Instant Pot Ribs With Cola BBQ Sauce are ready in an hour in the pressure cooker! Fall-off-the-bone tender with a sweet and tangy Cola sauce, they’re finger-licking, lip-smacking amazing!
This is my first post on the blog and I am so excited! I’ve been blogging since 2013, yet The Recipe Pot still feels like a brand new adventure. It’s my new baby, and I can’t wait to see it grow.
Although I have a good few recipes ready to go, I thought these BBQ pork ribs should be the first one up. Because what better way to kick off a pressure cooker/slow cooker/air fryer recipe site than Instant Pot ribs? If there’s ONE reason why you need an Instant Pot in your life, it’s that you can have fall-off-the-bone tender, finger-licking, lip-smacking awesome ribs in an hour!
How to Make Instant Pot Ribs with Cola BBQ Sauce
These pressure cooker ribs are so easy to make, you’d be pleasantly surprised how tender and full flavored they turn out with so little effort. I used baby back ribs, but you can use St. Louis cut if you prefer meatier ribs.
Step 1: Preparing the Baby Back Ribs
- Use a sharp knife to trim any excess fat from the bone side and any tough sinew on the meaty side. To remove the membrane, insert the tip of a thermometer or a blunt knife underneath it and over a bone. Gently pull and peel off from the bones.
- Season front and back of the slab generously with a dry rub mixture of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika.
Step 2: Pressure Cooking
- Another great thing about this Instant Pot ribs recipe is there are no complicated marinades to pull together. Just a few cups of Coca-cola and your favorite brand of BBQ sauce serve as the liquid the ribs are pressure cooked in.
- Don’t use the trivet! Place the ribs directly in the sauce so they get to absorb all the wonderful flavors as they tenderize.
Step 3: The Cola BBQ Sauce
- After pressure cooking is done, I like to transfer the liquid to a pan and reduce on the stovetop to a nice and thick sauce for basting but you can just remove the ribs from the pot and continue to cook off the sauce using the SAUTE function.
- The Instant Pot has a tight sealing mechanism that limits evaporation and along with the rendered fat, you’ll get about 4 to 5 cups of sauce to reduce. This is actually the longest part of the recipe as it will take about 20 to 30 minutes to cook the cola-BBQ mixture down to a more dense consistency.
- Please don’t decrease the amount of cola! If the cooking liquid is too thick, it might not be able to build enough steam to come up to pressure. This might cause scorching on the bottom and trigger the Instant Pot’s “Burn” code.
- To speed up the process, use a wide shallow pan instead of a deep saucepot and boil uncovered on medium-high heat, stirring occasionally.
- You can use plain BBQ sauce for basting if you like but I highly suggest going the extra step of reducing the liquid. Not only does the cola BBQ sauce deliver unbelievable flavor, the extra 20 to 30 minutes of waiting while the sauce reduces actually give the ribs time to cool and firm up a little so you’ll get neater slices when you cut later on.
Step 4: Broiling the Pork Ribs
- While reducing the sauce, preheat the oven to 450 F.
- Make sure to line the baking sheet with foil as it can get pretty messy and baked-on grease can be hard to clean up. Lightly spray the foil with cooking spray to keep the ribs from sticking.
- Generously coat the ribs with the cola sauce and finish them off in the oven until top is lightly browned and nicely caramelized.
How Long to Cook Ribs in the Instant Pot?
There are two schools of thought on what the texture of pork ribs should be. For the rib purists, a good rib should be tender with a slight chew. The meat should be slightly adhered to the bone but should pull off the bone cleanly with little effort.
We belong in the second group at home as we want our pork ribs almost falling off the bone. We want them very tender, you can cut them with a smile 🙂
The pressure cook time really depends on the texture you want and how meaty and what cut of ribs you use. I cook baby back ribs on HIGH pressure for 25 minutes and St. Louis or spare ribs for 30 minutes, adding a minute or two if they’re extra thick.
What to serve with Instant Pot Ribs
I love BBQ ribs so much I can polish off a whole slab by itself but for a complete meal, potato salad, corn on the cob, baked beans, mac and cheese, creamed spinach are great side options.
If you want to bring a bit of Texas flair to your BBQ, you can also garnish your plate with white bread, sliced raw onions, and dill pickles.
Give these Instant Pot ribs a try and have a scrumptious BBQ dinner ready in a breeze. I will be adding pressure and slow cooker ideas regularly so please check back here often. Enjoy!
Instant Pot Ribs with Cola BBQ Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 rack baby back ribs (about 3 pounds)
- 1 tablespoon Kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 3 cups cola
- 1 1/2 cups barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Rinse ribs and pat dry.
- Using a knife, trim any excess meat or fat from the bone side and any tough sinew or silver skin on the meaty side of the pork ribs.
- Insert the tip of a thermometer or a blunt knife under the membrane and over a bone. Gently pull the membrane and peel off from the bones.
- In a small bowl, combine salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika. Season the meat, front and back, with the dry rub.
- In the pressure cooker pot, combine cola and barbecue sauce. Stir until well blended.
- Place slab of ribs in the pot.
- Close and lock the lid, making sure the floating valve is set on SEALING. Press the MANUAL button, set at HIGH pressure and adjust the cooking time to 25 minutes.
- When the Instant Pop beeps, allow natural pressure release for 5 minutes and then turn the steam floating valve on the lid to VENTING position to release the remaining pressure manually. Carefully open lid.
- LIne a baking sheet with foil and preheat oven to 450 F.
- Carefully remove ribs from the pot and transfer on the prepared baking sheet. Cover with foil to keep warm. Reserve the juices.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring the reserved juices/sauce to a simmer. Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes or until reduced to a nice and thick consistency.
- Using a brush, generously baste the pork ribs with the cola-bbq sauce. Bake in the preheated oven for about 10 to 15 minutes or until top is lightly browned and caramelized.
Video
Nutrition
This looks delicious. If I do two racks of baby back spare ribs, should I increase the time? If so, how much?
I haven’t two at a time but I think another couple minutes or so would work. Let me know how it turns out!
Best ribs I have ever had! Reduced the sauce in the IP on ‘high saute’ for about 30-40 minutes.
Thank you so much for the feedback. These ribs are our favorite at home and I am glad you enjoyed them 🙂