Pressure Cooker Hot Honey Ribs
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 2tablespoons sweet paprika
- 1tablespoon hot smoked paprika
- 1tablespoon dried mustard powder
- 2teaspoons garlic powder
- Black pepper
- 2racks baby back ribs (about 4 pounds total)
- 2tablespoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
- ⅔cup honey
- 5red Thai chiles or 2 red jalapeño, serrano or finger chiles, stemmed and thinly sliced (or 1½ tablespoons red-pepper flakes)
- 3(1-inch) strips lime peel and the juice of ½ lime (about 1 tablespoon juice)
- 1tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
953 calories; 59 grams fat; 21 grams saturated fat; 1 gram trans fat; 25 grams monounsaturated fat; 10 grams polyunsaturated fat; 40 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 33 grams sugars; 70 grams protein; 1056 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Add the sweet and hot smoked paprika, mustard and garlic powders and several generous grinds of black pepper to a small bowl and mix to combine.
- Step 2
Remove the ribs from the packaging and pat them dry with paper towels. (The easiest place to do this is the sink.) Turn the ribs over to remove the membrane that covers the back of the ribs: Grasp one end of the membrane with paper towels to keep your hands from slipping and pull; the membrane should pull right off in one or two sheets. (If it is not easy to pull off, you can skip this step.) Season the ribs all over, front and back, using about 1 tablespoon of salt per rack of ribs. Coat the ribs in the spice mixture, patting it all over both sides of the ribs.
- Step 3
Put 2 cups of water into a 6- or 8-quart electric pressure cooker. Fit a steamer basket or trivet into the pot over the water. If you don’t have one of those, roll up sheets of aluminum foil to make foil snakes about 1½ inches in diameter. Coil the foil snakes into the bottom of the pot, covering the bottom of the pot with the coil. Make sure the top of the coil is just above the water level. This makes your own steamer trivet. Coil the ribs in the pot with the meaty sides facing the sides of the pot and the bones pointing up, standing them in a ring of concentric circles. Close the lid and cook on high pressure for 18 to 22 minutes. (See Tip)
- Step 4
Meanwhile, make the hot honey: Combine the honey, chiles and lime peel in a small saucepan over medium heat. Let the mixture get very hot, until it simmers and then starts to foam, about 2 minutes. Remove it from the heat, pour it into a small heatproof bowl and set aside. (The honey can be made several days in advance. When it cools, cover it, and store it at room temperature.)
- Step 5
When the cook time is over, turn off the pressure cooker and let the pressure release naturally for 15 minutes, then release the remaining pressure manually. Open the lid. The ribs should be very tender, but not falling apart. They are done when the meat shrinks back from the bones, the bones wiggle easily and a fork can easily shred an edge of the meat. If the meat is not tender, pressure cook on high for 1 to 3 more minutes, then immediately release the pressure manually.
- Step 6
Line a sheet pan with foil. Using tongs, transfer the ribs to the sheet pan, meaty side up. Heat the broiler. Remove the lime zest from the honey (leave the chiles in) and stir the lime juice and apple cider vinegar into the honey mixture. Using a spoon, drizzle the honey all over the ribs, using about half the honey but leaving the chiles in the bowl.
- Step 7
Broil the ribs until they are caramelized and sizzling, and lightly charred in spots, 2 to 3 minutes. (Check the ribs every 30 seconds or so to prevent burning, and rotate them to make sure that all the surfaces get caramelized.) Season the ribs with salt, then drizzle more of the hot honey and chiles over the ribs, to taste. Serve with any remaining hot honey on the side.
Tip
- Within this range, consider two variables when choosing an initial cook time: Older, smaller (6-quart) pressure cookers tend to cook more slowly than newer, larger (8-quart) ones. And rib size matters: if your racks are small (2 pounds or less each), skew the cook time towards the lower end.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Susan B. A.
I've been making ribs like this in my instant pot for the last 4 years and they're wonderful, though 15 minutes on high usually works for me with just over 1 cup of water - all you need for such a short cook time. Tip: save the water and use it to create an out of this world noodle soup (wirh veggies and leftover protein) later that week! You can even drizzle the noodles with a bit of the hot honey.
Hazel
Very disappointing. Meat well cooked, but surface flavors of rub and glaze were not strong enough to carry the insipid meat, which tasted like steamed meat.
andreaborn
@Margaret -- yes, electric pressure cooker timing is the amount at time at pressure, not including time to come to pressure. However, they typically have slightly lower pressure than stovetop models (something like 12 psi vs. 15 psi), so you might cut the time down by ~5 minutes.
tom
This is the fifth Instapot rib recipe I have made, and the only one I don't like. As Hazel pointed out, the meat comes out quite bland. It is the glazing that gives it flavor. The honey does not caramelize - it simply boils. Use a more traditional tomato-based sauce flavorize the ribs.
Chris Miller
The spice mix and the pressure cooking method were great! The pork was very tender and maintained the feel of ribs when you bite into it. Much better than use a slow cooker imo. You'll never match the flavor of smoked or grilled ribs, but this is good enough. This is not a BBQ recipe and I am not a fan of the Hot Honey glaze. It tasted ok after I drizzled the hot honey on the ribs and broiled them, but dipping the ribs in the honey did not taste good at all. Buy some BBQ sauce or make your own.
tip from another reviewer
Maybe just 15 min and 1 c water
hillary
Great recipe to start in the morning and finish in time for kickoff. I’m not sure what I did wrong; it tasted great but didn’t have the nice glossy finish in the photo. Tip: If you have leftovers, the shredded meat makes wonderful soft tacos.
Mike
I cooked nearly 10# of ribs (Costco size) packed tightly into an 8 qt instapot with 1C of water for 18 min. followed by 15 min. natural release. I used a BBQ rub instead of the spice mix, and then the honey-chile glaze (great!), and then grilled the ribs -- wonderful!
Nick
These cooked well with the meat almost falling off the bones. I like tender ribs and don't consider removing the membrane to be optional. Slice it on one of the bones, pry it up with the point of a knife to get an edge and use a paper towel for grip. The honey glaze needed to be reduced further, most of it ran off. It was thicker before I added the lime juice and vinegar!
maggie
I like to cook for significantly longer than the recipe calls for And use a bbq sauce instead of the honey glaze, much better
j
Made these today following the pressure cooker method. They were good, but they are so much better when following the slow cooker method.
Dani
Forgot to get thai chillies so just used the trader joe's hot honey I had in the pantry and zested a lime right into it before adding the ACV and lime juice. Delicious!
Laura
I liked these but I made only 1 rack but used the same amount of spice mixture. Because the initial cook is a pressure cooker don’t skimp on salting the meat. I would also add some salt to the hot honey mixture. I put in oven at 325 with hot honey on ribs and cooked about 30 min and then maybe 7 min broiling. This prevents the ribs from being soggy and bland. Definitely needs some baking time.
Disappointing
Just not great. Meat cooked ok, but rub and sauce not flavorful.
ed
This is the one I make - but with bottled sauce.
Andrew
Very good, finished on grill instead of boiler, just a few minutes on a side indirect. Flavor as I made it is mostly smoked paprika and sugar with a little kick at the end from the chilis. I’m a big fan of smoked paprika and sugar based meat rubs so this did not disappoint. I was concerned midway through because the honey came out spicer than I typically make things for my family but after grilling the spiciness of the glaze was perfect, so don’t be afraid.
Dori
I did one rack for 20 minutes. I simplified the recipe this time and actually it turned out better! Patted ribs and sprinkled all the herbs generously on top of each other (rather than making a rub). For the honey, I mixed regular honey, with key lime honey with mikes hot honey and enough apple cider vinegar to make it drizzle-able. I broiled it till it looked yummy and dark.
Grace
These are not even a little bit spicy. I made another sauce with honey, soy sauce, hot sauce and Go-Chu-Jang. Delicious!
BigSky
I used a Quick Pot for 22 minutes. Then finished the ribs in the oven at 450 for 5 minutes and a few minutes each side under the broiler after adding the sauce. I think if I try it again I’d reduce the liquid in the pressure cooker and add some vinegar or liquid smoke or soy sauce to increase the flavor in the meat. Super easy recipe!
marielpdx
This was easy, fast and really delicious. Loved the idea of adding a little chipotle to the honey hot sauce, and apple cider to the water. I’ve put them on our gas grill to finish, meat side up - we didn’t want to get all that sauce and rub stuck on the grill. Probably could’ve kept them on longer to get a more glazed look. Will make again.
brooke
I loved this recipe but I substituted in chipotles in adobo sauce for a bit more of a smokey flavor. It turned out so well! I used three chipotles and the honey sauce had just the right amount of kick. I also finished the ribs on the bbq rather than under the broiler. I would definitely do this recipe again! It was a big hit for Mother’s Day :)
Jac
I get great flavored ribs by using 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar & 1/2 cup of water in the (6qt) pressure cooker. I got this from a recipe that suggested 1 cup of the vinegar, but found the flavour too strong. Half & half works for us and might help those complaining that the pork is “steamed” or “bland”.
Liz
Is there any difference in using a stove top pressure cooker vs an electric? Also, any thoughs tabout putting some liquid smoke in the water when cooking the ribs?
Mike
I cooked nearly 10# of ribs (Costco size) packed tightly into an 8 qt instapot with 1C of water for 18 min. followed by 15 min. natural release. I used a BBQ rub instead of the spice mix, and then the honey-chile glaze (great!), and then grilled the ribs -- wonderful!
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