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    Home » Recipes » Main Dishes

    Published: Dec 24, 2020 by Nicole This post may contain affiliate links.

    Instant Pot Beef Back Ribs

    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Barbecue beef ribs are always a fun (and messy) dinner option! With this Instant Pot beef rib recipe, you can have fall off the bone ribs in half the time.

    instant pot behind beef ribs

    Waiting hours for ribs to slow cook in the oven or waiting for the rain to stop to heat up the grill aren't always worthwhile options. Especially when you're on a time crunch or find a good deal on ribs during the off-seasons.

    While we're normally pork rib eaters, every once in a while a good deal on beef ribs comes along and we can't help but jump for it. This week we scored ribs at 50% off! So of course I couldn't pass them up.

    I've been cooking everything in our Instant Pot lately and these ribs are no different. To go from raw to fall off the bone with only 22 minutes of cooking time is remarkable. But the seasonings and sauce combination just really makes this taste like a bite of summer.

    With these pressure cooker beef ribs I almost don't even miss the grill....almost.

    Jump to:
    • 🥘 Ingredients
    • 🍽 Equipment Needed
    • 🔪 Instructions
    • 🍴 Recipe Tips
    • 💭 FAQs
    • 📖 Recipe
    • 💬 Comments
    ingredients needed for instant pot beef ribs

    🥘 Ingredients

    • Rack of beef ribs
    • Water
    • Apple cider vinegar

    Seasoning blend

    • Salt
    • Brown sugar
    • Paprika
    • Garlic powder
    • Onion powder
    • Black pepper

    Quick BBQ Sauce:

    • Ketchup
    • Brown sugar
    • Mustard
    • Apple cider vinegar
    • Worcestershire sauce
    • Liquid smoke
    • Paprika

    For the exact amounts needed, please see the recipe card below.

    🍽 Equipment Needed

    BeeyondCereal is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.

    • 6qt Instant Pot
    • Baking Sheet
    • Measuring Spoons
    • Small mixing bowls

    🔪 Instructions

    Check out how to make InstantPot beef back ribs with these simple step-by-step instructions:

    In the bottom of your Instant Pot, place ½ cup of water and ½ cup of apple cider vinegar.

    Combine all of the ingredients for the dry rub inside a bowl and set it aside.

    aerial view of blended seasoning mixture in a bowl

    Take a rack of beef ribs and slice them so that they are no more than 2 ribs per bunch. This will help them to fit inside of the Instant Pot.

    Flip the ribs over to reveal their backs, and then using a sharp paring knife, make score marks down the rib bones, and on the silverskin/membrane.

    showing the silverskin on the back of ribs

    Smother your ribs, front and back, with the dry rub mix you made. You will not need all of it!

    seasoned ribs on red cutting board

    Stack your beef ribs so that they are offset and going in opposite directions. Place them on the trivet and lower them into your pressure cooker.

    stacked seasoned ribs on trivet in instant pot liner

    Close the lid and set it to High Pressure for 22 minutes. Do a Natural Pressure Release for 10 minutes before releasing the remaining pressure.

    instant pot cooked beef ribs in instant pot

    Serve beef ribs now, or go one step further to make Instant Pot BBQ Beef Ribs.

    In a bowl, mix all of the BBQ sauce ingredients until well blended.

    homemade bbq sauce ingredients in bowl

    Set your oven to High Broil. Line a baking sheet with foil.

    Place the ribs on the sheet, carefully.

    bbq sauce covered ribs on foil lined baking sheet

    Brush the homemade BBQ sauce over the tops of the ribs and underneath.

    bbq sauce covered beef ribs on foil lined baking sheet

    High Broil for 5 minutes until caramelized looking.

    Serve warm.

    bbq beef ribs and coleslaw on plates

    🍴 Recipe Tips

    My favorite way to make the meat fall off of the bones a little easier is to trim up and slice through the silver skin on the back of the ribs. This is that chewy tendon-like bit that holds the meat on.

    Silverskin doesn't melt like fat does and will actually get "tighter" as it cooks. This means meat clings even more to the bone than it did before. With beef ribs, it's not as present as it is in pork ribs, but it's still an annoyance that takes moments to fix.

    While some people go the extra mile of removing it completely, I like the lazier route. Simply taking a sharp paring knife and slicing through that membrane will cause it to peel away as the ribs cook and shrink enough so that the meat falls off of the bone more easily.

    You can tell if there is membrane or silverskin on ribs by flipping them over to look at the back. There will be a whiteish or silvery colored layer on the bones or even scattered around in the meat.

    💭 FAQs

    What temperature beef ribs?

    We want these Instant Pot ribs cooked to at least 200 degrees F because that's when the meat is cooked to the point of being tender and fall-off the bone ready. 205-210 F is optimal.

    What to serve with beef ribs

    Some great options include creamy coleslaw, baked potatoes, or a variety of salads like potato salad, macaroni salad, or even a green salad.

    What's the difference between beef ribs and pork ribs?

    Besides the obvious of coming from two different animals, beef ribs are usually bigger and are cut to contain less meat than a rack of pork ribs. This often makes them cheaper as you're paying more for the weight of the bone than you are the meat. That said, both are quite tasty.

    BBQ beef ribs in front of instant pot

    Here are some more great Instant Pot recipes to try

    • Instant Pot Green Beans
    • 5 Ingredient Instant Pot Chili
    • Instant Pot Bacon
    • Instant Pot Apple Pie Filling
    • Instant Pot Ground Beef
    • Instant Pot Chicken Quarters

    📖 Recipe

    beef Ribs
    Print Recipe
    5 from 2 votes

    Instant Pot Beef Back Ribs

    Barbecue beef ribs are always a fun (and messy) dinner option! With this Instant Pot beef rib recipe, you can have fall off the bone ribs in half the time.
    Prep Time 15 mins
    Cook Time 22 mins
    Broil 5 mins
    Total Time 42 mins
    Servings: 4
    Calories: 637kcal
    Cost Recipe $15.84 / Serving $3.96
    Prevent your screen from going dark

    Equipment

    • 6qt Instant Pot
    • Baking Sheet
    • Measuring Spoons
    • Small mixing bowls

    Ingredients

    • 1 small rack beef ribs (about 5-6 ribs) ($13.46)
    • ½ cup water ($0.00)
    • ⅓ cup apple cider vinegar ($0.21)

    Dry Rub Mix

    • 1 ½ tablespoon salt ($0.30)
    • 3 tablespoon brown sugar ($0.19)
    • 1 ½ tablespoon paprika ($0.30)
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder ($0.10)
    • 1 teaspoon onion powder ($0.10)
    • 1 teaspoon black pepper ($0.10)

    Quick BBQ Sauce

    • ¾ cup ketchup ($0.30)
    • 2 tablespoon brown sugar ($0.15)
    • 1 tablespoon mustard ($0.09)
    • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar ($0.04)
    • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce ($0.20)
    • ½ teaspoon liquid smoke ($0.10)
    • 2 teaspoon paprika ($0.20)
    US Customary - Metric

    Instructions

    • Place ½ cup of water and ½ cup of apple cider vinegar into the bottom of your instant pot.
    • For a rack of beef ribs, slice them down into 2 or 3 ribs in width so that they can stack and fit into the Instant Pot.
    • Flip the ribs over so that you're looking at the backside. With a sharp paring knife, slice "score marks" down the back. Cut that silverskin on the rib bone and in between each rib as well. This is an easy trick to get a perfect "fall off the bone" end result- you know we want that!
    • Combine all of the dry rub mix ingredients and set aside.
    • Smother your beef ribs in the rub mix, you will not need it all.
    • Stack the beef ribs so that they go opposite directions, on your trivet. Lower them into the Instant Pot.
    • Close the lid, and set it to High Pressure for 22 minutes. Do a natural pressure release for 10 minutes before releasing the rest.
    • Serve now or go one step further for Instant Pot BBQ Beef Ribs.
    • In a bowl combine all of the BBQ sauce ingredients until well combined.
    • Set your oven to High Broil and line a baking sheet with foil.
    • Place your ribs on the baking sheet.
    • Brush your homemade BBQ sauce over the tops (and bottoms) of the beef ribs.
    • High Broil for 5 minutes, until caramelized and looking delicious.
    • Serve warm.

    Notes

    Recipe Tips

    My favorite way to make the meat fall off of the bones a little easier is to trim up and slice through the silver skin on the back of the ribs. This is that chewy tendon-like bit that holds the meat on.
    Silverskin doesn't melt like fat does and will actually get "tighter" as it cooks. This means meat clings even more to the bone than it did before. With beef ribs, it's not as present as it is in pork ribs, but it's still an annoyance that takes moments to fix.
    While some people go the extra mile of removing it completely, I like the lazier route. Simply taking a sharp paring knife and slicing through that membrane will cause it to peel away as the ribs cook and shrink enough so that the meat falls off of the bone more easily.
    You can tell if there is membrane or silverskin on ribs by flipping them over to look at the back. There will be a whiteish or silvery colored layer on the bones or even scattered around in the meat.
    We want these Instant Pot ribs cooked to at least 200 degrees F because that's when the meat is cooked to the point of being tender and fall-off the bone ready. 205-210 F is optimal. 

    Nutritional Information

    Serving: 1rib | Calories: 637kcal | Carbohydrates: 31.5g | Protein: 45.9g | Fat: 36.7g | Saturated Fat: 13.5g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1.9g | Monounsaturated Fat: 15.7g | Trans Fat: 2g | Cholesterol: 151.9mg | Sodium: 3283.3mg | Potassium: 784.2mg | Fiber: 1.8g | Sugar: 24.1g | Vitamin A: 189.3IU | Vitamin C: 4.4mg | Calcium: 56.5mg | Iron: 5.6mg
    Author NicoleDurham
    Course dinner, Main Course
    Cuisine American
    Tried this recipe?Mention @BeeyondCereal on Instagram and hashtag it #BeeyondCereal
    To view how this recipe was calculated you can visit my Pricing Disclosure Page for more information.

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Catherine McClarey says

      October 10, 2021 at 8:08 am

      Thanks for the tip about cutting slits in the "silver skin" membrane instead of pulling it off completely! The beef back ribs I bought at the supermarket are already separated into individual ribs, so I don't know how much of an issue the membranes will be, but it was good to see confirmation from recipes like yours that beef back ribs will indeed fit in an Instant Pot.

      Reply
      • NicoleDurham says

        October 10, 2021 at 8:31 am

        The membrane is usually what keeps the ribs from being "fall off the bone" good because it shrinks as it cooks causing it to latch onto the bone. Removing it completely can be a real pain so I'm glad you found my "slicing it" tip useful! Thanks so much for commenting, I hope your ribs turn out fabulously.

        Reply

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    I'm Nicole and I am the owner and recipe developer here at Beeyond Cereal. I love saving money and one of the best places to trim expenses is in the kitchen. With this site, we are serving up tasty and frugal homemade dishes that the whole family will enjoy.

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