At Ajpal, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.

There is nothing better than delicious, tender, and flavorful ribs for gameday – they are hearty and filling, and work perfectly for a keto diet – plus they are easy to serve for a crowd!

These amazingly delicious – and crazy easy – ribs are based off my recipe for the Best Smoked Ribs Ever.

If you don’t have an Instant Pot, and don’t want to smoke ribs, please check out my Best Ever Baked Ribs – delicious keto ribs, right from your oven – or my Best Ever Slow Cooker Ribs for melt-in-your-mouth ribs from the slow cooker!

All can be made keto – simply swap golden monkfruit sweetener for the brown sugar in the rub, and make sure to grab a bottle of keto approved BBQ sauce.

And if you’re looking for the BEST chicken to go along with these ribs for gameday – be sure to get my top-reviewedBBQ Baked Chicken Drumsticks recipe!

Keto Instant Pot Ribs

Ribs are an awesome party food for those following a keto diet – but it is essential to make sure you’re using a keto-approved bbq sauce and rub.

I am giving you my best rib rub recipe (from my outrageously delicious best ever smoked ribs recipethat has had a ton of great reviews) below – but you can use any rib rub you love.

I suggest low-sugar BBQ sauces for ribs – and rounding up some below:

picture of rib rack curled into instant pot

How To Prep Ribs For Instant Pot

Ribs are a cut of meat that need to be trimmed well for the best flavor – and so they aren’t chewy and tough.

Ribs come with a silver skin often over the ribs – trimming the most of this tough tendon off the rib will greatly improve the flavor of your oven baked ribs – so don’t skip this step.

How To Trim Silver Skin Off Ribs

Run a knife under the silver skin to separate the membrane from the rib meat.
If the silver skin resists in one spot, try another.

Once you have separated enough with a knife, grab silver skin tightly and pull to remove from the ribs.
If silver skin breaks in one spot, loosen it again with a knife to remove it completely.

How To Cook Ribs in Instant Pot

The best instant pot ribs are simple – but there are a couple tips and tricks to make sure you have perfect ribs, every time.

Dry Rub

After removing silver skin from your ribs, generously cover with dry rub to help create a “smoky” flavor – right in the IP!
Smoked paprika helps bring out a grilled meat flavor, without the grill.

Use a trivet

Placing the ribs up above the water needed to bring your instant pot to pressure is essential – you’re not boiling ribs, you’re cooking them!

Finish With Crisp Lid

Finish with a crisping lid for crunchy ribs! For a delicious, crunchy BBQ sauce bark, use a crisping lid or broil ribs after baking for 5-10 minutes.

To buy your own crisping lid for your instant pot, click here.

The Best Rib Rub Recipe

This rib rub is slightly modified from the one found in my slow cooker ribs, baked ribs and smoked ribs – we’re replacing the brown sugar with golden monkfruit sweetener.

If you’re not watching carbs, swap that out for brown sugar.

Rib Rub Ingredients

Tablespoon of garlic powder
Tablespoon of season salt
Tablespoon of oregano
Tablespoon of cumin
Tablespoon of golden monkfruit sweetener

How Long To Cook Ribs in Instant Pot

To Cook Baby Back Ribs In an Instant Pot, cook for 25 Minutes
To Cook spare ribs in an Instant Pot, cook for 30 Minutes
- For high altitude cooking (I’m in Colorado!), cook 5 minutes longer.
Technically, ribs are overcooked when they are “fall off the bone” tender, even though that is popular (I’ll admit, I love fall off the bone ribs). To get them extra tender, cook an extra five minutes.