Easy Instant Pot BBQ Baby Back Ribs
These Easy Instant Pot BBQ Baby Back Ribs are sure to be a massive hit with the BBQ rib lovers in your life! They are as simple as can be and come out delicious and fall off the bone tender every single time! Whether it’s for your next family dinner or as a dish for the big game, this amazing recipe is sure to please! You have to try these instant pot ribs the next time a craving for ribs hits your house!
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There are few things as delicious as a really great BBQ pork rib that just falls off the bone it’s so tender. Truly, it can be hard to find a really good BBQ baby back ribs recipe! And cooking ribs at home can be intimidating for some people, but I’m here to tell you, with the help of your instant pot, these ribs come out delicious every single. time. And some of them can be quite involved to make with lots and lots of steps. But not my Easy Instant Pot BBQ Baby Back Ribs recipe! Serve them up with some of my Southern Baked Beans, a simple Summer Cole Slaw, and round it out with my Roasted Vegetable Tortellini Salad, and boom! — You’ve got the perfect meal!
If you love these instant pot bbq ribs, you’re sure to love my BBQ Lemonade Pork Chops, Blackberry Pork Tenderloin, and my Simple Roasted Pork Tenderloin. And while you are experimenting with Instant Pot recipes, don’t forget to try my Instant Pot Vegetable Beef Soup, Instant Pot Italian Dressing Chicken, or my Instant Pot Chicken Stew!
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Speedy Cooking Time: These ribs are ready so fast because they cook in the Instant Pot! It cuts the cooking time in half, and maybe even a little more than that!
- Hands-On Cooking Time: This recipe only has about 10 minutes of active hands-on cooking time. The rest of the time you can be doing other stuff! I love that as a busy mom!
- Delicious Flavor: This rib recipe, with its flavorful dry rub, gives you the basic beginning flavors of your ribs, and then you can easily tweak the flavors and heat level by using your favorite bottled BBQ sauce (Or homemade BBQ sauce!).
- Easy recipe, simple ingredients! All the ingredients are at your local grocery store and you likely have most of the spices in your spice collection already!
Ingredients
- Baby Back Ribs: You’ll want 1-2 full racks of ribs for this recipe, around 3.5 pounds of baby back pork ribs. 2 racks of baby back ribs fit just fine in my Instant Pot.
- Salt: I like to use coarse kosher salt. I like both the flavor and the texture it gives to the coating of the meat.
- Ground Black Pepper: Don’t skip the black pepper! You need it to round out the flavors of the rub!
- Cumin: Cumin adds a little bit of heat to the dry rub without being overwhelming. It gives great flavor to the dry rub mix and adds a little extra level of deliciousness to the mix!
- Paprika: Paprika is dried sweet bell peppers all ground up, and I love the flavor it gives to any recipe you add it to. You can also get smoked paprika that’s really good if you want to go with a super smoky flavor for your ribs.
- Garlic Powder: I love using garlic powder in this dry rub. It gives the rub an overall warm and tasty flavor palette and it’s just a delicious addition.
- Onion Powder: Onion powder is a must with almost everything I make. It just gives another layer of flavor and makes everything taste wonderful.
- BBQ Sauce: This is where you can make your ribs exactly perfect for you! Use your own favorite BBQ sauce, whether it’s homemade or from a bottle or jar! My personal favorite right now is Jack Daniels Sweet and Spicy BBQ Sauce. It’s got heat and sweet and it’s just perfect on instant pot baby back ribs.
Optional Ingredients:
- Apple Cider Vinegar: I mix this in with the water at the bottom of the Instant Pot. It just gives a little extra flavor, and I think also a little extra tenderness of the meat.
- Cayenne Pepper: Want your ribs to have more heat? The best way to do that without significantly altering the flavor mix is to add some ground cayenne pepper to the spice rub mix! A little will do so don’t get too carried away.
Substitutions, Modifications, and Additions
Substitutions
- Spare Ribs– You can absolutely cook spare ribs the exact same way in the instant pot, just add about 10-15 minutes to the cooking time since they are not as tender as baby back ribs.
- Pork Tenderloin: Not a fan of ribs? You can also make this dish with a pork tenderloin and it’s amazing as well. Sometimes I use the pork tenderloin because it’s easier for my kids to navigate with no bones to eat around. I’d also suggest adding 10-15 minutes of cooking time to this recipe for about 3 pounds of pork tenderloin.
- Apple Juice: Apple juice will also work instead of apple cider vinegar in the bottom of the Instant Pot. It’s not necessary, but does add a nice little addition to the flavors and tenderness of the meat!
Modifications
- Gluten-Free – So long as your BBQ sauce is gluten-free, this recipe is completely gluten-free! I love a receipt I don’t have to modify in any way to make it gluten-free.
- Dairy-Free – Again, as long as your chosen BBQ sauce is dairy-free, this recipe is completely dairy-free as well!
Additions
- Brown Sugar – Want a little sweetness to the spice of the dry rub? Feel free to add a few tablespoons of brown sugar for some sweet and subtle smoky flavor for the ribs to your homemade spice rub!
- Chili Powder: Want a little warm heat in the background but not a ton of spice? Add in about a tsp chili powder! It adds a nice little quality to the spice mixture.
- Liquid Smoke – I’m not a huge fan of super smoky flavor on my ribs, but if you are, add a few drops of liquid smoke (up to a teaspoon liquid smoke) to the water/apple cider vinegar mix in the bottom of the Instant Pot for some amazing smoky flavor to your ribs!
Equipment
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- Instant Pot – This is the Instant Pot that I have and use all the time. I’ve had several versions of the Instant Pot and this is by far, FAR, my favorite. I use a 6-quart instant pot for my ribs and it will hold two racks of baby back ribs.
- Tongs – I really like these tongs! Especially for slow cooker or instant pot meals. The rubber on the ends of the tongs prevents the tongs from cutting right through tender meat and vegetables.
- Airtight Food Storage Containers – These are fantastic. They keep food air-tight and fresh so well!
- Baking Sheets – These Nordic Ware natural aluminum commercial baker’s half sheets are my absolute favorite baking sheets I’ve ever owned in my cooking days! They are super heavy-duty, have a great rim around them, and they stay in great shape no matter what you cook on them. And they clean up incredibly easily as well!
Step by Step Instructions
Combine: Combine all of the dry spice ingredients into a small bowl and mix together well. You’ve got your dry rub ready to go!
Season the Ribs: Coat the ribs evenly on the front and back of the ribs with the dry rub. Use all of the dry rub. It’s not too much, I promise!
Prep Instant Pot: Add in your trivet and the water and the (Optional!) apple cider vinegar to the bottom of your Instant Pot. You want about a cup of liquid in the bottom of the pot. Here’s where you would add the liquid smoke if you are using it! If you don’t have the trivet piece for your Instant Pot, you can also just ball up a few pieces of aluminum foil and put them in the bottom of the pot. You just don’t want the ribs to be submerged in the liquid mixture and touching the bottom of the pot.
Put In Ribs: Place the baby back ribs in the Instant pot. You’ll have to curl them around to fit inside the pot, or if you prefer, you can slice the ribs in half and then they will stand up in the pot.
Put On Lid: Place the lid on the instant pot pressure cooker and make sure the knob on top is set to “Seal”. I don’t follow any of the programmed times in the Instant Pot, I just use the manual setting, high pressure for 30 minutes. It will take several minutes for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure, and then you’re 30-minute timer will begin! You need at least 30 minutes to let the connective tissue break down to make your ribs tender.
Pressure Release: Once the cooking time is up, I like to give the ribs some time to do a natural pressure release. It lets them rest for about 15 minutes and the pressure lowers quite a bit during that time of natural release. After that time, I go ahead and release the remaining pressure, VERY CAREFULLY. I use a wooden spoon to hit the release valve and stand very far back to let it do its thing.
Prep Oven: Turn your oven onto broil on high and make sure your oven rack is in the middle position.
Baking Sheet: Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
Transfer: Transfer your ribs onto the foil-covered baking sheet and lay them flat.
Coat: Spoon or brush your ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce.
Broil: Place your baking sheet with the ribs under the broiler for 6-7 minutes or until the BBQ sauce starts to caramelize and gets really bubbly and sticky.
Remove: Carefully remove ribs from the oven, and let them rest for just a minute or two.
Serve: Cut up your ribs and serve them with extra bbq sauce for dipping, if desired.
Tips and Notes
- Silver Skin – If the silver skin membrane has not been removed from the ribs, just use a sharp, small kitchen knife at the corner to get it loosened up and then pull it off the ribs. If you have a hard time getting a good hold on the silver skin, you can grab the corner of it with a paper towel and use that to pull the silver skin off. Here’s a great tutorial on how to remove the silver skin.
- Finishing – You don’t have to finish off the ribs in the oven under the broiler. They are fully cooked when they come out of the oven. You can just put the sauce on the ribs and serve from there. But I think the real magic happens in the broiler. The broiler just gets the BBQ sauce to be all sticky and caramelized and delicious and it makes the ribs just amazing.
Serving Suggestions
- Side Dish: Pair these ribs with some potato salad, cole slaw, and a cobb of corn and you’ve got the perfect Southern BBQ rib meal!
- Bread: Cornbread is a must! I particularly like little corn muffins with my bbq! If corn bread isn’t your cup of tea (How dare you?!), then sweet Hawiian bread is a close second!
- Dessert: I’d suggest something cool and delicious like my No Bake Lemonade Cheesecake!
Storage and Reheating Instructions
- Refrigerator – Store any leftovers in an airtight container for up to three days.
- Freezer – I don’t recommend freezing already cooked ribs.
- Microwave – Reheat any leftovers in the microwave.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
You sure can! And they smell really good all day long while they cook! Do everything the same as far as the setup with the trivet or aluminum foil, and then let the ribs cook for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high. Finish under the broiler the exact same way. You’ll get the same tender ribs, just in your slow cooker!
I’ll let you in on a little secret! I’m not a big rib lover either. BUT – these ribs are delicious. And baby back ribs are good ribs for the “Non-rib lovers” of the world because they have good tender meat and not so much fat. However, if ribs really aren’t your thing, no problem! Substitute a pork tenderloin! Or even chicken breasts would be great!
Wrap-Up – Easy Instant Pot BBQ Baby Back Ribs
I hope you love this recipe for Instant Pot barbecue ribs! It’s such a simple recipe and who doesn’t love delicious ribs?! I love using my Instant Pot to cook dinner. It cooks while I attend to other tasks and play with my kids, and I love that. I can’t wait to hear what you think about this recipe. Let me know! Happy Cooking! And until next time… Just Keep Shuffling!
Easy Instant Pot BBQ Baby Back Ribs (Printable Recipe)
Easy Instant Pot BBQ Baby Back Ribs
Equipment
- 6-Quart Pressure Cooker
- baking sheet
Ingredients
- 3.5 pounds of baby back ribs
- 1/2 cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 cup favorite BBQ sauce
Optional
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar optionally in addition to the 1/2 cup of water
- 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Combine: Combine all of the dry spice ingredients in to a small bowl and mix together well. You’ve got your dry rub ready to go!
- Season the Ribs: Coat the ribs evenly on the front and back of the ribs with the dry rub. Use all of the dry rub. It’s not too much, I promise!
- Prep Instant Pot: Add in your trivet and the water and the (Optional!) apple cider vinegar to the bottom of your Instant Pot.You want about a cup of liquid in the bottom of the pot. Here’s where you would add the liquid smoke if you are using it! If you don’t have the trivet piece for your Instant pot, you can also just ball up a few pieces of aluminum foil and put them in the bottom of the pot. You just don’t want the ribs to be submerged in the liquid mixture and touching the bottom of the pot.
- Put In Ribs: Place the baby back ribs in the Instant pot. You’ll have to curl them around to fit inside the pot, or if you prefer, you can slice the ribs in half and then they will stand up in the pot.
- Put On Lid: Place the lid on the instant pot pressure cooker and make sure the knob on top is set to “Seal”. I don’t follow any of the programmed times in the Instant Pot, I just use the manual setting, high pressure for 30 minutes. It will take several minutes for the Instant pot to come up to pressure, and then you’re 30-minute timer will begin! You need at least 30 minutes to let the connective tissue break down to make your ribs tender.
- Pressure Release: Once the cooking time is up, I like to give the ribs some time to do a natural pressure release. It lets them rest for about 15 minutes and the pressure lowers quite a bit during that time of natural release. After that time, I go ahead and release the remaining pressure, VERY CAREFULLY. I use a wooden spoon to hit the release valve and stand very far back to let it do it’s thing.
- Prep Oven: Turn your oven onto broil on high and make sure your oven rack is in the middle position.
- Baking Sheet: Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
- Transfer: Transfer your ribs on to the foil-covered baking sheet and lay then flat.
- Coat: Spoon or brush your ribs with your favorite barbecue sauce.
- Broil: Place your baking sheet with the ribs under the broiler for 6-7 minutes or until the bbq sauce starts to caramelize and gets really bubbly and sticky.
- Remove: Carefully remove ribs from oven, let them rest for just a minute or two.
- Serve: Cut up your ribs and serve them with extra bbq sauce for dipping, if desired.
Nutrition
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