Shopping for BBQ Gear? Start Here!

2,000+ Free Pages

2,000+ Free Pages

YOU ARE HERE >> AmazingRibs » 20 for 20: Our Best BBQ Recipes of the Past 20 Years

Share On:

20 for 20: Our Best BBQ Recipes of the Past 20 Years

In search of the “best of the best” BBQ and grilling gear? The AmazingRibs.com staff unveils its top picks from 2023’s new products.
Composite of AmazingRibs.com's top 20 recipes.

The top twenty recipes that you, our readers, have visited most, in honor of AmazingRibs.com’s 20th Anniversary!

If the name of our website didn’t tip you off, AmazingRibs.com got its start with a ribs cookoff. As luck would have it, in the early 2000s, Meathead’s neighbor in Chicago challenged him to a friendly BBQ competition. Meathead went looking for a good ribs recipe to bone up for the cookoff, but he couldn’t find one. At the time, he was thinking of starting a new business venture, so he established AmazingRibs.com in 2005. His ribs recipe became super popular and was part of how the website got its name. But that’s not the only reason. AmazingRibs.com was also named that because, back then, websites were listed alphabetically and Meathead wanted his website to be near the top.

Oh how times have changed! In case you were wondering, yes, Meathead won that ribs cookoff back in the day, and many since. To this day, his winning Last Meal Ribs recipe remains one of the most popular recipes on AmazingRibs.com. His Easy BBQ Pulled Pork is pretty popular too. So is his Smoked Turkey.

To celebrate the 20th Anniversary of AmazingRibs.com, we took a trip down memory lane, and looked back at all our best BBQ recipes over the past 20 years. These are the top 20 recipes that you, our readers, have visited most, cooked most, and ranked highest over the past 20 years. From Classic Chicago Italian Beef (the kind made famous on the popular TV show “The Bear”) to Meathead’s World Famous Memphis Dust for dry-rubbed ribs, there’s plenty to chew on here. Meathead’s Last Meal Ribs is still in the top 3 of our best BBQ recipes. But there’s a new sheriff in town. The #1 recipe of all time on AmazingRibs.com is now…Authentic Texas-Style Smoked Brisket!

Try them all!

Published On: June 12, 2025
Improve your recipes and make the best BBQ possible with this one essential concept: temperature control. This article teaches you
What is meat and how does cooking alter it? Discover the science of what meat is made of, including water,
Learn about thermodynamics: the basis of all cooking! Find out how heat transference works by conduction, convection, radiation, induction, and
Meathead settles the argument of Charcoal Grills vs. Gas Grills once and for all.

Ready to step up your outdoor cooking game?

Join the largest membership-based BBQ and grilling community in the world with a 30-day free trial. No credit card required!

On This Page

New Recipes, Reviews, and Science Sent To Your Inbox!

Subscribe to receive our FREE weekly newsletter, Smoke Signals, and never miss a new recipe!

New Recipes

Meet The AmazingRibs.com Team

BBQ Hall of Famer Meathead founded AmazingRibs.com in 2005 to help people master barbecue and grilling. Today he and his team of culinary experts have created a site with more than 2,000 pages of myth-busting, science, recipes, methods, product reviews, and the Pitmaster Club—the world’s largest BBQ association—dedicated to making you a legend.

Jump To Top