Chicken Fried Ribs - A Cautionary Tale With a Crunchy Ending

There I was, scrolling Facebook like a modern-day pioneer heading west without a map, when I saw it: Deep Fried Parmesan Baby Back Ribs. The video was all golden crust and slow-motion crunch. No measurements. No warnings. Just reckless optimism and a vat of oil.

Reader, it did not go well.

I floured. I heated. I lowered those hopeful ribs into the oil like tiny meaty astronauts entering a fiery atmosphere. Within minutes they went from “county fair” to “charcoal briquette.” Black. Not mahogany. Not caramelized. Apocalypse. Ribs are typically cooked low and slow and there just wasn’t enough time to cook the meat inside without annihilating the breading. Lesson learned.

But I really wanted to try these. So I pivoted.

The remaining ribs, already baptized in buttermilk and bravado, got dredged and shipped over to the air fryer. And that, dear friends, is how Chicken Fried Ribs were born in my kitchen. Crispy like fried chicken. Tender like ribs. No fire extinguisher required.

INGREDIENTS

1 rack baby back ribs

1 cup all-purpose flour

½ cup cornstarch

½ cup grated Parmesan cheese

2 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp onion powder

1 tbsp paprika

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 quart buttermilk

Hot sauce (about 3 tablespoons was perfect)

Sauce:

½ cup mayo

1 tbsp Dijon mustard

1 tbsp yellow mustard

3 tbsp honey (I used Mike’s Hot Honey)

2 tbsp any BBQ sauce

METHOD

The Day Before: Remove the membrane from the back of the ribs. Cut into individual rib pieces.

Soak overnight in buttermilk with hot sauce. The buttermilk works like a velvet bath. It tenderizes. It whispers sweet dairy promises. It prepares the ribs for greatness.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cornstarch, cheese and all the spices.

Remove ribs from the buttermilk one by one. Let excess drip off. Dredge thoroughly in the flour mixture. Press it on. Commit.

Preheat air fryer to 325.

Lightly spray or brush the ribs with olive oil.

Cook 20 minutes.

Flip. Cook another 12 minutes.

They emerge golden, crisp, and smelling like every comfort food memory you’ve ever trusted.

Immediately sprinkle with extra salt and more Parmesan while they’re hot and receptive.

Mix the sauce ingredients as the ribs are cooking. It’s creamy, tangy, sweet, smoky. It behaves like fancy honey mustard but with better manners and more depth.

Drizzle. Dip. Do not apologize.

Lessons Learned from the Great Oil Incident

Facebook videos are aspirational fiction.

Oil that is too hot will turn dinner into geology.

The air fryer is the steady, practical adult in the room.

These are not dainty ribs. These are ribs in boots. Ribs with swagger. Ribs that believe in second chances.

And frankly? They’re better than the deep-fried fantasy ever promised.