Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs

These baby back ribs are fall-apart tender and are made entirely in the Instant Pot! They’re Whole30 and paleo, but it’s super easy to use store-bought BBQ sauce, too. Cost-effective, super flavorful, and hands-off. BBQ ribs perfect from Memphis with love!

Why These Ribs Are So Good

• These ribs are so easy to make and made entirely in the Instant Pot.
• These ribs are so succulent and they are fall off the bone tender.
• They are Whole30 compliant and paleo, and the sauce is healthier as it is homemade.
• You can find this recipe and lots more in my Paleo Instant Pot Cookbook.

How To Make Them

1. Turn ribs over so meaty side is face-down. Using a butter knife and your fingers, separate the transparent membrane from the back of the bones and meat and peel off.
2. In a small bowl, combine all BBQ rub ingredients and sprinkle evenly all over ribs, front and back.
3. If you use storebought BBQ sauce, pour it into the cooking pot of the Instant Pot before placing the ribs on top

If Making BBQ Sauce Homemade:

1. Turn Instant Pot on Sauté mode. When hot, add avocado or coconut oil and sauté onion for 3-4 minutes or until softened and translucent. Add garlic and sauté until fragrant, stirring constantly about 30 seconds. Add remaining BBQ sauce ingredients and stir until smooth.
2. Place the rib halves in the Instant Pot, fitting them in a C-shape curve inside the cooking pot. Secure lid and set valve to the Sealing position. Cook on Manual High Pressure for 40 minutes. Quick-release.
3. Remove ribs carefully – they will be fall-apart tender. Transfer to a baking sheet and preheat your broiler. Broil, watching carefully, until browned on top.
4. If you made your sauce homemade: Blend the sauce, left in the Instant Pot, using an immersion blender or regular blender.
5. Baste ribs with sauce and serve with plenty for dunking. Sprinkle with extra BBQ rub if desired.

The Easy Way To Make BBQ Ribs

When it comes to BBQ, I know what I’m talking about, I’m a Memphis girl after all! Making baby back ribs in an electric pressure cooker is so easy and it eliminates the need to constantly baste and tend to the cooking ribs.

Serving Suggestions

These ribs are perfect to serve up with all of your favorite BBQ side dishes, fries, coleslaw, corn, and salads are all perfect choices. Try them with these sides:

• Healthy Coleslaw Recipe
• Mexican Street Corn Salad Esquites
• Herb Roasted Potato Salad
• Carrot Raisin Salad

Chef’s Tips

• You may have to squeeze the ribs in the Instant Pot so they fit – that is fine.
• If you’re on Whole30, make absolutely sure you do not use honey when making the BBQ sauce; use coconut aminos instead. You can also use 2 cups of my Whole BBQ sauce if you like.

More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes

• Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes
• Instant Pot Dal
• Beef with Peppers in the Instant Pot
• Instant Pot Chicken Tikka Masala
• Instant Pot Country Style Ribs

Hey – you’ve made it this far, and now we’re best friends! If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a star rating ★ below. Make sure you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, too!

Recipe By: Cheryl Malik

5 from 3 votes

Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs

Prep 10 minutes minutes

Cook 1 hour hour

Total 1 hour hour 10 minutes minutes

BBQ baby back ribs that are fall-off-the-bone tender thanks to the Instant Pot. Versatile, flavorful, delicious – and that's coming from a Memphian!

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6 servings

Cook Mode(toggle on to prevent screen dimming)

Equipment

• Small bowl
• Spoon
• Cutting board
• butter knife
• Instant Pot
• Silicone spatula or wooden spoon
• Broiler
• Tongs
• baking sheet
• immersion blender optional
• Basting Brush optional

Ingredients

For the Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs

• ▢ 3 pounds pork baby back ribs cut in half
• ▢ ¼ cup dry rub store-bought, or made from recipe below
• ▢ 1 cup BBQ sauce store-bought, or made from recipe below

For the Homemade Dry Rub (Optional)

• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin
• ▢ 2 tablespoon smoked paprika
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon granulated onion
• ▢ 1 ½ teaspoons salt more or less to taste
• ▢ 1 pinch cayenne pepper more or less to taste
• ▢ 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper more or less to taste

For the Homemade BBQ Sauce (Optional)

• ▢ 1 tablespoon avocado oil or refined coconut oil
• ▢ 1 cup minced sweet onion
• ▢ 1 tablespoon minced garlic
• ▢ ¼ cup honey see Notes
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cumin
• ▢ 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• ▢ 4 teaspoons smoked paprika
• ▢ 1 6-ounce can tomato paste
• ▢ ½ cup low-sodium chicken stock
• ▢ ¼ cup apple cider vinegar

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Instructions

 

For the Homemade Dry Rub (Optional)

• Add 1 teaspoon cumin, 2 tablespoon smoked paprika, 1 ½ teaspoons garlic powder, 1 teaspoon granulated onion, 1 ½ teaspoons salt, 1 pinch cayenne pepper, and 1 teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper to small bowl. Mix all ingredients together until well blended.

To Prepare Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs

• Place 3 pounds pork baby back ribs on cutting board with meaty-side facing down. Use butter knife and fingers to separate and remove transparent membrane from back of bones and rib meat. Discard membrane.
• Sprinkle ¼ cup dry rub (store-bought or homemade) evenly over all sides of ribs and gently massage dry rub into meat.

If Using Homemade BBQ Sauce

• Set Instant Pot to Sauté mode. When Instant Pot is hot, add 1 tablespoon avocado oil to insert. Heat oil until hot and shimmery.
• When oil is hot, add 1 cup minced sweet onion. Sauté onions, stirring occasionally, 3 to 4 minutes or until onions are softened and translucent.
• Once softened, add 1 tablespoon minced garlic and stir to incorporate. Sauté garlic 30 to 60 seconds or until just fragrant. Stir constantly to prevent sticking or burning.
• Once garlic is fragrant, add ¼ cup honey, 1 teaspoon cumin, 1 teaspoon mustard powder, 4 teaspoons smoked paprika, 1 6-ounce can tomato paste, ½ cup low-sodium chicken stock, and ¼ cup apple cider vinegar. Stir ingredients together until fully incorporated into smooth mixture. To prevent burn notice, make sure to scrape up any bits of onion or garlic that may be stuck to bottom of insert.

If Using Store-bought BBQ Sauce

• Add 1 cup BBQ sauce directly to Instant Pot insert.

To Cook Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs

• Add seasoned ribs to Instant Pot, placing ribs in semicircle around inside of Instant Pot insert. Secure lid on Instant Pot with valve in Sealing position.
• Set Instant Pot to Manual High Pressure and set cook time to 40 minutes. Instant Pot will pressurize, then 40-minute cook time will begin.
• When cook time ends, carefully Quick Release pressure from Instant Pot. Use caution as any escaping steam will be incredibly hot. Remove lid from Instant Pot and set aside.
• Preheat broiler on HIGH. Use tongs to carefully remove ribs from Instant Pot and transfer ribs to large baking sheet. Note: ribs will be incredibly tender and may fall apart.
• Optional: If using homemade BBQ sauce, insert immersion blender into Instant Pot and blend remaining BBQ sauce until completely smooth. Alternately, transfer remaining BBQ sauce to standard blender, let cool slightly, then blend until smooth.
• When broiler is ready, place baking sheet under preheated broiler. Broil ribs 1 to 3 minutes or as needed until ribs are just browned.
• Carefully remove baking sheet from oven and set aside to rest 2 to 3 minutes.

To Serve Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs

• Transfer ribs to serving platter or plates. Spoon or brush remaining BBQ sauce onto ribs, then serve ribs immediately with preferred sides and additional BBQ sauce if desired.

• You may have to squeeze the ribs in the Instant Pot so they fit – that is fine.
• Make it Whole30: Replace honey with coconut aminos, or use 2 cups of my Whole BBQ sauce instead of following the sauce recipe included here.

Click for Nutrition Info

Approximate Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 439calProtein: 30gFat: 27gSaturated Fat: 9gTrans Fat: 0.2gCholesterol: 99mgSodium: 980mgPotassium: 819mgTotal Carbs: 23gFiber: 3gSugar: 17gNet Carbs: 20gVitamin A: 2287IUVitamin C: 8mgCalcium: 83mgIron: 3mg

Nutrition Disclaimers

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

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