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:
FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST for more great recipes!
Recipe
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
Have you tried this recipe?!
RATE this recipe and COMMENT below! I would love to hear your experience.
This post contains affiliate links.
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!!!
Just filled your receipt for baby back and cooked for 25 mind. Just one rack. They were very tender and get if the bone, big they had very little flavor and a ton of fast. Almost not edible. What did I do wrong? Clearly it’s not the recipe because everyone raves about it. Could I have gotten a poor quality rack of ribs, maybe? It just wasn’t good and neither my son nor I liked it. I did not finish on the grill or broil because the meat wouldn’t stay on the bone and I was in a hurry. Is that the key to this recipe?
Hi Katie, yes it sounds like it wasn’t a high quality rack of ribs. Hope you get to try it again soon. I always buy baby back ribs from Costco (st. louis style are often fattier and less flavorful, in my opinion).
Could be old spices too. Try buying a rib rub that you can find in the site. I LOVE the applewood bbq rub in bulk at Winco if you have those sites in your area.
For 2 or more ribs, how much extra time, if any, is added? Thanks!
Same cooking time 🙂 Enjoy!
Wow! Those were amazing! Thank you for the help. They fell off the bone. So juicy, I put bar-b-que sauce on them at the end on the broiler. Instant hero!
Made these today and they were delicious. Did them for about 6 minutes on the bbq…falling off the bone.
This recipe was amazing and the timing worked out perfectly for 3 whole racks of ribs. I cut each rack in half and ended up with two full circles of ribs (an inner and and outer layer) around the pot.
I didn’t have any liquid smoke and they still tasted amazing!
Has anyone cooked the ribs in the IP a few hours earlier then heated them on the grill or broiler with sauce right before serving. Also can I put several racks in at the same time overlapping each other standing up?
I put 2 racks of St Louis ribs in my 6qt for 35 min. Will update with results.
Laura,
I’m getting ready to do two racks of St. Louis ribs in my 6qt. How did your two racks turn out? Was 35 min enough?
We LOVE this recipe and have made them several times, fitting two racks in the IP for leftovers. I have found that no change is needed for my cook times – once the IP comes to pressure, everything cooks pretty evenly. Because we don’t have a grill available, I add a tsp of liquid smoke to my cup of water, and they taste more authentic.
I loved these ribs! First time, I brushed them with BBQ sauce and put them in a high oven (450) for 10 minutes after removing them from the Instant Pot. I did this the second time but kind of lost my appetite so after 10 minutes I turned the oven off and let them lay in there to keep warm. Over an hour later I had the most delicious ribs with a chewy caramelized exterior and fall off the bone tenderness.
I never used to eat ribs until I purchased my Instant Pot but now I’m a big fan.
I did two racks, overlapping each other standing up, for 30 minutes, and they were fall off the bone perfect.
I’ll smoke on the grill for 2 hours, then pressure cook for 30 min, fall off the bone smoked ribs in 2.5 hrs anybody?!
Wow!.. never cooked ribs before… Hubby & I are always looking for good ribs at restaurants. . Just cooked this recipe for the 1st time and I think the search is OVER! Hubby says he doesn’t think he’ll order ribs at a restaurant again he likes them so much!
Good directions.. I just used a rib rub and store bbq… can’t wait to start tinkering with my own spices…
Didn’t have my pressure cookers trivet so just put them in the pot without it… still worked great.
Thanks for the awsome recipe!!
No trivet? Just ball up a couple of LONG pieces of aluminum foil and make a round circle of it to put around the perimeter of the bottom of the pressure cooker. It keeps the ribs out of the liquid the same as a trivet would. I just did this five minutes ago. LOL
I was just wondering how I could make this work since I left my trivet at home. THANKS SO MUCH!
Are spare ribs the same as “St Louis” ribs?
Yes, St Louis ribs are spare ribs 🙂 Enjoy!
What about single “country” style ribs? I suppose that would work as well, probably need to extend the cooking time.
St. Louis ribs are just the baby back ribs. Spare ribs have the back ribs plus a fair amount of additional meat such as a boneless tail and a bone piece cutting across the top of the ribs. Note that the recipe calls for additional cooking time if you purchased spare ribs.
St. Louis ribs are not baby back ribs.
https://www.thekitchn.com/whats-the-difference-between-baby-back-ribs-and-st-louis-ribs-meat-basics-219386
Tim is 100% correct. This comment is from a Certified KCBS Master Judge who will not cook their ribs this way, but was curious. If the Ribs are “falling-off-the-bone”, they are considered overcooked.
Baby back ribs are different from spare ribs St. Louis ribs & might be too large for the Instant Pot. I prefer the Baby Back Ribs as long as they are meaty and when buying pork always pick out the darker red meat as that is the best tasting.
Yes, followed recipe and they were delicious. I love my instapot!
Thx. Just starting a Keto diet so seem to be either looking for recipes or cooking all the time, but tonight, needed something fast and legal. These were the ticket. Pressure-cooked for only 17 minutes because wanted to finish them on the bbq & not have them fall apart on the grill. Made a Keto bbq sauce while the ribs were cooking, slathered it on &, after just a few minutes on the bbq, they were scrumptious! Not too much work, not too much clean-up, & no cheating. Perfect!
Not the most tender “fall off the bone” ribs I’ve made but very tasty. I even added an extra 10 minutes to the cooking time. Other than that followed recipe exactly. Next time I’ll cook even longer. And I’ll used my tried and true recipe that uses beer instead of vinegar. I’ll keep ya posted on that one.
I’m going to try beer after seeing your comment.
That has more to do with your ribs than then recipe. I’m guessing it was an older animal.
I’m surprised. I just tried exactly as written. The bones were falling off. I’m using a pineapple haberno sauce.
I am starting to realize the importance of altitude with Instant Pot cooking times. I didn’t think it mattered until I read this recipe. I live in CO at 9000 ft and this explains why I am continually finding I need to add time. I read that you should add 5% time for every 1000 ft, so I am now adding 45% to my times. This is an extra 14 mins for this recipe! When I do this it comes out perfect. That may explain why some people may not have fall off the bone meat.
Thank you for this insight!
From,
A fellow Colorado cook 🙂