I’ve been trying so many new things with this Instant Pot challenge! I’ve purchased a few kinds of meat I never tried before, and these “country style boneless pork ribs” that I bought for a Vindaloo recipe definitely count.
I had half a package leftover (Costco!) and was getting a little tired of Mexican or Asian. I wanted BBQ!
But hubby was still doing a Whole30, so no sweetener allowed. That killed 97% of the recipes I looked up! And I don’t stock liquid smoke, which killed the rest.
BBQ Pork Ribs with no Sweetener? Sure, says my Instant Pot!
I ended up having to make up the recipe on my own using a few for inspiration, but very loosely.
I’m super thrilled with how it turned out, with the meat just falling apart delicious and oh so much flavor. The only problem? It would have been better with rice – all those juices!
RELATED: Instant Pot pork carnitas
In addition to being Whole30, it’s also keto friendly!
The kids had it good served with leftover rice, and in fact we ended up with a whole quart jar of juices for leftovers. I needed more rice!
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But I titled this recipe “Whole30” so it’s not very nice to put rice in all those photos. Here’s how hubby and I ate it, with sauteed cabbage, red peppers and mushrooms, plus roasted root veggies, a new frozen prepared bag I found at Costco. That’s my kind of “processed food!”
You might also enjoy my Instant Pot Chicken Burrito Bowl recipe.
Recipe: Pressure Cooker Barbecue Boneless Ribs
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Whole30 BBQ Boneless Pork Ribs in the Instant Pot
- Prep Time: 20 mins
- Cook Time: 70 mins
- Total Time: 1 hour 30 mins
- Yield: 4
- Category: Main Course
Ingredients
- 2 Tbs. olive oil, lard, or other cooking fat
- 1 large onion, sliced
- 2–2.5 lbs. boneless pork ribs (“country style”)
For the rub:
- 2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. white pepper (or black is fine if you don’t have white)
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp. coriander
- 1/2 tsp. thyme
- 1/4 tsp. allspice
For the sauce:
- 1 c. tomato sauce
- 1 c. stock (beef or chicken) or water
- 2 Tbs. red wine vinegar
- 2 tsp. mustard powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp. dried ginger powder
Instructions
- Turn the Instant Pot on to “Saute.” Add the oil, and when it’s hot, add the onion.
- Stir that around for at least 5 minutes, although 10 would be better to get it brown/caramelized.
- Meanwhile, mix the spice rub by blending the salt (Use the code kitchenstewardship for 15% off of your first purchase), white pepper, garlic powder, smoked paprika, coriander, thyme, and allspice.
- If the onions seem to be cooking along too fast, hit the “cancel” button. You can go back to sauteeing at any time if you think it needs more.
- Once the onions look and smell delicious, rub the spice blend on the pork and put it all into the IP on top of the onions. (I plunked the pork in the pot and poured the spices over and moved them around with my spoon because I don’t like getting another bowl out and digging my hands into raw meat. Whatever works!)
- Mix the sauce together in a bowl or glass measuring cup: tomato sauce, stock or water, vinegar, mustard powder, salt, garlic powder, and dried ginger.
- Pour the sauce into the bottom of the Instant Pot, trying not to pour the spices off your meat.
- Close and lock the lid and make sure the valve is closed.
- Press the “Meat/Stew” button, which is 35 minutes on high pressure (with about 15-20 minutes to get to pressure).
- Allow for natural pressure release at the end of the cook time.
- The ribs should be just falling apart. Serve over rice, noodles, or mashed potatoes, or for Whole30/Paleo, serve with lots of sauteed or roasted veggies and a big old baked white or sweet potato.
- You’ll have lots of juices leftover, which go awesome on rice as a side dish in a future meal, as a sauce for a veggie saute, or as the start for a leftover soup with your meat and some other ingredients.
Notes
**Just use regular paprika if you don’t have smoked. If you have liquid smoke, add that to get more of the BBQ flavor.
**Surely could be done in a slow cooker for 8 hours on low. Skip the water/stock as it wouldn’t be needed, and saute the onions separately if you want that flavor (or use dried onion if you don’t care!).
Nutrition
- Calories: 514
- Sugar: 4.8g
- Sodium: 2130mg
- Fat: 17.8g
- Saturated Fat: 4.5g
- Carbohydrates: 9.2g
- Fiber: 2.4g
- Protein: 76.3g
- Cholesterol: 207mg
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I had to fight off the family just to take these pictures…and then they promptly ate my props. I didn’t even get any of the leftovers at all!
Speaking of no leftovers…sometimes you don’t want any, like if you’re cooking while traveling. Check out this post to see how I made this meal in a hotel room with the Instant Pot and allowed my family to swim like fish!
By the way, if you don’t usually buy boneless ribs, I am sure these spices and sauces could also be used with many other cuts of pork, pretty much anything you’d throw into a slow cooker like a shoulder roast, or even a beef chuck roast. It’s just a little bit zingy but mostly just full-bodied flavor.
RELATED: How to cook side pork.
Feel free to thicken up the sauce by adding arrowroot starch after cooking (it will burn on the pot if you add it before).
More Whole30 Info:
- Whole30 (and anti-cavity) Rookie Meal Plan
- Whole30 Veggie Side Dish Ideas and Meal Plans
- Tastes like Pizza Breakfast Hash (Whole30 compliant)
- Whole30 Instant Pot Boneless Pork Rib Recipe
- Whole30 Failure Story: Didn’t Help my Friend’s Hashimoto’s
- Whole30 Failure Story: Too Hard for Bachelor to Manage
- Easy BBQ Chicken for Instant Pot or Slow Cooker (no sweetener)
- Whole30 Grocery Shopping List to Stock Up for Success
- Instant Pot Greek Beef Roast (Whole30 compliant)
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My dear friend Wardee at Traditional Cooking School can do just about anything with her Instant Pot – cakes, bread, main dishes, veggies, even “stacking” multiple kinds of food at once!
She’s offering a free sourdough cornbread Instant Pot recipe!
This cornbread is delicious, nutritious, super easy to make, and it only needs 12 minutes of cook time.
More Instant Pot Treasures
Instant Pot Tutorials:
My instant pot doesn’t have meat/stew. What should I use instead?
Jasmine – All those buttons are just a number of minutes, so just set the pot to 35 minutes on high pressure. You can do that by adjusting any button or choosing manual. Enjoy! 🙂 Katie
Loved the flavor of this bbq sauce. The meat fell right apart. I served it with roasted baby bok choy and cauliflower rice that I added onions, zucchini and baby spinach too!I didn’t see your notes till after so next time I’ll add the liquid smoke. I saved all the sauce and will use it in another dish!
Awesome! Thanks for sharing!
Family ALL loved this recipe (made exactly as suggested except used a can of stewed tomatoes for the tomato sauce.
The sauce was delicious and I plan to use it for a soup base.
My instant pot arrived this week and I’m so excited that you are doing this series as I have no idea what I am doing or what recipes are keepers! I tested it tonight with chicken and rice soup. I think my problem was cooking the frozen chicken on high pressure, which turned the rice to mush. All was not lost and the kids gobbled it up ????
It’s so much fun, Lauren! Maybe start out with recipes written for the Instant Pot until you get the hang of it all. I’m sure you’re right about not being able to cook frozen chicken and rice at the same time for the same length of time.
Enjoy!! 🙂 Katie
i dont ever use sweetener, but then again, bbq sauce to us is buffalo wing sauce lol