In partnership with Meater
Nashville hot chicken has taken the world by storm, and it seems like you can find it all over the place these days. We took our inspiration for this dish from the iconic spicy chicken dish, but did a twist on it using pork ribs. These Nashville Hot Ribs on the Traeger are slow smoked, then dredged and fried and topped with a super spicy sauce. Served with some slaw and white bread, it harkens back to the dish that so many love, and takes it up a notch.
Give this recipe for Nashville Hot Ribs, cooked entirely on the Traeger grill a try. We used the Meater thermometer system to ensure we had perfectly cooked ribs in this cook– it made the process easy, predictable and delicious!
NASHVILLE HOT CHICKEN-STYLE RIBS
Nashville Hot Chicken is something that was originally only found in the Nashville area. But recently it’s taken a life of its own and restaurants that specialize in the dish are popping up everywhere. That, and restaurants are adding their own spins to the dish on their menus nationwide. Generally made with chicken tenders (and therefore easy to eat), Nashville Hot Chicken is fried chicken doused in a super spicy cayenne sauce.
For this dish, we followed much of the same approach but using pork ribs as our vessel. We started by seasoning a rack of trimmed spare ribs with a combo of seasonings– Nashville Hot seasoning and my Smoke Junkie. We used Yellowbird hot sauce as the binder for the seasonings. Once the ribs were allowed to sweat for about 20 minutes, we put them on the grill and cooked them like we would normally cook ribs.
At this point, I inserted the Meater thermometer probe in a meaty part of the ribs (between the bones, of course) so that I could monitor the internal temperature of the ribs while they cooked. Using the Meater thermometer makes cooking like this easy and predictable– I can keep an eye on the internal temperature without ever having to open the grill and change the ambient temperature of the cooker. Using the app, I can set the desired temperature from the beginning and the Meater system gives me an active/current read and a predictive countdown to when the desired temperature will be achieved. This helps so much with planning, especially with a multi-step cook like this one.
COOKING THESE RIBS ON THE TRAEGER
These ribs cooked at 225* in the Traeger for several hours, until the internal temperature of the meat was 180*. Now normally at this point I would wrap the ribs in aluminum foil along with some more flavoring and moisture. But instead, we kept cooking these unwrapped for a while longer until they were a bit more tender.
Then, the ribs were pulled off the grill and allowed them to rest and cool slightly on the cutting board while we prepped the next step. On the induction burner on the Traeger Timberline XL, we put a big cast iron pot and a few inches of vegetable oil to heat.
In two bowls, we created our dredging station. One bowl with seasoned flour and the other with milk and sour cream to make a pseudo-buttermilk. Then we sliced the ribs into individual pieces and did a coating layer of flour, milk, flour again to get a good coating over all. I placed them on a wire rack while I continued dredging the rest, in order to allow the coating to stick really well to the ribs.
When they were all coated and the oil was hot, I carefully placed a few ribs at a time in the hot oil, allowing them to fry until the coating was golden brown and the internal temperature had reached 203*. Pull the fried ribs from the hot oil and drain on a wire rack. Once all the ribs were fried and done, we then brushed them in a homemade Nashville Hot Sauce made of butter, cayenne and some of my Smoke Junkie seasoning.
You can serve up Nashville Hot Ribs like you’d normally get the chicken– on a try with some white bread and slaw on the side. These can definitely be fork-and-knife ribs, or just pick them up and go to town!
PRIMARY INGREDIENTS
- Rack of spare ribs
- Hot sauce binder
- Seasoning of your choice (we used Smoke Junkie and Nashville Hot Chicken)
- Flour
- Milk
- Sour cream
- Butter
- Cayenne pepper
- Brown sugar
- More seasoning
- White bread and coleslaw for serving
Nashville hot sauce ingredients 
Ribs ready to be seasoned
WHY COOKING FRIED RIBS ON THE TRAEGER WORKS
Cooking ribs on the Traeger is fun and easy and the wood fired flavor imbues some delicious flavor in the food you’re cooking. We cook everything on the Traeger, and ribs are no exception. With the recent addition of the induction cooktop on the new Traeger Timberline XL, we are able to cook this entire meal outdoors, where cleanup is a breeze and the messes are minimal. If you’ve ever fried food inside, you know what I’m talking about, and how the new addition to the Traeger lineup is making our lives easier.
In addition, Traeger has recently partnered up with Meater Thermometers to add wireless thermometer technology to their grills. With the advanced capabilities of Meater, you’re able to add a wireless probe to everything you are cooking and monitor the cooking progress on an app on your phone.
THE MEATER THERMOMETER MAKES IT EASY
As an elementary school STEM teacher, being able to integrate my passions– technology and grilling– is really fun. So with a click of a button, I can pair the Meater probe to my phone, select the type of protein and my desired finish temperature and off we go. The Meater not only monitors the current internal temperature, but it also allows you to have a predictive model of when the food might be done with its countdown feature. This is amazing and has made my wife pretty happy. Even though I still contest that “BBQ is done when it’s done”. At least now I can tell her when it is likely to be done!
STEP BY STEP
- Trim the ribs and remove the silver skin.
- Turn on the Traeger to 225*.
- Season the ribs all over with a coating of hot sauce as a binder.
- Then coat the ribs generously with your seasonings of choice. Be sure to also season the bottom!
- Add a Meater thermometer probe to a thick part of the ribs and pair it to the app. Set the desired temperature to 180*
- When the grill is hot, place the ribs inside the grill and close the lid.
- Allow to cook in the Traeger until it hits 180*. If necessary, spritz with water, cola or juice midway through the cook.
- You want to pull the ribs off the grill when the meat has reached 180*.
- When the Meater alerts you to reaching 180*, pull the ribs from the grill and allow to rest on the cutting board for about 10 minutes, tented.
- Begin preheating a heavy dutch oven with a few inches of oil on the induction burner.
- Prepare the dredging station for the ribs.
- In one bowl, pour the milk. In the other, add the flour and some seasoning or salt & pepper.
- Slice the ribs into individual pieces.
- Dredge each rib in the mixture in this order: flour, milk, flour. Ensure an even coating on all sides. Place on a wire rack and continue with the remaining ribs.
- When the oil is hot, carefully place a few dredged ribs in the pan and cook until golden brown and the internal temperature has reached 203*.
- Drain on a wire rack and keep warm in the grill.
- Continue with the remaining ribs.
- In a bowl, combine the melted butter, cayenne pepper and Nashville Hot Chicken seasoning. Stir to mix and taste. It should be very spicy.
- Using a pastry brush, coat the fried ribs with the Nashville Hot sauce.
- Serve immediately with white bread and coleslaw.
Seasoned ribs sweating 
Ribs on the smoker Smoked ribs ready to be sliced
RIB RECIPES TO TRY
Cooking ribs on the smoker is a really fun activity. They come out consistently delicious and are pretty easy to cook once you have you system down. I usually do a modified 3-2-1 method for my rib cook. For these Nashville Hot Ribs on the Traeger, I simply fried them for the final step instead of following the 3-2-1.
Here are some recipes for ribs that you could give a try:
- Country Style Ribs
- St. Louis Style Ribs
- I also have a great recipe for ribs in my cookbook, which you can grab here!
Products used in making Nashville Hot Ribs:
- Meater Thermometer, which is now integrated with the new Traeger grills for ease of use. Some of the features I love about the Meater:
- Longer Range: Bluetooth to WiFi range extension built-in up to 165ft. Stand-Alone Mode: Cook without the use of your smart phone.
- Multiple Probes: Dual temperature sensors in each probe can monitor internal meat temperature up to 212°F and ambient / external temperature up to 527°F simultaneously.
- Guided Cook System: Walks you through every step of the cooking process to guarantee perfect and consistent results. You can also set up custom alerts / notifications based on temperature and/or time.
- Advanced Estimator Algorithm: Estimates how long to cook and rest your food to help plan your meal and manage your time.
- Traeger Timberline XL
- Cast iron dutch oven
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Nashville Hot Ribs on the Traeger
Equipment
- Meater Thermometer system
- Traeger Timberline XL
- Dutch oven
- Wire rack
- Two bowls for dredging
- Small bowl and spoon for sauce
- pastry brush
Ingredients
- 1 rack of spare ribs
- ¼ cup hot sauce
- ¼ cup seasoning of your choice we used Smoke Junkie and Nashville Hot Chicken
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup milk
- 1/4 cup sour cream
- 1 stick of butter
- 4 tbsp Cayenne pepper
- 4 tbsp Nashville Hot Chicken seasoning
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- White bread and coleslaw for serving
Instructions
- Unwrap the ribs, pat them dry with a paper towel
- Trim the ribs to square and pull the silver skin off the back
- Turn on the Traeger to supersmoke at 225*
- Coat the ribs with hot sauce as a binder
- Then coat the ribs generously with your seasonings of choice
- Be sure to also season the bottom of the rack
- Add a Meater thermometer probe to a thick part of the ribs and pair it to the app. Set the desired temperature to 180*
- Place the ribs inside the grill and close the lid
- Cook the ribs in the Traeger until they hits 180*. If necessary, spritz with water, cola or juice midway through the cook
- When the Meater alerts you to having reached 180*, pull the ribs from the grill
- Allow the ribs to rest on the cutting board for about 10 minutes, tented in foil
- Preheat a heavy dutch oven with a few inches of oil on the induction burner
- Prepare the dredging station for the ribs: in one bowl, combine the milk and sour cream. In the other, mix the flour and some seasoning or salt & pepper
- Slice the ribs into individual bones
- Dredge each rib in the mixture in this order: flour, milk, flour
- Ensure an even coating on all sides
- Place on a wire rack and continue with the remaining ribs
- When the oil is hot (350*), carefully place a few dredged ribs in the pan and cook them until golden brown and the internal temperature has reached 203*
- Drain the fried ribs a wire rack and keep warm in the grill
- Continue with the remaining ribs- frying until 203* internal
- In a small bowl, combine the melted butter, brown sugar, cayenne pepper and Nashville Hot Chicken seasoning
- Stir to mix and taste. It should be very spicy
- Using a pastry brush, coat the fried ribs with the Nashville Hot sauce
- Serve immediately with white bread and coleslaw and extra napkins
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