Home » Perfect Instant Pot Ribs (fall off the bone)
This picture shows a close up shot of a cooked rib falling off the bone.

Perfect Instant Pot Ribs (fall off the bone)

Written by Published on in Pork
Jump to Recipe·Print Recipe
This picture shows the instant pot rib ingredients and a final shot of the finished ribs.

This perfect instant pot ribs recipe is comfort food at its finest. With smokey flavor, fall off the bone tenderness, caramelized barbecue sauce, you won’t believe you are eating ribs cooked in under an hour. This is a great weeknight recipe that results in restaurant quality ribs.

I don’t use the word “perfect” lightly, but with this recipe, it’s what comes to mind as I’m eating these instant pot ribs: perfect.

This pictures shows the ingredients for the best rib rub and butcher box baby back ribs.

What ingredients do I need for BBQ Instant Pot Ribs

  • Ribs — both spare ribs and baby back pork ribs work well for this recipe. I would suggest removing the membrane from the back of the rib to ensure extra fall-off-the-bone tenderness. I’ll admit, it was annoying to do this the first time I tried, but I’ve gained confidence and now I do this easily!
  • Rib seasoning — I’ve included a mix of rib spices in the recipe below that includes brown sugar, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. It was inspired by the Trader Joe’s BBQ 101 seasoning, but it packs even more flavor in my opinion. If you are short on time, you could always use a pre-made dry rub for this recipe.
  • BBQ sauce — Choose your favorite barbecue sauce for this recipe. If you are wanting a low-sugar, low-carb keto bbq rib recipe, select your favorite no sugar sauce. If you are looking for a Whole30 bbq rib sauce recipe, you can substitute the brown sugar (in the rib sauce above) and select your favorite Whole30 bbq sauce. In our house, we have two favorite barbecue sauces, and I can easily customize the ribs for different preferences!
This picture shows a step by step for the instant pot rib recipe. This includes the ribs cut in half, a shot of the membrane being removed, a shot of the coated ribs, and a final product shot after the ribs are coated in barbecue sauce and removed from the oven.

How do I make pork ribs in the instant pot?

  1. Remove the rib membrane (highly recommended) and cut the rib rack into two pieces.
  2. Add a rack (trivet) to the bottom of the instant pot and add water (about 1 cup) to the bottom. The water should not go higher than the bottom of the rack.
  3. Add the ribs, standing up vertically (not laying down). They will curve around the outer edges of the instant pot.
  4. Set the instant pot to cook the pork ribs for 30 minutes, and when the cook time is up, let the steam release naturally for at least 10 minutes.
  5. Remove the ribs and place them on a large pan. I like to put them on parchment paper as well.
  6. Set the oven to broil, coat the bbq pork ribs with your favorite sauce, and place in the oven for 8 minutes.
  7. Remove from the oven when the sauce is caramelized (8 minutes works best on my oven, but the time may vary depending on each oven). Enjoy!
This picture shows two sets of fully cooked instant pot ribs after they come out of the oven.

Instant pot recipes you’ll love:

This picture is designed for pinterest and features a fall off the bone shot of the instant pot barbecue ribs.
Print
clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon

Perfect Instant Pot Ribs (fall off the bone)

  • Author: Laura
  • Total Time: 58 minutes
Print Recipe

Description

This perfect instant pot ribs recipe is comfort food at its finest. With smokey flavor, fall off the bone tenderness, caramelized barbecue sauce, you won’t believe you are eating ribs cooked in under an hour. This is a great weeknight recipe that results in restaurant quality ribs.

Ingredients

Scale
  • 1 rack St. Louis or babyback ribs
  • Spice rub (see ingredients listed below)
  • Your favorite barbecue sauce

Spice rub

  • 1 Tbsp. brown sugar
  • 2 tsp. smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. chili powder
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 tsp. onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp. black pepper

Instructions

  1. Prepare the spice rub by mixing the spices in a small bowl.
  2. Prepare the ribs by removing the membrane (highly recommended) and cutting the rib rack down the middle to make two parts.
  3. Coat the ribs in the rib rub seasoning, massaging it into the meat with your hands. Make sure the ribs are coated on all sides.
  4. As the ribs sit with the dry rub seasoning, prepare the instant pot by inserting the rack and adding 1 cup water to the bottom.
  5. Add the ribs to the instant pot, making sure to stack them vertically (standing up, not laying down). The ribs will curve around the outside of the instant pot edges.
  6. Set the pressure cooker to 30 minutes. As the ribs cook, line a large pan with parchment paper (the parchment paper is optional but highly recommended).
  7. After the cook time is up, let the instant pot naturally release pressure for at least 10 minutes.
  8. Remove the ribs from the instant pot and place them on the large pan covered with parchment paper.
  9. Set the oven to broil, and while you wait for the oven to heat up, top the ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce, spreading it around to coat the ribs evenly.
  10. Put the ribs in the oven, set the timer for 8 minutes, and remove when the barbecue sauce has caramelized.

Notes

  • Watch the ribs as they broil in the oven. The broil time may vary depending on the oven.
  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • Cook Time: 48
  • Method: Instant Pot

Did you make this recipe?

Share a photo and tag us — we can’t wait to see what you’ve made!

Leave a Comment

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

*