These Instant Pot Ribs are so easy, fall off the bone tender and loaded with flavor! Throw on the grill for a few minutes or enjoy straight out of the pressure cooker with your favorite bbq sauce.

If you’re as much of an Instant Pot fanatic as I am, you might also enjoy this Instant Pot Lemon Garlic Chicken, Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos, or this Instant Pot Pasta with Meatballs.

Instant Pot Ribs

I have to warn you, once you make ribs in your Instant Pot it may be difficult to go back to doing them any other way.

The Instant Pot makes these ribs incredibly tender in record time, and that seasoning rub adds so much flavor even without any bbq sauce! They are sticky, smoky, savory perfection and all of your family and friends will be begging you for your secrets 😉

Feel free to mix up the rub ingredients, add a little more spice if you like or get a little crazy and improvise. You can also use different liquids to cook your ribs — any clear liquid is fine!

Chicken or beef broth, soda (root beer, Dr. Pepper, ginger ale, etc.), or even beer would work great in here — it really just depends on your tastes.

How to make Instant Pot Ribs:

1. Trim the membrane from the back of your ribs — check out this video tutorial here.
2. Combine your rub ingredients and liberally rub your ribs all over.
3. Place 1 1/2 cups of cooking liquid in the bottom of the Instant Pot and place the trivet inside.
4. Place your ribs on top of the trivet, curling them around the outside edge of the pot to fit.
5. Put the lid on and pressure cook until tender and juicy!
6. Always let the pressure release naturally, then remove and either brush with bbq sauce and serve, or brush with bbq sauce and broil or grill for a few minutes for an authentic smoky flavor.

What are the best ribs to use in this recipe:

This Instant Pot Ribs recipe is for pork ribs, but you can use either side ribs or back ribs in this recipe.

Side ribs are generally less tender (i.e., less desirable) and therefore less expensive. I often buy side ribs on sale, because with the right cooking techniques you can transform them into something amazing! With the Instant Pot, these ribs are going to be falling off the bone so I wouldn’t worry at all about using side ribs for this recipe.

Back ribs (baby back ribs) are more tender and have more meat on them, but they are also more expensive. You will cook both exactly the same, so choose whichever you like.

Perhaps you choose side ribs to enjoy on a regular basis, and upgrade to baby back ribs for a special occasion or when they’re on sale. Or maybe you live for ribs, and you’re going all out with baby back ribs every time! The choice is yours.

Looking for even more Instant Pot recipes?

• Instant Pot Beef and Broccoli
• Creamy Italian Instant Pot Chicken Breasts
• Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin with Garlic Herb Rub
• Instant Pot Chicken Alfredo Pasta