Instant Pot Ribs West African Style

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Ribs ribs ribs. Instant Pot Ribs – well that’s just heaven on a plate.

Yeap, you can make the BEST ribs in the Instant Pot. Whilst grilled ribs and oven-baked ribs are nothing to scoff at, Pressure Cooker Ribs are sode easy. And soooo good, of course. Tender, flavorful, fall-off-the-bone good.

The Secret to Making The Best Instant Pot Ribs

There is a little secret to making delicious Instant Pot Ribs and I’m going to reveal it to you right now. This ‘secret’ can also be applied to Instant Pot Wings and Instant Pot Whole Chicken. And really, any meat recipe made in the Instant Pot that isn’t at risk of being dried out by a few minutes of additional cook time.

Here is the secret: Let the Instant Pot do most of the work and finish things off with a quick visit to the oven. Those few minutes in the oven will give it that oven-baked color and extra crispiness.

Make things quick and easy in the Instant Pot and then cheat your way to looking like it spent the whole time in the oven…no one will know you made them easily in the Instant Pot.

Why You’ll Love This Instant Pot Pork Ribs Recipe

• It’s bursting with flavor but doesn’t require a lot of salt or any sugar to get there. So many ribs recipes rely too much on salt or sugar, but not these ribs.
• The above fact also makes them fully compliant with a lot of diets: Keto, Paleo, Whole30, and Gluten-Free. No extras in here, folks, just good food.
• You can make these in a 6-quart or larger Instant Pot.
• It’s fall-off-the-bone good. Trust me…these are some amazing ribs.

Ingredient Notes

• Onion – use white onion or red onion to your preference.
• Spices and herbs – the wonderful flavor comes from a combination of garlic, minced ginger, dried chili flakes (optional), and all-purpose seasoning.
• Vegetable oil – to make the paste.
• Ribs – this recipe calls for pork ribs, aka baby back ribs. Cook time for other ribs will be different.
• Liquid – stock or water for cooking.

Ready for ribs?? I know I am. This ribs recipe is easy to make and you will have most of the main ingredients in your pantry already.

How To Make Instant Pot Ribs

Get the complete ingredients list and instructions from the recipe card below.

1.  Put all the ingredients (except the pork ribs, salt, and stock) in a blender and whiz them into a paste.
2. Taste paste for salt and adjust as necessary.
3. Put pork ribs on a baking tray and rub the paste all over them.
4. Cover and leave to marinate for about 1 hour.
5. Add trivet to bottom of the inner pot of Instant Pot, place pork ribs on top of trivet then pour the stock into the bottom of the insert.
6. Lock the lid, turn the valve to the sealing position, st to manual pressure / high pressure for 20 minutes.
7. When the cook time ends, turn the Instant Pot off and let the pressure release naturally before opening the pot and removing the ribs.
8. Optional (but highly recommended) step: After removing the ribs from the Instant Pot, broil them for 5 mins on a baking tray to give them more color and a bit of crispiness. Remove, allow ribs to rest for a few minutes, then serve.

How To Season These Instant Pot Pork Ribs

It is easy to vary the combination of ingredients and spices to suit your taste. Get creative. I won’t be offended if you change the recipe around to please your taste buds.

Recipe Tips For Success

• The total cook time does not include the time it takes for the Instant Pot to get to pressure. Plan for additional time.
• Always check for doneness with a meat thermometer. While the accepted temperature should be 145 degrees F when done, for soft fall of the bone ribs then you want a temperature of 195 degrees F.

Delicious Variations

• Swap the Seasoning – Use your favorite dry rub or spice rub, seasoning like onion powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, or blends such as Greek seasoning, Mediterranean seasoning, etc. 
• Make it Spicy – Season with hot paprika, add red pepper flakes, chili powder, ground black pepper, etc. for some heat. 
• Add sauce – add in your favorite bbq sauce to make bbq ribs instead. Then feel free to top it off with extra barbecue sauce.
• Make it smoky – add a few drops of liquid smoke for an extra smoky flavor.

FAQs

Serving Suggestions

I have a few ideas for you:

•  Make this easy Instant Pot brown rice for a quick side (or any of my Instant Pot rice recipes).
•  How about Some Jollof Rice?
• Or you can try these Instant Pot Sweet Potatoes or Scalloped Potatoes or Instant Pot Mashed Potato.

How to Make Oven Baked Ribs

Want to make oven baked ribs instead? Here is how…

1. Take the onion, garlic, ginger, dried chili flakes, all-purpose seasoning, and vegetable oil and whiz them into a paste in the blender.
2. Taste the paste and adjust with salt and pepper as necessary.
3. Marinate the pork ribs for 1 hour so that the flavor seeps into the meat.
4. Then throw your marinated ribs into the oven, uncovered, for about 40 minutes or until it starts pulling off the bone. (Because you want to make those instant pot ribs fall-off-the-bone delicious.)

Weight Watchers Points

If you increase the number of servings to 8, there are 13 Blue Plan SmartPoints per serving.

More Instant Pot Meat Recipes

If you like this Instant Pot pork ribs recipe, you’ll also like my…

• Vietnamese Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin is so tender.
• Instant Pot Pork Chops (from fresh or frozen)
• This Instant Pot Whole Chicken is a great family recipe.
• Instant Pot Pot Roast is great for special occasions or weeknight dinners.

Thank you for reading my Instant Pot Ribs recipe post. And please come visit again as I continue to slice, dice and dream up affordable Air Fryer recipes, Instant Pot Recipes, Southern Recipes and more. Thanks for supporting Recipes from a Pantry, food blog.

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