Instant Pot Apple Ribs. Baby back ribs, pressure cooked until fall off-the-bone tender, with apple juice and spice rub, with an apple-flavored barbecue sauce.
I've been aware of Apple City Ribs for a while now; Mike Mills won the BBQ World Championship back when I was getting into cooking. His secret weapon was basting his ribs with apple juice. This recipe is my pressure cooker take on his apple ribs.
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Now, you can't baste ribs in a sealed Instant Pot. But you can use apple juice as the liquid in the pot, which steams the ribs in the apple juice. Pressure cooker ribs are not real-deal barbecue, smoked for hours, but fall off-the-bone tender in a fraction of the time.
My Instant Pot Rib recipes all use the same basic technique, regardless of the type of rib. So, once you've made this recipe, you can make any of them. For a detailed recipe for spare ribs, check out my Instant Pot Spare Ribs with BBQ Rub and Sauce Recipe; if you have Western ribs (aka Country ribs), use my Pressure Cooker Pork Western Shoulder Ribs with Barbecue Rub and Sauce Recipe.
What are Baby Back Ribs?
Baby back ribs are pork ribs from the upper part of the ribcage and wrap around the pork loin. (A.K.A. Back Ribs). If you've ever had a crown rack of pork, baby back ribs are the ribs you're seeing. The "Baby Back" comes in because they are noticeably smaller than spare ribs, so they're considered "baby" ribs.
Ingredients
- 1 rack of baby back ribs, membrane removed
- 1 cup apple juice (or apple cider)
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
Barbecue Rub (2 tablespoons of my Homemade Barbecue Rub), or use your favorite store-bought rub
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt (or 2 teaspoons kosher salt)
- ¾ tablespoon paprika
- ¾ tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ tablespoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
Barbecue sauce (1 cup of my homemade barbecue sauce ), or use your favorite store-bought sauce
- ¾ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup apple butter (or applesauce)
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Franks Red Hot sauce
How to Make Instant Pot Apple Ribs
Remove the membrane from the ribs
On the bone side of the slab of ribs, work a butter knife between the membrane and the bone, then grab the membrane with a paper towel and pull, slowly and firmly, to lift it off of the ribs. (If it tears while you're pulling, work the knife under the remaining pieces and pull them off.)
Make the rub and sauce
In a small bowl, stir the barbecue rub ingredients, breaking up any clumps of brown sugar with your fingers. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the barbecue sauce ingredients until smooth. Set aside.
Season the ribs and put them in the pressure cooker
Cut the rack of ribs into 4 pieces, cutting between every fourth bone. Sprinkle both sides of the ribs with the barbecue rub.
Everything in the pot
Pour the apple juice and liquid smoke into an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Stack the ribs in the pressure cooker in a loose pile, bone side down.
Pressure cook the ribs for 30 minutes with a Natural Release
Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 30 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker or 24 minutes in a stovetop PC. (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook - Custom mode in an Instant Pot). When the cooking time finishes, let the pressure come down naturally for about 15 more minutes. (You can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes).
Sauce and broil the ribs (Optional)
Put the ribs, bone side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush the ribs with the barbecue sauce, then put them under a broiler set to high. Broil the ribs until the sauce is bubbling and just starting to brown, for about 5 minutes. Remove the ribs from the broiler, brush with another layer of sauce, and serve.
What is liquid smoke?
Liquid smoke is a natural product. It is made by burning wood in a low-oxygen environment and distilling the water vapor from the smoke. (That's right; liquid smoke is actually condensed wood smoke.) It's a side effect of making charcoal that has been around for centuries. (Pliny the Elder mentions it back in Ancient Rome.)
Why Use Liquid Smoke With Instant Pot Ribs?
Liquid smoke, used in moderation, is a great flavor enhancer. It makes the ribs taste "meatier," for lack of a better way to describe it. I'm a liquid smoke convert, and I am updating all my pressure cooker ribs recipes to recommend it.
🛠 Equipment
📏Scaling
To double this recipe, you need an 8-quart pressure cooker because ribs take up a lot of space. You can halve the recipe and cook half a rack of ribs, but you will still need a 6-quart pressure cooker. The rib bones make ribs too big to fit in a 3-quart pressure cooker.
💡Tips and Tricks
- I make my own delicious dry rub and barbecue sauce from simple ingredients in my pantry. If you have a favorite rub or sauce, swap them for mine. If you're going with store-bought rub and sauce, I recommend an Apple-based BBQ rub and BBQ Sauce.
- Want super-tender ribs, ones that are hard to take out of the cooker because they are falling apart? Increase the pressure cooking time to 40 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric PC or 32 minutes in a stovetop PC. I prefer a little bite to my ribs, but if you want ultra-tender ribs, the extra cooking time will give them to you.
- Pot liquid into the sauce - stir ¼ cup of the cooking liquid into the sauce before brushing on the ribs. This takes the apple and pork juices from the liquid and adds them to the ribs.
- The liquid smoke is optional, but as I discovered, it's worth using. Look near the barbecue sauce at your local grocery store.
- The apple juice is also optional, but then it's not apple ribs. (That's OK; if all you have is water, add a cup of water instead of the apple juice.)
- If you want Asian-style ribs, try Instant Pot Baby Back Ribs with Chili-Honey Glaze. Or, for a taste of Hawaii, try Instant Pot Hawaiian BBQ Ribs
- Do I need to put the ribs on a trivet? No, you don't. It's okay if the ribs sit in the liquid at the bottom of the Instant Pot. In my testing, putting them on top of the trivet didn't change the results enough to be noticeable.
Serving Suggestions
Barbecued ribs make me think of a summer picnic, so I serve them with Instant Pot Potato Salad, Instant Pot Collard Greens, and Instant Pot Cajun Pinto Beans. Or, I serve them like they do in Texas - with plain white bread, thin-sliced onion, and dill pickle slices. Either way, get your favorite cold beverage with these finger-licking good ribs.
Inspired by: Apple City World Championship Baby-Back Ribs from "Peace Love and Barbecue", Mike Mills and Amy Mills Tunnicliffe.
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Instant Pot Apple Ribs
- Total Time: 1 hour 5 minutes
- Yield: 1 rack of baby back ribs 1x
Description
Instant Pot Apple Ribs. Baby back ribs, pressure cooked until fall off-the-bone tender, with apple juice and spice rub, with an apple-flavored barbecue sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 rack of baby back ribs, membrane removed
- 1 cup apple juice (or apple cider)
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke (optional)
Barbecue Rub (2 tablespoons of my Homemade Barbecue Rub), or use your favorite store-bought rub
- 1½ teaspoons fine sea salt (or 2 teaspoons kosher salt)
- ¾ tablespoon paprika
- ¾ tablespoon brown sugar
- ½ tablespoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ⅛ teaspoon dried thyme
Barbecue sauce (1 cup of my homemade barbecue sauce ), or use your favorite store-bought sauce
- ¾ cup ketchup
- ¼ cup honey
- ¼ cup apple butter (or applesauce)
- ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon Franks Red Hot sauce
Instructions
- Remove the membrane from the ribs: On the bone side of the slab of ribs, work a butter knife between the membrane and the bone, then grab the membrane with a paper towel and pull, slowly and firmly, to lift it off of the ribs. (If it tears while you're pulling, work the knife under the remaining pieces and pull them off.)
- Make the rub and sauce: In a small bowl, stir the barbecue rub ingredients, breaking up any clumps of brown sugar with your fingers. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the barbecue sauce ingredients until smooth. Set aside.
- Season the ribs and put them in the pressure cooker: Cut the rack of ribs into 4 pieces, cutting between every fourth bone. Sprinkle both sides of the ribs with the barbecue rub.
- Everything in the pot: Pour the apple juice and liquid smoke into an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker. Stack the ribs in the pressure cooker in a loose pile, bone side down.
- Pressure cook the ribs for 30 minutes with a Natural Release: Lock the lid and pressure cook on high pressure for 30 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker or 24 minutes in a stovetop PC. (Use Manual, Pressure Cook, or Pressure Cook - Custom mode in an Instant Pot). When the cooking time finishes, let the pressure come down naturally for about 15 more minutes. (You can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes).
- Sauce and broil the ribs (Optional): Put the ribs, bone side down, on a rimmed baking sheet. Brush the ribs with the barbecue sauce, then put them under a broiler set to high. Broil the ribs until the sauce is bubbling and just starting to brown, for about 5 minutes. Remove the ribs from the broiler, brush with another layer of sauce, and serve.
Equipment
Buy Now → - Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 50 minutes
- Category: Sunday Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: American
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PattiAnn says
What are your thoughts on the large oval Instant Pot? It's suppose to hold more ribs without cutting them up.
Ribs for Thanksgiving...Yay! 😁
Mike Vrobel says
I haven't had a chance to try out the new oval Instant Pot, so I dont' have an opinion on it. But if your pressure cooker is large enough that your ribs will fit, you're right, you don't have to cut them up if you don't want to.