Instant Pot BBQ Pork Spare Ribs made with St. Louis style or Baby Backs are super simple to make in the pressure cooker. Make them a head and then crisp them up under the broiler or Mealthy CrispLid, on the grill or right in the pot using the CrispLid!
Pressure Cooker BBQ Pork Spare Ribs
When you are in a hurry and want some ribs NOW, this is the recipe for you. There are a couple of options to make your life easier.
You can partially prepare these Instant Pot BBQ Pork Spare Ribs today in, your Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker and package them up and then finish them off the next day on the Barbecue Charcoal Grill or in the Oven.
Use Mealthy Crisplid to Caramelize!
You can even crisp them up right in your pressure cooker using the very cool CrispLid!
So, if you are planning a barbecue, either at home or away and don’t want to spend hours over a hot Charcoal Grill or precious time in the kitchen using the oven, this recipe for you.
Of course, you can finish them off with barbecue sauce outside on the Charcoal Grill or set your oven to broil. There are so many possibilities.
Cast of Ingredients to Instant Pot BBQ Pork Spare Ribs
I use half apple cider and half apple juice. Some people add a bit of apple cider vinegar to their pot. This is a super fast and very easy recipe, using a Pressure Cooker and bottled barbecue sauce.
My preference for ribs is always on the Grill, using My Favorite BBQ Pork Ribs Recipe with homemade barbecue sauce, but sometimes we want ribs now, today, without any planning, so this recipe is great.
You also might be interested in my Pressure Cooker Homemade BBQ Pork Spare Ribs, which is made with a Homemade BBQ Pork Ribs Rub and homemade Carolina BBQ Pork Spare Ribs Sauce.
Place the onions, apple cider, vanilla, (liquid smoke, if using) and water into the Pressure Cooker cooking pot.
If you are going to finish off the ribs on the Charcoal Grill, don’t use liquid smoke, as the ribs will get smoky enough from the Charcoal Grill.
Salt and pepper your ribs and place them in the cooking pot and cook for 20-30 minutes, depending on the type of rib. Baby Back Ribs take 15 minutes and St. Louis Style and Spare Ribs take 20 minutes.
If you want “fall off the bone ribs,” add 5 minutes. I prefer to bite the meat off my ribs and not having them fall a part.
Remember though, “fall off the bone ribs” are really overcooked ribs. 🙁
If you are planning to finish off the ribs on the Charcoal Grill, use the Kosher Salt. If you are planning to finish off the ribs in your oven, use either Kosher Salt or Rachael Ray Applewood Smoked Sea Salt.
At this point, you can let the ribs cool, wrap them up and place in the refrigerator. Then finish them up at a later time.
Or, you can slather on your favorite barbecue sauce and finish them off in the oven, under the broiler or Mealthy CrispLid, or on your Charcoal Grill!
Brush on the barbecue sauce and place in the oven, under the broiler or Mealthy CrispLid, or on the Charcoal Grill.
If using your broiler, place the rack on the second area down from the top. Watch the ribs closely, as the sauce may burn.
If cooking on the grill, you may only need a minute or two for each side.
If using the CrispLid, follow the instructions on the recipe card below.
Pressure Cooker Super Simple BBQ Pork Spare Ribs
Pressure Cooker Super Simple BBQ Pork Spare Ribs, in under an hour, from start to finish! Ribs are always great served with Elote (Mexican Street Corn), Pressure Cooker Corn on the Cob, Pressure Cooker Baked Beans, Pressure Cooker Potato Salad and a green vegetable.
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Equipment Equipment and Essentials
- Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi or Pressure Cooker
- J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
- Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
- Alton Brown Salt Box
- My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
- OXO Stainless Steel Tongs
- Silicone BBQ Brush
- Extra Large Charcoal Grill
- Weber Chimney Starter
- Rachael Ray Applewood Smoked Sea Salt
- Mealthy CrispLid
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Here is your handy printable recipe:
Ingredients
- 1 rack Baby Back Ribs or St. Louis Style Ribs
- 2 teaspoons Pure Vanilla Extract (gives a Bourbon flavor)
- 1 cup Apple Juice
- 1/2 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 cup Yellow/Brown Onion rough chopped
- 1.5 teaspoons Applewood Smoked Sea Salt
- 1 teaspoon Freshly Ground Black Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke
- 1.5 cups Barbecue Sauce
Recommended Products
Instructions
- Place onions, vanilla, apple juice, apple cider and liquid smoke into cooking pot.
- Salt and pepper the ribs.
- Curl the ribs and place into cooking pot.
- Lock on lid and close Pressure Valve
- Cook on High Pressure for 15 if making baby back ribs or 20 minutes if making St. Louis style ribs.
- When beep sounds wait 10 minutes and then release the rest of the pressure.
- Place ribs on baking sheet and slather on the barbecue sauce.
- Place in a 450 degree oven for about 5 minutes each side. Or place under a broil. Or, finish off on the grill.
CrispLid Instructions
- Place long legged trivet into pressure cooker and place CrispLid basket on top.
- Slather ribs and place into basket. You will need to do this in sections.
- Place CrispLid onto cooking pot and set temperature to 450 degrees and time to 10 minutes.
- Flip ribs after 5 minutes and cook until the sauce has caramelized and ribs have a nice char.
Notes
Nutrition
PIN this Pressure Cooker Super Simple BBQ Pork Spare Ribs {Baby Back Ribs}!
![Instant Pot BBQ Pork Spare Ribs [Baby BackSt. Louis]](https://staging.thisoldgal.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Instant-Pot-BBQ-Pork-Spare-Ribs-Baby-BackSt.-Louis.jpg)
Instant Pot BBQ Pork Spare Ribs [Baby BackSt. Louis]
Thanks for a great recipe, Jill! Like you, I don’t like it literally falling off the bone. The cooking times you suggested were perfect.
Thanks, Michelle. So glad you like my recipe and timing. Jill
Absolutely delicious! These ribs came out like I slow cooked them for 3 hrs!
After cooking in the Insta Pot and placing them in the over, take out about 3Xs to baste and the sauce gets thick and sticky!
Hi Sharon. Thank you. I am thrilled you enjoyed my recipe. Jill
Perfect 4th of July dinner! Used Baby Back Ribs and finished them on the barbecue – YUM!
Wonderful, Toby. Thank you. Jill
I found your recipe in the Instant Pot Miracle Cookbook (pages 86-87) with a link to your blogspot. I did a taste test with this recipe and regular oven baked method. Hands-down…..this was the bes! The meat did ALMOST fall off the bone. Excellent! I’ll admit I was a little uncertain about the addition of vanilla, but after sampling these ribs I wouldn’t change a thing. I will not be making ribs any other way again. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Thank you, Sherry. I appreciate you talking the time to find me and comment. I hope you will enjoy the other recipes on my blog. Jill