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These Instant Pot Ribs are so tender, flavorful, and delicious, it's really hard to believe they cook in just about 30 minutes! Another great, easy recipe made with your pressure cooker.
Instant Pot Ribs
Cooking tender, bbq ribs at home is one of those dinners that will always, always make me feel like a rock-star for how amazing they turn out, and how little work was required on my part.
My go-to ribs recipe is usually these slow cooker ribs, but the instant pot also makes fantastic ribs and it's perfect for those of us that don't always plan dinner out early enough to pull the slow cooker out in the morning.
My favorite quality about the instant pot (and the area where the instant pot really shines) is how it can take hefty cuts of meat and cook them to tender in such a short amount of time. These instant pot ribs are the perfect examples of the type recipe that cooks GREAT in the pressure cooker or instant pot. Learn all of my instant pot tips!
How to make Instant Pot Ribs:
- Season the ribs all over with a dry spice rub.
- Add liquid to the bottom of the instant pot.
- Curl the ribs around the instant pot, with the meat side facing out. If your ribs are already cut in sections then stand them up in the same manner, lining them up around the pot.
- Cook them on high pressure. Cooking times will vary just slightly depending on the type of ribs you use, your elevation, and if you want them tender to the bite, or fall-off-the-bone tender.
When the ribs are finished cooking you can slather them in your favorite store-bought or homemade bbq sauce.
I also like to stick them under the broiler for just a few minutes, to let the bbq sauce caramelize and char a little bit. YUM!
Tips for the perfect instant pot ribs:
What type of ribs to use:
I prefer baby back ribs but you can also use spare ribs. It's important to not that your cooking time will vary, depending on your altitude and what type of ribs you choose.
How long to cook ribs in the instant pot or pressure cooker:
- Baby Back Ribs: 25-30 Minutes
- Spare Ribs: 30-35 Minutes
- For low altitude, use the lower number, and for high altitude cook them a little longer.
- Also, the longer you cook them, the more “fall-off-the-bone tender they will be. If you want them tender, without falling off the bone, use a slightly lower cook time.
What size instant pot for instant pot ribs?
Any 6 quart or larger instant pot will work!
Removing the membrane from the ribs:
Depending on where you buy your ribs, they may still have the white, shiny membrane connective tissue on the back (bone side) of the ribs. I buy mine from Costco and they already have the membranes removed. Check to make sure the membrane on your ribs has been removed and if it hasn't, follow these steps to remove it:
- Just flip the ribs so the top (meaty part) is face down.
- Slide your fingers or a butter knife under the membrane and rip it off.
- No special skills needed here, just use your fingers to yank it up and off the ribs.
Consider serving with a Side Dish. Here are some of my favorites:
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Instant Pot Ribs
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1-2 racks pork ribs, (*see note below)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon light brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1/2 cup apple juice, , or ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke, , optional*
- 1 cup barbecue sauce, , homemade or store-bought (*see note)
Instructions
- Remove membranes from the back of ribs, if needed.
- Rubs seasonings over both sides of ribs.
- Place wire trivet rack in the bottom of the instant pot.
- Add water, apple juice (or apple cider vinegar) and liquid smoke (optional, but recommended for that great smokey flavor).
- Place the ribs upright, with the meat side facing out. If you’re using one large rack of ribs, then circle them around the pot.
- Secure lid and close vent.
- Press “manual” or “pressure cook” and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes.
- When the timer beeps, allow the pressure to naturally release for 15 min, then turn the valve to quick release.
- Carefully remove ribs to a large, foil-lined baking sheet and slather them in BBQ sauce.
- Optional: broil them in the oven for 2-3 minutes to caramelize the bbq sauce.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
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Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE this recipe and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
Excellent recipe! Turned out delicious!! Its my staple instapot pork ribs recipe.
WOW!!! We LOVED these ribs!! I did take liberty with the rub. I added some allspice, Ceylon cinnamon, a little cayenne pepper and dry yellow mustard. FANTASTIC!!!
Found them to be cooked well, but they came out a little soggy. Will try using the oven to crisp them up a little bit.
I followed the recipe, just didn’t have any liquid smoke and used cider vinegar rather than apple juice. I was waiting on potatoes in the oven to be done, and didn’t time it quite tight, so the ribs needed to sit out before I could broil. They were quite tender, however, and I’ll definitely use this recipe again. Just need to get some smoke!
If I’m cooking 2 racks at a time, would the cooking time be the same? 2 racks of spare ribs.
Yes, same cook time.
The cooking time would be the same how about the liquids?
Easy to follow recipe and the family loved the ribs! Have made it twice in one week! Used parchment paper which made clean up a breeze. Thank you very much for sharing.
Turned out well. Pressure cooked 30 minutes. Not following off bone but tender. Broiled for 3 minutes. They were a hit!
This is a great recipe if you follow it closely. The only modifications I make are that I double the amount of rub so that it covers the ribs fully, and I throw them on the bbq with sauce instead of broiling. They always turn out well. Thanks Lauren!
This recipe was easy to follow. It took me a while because I had three racks to cook.
I recommend cooking longer if ribs are thick at least 35-40 min.
A recommendation to broil the ribs straight out of the pressure pot to brown the meet first. Then add the BBQ sauce and broil both sides to caramelize. I also add honey to my BBQ.
They turned out great!
Loved this recipe! Ribs were fall off the bone delicious.
First time out they were amazing! I did St Louis ribs and we always do them on the grill but they are tough. These were amazing. My husband was a bit jealous. Although we used a rub that we got in a man crate for grill masters. I did put the ribs in the oven on broil and I used Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce. Making more tonight.
Flavors were amazing, huge hit! They weren’t falling off the bone though, what did I do wrong??
Nothing–as long as they were tender! (Pro grillers would actually say “falling off the bone” ribs are overcooked Ideally you’d want them really tender to the bite but still on the rib bone.