved proteins, too. You can grab a comforting Southern-style country-fried chicken or an all-American cheeseburger, as well as BBQ ribs — which get especially favorable reviews. "Pleasantly surprised by the ribs at Texas Roadhouse last night; beautiful, delicious crust and fall-off-the-bone, melt-in-your-mouth tender," states one Reddit poster.

Rather than preparing the ribs in a smoker (a process that's employed by many barbecue restaurants), Texas Roadhouse relies on a different cooking technique. The chain prepares its ribs sans smokehouse by using an oven and roasting the ribs at a low temperature below 300 degrees Fahrenheit. The ribs are covered with dry rub and laid on a grate, suspended over a bath of liquid smoke and water. Once cooked, the ribs are basted with BBQ sauce, then finished on the grill right before serving. This caramelizes the sauce, creating a charred yet fall-off-the-bone finish. While the end result isn't as intensely smoky as some BBQ preparations, knowing how to cook ribs in the oven can clearly still produce a flavorful result. 

Less time-intensive than the 3-2-1 rule for BBQ ribs (which involves three hours of smoking, two hours of smoking wrapped in foil with liquid, and one more hour out of the foil to lock in flavor), Texas Roadhouse's tender oven-cooked, grill-finished ribs can be replicated at home. The at-home recipe takes just over two hours, with the bulk of the cooking done in the oven. Making the ribs at home also means you can use your preferred store-bought barbecue sauce and rub; keep in mind that Texas Roadhouse sells bottles of its own in-house seasonings, too.

In a restaurant context, the chain's rib preparation involves additional — sometimes secretive — steps. The entire cooking process takes three days and is tailored for standardization across the hundreds of Texas Roadhouse locations in the U.S. and abroad. Ribs cook for eight to 10 hours, covered in foil. According to one Reddit user, the restaurant does not utilize a traditional roasting process; "[They] are cooked in a HALO oven overnight and/or all day. [The] oven [circulates] steam heat, but at like 225 degrees Fahrenheit." The steaming process produces a rib that's extra tender — so if a home rendition isn't soft enough for you, consider extending the preparation time to better match Texas Roadhouse's quality.