If you are looking for a way to create the perfect fall-off-the-bone country style baby back ribs, you’ll want to use your Instant Pot. As you’ll know by now, the Instant Pot is one of my favorite kitchen tools, and it can be used to cook almost anything, from meat to desserts to complete meals. The great thing about the Instant Pot is that once you’ve prepped your meat, you’ll just add the ribs into the Instant Pot and let it work its magic. For the final touch, you’ll move the ribs into the oven for the last part of the process to finish your BBQ Baby Back Ribs before serving.
The Instant Pot is one of those devices that will always make your family and friends think you’ve spent hours in the kitchen, when in fact, this dish will take under forty minutes to both prep and cook. Once your guests have dug into their ribs, they’ll think you’ve spent all day in the kitchen preparing dinner and won’t believe the Instant Pot could create these juicy and delicious ribs with rich and tasty seasoning.
Ribs will no longer have to be something you save for special occasions, and they can become a regular treat in your household, thanks to this simple method and a recipe using the Instant Pot. The other great thing about cooking your ribs this way is the minimal cleaning up you’ll have to do afterward! It’s a win-win situation, however, you look at it, and it will allow you to spend more precious time with your family as we all wish for so often.
If you’ve successfully made ribs before or have your go-to recipe, you might be wondering why you’d switch over to the Instant Pot. The simplest explanation for this is the hours that you’ll save in the kitchen. Some ribs can take up to six hours to cook, which with our hectic lifestyles, very few of us have this time to spare anymore. Thanks to the liquid smoke of the Instant Pot, you’ll create fall-off-the-bone ribs in just forty minutes.
Think how much you could do those hours you’ll save in the kitchen, and you’ll never return to a different method of cooking baby back ribs again! The Instant Pot is fantastic for entertaining guests and allows you to still be able to enjoy time interacting with your family instead of neglecting them while you’re working away in the kitchen.
While we suggest using baby back ribs, as these fit well into the Instant Pot, you could use any type of pork ribs for this recipe today. However, spare ribs are a bit larger, so you won’t be able to fit too many into the cooker at one time, which also might not be ideal for serving a larger group.
Before cooking your ribs, you’ll want to add the dry rub before placing them into your Instant Pot. You can save more time and do this up to a day in advance for maximum flavor since the seasoning will have more time to penetrate into them, making the ribs even tastier. The seasoning in this recipe is incredibly easy to mix, using everyday ingredients that you likely already have in your kitchen, such as brown sugar, sea salt, garlic powder, ground black pepper, and paprika.
Upon removing the ribs from the Instant Pot, they will be nice and tender. However, you’ll notice you are missing the caramelized texture on top of the ribs that you get from the grill. To get this effect, we’re just going to baste the ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce and then add them into the oven for five minutes until the sauce is bubbly and caramelized.
Ribs make a great standalone dish and can be served as an appetizer or main course. For a good accompaniment, consider a potato salad or fries on the side. Make sure you add a sauce or two on the table to allow your family to put as much sauce as they desire on the ribs before eating them.
If you are cooking for one or two people, you can still cook the full amount of ribs in this recipe and leave the leftovers for another day. After they’ve cooled down, just pop them in the fridge until you are ready to reheat them. When you are ready to enjoy your leftover ribs, wrap them in foil and add some additional sauce before cooking them in the oven for about fifteen minutes.
Follow these simple instructions below for a quick and delicious meal that you can enjoy any night of the week. Kids, teens, and adults in your family will absolutely love these ribs, and they make the perfect addition to your next family gathering or game night, without you having to spend hours in the kitchen when you could be spending time together as a family!
Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs (serves 4-8)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 35 minutes
Total time: 40 minutes
Ingredients for the Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs:
- 2 pounds baby back pork ribs
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup water
Instant Pot BBQ Baby Back Ribs Step-by-Step Instructions:
- The first step of the process is to prepare your ribs for cooking. We’ll begin by peeling the membrane off the back of the ribs. This can be done with a dinner knife, and it’s an important step to make sure your seasoning fully penetrates the ribs.
2. Once your meat is prepared, mix together all of your dry ingredients in a small bowl to make your rub.
3. Once you have your rub prepared, you’ll want to massage the dry ingredients into the top layer of your ribs. Ensure that your ribs are covered evenly in the rub so that each piece will receive the same amount of seasoning.
4. To get ready for cooking, start by pouring your apple cider mixture into the bottom of your Instant Pot. Next, place the trigger inside the device, and then put your ribs inside the Instant Pot ready to cook.
5. Close the lid of your Instant Pot and ensure the sealing valve is securely closed. You’ll want to set your Instant Pot to the high-pressure setting for 20 minutes, and then you can leave the device to work its magic while you take a break!
6. Once the twenty minutes is up and your ribs are cooked, allow the Instant Pot to naturally release for 15 minutes. After waiting for 15 minutes, manually release the device by opening the sealing valve and releasing the pressure.
7. Carefully remove your ribs from the Instant Pot and transfer them onto a cookie sheet. For the final step of creating these mouthwatering ribs, add your desired amount of barbecue sauce to the top of the ribs over the rub. Feel free to add as little or as much sauce as you like, to fit you and your family’s tastes.
8. Allow the ribs to cook in the oven for about five minutes, or until your barbecue sauce is bubbly.
9. After removing the ribs from the oven, allow them to cool for a couple more minutes, cut them into sections, and enjoy! You can top them with more barbecue sauce if you like and serve with your favorite side dishes to make a complete meal.
As you can see, it’s so simple to prepare the country style BBQ baby back ribs in the Instant Pot, and by following these nine simple steps, you’ll have four to eight servings ready in just forty minutes. After you try this method, you’ll never consider going back to your old time-consuming ways of cooking ribs, as the Instant Pot gives you the perfect, tender ribs with minimal skill and effort required in the kitchen. Ribs no longer have to be a special treat for special occasions, thanks to my favorite kitchen tool, the Instant Pot. Don’t forget to check back soon for more great Instant Pot recipes that will allow you to serve delicious meals and desserts to your family while spending less time in the kitchen.
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