One of the simplest ways to prepare a quick and simple dinner is to reheat ribs in an air fryer. Put the ribs in the air fryer, and the rest is simple to do to reheat them. No need to heat up the entire house or make your baking sheets sticky with barbecue sauce; quick and simple cleanup.

To reheat ribs in the air fryer, you can preheat the air fryer to 400 degrees Fahrenheit before adding the ribs. This will help to ensure that they cook evenly.

My love for my air fryer is unwavering. Let me list them all. You have come to the right place if you want to air fry some ribs to reheat them. If you are new to the air fryer, be sure to check out these Air Fryer Tips and Best Oil for Air Fryer.

Ingredients

Obviously, the leftover beef, pork, or lamb ribs are the main component. Within three days of keeping them in your refrigerator, you can easily reheat them. Another excellent way to save time and money while still enjoying extras is to air fry them for a quick appetizer, snack, lunch, or dinner.

It all depends on the size of your air fryer basket or tray whether you can reheat a few or many ribs at once. With my tray style, I can simultaneously warm up about 8 baby back ribs or beef short ribs in a single layer. About 4-6 larger country-style or spareribs will fit in a smaller air fryer basket.

Remove the leftover ribs from the refrigerator. They can’t immediately be placed in the air fryer. To avoid putting cold ribs into a hot air fryer, I like to let them warm up slightly. For a full thirty minutes, you can leave them on the counter. This makes sure that the meat next to the bone also warms up. Otherwise, it may be cold, and/or the surface meat with dry out or burn.

Read More: 20+ Instant Pot Air Fryer Recipes 2023 – Tasty & Delicious

Why Reheat Ribs in Air Fryer

For a meat lover, dining with your favorite ribs won’t be perfect without its perfect tenderness and juiciness! Having leftover ribs from last night’s dinner will make you hesitant to reheat them, especially since they might become overcooked and dry after reheating.

You definitely don’t want to throw away any of the dishes at mealtime, including the ribs. But you shouldn’t worry about how to reheat your leftover ribs using the air fryer.

The best way to reheat ribs and restore their juiciness is in the air fryer oven provided by Ninja Foodi to avoid them becoming dry. You will get a similar flavorful taste and texture if you reheat ribs in Ninja air fryer with the quick, easy, and right method.

They should heat up quickly as well. Any meal can be quickly, easily, and amusingly reheated thanks to its simple operation. Put your trust in a dependable air fryer, then indulge in your favorite foods!

How to Reheat Ribs in Air Fryer?

In order to cook ribs to the ideal tenderness and juiciness, temperature control and time are crucial. Reheating ribs in the air fryer in the right manner is a big help to maintain and enjoy its quality best.

Here are some straightforward instructions for warming up ribs in an air fryer.

The ribs should first be wrapped in aluminum foil to catch any liquid sauces that may spill over while being heated, especially if you’re reheating cooked ribs in an air fryer.

It lessens the possibility of them overcooking. Perhaps it would be best to heat the air fryer to 350°F before adding the ribs.

After about 3-5 minutes when the air fryer is heated, you can now lay the ribs into the air fryer basket.

If the ribs are too large to fit in the basket, you can cut or divide them to fit in a single layer. For best results, avoid having the cuts overlap.

This is purely optional but spraying a small amount of oil on each rib can make them juicer. Then, insert the basket into the air fryer and cook the ribs for about 4-5 minutes, or until they are thoroughly heated.

You can check the ribs after 4-5 minutes to see if they are the desired level of tenderness and crispiness.

You can flavor the ribs with any leftover sauce from last night and reheat them for a short while more.

You can keep an eye on the sauce to prevent it from burning. Once the timer’s up, remove the ribs from the basket and enjoy! The basket’s aluminum foil contributes to a quicker cleanup at the end.

How Long to Reheat Ribs in Air Fryer?

Ribs should be worth the wait when reheated. Setting the correct time and temperature in reheating ribs in an air fryer has a big impact on the result.

How long you reheat leftover ribs in the air fryer may depend on how well they are prepared.

The ideal amount of time would be 4-5 minutes at 350°F (in a preheated air fryer).

The best results can always be obtained by reheating it for an additional few minutes, giving you the opportunity to, if desired, add a little more sauce.

How to Cook Pre-cooked Ribs in Air Fryer?

If you’re too busy to cook food that you’ve been craving, you can always check on nearby grocery stores that sell pre-cooked ribs.

Although it takes a lot of time and effort to cook fresh ribs, reheating pre-cooked ribs in an air fryer is surprisingly quick and simple.

Your cravings will be satisfied thanks to these simple steps! It is best to wrap the ribs in aluminum foil and arrange them evenly because they are only partially cooked.

Then, place them inside your air fryer after it has reached 350°F. After that, add the ribs to the air fryer and cook for about 10 minutes.

The ribs can be cooked for a further 2-3 minutes to achieve the desired level of juiciness by flipping them over and adding some BBQ sauce.

Tips for Reheating Ribs in the Air Fryer

Ribs can be enjoyed without having to worry about overcooking them by reheating them in an air fryer. Here are a few tips to help you get the most out of your air fryer:

• Before adding the ribs, preheat the air fryer to 400°F. This will ensure that they cook uniformly.
• Before reheating, separate the ribs into pieces. This will help them to cook more evenly and prevent them from drying out.
• The ribs should only be reheated briefly. They will dry out and become tough if they are overheated.
• After reheating, serve the ribs right away. When they are hot and just out of the air fryer, they will be at their best.

Why Use An Air Fryer?

If you’re wondering how to reheat ribs, an air fryer shouldn’t be your last resort.

In the kitchen, air fryers have a plethora of advantages, including the ability to produce crisp and crunchy food that is still moist and tender on the inside. They also assist in preparing healthier meals with less oil and fat.

Another benefit of using an air fryer, especially when you cannot wait to dig into your ribs, is that it offers quicker heating than an oven, so there is less time spent waiting!

Can I Store Leftover Ribs in the Freezer?

As long as the leftover ribs have not been warmed up, you can freeze them. The best way to freeze ribs is to put them in a plastic freezer bag, squeeze out as much air as you can, and then properly seal the bag.

You could also place the ribs in an airtight, freezer-safe container and wrap this with plastic wrap, or securely wrap the ribs in aluminum foil and then in more plastic wrap.

Whatever freezer-safe method you select, be sure to label the container with the contents and the date of freezing.

Ribs kept in the freezer should be eaten within 3 months.

They will still be safe to use after this time, but the quality will begin to decrease, and that is not doing any justice to the delicious ribs that are supposed to be tender, soft, and juicy!

To prevent the ribs from contaminating other foods in the freezer with their odor, make sure to tightly seal them in their container.

Can I Reheat Ribs Twice?

It is not advised to reheat ribs, or any other food, more than twice. The risk of food poisoning increases with the number of times you reheat ribs.

Too many temperature adjustments to the meat increase the likelihood of bacterial growth, which can then result in foodborne illnesses.

The quality and nutrients of the meat will both decline as a result of repeated reheating.

Never reheat more ribs than you intend to consume right away; instead, discard any leftover ribs rather than storing them in the refrigerator for future reheating.

If you are not sure how many ribs you might eat in a sitting, reheat a few, and then judge if you want to reheat any more from there. The ribs must be consumed right away after being reheated, or else!

How to Defrost Frozen Ribs

If you stored the leftover ribs in the freezer, you would have to defrost them before reheating them in the air fryer.

The ribs should be allowed to thaw in the refrigerator overnight for the best and safest results.

Obviously, this does take some time and planning ahead, but it offers a safe way for the ribs to thaw without them reaching a temperature that could cause bacteria growth.

If you are really desperate and cannot leave the ribs to thaw in the fridge overnight, there are two other options.

Remember that these methods might result in the ribs becoming less flavorful and less safe than if you thawed them in the refrigerator.

If your microwave has a defrost setting, you could use that setting to defrost the ribs, or you could use low heat.

Don’t let the ribs defrost for too long or they will start to dry out. Continue doing this until the ribs have thawed enough to be heated through in the air fryer.

The ribs can also be submerged in a bowl of water while still in their container.

A higher risk of spoilage may result from putting them in hot water, so avoid doing so. Use cool water instead, which will aid in gradually defrosting the ribs.

It is not a good idea to reheat frozen ribs in an air fryer, so you should try to prepare ahead of time by putting the ribs in the refrigerator overnight or for a few hours so they can thaw before being ready to reheat.

Can You Reheat Ribs in the Microwave?

The microwave can be used to reheat ribs if you don’t have an air fryer at home and don’t want to wait for the oven to heat up.

This can be a little tricky, as you do not want the ribs to explode BBQ sauce all over the inside of your microwave, which can be a nightmare to clean up.

However, compared to reheating the ribs in another way, being able to do so quickly is still a huge advantage.

The majority of the flavors will be lost if the ribs are prepared incorrectly or if they are left in the microwave for an excessive amount of time.

While reheating in the microwave, there are some ways to avoid the ribs drying out so that you can quickly heat up tender, juicy ribs. Here is how to do it:

1. Paper towels should be wetted with some warm water.
2. Do not place a lid on the ribs when placing them in a microwave-safe container.
3. Place the damp paper towels underneath the container in the microwave, and place one or two over the top of the container too.
4. 3 minutes of high heat operation are required in the microwave.
5. After 3 minutes, check to see that the ribs have heated thoroughly throughout.
6. If not, place the ribs back into the microwave for 45 seconds at a time until heated through.

In the microwave, the paper towels produce steam, keeping the ribs moist and juicy and preventing them from drying out. It also stops the BBQ sauce from flying around the microwave and making a mess.

Final Words

never been simpler! Therefore, keep in mind all of the advice I gave you the next time you want to reheat ribs in the air fryer. You’ll have a delicious plate of ribs soon after that.

FAQs

Try the following Air Fryer recipes if you are interested!