Instant Pot Apple and Honey Glazed Pork Ribs

Apple and honey-glazed instant pot pork ribs are easy to make and produce tender, fall-off-the-bone meat despite a fairly short cooking time.

The ribs sit in a dry rub overnight to get a big bold back flavour, then they get 20 minutes in a pressure cooker and finally 10-15 minutes in a searing hot oven.

Apple and Honey Glazed Pressure Cooker Pork Ribs

I love ribs, they are my favourite sticky finger food, it doesn't matter if they are slowly smoked ribs cooked on the BBQ, Korean gochujang ribs or my slow cooker char siu influence pork ribs, they just float my boat.

If you want a "twist", I've even got sticky bacon ribs and sticky lamb spare ribs that are both filthy good!

These fall-off-the-bone tender apple and honey-glazed pork ribs are cooked in an Instant Pot or pressure cooker using a similar technique as my Chinese takeaway-inspired spare ribs.

As a result, the cooking time is an awful lot shorter than most rib recipes!

Pork and apple are a match made in heaven. Here, the apple in question is apple juice.

After it has been used to cook the ribs in the pressure cooker, it is reduced to form a glaze with some honey and mustard.

Finally, the ribs are popped into a fiercely hot oven to get a little colour and get that glaze nice and sticky.

Frequently Asked Questions

What sort of ribs should I use?

A pig has 15 or 16 ribs, depending on the breed, but 3 are typically left attached to the shoulder. As a result, a full slab of pork ribs will contain 12 or 13 ribs.

Within that set, there are two different types of rib, baby back ribs and spare ribs.

Baby back ribs typically contain more meat and are curved in shape. These are cut from the top of the rib cage near the spine. Spare ribs are longer and flatter and are cut from the bottom of the rib cage.

The choice is yours in this recipe; they take the same time to cook. I use baby back ribs because they are a better fit for the Instant Pot.

Can I shorten the marinade time for the pork?

You could, but it will impact both the flavour and the texture. Adding the salt for 8-24 hours draws out some of the moisture and leads to beautiful ribs.

Can I finish these Instant Pot ribs on the BBQ?

Yes, if you have the barbecue fired up, you should definitely do this because it produces a beautiful flavour!

Do I have to remove the membrane?

There is much written about this, in terms of removing it, improving the flavour penetration and juiciness. I have not found any difference in either of these aspects, but I find that ribs eat better when the membrane is removed.

If it doesn't bother you, by all means, leave it on!

Serving Suggestions

I usually serve these honey and apple-glazed Instant Pot ribs with some form of potatoes.

I usually leverage another piece of kitchen gadgetry and either make some air fryer potato wedges or air fryer chips.

If you are willing to break out a little oil and do some frying, then I would think about some straw potatoes or crispy fried new potatoes.

If potatoes aren't your thing, then how about some sweet potato fries or even my fried polenta chips?

A nice salad also goes down really well alongside these Instant Pot ribs; everything from a simple green salad to my spicy mango salad would work wonders.

Equipment Used

I only name-check brands of equipment if I think that they make a material difference to a recipe. But if you have any questions, feel free to ask them in the comments section below the recipe.

• Instant Pot or pressure cooker. I use a 5.7 litre or 6 quart Instant Pot Duo 7 in 1.
• Trivet and something to raise the height of the trivet.
• Oven.
• Kitchen knife.
• Chopping board.
• Kitchen tongs.
• Stirring spoons and a basting brush.
• A combination of weighing scales, a measuring jug, measuring cups and spoons.