30 Minute Instant Pot Ribs

Ribs in 30 Minutes? It’s certainly possible with the help of an instant pot! Seasoned ribs are pressure cooked first, and then the sauce is applied before being broiled to perfection. 30 Minute Instant Pot Ribs are fall of the bone tender and moist, and you don’t have to wait very long to dig in!

30 MINUTE INSTANT POT RIBS

Lord Byron’s Kitchen is no stranger to rib recipes. The most popular are my Copycat Chinese Dry Garlic Ribs. That one is followed closely by my Family Style BBQ Ribs. And, just recently, I published my Bourbon Pork Ribs, which seems to be gaining traction as well. 30 Minute Instant Pot Ribs might have some good competition!

All of those ribs have one thing in common. They are all baked in the oven. Each of those recipes requires a slow baking time at a low temperature. I don’t mind spending two or three hours cooking ribs, but I know some people don’t have time for that. Allow me to introduce these 30 Minute Instant Pot Ribs! No need to wait two or three hours any more!

Disclaimer: The instant pot is used to cook the ribs with a seasoning that will permeate the meat. You can eat them just like that, or you can sauce them up! The sauce is applied after the instant pot has done its job. I take the ribs a bit further and broil them on a sheet pan until the sauce sticks to them and they start to char.

TYPES OF RIBS

I have friends and family who much prefer beef over pork. To me, that is just blasphemy! No matter the cut or how expensive the beef, if sitting next to pork, I’d pick the pork first. To me, it has way more flavour and stays more tender and moist. It’s also much less costly!

Can you use beef ribs in this recipe rather than pork ribs? Absolutely! In fact, you go ahead and treat them the exact same way. I do find that beef ribs are typically chewier and fattier than pork ribs. You can cook them both the same way. Beef ribs tend to be much bigger and meatier as well. Other than taste and texture, the biggest difference is the price. Pork ribs are much cheaper.

Personally, I find that beef ribs cook faster than pork ribs in an instant pot. These pork ribs are cooked for 23 minutes. I would cook beef ribs for 20 minutes only.

DON’T HAVE AN INSTANT POT

If you don’t have an instant pot, then you can cook these ribs in your oven. Obviously, the 30 minute deal goes out the window! To cook these ribs in the oven, follow the instructions in the recipe card below. But, instead of layering in an instant pot, place ribs in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet.

Tightly cover with foil and bake for two hours at 300 degrees F. Remove from oven and discard the foil cover. Bake for thirty more minutes. Finally, remove the ribs again, sauce them, and return to the oven for fifteen minutes. Turn each rib over, add more sauce, and bake for another fifteen minutes. That’s it!

If you’re reading this post, I assume you have an instant pot. I use this exact one. It’s an eight quart pot, so there’s lots of room for two or three racks of ribs.

HERE’S WHAT YOU WILL NEED:

1. Pork Side Ribs – You can use baby pork back ribs, or pork spare ribs.
2. Vegetable Stock – I always have vegetable stock on hand, so that is what I used. You can use chicken stock or beef stock.
3. Vinegar – Cider vinegar is perfect with pork. You can substitute with white wine vinegar or rice vinegar.
4. Spice Rub – I have a wonderful spice rub that you can use on these ribs. Otherwise, you can use a store-bought rub or make your own.
5. BBQ Sauce – Homemade is the best, folks! Here’s the sauce recipe that I used. Alternatively, you can use store-bought sauce as well.

HOW TO MAKE 30 MINUTE INSTANT POT RIBS

COOKING THE RIBS

Start by removing the membrane on the back of the ribs. Next, cut between each bone so that you have separated all of the ribs. Pat them all dry with paper towels and set them in a large bowl.

Sprinkle over the spice rub and get in there with your hands. Massage each individual rib so that every one is well seasoned with the spice rub. Next, ensure your trivet or steam rack is in your instant pot. Pour in the stock and vinegar.

Lay the ribs onto the steam rack in a random fashion. Close and seal the instant pot. Pressure cook on high for 23 minutes. Once done, allow the steam to release naturally for five minutes. Then, carefully open the valve to remaining pressure out.

FINISHING THE RIBS IN THE OVEN

At this point, the ribs are fully cooked and you can eat them. However, to fully get the rib experience, I would highly recommend you add sauce and place the ribs under the broiler. It takes just a few minutes.

Line a baking sheet with foil. Place the cooked ribs onto the sheet in a single layer. Brush each of the ribs with sauce. Broil for 3-5 minutes. Remove from oven, turn the ribs over, apply more sauce, and broil once more for another 3-5 minutes. Plate, garnish and serve!

SERVING SUGGESTIONS:

I’m one of those people who feel that a meal isn’t complete without well thought out sides. And, to be honest, it’s the biggest thing I struggle with. I have no issues whatsoever with deciding a main dish, but preparing sides is not something I enjoy much at all.

Since I do 99% of the cooking, I feel that I should make the decisions. Ha! But, because I want everyone else to be happy too, the side dish struggle creeps in. I grew up eating carb-filled sides, so those are what I gravitate toward.

John.e is a vegetarian who wants broccoli with every meal. McKenna is a picky teen who doesn’t care for side veggies or rice. Her idea of a side is mashed potato – with everything!

With that said, there two sides that all three of us agree on. One of those is coleslaw. It’s usually deemed a summer side dish, but we like it so much I make it often. The second is fries or potato wedges. We don’t eat these too often, but a few times a year, I’ll give in and make one or the other.

I have linked to my homemade coleslaw and potato wedges in the preceding paragraph. But, those are not what you see in the photographs. While I prepared the ribs, I purchased the sides from Mary Brown’s.

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Recipe adapted from Lemon Blossoms.