The Kirkland Meat That Gives You Smoky BBQ Flavor (Without The Grill)

There's nothing exactly like that freshly grilled, smoky flavor that cooking outdoors brings, so are you just out of luck if you're among the millions of people without a grill at home? No grill, no problem — with the right wholesale club membership, that is. It turns out that Costco offers a surprisingly viable alternative in its meat department, and it comes both pre-seasoned with a dry rub and smoked with natural wood. The Smoked Pork Back Ribs by Kirkland Signature are pre-cooked, so don't mistake them for the brand's uncooked rib options (such as the St. Louis-style Dry Rub Ribs that require grilling).

These pre-cooked pork ribs are perfect for lazy dinner nights, and they brim with the smoky flavor of a charcoal grill. We fell for Costco's ready-to-eat Smoked Pulled Pork a while ago, but the Smoked Pork Back Ribs are a more fitting main course for an effortless barbecue-style dinner. You'll still have to heat them up (unless you like cold ribs for some reason), but, again, there's no grilling at all required on your part. However, if you want to capture the cookout spirit, there's always a variety of other Costco products to stock up on for backyard barbecues.

Costco's pre-cooked ribs might not be fresh off the grill, but with the right touch, you can fool anyone into thinking they are. The trick is all in how you prepare them. Since the ribs already come fully cooked, all you need to do is reheat them with care. The instructions on the packaging recommend heating the ribs in the package, but you can also put them in foil. Just let them sit in the oven for an hour at 200 degrees Fahrenheit before switching them to a broil. However you choose to heat the ribs, remember to go low and slow to keep them juicy, then hit 'em with a blast of high heat for caramelized, straight-off-the-pretend-grill magic.

Pairing your ribs with the right sauce is also key. As noted earlier, Costco's ribs already come with a dry rub for that smoky flavor, but coating them in a tasty barbecue sauce will help take them the extra mile. You can always browse Costco's own sauce options, although these are usually more limited than those found in regular grocery stores. If you want to add a custom touch since you're already not cooking from scratch, whipping up a homemade barbecue sauce for baby back ribs only takes around 20 minutes.