Instant Pot Ribs West African Style {Keto Ribs} + Grill and Oven Versions

Ribs ribs ribs. Sierra Leone style (salone style) 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 (and I’ll show you how to make those versions in this post too), Instant Pot Ribs are soooo easy. And soooo good, of course. Tender, flavourful, fall-off-the-bone good.

The Secret to Making The Best Instant Pot Ribs

There is a little secret to making amaaaaazing 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… really any meat recipe made in the Instant Pot that isn’t at risk of being dried out by a few mins 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 mins in the oven will give it that oven-baked colour 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 flavour 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… not these ribs. These ribs are just good.
• The above fact also makes them fully compliant with a lot of diets: Keto, Paleo, Whole 30 and Gluten-Free. No ‘extras’ in here, folks, just good food.
• You can make these in a 6l (or qt) or larger Instant Pot.
• It’s fall-off-the-bone good. Trust me… these are some amazing ribs.

Instant Pot Ribs Tools

Now let’s make some Instant Pot Ribs

How to Make Instant Pot Ribs – Step-by-Step Tutorial

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.

Step 1. Put all the ingredients (except the pork ribs, salt and stock) in a blender and whiz them into a paste.

Step 2. Taste paste for salt and adjust as necessary.

Step 3. Put pork ribs on a baking tray and rub paste all over them.

Step 4. Cover and leave to marinate for about 1 hr.

Step 5. Add trivet to bottom of inner pot of Instant Pot.

Add pork ribs on top of trivet…

… then add stock to inner pot.

Step 6. Lock the lid, set valve to SEALING position, select ‘manual’ or ‘pressure cook’ (dependent upon Instant Pot model), high pressure and 20 mins cook time.

Step 7. When cook time ends, turn the Instant Pot off and let the pressure release naturally before opening the pot and removing the ribs.

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 colour and a bit of crispiness.

To serve. Let the ribs rest for a few mins and serve.

Enjoy your Instant Pot Ribs!!

How to Season These Instant Pot Pork Ribs

Note that 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.

What to Serve with Instant Pot Ribs

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 Grill Ribs – Step-by-Step Tutorial

Want to enjoy your ribs on the BBQ instead? Try this version:

Step 1. Light the barbeque to medium heat.

Step 2. You will cook the ribs indirectly. This means that you move the coals to one side and put the ribs on the other side.

Step 3. Put the ribs into the bbq (not over the coals) and then cover the bbq. If you have a thermometer for your bbq it will be between 100ºC and 150ºC (210ºF and 300ºF).

Step 4. Check the ribs after about 20 mins. The meat should be just beginning to pull away from the ends of the bones. If the ends nearest the coals are starting to get dark brown or black, turn over the ribs. If not, give them another 10 mins.

Step 5. Turn over the ribs and continue to cook for another 20 mins.

Step 6. At this stage have a look at the ribs and cut into the middle of them. There should be no blood. If there is, cook for a little longer.

Step 7. Take off the bbq and let the ribs rest for at least 10 mins then serve.

How to Make Oven Baked Ribs – Step-by-Step Tutorial

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

Step 1. Take the onion, garlic, ginger, dried chili flakes, all-purpose seasoning, and vegetable oil and whiz them into a paste in the blender.

Step 2. Taste paste and adjust with salt and pepper as necessary.

Step 3. Marinate the pork ribs for 1 hr so that the flavour seeps into the meat.

Step 4. Then throw your marinated ribs into the oven, uncovered, for about 40 mins or until it starts pulling off the bone. (Because you want to make those instant pot ribs fall-off-the-bone delicious.)

And out comes your oven baked pork ribs ‘salone style’. So little effort for something that tastes so good.

These are keto ribs – perfect for the keto diet

(If you’re looking for a keto dessert after these keto ribs, try my 17 Unbelievably Good Keto Desserts roundup.)

The keto diet is all the rage these days (if you haven’t heard, the keto diet is a ‘low carb, high fat’ diet), and keto dieters (as well as low carb dieters) will be happy to hear this Instant Pot Ribs recipe is fully keto compliant and will make a tasty keto dinner.

So many ribs recipes are loaded with sweeteners like honey or brown sugar, or they contain barbeque sauce which is full of white sugar or high-fructose corn syrup. (All those sweeteners = carb overload.) Not these Instant Pot pork ribs, and that’s why they make for the perfect keto ribs.

Note: To ensure that these are keto ribs, make sure to use coconut oil as your vegetable oil of choice in this recipe.

Weight Watchers Points in This Ribs Recipe

If you increase the number of servings to 8, there are:

• 13 Freestyle points per serving
• 12 PointsPlus points per serving

More Instant Pot Pork Recipes

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

• Vietnamese Instant Pot Pork Tenderloin
• Instant Pot Pork Chops + Tutorial {From Fresh or Frozen}

From a ‘Rib Expert’… You’ll Love These Ribs

You know the verse ‘Jack sprat would eat no fat his wife would eat no lean’? That is the in-joke in the family about me. They can eat all the breast, legs and other fleshy bits of meat that they want. And as for me, well I just want dem bones. Wings and ribs win every time peeps, wings and ribs.

Okay when I go out in public I eat whatever part of the meat I am given. Or at least I try to. Freddy has other ideas. He ‘helpfully’ announces to full dinner tables (smart or not) about how I really, really like the bones so can ALL bones be sent down my way.

I grin inanely and pretty much pray for the ground to swallow me as I end up with bowls piled high with bones. You can only imagine the strange looks I have received over the years.

So since I am such a lover of (wings and) ribs, it should go without saying that I know a good ribs recipe when I see it. And this Instant Pot pork ribs recipe is very, very good. Verrry good. Heaven on a plate, in fact. You are going to LOVE it…… trust this rib expert.

Thank you for reading my Instant Pot Ribs West African Style recipe post. And please visit again as I continue dreaming up recipes, traditional African recipes, African fusion recipes, Sierra Leone recipes, travel plans and much more for you. Thanks for reading Recipes from a Pantry, UK food blog.

Make This Instant Pot Ribs (Grilled Ribs, Oven Baked Ribs) Recipe:

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5 from 5 votes

Instant Pot Ribs

This delicious pork ribs recipe is fall-off-the-bones good! Recipe also includes a grill and oven version.

Prep Time1 hr

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time1 hr 25 mins

Course: Main

Cuisine: African, American, British

Keyword: african style ribs, easy ribs recipe, pressure cooker ribs

Servings: 6

Calories: 689

Author: Bintu Hardy | Recipes From A Pantry

Ingredients

• 1 large onion
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 2 tbsp grated ginger
• 1 tsp dried chilli flakes or to taste
• 2 tsp all purpose seasoning (see recipe notes)
• 2 tbsp vegetable oil
• Salt to taste
• 2 kg (2.2 lbs) pork ribs (baby back ribs)

Additional ingredient for Instant Pot version ONLY:

• 240 ml (1 cup) stock

Instructions

Instant Pot instructions:

• Put all the ingredients (except the pork ribs, salt and stock) in a blender and whiz them into a paste.
• Taste paste for salt and adjust as necessary.
• Put pork ribs on a baking tray and rub paste all over them.
• Cover and leave to marinate for about 1 hr.
• Add trivet to bottom of inner pot of Instant Pot. Add pork ribs on top of trivet, then add stock to inner pot.
• Lock the lid, set valve to SEALING position, select ‘manual’ or ‘pressure cook’ (dependent upon Instant Pot model), high pressure and 20 mins cook time.
• When cook time ends, turn the Instant Pot off and let the pressure release naturally before opening the pot and removing the ribs.
• (optional but highly recommended) After removing the ribs from the Instant Pot, broil them for 5 mins (or to your preference) on a baking tray to give them colour.
• Let the ribs rest for a few mins and serve.

Grill instructions:

• Light the barbeque to medium heat.
• You will cook the ribs indirectly. This means that you move the coals to one side and put the ribs on the other side.
• Put the ribs into the bbq (not over the coals) and then cover the bbq. If you have a thermometer for your bbq it will be between 100ºC and 150ºC (210ºF and 300ºF).
• Check the ribs after about 20 mins. The meat should be just beginning to pull away from the ends of the bones. If the ends nearest the coals are starting to get dark brown or black, turn over the ribs. If not, give them another 10 mins.
• Turn over the ribs and continue to cook for another 20 mins.
• At this stage have a look at the ribs and cut into the middle of them. There should be no blood. If there is, cook for a little longer.
• Take off the bbq and let the ribs rest for at least 10 mins then serve.

Oven instructions:

• Put all the ingredients (except the pork ribs and salt) in a blender and whiz them into a paste.
• Taste paste for salt and adjust as necessary.
• Put pork ribs on a baking tray and rub paste all over them.
• Cover and leave to marinate for about 1 hr.
• Pre heat oven to fan assisted oven 170ºC / 180ºC / 325ºF/ gas 3.
• Cook pork uncovered for about 40 minutes or until it starts pulling of the bone.
• If the pork is not brown by then then crank oven up to fan assisted oven 180ºC / 190ºC / 375ºF/ gas 5 for about 5- 7 minutes to brown pork all over.
• Remove from oven, let it rest for a few minute and serve.

Notes

All purpose seasoning - an all-purpose mix containing things like Salt, Paprika Powder, Ground Black Pepper, Sugar, Mustard Powder, Ground Cumin, Ground Bay, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder, Ground Bay, Onion Powder, Garlic Powder,  Celery Powder, Ground Chilli. Replace with a general meat rub if you can't find some. See one brand of all purpose seasoning here.  

Instant Pot Ribs Tips

• The total cook time does not include the time it takes for the Instant Pot to get to pressure and the time for the natural pressure release. Plan for additional time.
• The ribs will taste best if you do the optional browning step.

++

What to Serve with Instant Pot Ribs

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.

++

Weight Watchers Points in Instant Pot Ribs

If you increase the number of servings to 8, there are:

• 13 Freestyle points per serving
• 12 PointsPlus points per serving

Nutrition

Calories: 689kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 64g | Fat: 44g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Cholesterol: 246mg | Sodium: 378mg | Potassium: 1121mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 240IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 107mg | Iron: 3.6mg