Tender, fall-apart Instant Pot country style ribs are slathered in BBQ sauce and broiled until sweet and bubbly. This comforting recipe will be the highlight of your weeknight menu!
Love tender, fall-apart pork recipes? Try this Instant Pot Carnitas recipe and this recipe for Instant Pot Pulled Pork.
Jump to:
- What are Country Style Ribs?
- What's the Difference Between Spare Ribs and Country Style Ribs?
- Ingredient Notes
- How to make Instant Pot Country Style Ribs
- Watch How to Make Country Style Ribs in the Instant Pot
- Why are my ribs tough?
- What to serve with country style ribs
- More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Country Style Ribs
- Comments
What are Country Style Ribs?
Country style ribs are a cut of boneless pork ribs that come from the shoulder area of the pig. They're essentially a large pork shoulder, like what you'd use to make pulled pork, but sliced into ribs. That's why these ribs fall apart when they're slow-cooked.
But what if you don't have all day to cook your ribs? Making them in the pressure cooker is the best way to get the same tender, shredded pork result in a fraction of the time!
Need another easy meal? This Instant Pot Salsa chicken is a great recipe for busy weeknights. Or check out all of our Instant Pot recipes.
What's the Difference Between Spare Ribs and Country Style Ribs?
Country style ribs come from the pork's shoulder while spare ribs or baby back ribs come from an area near the breast bone. There will be a lot more meat on the bone of country style ribs. They have more muscle to them and do better cooked low and slow.
Ingredient Notes
Here are the simple ingredients for these boneless country style ribs. The produce is fresh, easy, and affordable to find in your local grocery store. Jump down to the recipe card for exact measurements.
- Simple dry rub: smoked paprika, coconut sugar (or brown sugar), garlic powder, onion powder, salt, blacker pepper and oregano
- Country ribs: these are typically boneless ribs, but some groceries carry bone-in country style ribs and that is totally fine! Some packages even come mixed with some bone-in and boneless.
- Water: this is necessary for the Instant Pot to steam and come to pressure. The ribs won't ever touch the water because we're using the trivet in the bottom of the Instant Pot. You could also use beef or chicken broth.
- Garlic: these cloves help infuse the ribs with garlic flavor and aroma.
- BBQ Sauce: use your favorite store-bought BBQ sauce (we like to use a sugar free or paleo-friendly sauce) to lather and broil.
How to make Instant Pot Country Style Ribs
- Dry rub: mix all of the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl. Pat the country style ribs dry then generously coat the sides of each with the rub. Use your fingers to massage the rub into the meat until it sinks in and becomes a deep red color.
- Pressure cook: set the metal trivet in the bottom of a 6 qt Instant Pot. Pour a cup of water or beef broth in the bottom then arrange the ribs evenly without overlapping. Add the garlic on top of the ribs, close the lid, and pressure cook on high pressure for 40 minutes. Natural release (do nothing) for 15 minutes then quick release the remaining pressure.
- Broil: use tongs to carefully remove the country style ribs from the Instant Pot and transfer them to a baking sheet. You may need two as they'll likely fall apart easily. Slather all sides of the ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce then broil them on high for 2-3 minutes, until the BBQ sauce starts to bubble..
Watch How to Make Country Style Ribs in the Instant Pot
Why are my ribs tough?
Although you can overcook ribs in the Instant Pot, it's more likely that your country style ribs are tough because the cooking time isn't long enough. This cut of meat tends to be very tough and needs to be cooked low and slow for a more tender result.
What to serve with country style ribs
- The obvious choice is potatoes! Some of our favorites are classic potato salad, dairy free mashed potatoes, crispy pesto potatoes, roasted sweet potatoes, creamy garlic cauliflower mashed 'potatoes', or air fryer baked potatoes.
- Cooked veggies would also be a great side. You could try roasted brussels sprouts, roasted butternut squash, garlic roasted mini peppers, air fryer asparagus, or maple glazed carrots.
- Another favorite is a delicious salad! Great for adding veggies and greens to dinner. We love this cucumber tomato avocado salad, chipotle roasted sweet potato kale salad, strawberry spinach salad or this shaved brussels sprout salad with apples and goat cheese.
If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a star rating ★ below. You can also tag me on Instagram so I can see it!
More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Country Style Ribs
Ingredients
Dry rub
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar (or brown sugar)
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
Country style ribs
- 3-4 lbs country style ribs
- 1 cup water or beef broth
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 cup BBQ sauce (we like a paleo-friendly BBQ sauce)
Instructions
- Mix all of the dry rub ingredients in a small bowl. Pat the country style ribs dry then generously coat the sides of each with the rub. Use your fingers to massage the rub into the meat until it sinks in and becomes a deep red color.
- Set the metal trivet in the bottom of a 6 qt Instant Pot. Pour the water or beef broth in the bottom then arrange the ribs evenly without overlapping. You may need to stand them up against the sides of the Instant Pot for more room.
- Add the garlic on top of the ribs, close the lid and make sure the sealing vent is closed. Pressure cook on high pressure for 40 minutes then allow it to naturally release (do nothing) for 15 minutes. Turn the pressure valve to release any additional steam then carefully open the lid.
- Use tongs to carefully remove the country style ribs from the Insant Pot and transfer them to a sheet pan. You may need two as they'll likely fall apart easily. Lather the ribs with your favorite BBQ sauce then broil them on high for 2-3 minutes, until the BBQ sauce starts to bubble.
Lorraine Godfrey says
I have a new instant pot and learning how to cook in it. So I'm looking at your recipes and I've always cooked spare ribs in the crock pot with just barbecue sauce on it and let it cook. But using the instapot I want to cook them fast and do you always need to do a dry rub. Never done it before. So it's a learning experience. On your recipes do you say how long to cook it or does the pot automatically know how long to cook it? Thank you.
Molly Thompson says
The recipe gives you all of the info you need! I also have a video tutorial on the page you can watch.
Thomas says
You don't say High or Low Pressure in instapot????
walter stella says
excellent taste, but I like more garlic flavor so I added some granulated garlic
Peggy says
i just made this tonight and it is divine!! Tender and moist, perfect!! I'm so glad I found this recipe.
Deb says
I will try this recipe for sure
Theresa says
This was VERY good!! You didn't say if it was high or low pressure, so I went with low. Nice and tender! I'll be making this a lot!
Sharon White says
FYI On the print recipe is an ad showing 2 dead rats.! Then further down was more rat info! I am trying the recipe today but pictures weren’t appetizing.
Molly Thompson says
Thanks for letting me know! There shouldn't be any ads on the print option. I will take care of that:)
Pamela says
Amazing!!! I added yams & carrots + extra broth. So delish over rice!!!
Molly Thompson says
Ohhh yumm!!! Drooling over this version!
Lisa says
Why don’t you respond to the people mentioning you didn’t specify high or low??
Mittie Douglass says
This recipe is absolutely perfect! In the last 6 months I have made these ribs at least 3 times and my family loves them. Thanks so much for sharing this gem!
Jenn says
Your blog is unreadable because of the ads. I know you need to make money to sustain the blog but it's ridiculous the amount of flashing and jumping that happens as you try to read the recipe.
Doreen says
5 Stars in advance. I'm old and old-school. I have an electric pressure cooker (the original instant pot). I use it all the time to make Carnitas so this is a natural addition. I like the ingredient choices for your dry rub. I just bought 3 lbs. of boneless pork country ribs and I haven't made this dish in years, but it was such a great sale I couldn't pass it up. I read 6-8 recipes, but yours sounds the best! Thank You Very Much,
Molly Thompson says
Wow, thank you Doreen! I love to hear that! We also have a pressure cooker carnitas recipe you could try:)