Instant Pot Country Style Ribs

Instant Pot Country Style Ribs are so easy to make, packed with flavor, and will be a new summertime favorite! Take a rack of ribs (or two), season with a simple dry rub and barbecue sauce, and then make them melt-in-your-mouth tender in your Instant Pot!

Originally published on Pressure Cooker Meals September 2019, updated here August 2024.

Jump to:

• Country Ribs in an Instant Pot
• What are Country Style Ribs?
• Tools
• Ingredients:
• Substitutions
• How to Make Instant Pot Country Style Ribs
• Pressure Cooking Ribs in the Instant Pot
• Side Dishes for Bone-In Country Style Ribs
• Instant Pot Country Style Ribs Printable Recipe:
• Recipe

Country Ribs in an Instant Pot

Just because summer is almost over and grilling season is coming to an end, doesn't mean you have to do without ribs! These Instant Pot Country Style Ribs can be made any time of year and they are incredible! Instant Pot cooking is my favorite way to cook 

When you think of country pork ribs, you usually think of the barbecue grill, lots of foil, bottles of barbecue sauce, hours of prep, and painstaking, meticulous planning for just the right temperatures and time.

Well, not with these ribs. The Instant Pot will speed up your time, and you'll come out with some great, fall-off-the-bone ribs that are sure to please. You will love this time-saving, delicious recipe.

For this recipe, I'm using bone-in country ribs, but you could certainly use boneless pork ribs if you like. Or even baby back ribs, which are still pork ribs but a different cut of meat. 

What are Country Style Ribs?

This section of this blog post is an update since I am more educated than I used to be. The ribs in this post are not actually country-style ribs. But you can make bone-in country-style ribs using this recipe with the same (or very similar) results.

Country-Style Ribs

Country style ribs, are more like "mini pork chops" cut from the shoulder. They're not technically ribs. These cuts are bone-in and resemble rib chops, though technically they aren't ribs. They’re tender and flavorful and can be cooked on the stovetop in a cast iron pan or in a slow cooker.

However, we prefer preparing them in the Instant Pot with BBQ sauce to get amazing flavor and tenderness in a fraction of the time. They are meaty, rich in flavor, juicy, and absolutely delicious!

Spare Ribs or Baby Back Ribs

Having said that, the photographs in this post are either of spare ribs or baby back ribs both cuts are true ribs. It's been years since I posted them but both baby back and spare ribs are true ribs with layers of meat and fat between and around the bones.

Similarly, boneless country style ribs aren't actually ribs either, but rather meat from around the pork shoulder area with similar texture and flavor to ribs. They are delicious (and can be made with this recipe), but they aren't really "boneless ribs" or ribs at all.

So forgive me during the rest of this recipe, when I may or may not use the correct terminology, and just know that you're getting a great recipe that will work for almost any kind of pork ribs (or not really ribs).

Okay, now that everything is cleared up, let's get on with the recipe!

Tools

• Baking Sheet
• Mixing Bowl
• Zip Top Bag
• Electric Pressure Cooker (an Instant Pot pressure cooker is my brand of choice)

Ingredients:

These ingredients are all common and can easily be found at your local grocery store. 

• One (or two) racks of ribs (or country style pork ribs, if you will)
• Coarse ground garlic salt or garlic powder
• Seasoned salt
• Black pepper
• Chili powder
• Dry mustard
• Paprika
• Onion powder
• Celery salt
• Liquid smoke
• Country Bob's All Purpose Sauce (or your favorite bbq sauce)
• Honey

Find the complete recipe with ingredients measurements in the recipe card below.

Substitutions

Store-bought Dry Rub instead of the mix of spices above for the homemade dry rub.

Homemade Barbecue Sauce

Change up the Dry Rub - vary the spices or ingredient amounts in the dry rub depending on your tastes and what you have on hand

Broth. Instead of water in the pot - use beef broth or a little more flavor.

How to Make Instant Pot Country Style Ribs

Prep the Meat

First, I have to talk you through prepping a rack of ribs. You can skip this if you're using actual country-style ribs.

Rib racks have a membrane on the back side that needs to be removed. It's silvery white and on the opposite side of the meaty part of the ribs. It looks like fat, but it's not.

There's no really easy way to do this, but here goes...

1. Take a sharp knife and start at one corner on the back sides of the ribs. Run the knife under the membrane to loosen it.
2. Pull it back just a little, and use a paper towel to grab the loosened membrane and pull it off. You may have to do this in two or three segments to loosen and pull, as some racks will have a membrane that comes off easily, and others will take a little work.

Marinate the Country-Style Pork Ribs

1. Once the membrane is removed, place the ribs in a flat-bottomed dish (like an 11 X 14) or onto a baking sheet and sprinkle with liquid smoke.
2. Let the ribs sit for about 30 minutes to absorb the smoke.
3. After 30 minutes, hold the ribs up, and allow any liquid remaining to run off into the dish.
4. Lay the ribs back in the dish, and place in the refrigerator.

Seasoning the Ribs

1. In a Ziploc bag, place the garlic salt, seasoned salt, seasoned pepper, chili powder, dry mustard, paprika, onion powder, and celery salt.
2. Close the bag and shake vigorously to blend all the dry ingredients.
3. Once the ingredients are blended, open the bag and sit it in a small bowl (so it will stand up and you can scoop out of it).
4. Remove the ribs from the refrigerator.
5. Using a spoon, generously sprinkle the BBQ rub over the meaty side of the ribs and press it into the meat.
6. Once you've covered the ribs in the dry rub, cover them with plastic wrap or place them in an airtight container.
7. Place them in the refrigerator overnight to allow the flavors to be absorbed.

Pressure Cooking Ribs in the Instant Pot

1. The next day, remove the ribs from the refrigerator. Place the trivet in the Instant Pot, and add 1 cup of water, and ½ cup of your favorite barbecue sauce in the bottom of your Instant Pot.
2. Place ribs in the inner pot on the trivet and curve them around to fit inside or so that they're leaning against the inside liner of the Instant Pot.
3. Place the lid on the Instant Pot, and turn it until it beeps and locks. Turn the pressure valve to the sealing position, and press the Manual button, and set the time to 30 minutes of cook time on high pressure.
4. Allow the Instant Pot to cook the ribs and then do a natural pressure release. Once the Instant Pot is completely done, and has released all the pressure (about an hour), turn the valve to venting to relieve any remaining pressure. Use a pot holder to do this to make sure all pressure has been released.

Finishing the Instant Pot Country-Style Ribs

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. Line an oven-safe dish with aluminum foil for easy clean-up. Then remove the lid to the Instant Pot, and place the cooked ribs in the dish.
3. In a separate dish, pour half the bottle of Country Bob's sauce (or your bbq sauce of choice). Also add the 1 cup of honey, and stir well.
4. Pour this honey barbecue sauce over the ribs. Then place the ribs in the oven at 350°F for 30 minutes. 
5. Once ribs have browned a little, and sauce is gooey, remove from oven and serve immediately. Serve with any remaining bbq sauce!

This extra step of time in the oven will crisp the ribs and melt the barbecue sauce into the ribs giving them so much flavor. It will get a little gooey in the oven, which blends the dry rub and barbecue flavors together. 

NOTE: You may want to double the dry rub recipe for 2 full racks of ribs, depending on how much dry rub is preferred. Dry rub recipe given will make enough for about 2 - 3 pounds of ribs, which is approximately 1 rack.

And that's it! Enjoy these fork tender instant pot country style ribs any day or night - any time of year! 

Side Dishes for Bone-In Country Style Ribs

• Instant Pot Potato Salad
• Instant Pot Baked Potato
• Potato Salad
• Cole Slaw
• Cucumber Salad
• Green Beans
• Baked Beans

Need an easy dessert? Maybe an Air Fryer Birthday Cake or Easy Southern Pecan Pralines.

Instant Pot Country Style Ribs Printable Recipe:

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