Instant Pot Country Style BBQ Ribs are rich and fall-apart tender alternative to traditional ribs. So aromatic and flavorful thanks to the homemade Barbecue Sauce ingredients. 
I’ve made them all in the instant pot – Instant Pot Pork Chops, Instant Pot Pork Stroganoff and now please welcome the most amazing Instant Pot Country Style BBQ Ribs!
You don’t need to fire up the BBQ in order to have melt-in-your-mouth BBQ ribs. These ribs are pressure cooked assuring the juiciest and most tender ribs – ideal for big celebrations, busy week dinners, or anytime you are in the mood for insanely good BBQ ribs.
These easy pressure cooker BBQ country style ribs are flavorful and tender. They are perfect as is, or served over Instant Pot Garlicky Mashed Potatoes!
What are Country Style Pork Ribs
Country-style ribs are cut from the blade end of the loin close to the pork shoulder and they have a similar taste and texture to traditional ribs. They are meatier than other rib cuts, emphasis on the meatier part. And you will get a lot of meat out of them! Country style pork ribs also have enough fat to keep the meat moist, unlike leaner cuts like tenderloin or loin.
You’ll find them sold as bone-in or boneless, either will work. I actually made both of them in this recipe. Pictures reflect bone-in country style ribs, while the video was made using boneless country style pork ribs.
Why make Country Style Ribs in the Instant Pot?
They cook fast under pressure and the meat just falls off the bone! So easy to make good ribs in the instant pot! 
Does cooking time change if using frozen ribs?
Cooking time ( in terms of what you set it for on the Instant Pot) for frozen country style ribs stays the same as for fresh ribs – 35 minutes plus Natural Release, but what will be different is the coming-to-pressure time. It will be longer automatically – that’s the only difference.
If you bought frozen ribs, remember that the cooking time doesn’t start until the pot reaches pressure which means if ribs are frozen it will take longer to reach pressure and longer for the pot to become hot enough to reach pressure.
Therefore, overall cooking time including coming to pressure will be longer for frozen country style ribs, however no change in cooking time in the recipe itself is required!
What’s in the homemade BBQ sauce
Homemade barbecue sauce is made with ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, brown sugar, mustard, black pepper and vinegar (see complete list in the recipe box). By the way, you can use any of these: distilled, red wine or apple cider. I used apple cider vinegar.
Instant Pot Country Style BBQ Ribs Instructions
Simply place Country Style Pork Ribs inside the pot on top of the homemade barbecue sauce. If your ribs have any fat layer on them, make sure to put them with the fat layer on top. Otherwise, before the pot comes to pressure, you might get a “Burn” warning since fat will start cooking off.
If that happens, open the pot, and flip the ribs – that’s all! As a bonus, you might get a nice sear on that side. Once the ribs are in the pot, season them generously with salt and pepper.
Pour some of the sauce on top of the meat to coat the top part of the ribs.
Should trivet be used for Instant Pot Country Style Ribs?
You can also use a trivet and not worry about fat layer at all! I cooked it both ways (with and without trivet) and the result was outstanding either way.
How to thicken BBQ Sauce after Pressure Cooking:
This is an optional step. If you desire to thicken the sauce a bit, simply add a slurry made with cornstarch and water, using the Sauté function to simmer the sauce until it’s thickened.
Note that I did not thicken the sauce in this recipe. After the release of pressure and a good amount of the liquid had evaporated and the sauce had thickened up.
The close-up picture below shows the sauce spooned on top of the ribs. As you can see, it’s of a pretty good consistency:
Instant Pot Tips
If you are frequently using your Instant Pot for a variety of recipes, it’s a good idea to have 2 different rings: one for savory recipes and the other for sweet recipes in order to avoid odor exchange. I use this Genuine Instant Pot Ring as my second ring – it is made by Instant Pot manufacturer and has over 1,000 positive reviews on Amazon.
Instant Pot Tempered Glass Lid is a good way to help keep the food warm without having to put the pressure lid on.
If you like cooking in your Instant Pot you might like these delicious recipes:
- Instant Pot Chicken and Rice
- Instant Pot BBQ Beef Brisket
- Instant Pot Spaghetti with Meat Sauce
- Instant Pot Spatchcock Chicken with Mustard Crust
Instant Pot Country style BBQ pork ribs is a comfort food like no other comfort food, perfect for your Pressure Cooker!
Pork ribs are so aromatic and flavorful thanks to the homemade Barbecue Sauce ingredients.
- 1 1/2 cups ketchup
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1/3 cup Vinegar
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1/2 cup Brown sugar
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 2 teaspoon Mustard powder
- 2 tsp Paprika
- 3 lb. Country Style Pork Ribs
- 1/2 Cup Beef Broth
- Salt and pepper
- Add the ingredients of Barbecue Sauce into the Instant Pot. Mix with a wooden spoon
Now add 1/2 cup beef broth and mix it into the sauce (this amount of liquid is needed prevent Instant Pot's "Burn" warning)
Place ribs on top of the sauce with the fat layer on top (to prevent Burn warning). Season with salt and pepper over the ribs right in the pot.
Using a spoon, coat the top of the ribs with the sauce.
Close the lid, make sure it's in the "Lock" position. Turn the vent to "Sealing" position. Push "Meat/Stew" button which defaults to 35 minutes. Your pot will show On.
- Once the pressure is built up and valve pops up, the countdown will start from 35 minutes to 0.
When pressure cooking is over and digital display reads "L0:00", the pot will start beeping. Push "Cancel" to cancel the reheat mode. The digital display will show "OFF". Now just patiently wait for the floating valve to completely drop (this will take 10 to 20 minutes).
Now turn "Venting" knob to venting position. Turn the lid to "Open" position and open the pot. The ribs are done!
Recipe Video
Hungry for more pork? How about boneless pork chop recipes? I have several tasty and quick recipes here:
If you are looking for pork tenderloin or pork loin recipes, you might find these recipes interesting:
This recipe smells amazing! I have them cooking in the instapot now. They are similar to a recipie u use for a low and slow in my oven so I’m sure they are going to be just as good! The only down side I have found is that I’m cooking for a large group and will have to run another batch through to make sure I have enough for everyone. Otherwise I am excited and can’t wait!
This recipe is superb!!!! This is the only way i cook my country style ribs these days!! i add a few extras, but this base recipe is soo old school and soooo delicious!!! thank you 10 times over for sharing. i have a batch in right now. Theres a career in this recipe alone!!!!
ohhhyeahhh!!!!!!!!!!
What a great review – I’m blushing!!! Thank you
Perfectly cooks, great taste!
Thank you!