Baby Back Ribs in the Instant Pot make a quick and tasty recipe
Do you have an Instant Pot? I have to admit, I was pretty nervous to first use one. All of those scary stories about things exploding back in my grandma’s day made me verrrry cautious when I first ordered mine. I did the egg test first: making hard boiled eggs in the IP. There were claims that eggs are fool-proof and they turn out perfect every time. I set the IP, and promptly left the room to watch the pot work it’s magic from far away just in case.
You know what? It worked! Perfect hard boiled eggs in less than 10 minutes and I kid you not, every single time I make them the shell peels away exactly as it should. I’m hooked! I am now on my second Instant Pot… I had the base model which was working great for our family of 4, and I talked it up so much my mom wanted to try it. So I gave her mine and upgraded to the deluxe version with more bells and whistles. Both are little workhorses and honestly I know people that have more than one in their kitchen!
If you don’t have one I have to say you are missing out. I always said I should go into doing infomercials for them because I talk about them to everyone! I use my Instant Pot at least 2-3 times a week, there are so many benefits to having one.
- Lessens your cooking time immensely. I can cook stews and soups that would usually simmer all day in about 30 minutes. You guys know how the clock just magically goes faster around dinnertime when it’s homework-bath time-dinner-bedtime!
- One pot to clean. Really. Sauté your meats or onions and garlic in the pot, once it’s done throw the rest of your ingredients in and click the lid on. One. Pot. Ladies and gentlemen.
- Since it is cooking meats “under pressure” (cue Queen and David Bowie) the meats come out so tender. Cutting with a butter knife tender.
- You can put frozen chicken in it– without defrosting. You don’t even have to change your recipe, the time it takes to come to pressure will be slightly longer but the cook times remain the same. I can’t be the only one who occasionally forgets to defrost chicken the night before, finally remembering at 5 that I have a small army of hungry people about to attack if dinner isn’t ready soon.
- It is super affordable, especially considering you can use it to steam, sauté, and sear. Also it is a slow cooker as well as a pressure cooker. So many tools in one sweet stainless basket (or, pot).
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Here are my all-time favorite go-to meals in my IP. I will link to all of them once they are uploaded!
- Zuppa Toscana
- Shredded Chicken for Tacos & Fajitas
- Beef Chuck Chili
- Ground Beef for Tacos and Spaghetti sauce
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Sloppy Joes
- Cuban Picadillo
- Chicken broth
- Ribs and chicken wings, finishing them under the broiler or on the grill
Speaking of ribs, allow me to show you the IP working it’s magic.
You can smoke ribs, which requires 6 hours of babysitting in the smoker and finishing in the oven. OR, you can cook them in a pressure cooker and they are fall-off-the-bone tasty in less than an hour.
We used a rack and a half of baby back ribs, cooking them in the IP and finishing on the grill. You could also finish them in the oven, broiling them until the sauce starts to caramelize. Either way, so quick!
Start with removing the membrane from your ribs. Here is a great tutorial for this part, which is great because it even includes a video.
Pat the ribs dry with a paper towel and apply your dry rub to the meaty side. Place in the Instant Pot on a trivet, cutting into sections if it doesn’t all fit in the pot as one rack.
Add apple juice or apple cider and water to the pot, equaling 1 cup. Turn lid to seal and cook on high pressure for 20-25 minutes (20 minutes for less meaty ribs, 25 minutes for super meaty ribs. I cooked these for 23 minutes.)
Let the IP naturally release pressure for at least 10 minutes, and then quick release the pressure until the pin drops and you can open the lid. Put the ribs on a baking sheet lined with foil, and cover the ribs with foil to keep the juices in.
Turn your oven on to broil, or preheat the grill. We’ve finished the ribs both ways and actually prefer the grill for the smokiness it brings, but the oven is faster and cleaner. Both make mouth-watering ribs!
Once the oven or grill is ready, uncover the ribs and coat them in your favorite barbecue sauce with a brush. We use Stubb’s Original, it is not too sweet or spicy and has no high fructose corn syrup. Just tomato puree, vinegar, sugar, molasses, salt, and spices. Yummy!
Put under the broiler for just a few minutes to caramelize, or on the grill for about 10 minutes. Then they are ready! Serve with a side of the sauce for dipping as needed. I’m in heaven 🙂
Baby Back Ribs in the Instant Pot
Equipment
- Pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 1-2 racks of baby back ribs
- ½ cup apple juice or apple cider
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup your favorite barbecue sauce, plus more for serving
Dry Rub
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- ½ tbsp garlic powder
- ½ tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper
Instructions
- Remove the membrane from the ribs.
- Dry ribs with paper towel and coat in dry rub.
- Place ribs on the trivet inside the Instant Pot. Can cut into sections to fit.Add apple juice or cider and water.
- Seal lid and pressure cook for 20 to 25 minutes, depending on meatiness of ribs. The more meat, the longer time in the pressure cooker.
- When done, allow to natural release for at least 10 minutes before releasing the pressure valve.
- Place ribs on foil lined baking sheet and cover with foil. Let rest for 10 minutes.Turn oven on to broil or preheat grill.
- Uncover ribs and coat with barbecue sauce using a brush. Cook for about 3 minutes under the broiler or put on the grill until sauce begins to caramelize.
- Remove from the oven and slice into sections of 3 to 4 ribs each. Serve with a side of barbecue sauce. Enjoy!
Cheers!
