These Whole30-friendly and Paleo Instant Pot Ribs served with tangy and creamy white barbecue sauce is the perfect, hearty meal any time of the year!
While I have several rib recipes on this blog, this is the first time I attempted to make it in the Instant Pot, and the result is a fall-off-the-bone meal in 30 minutes! But the sauce… that’s what really makes this recipe shine.
White Barbecue Sauce
I never actually knew about white barbecue sauce until I graduated from college and went to a bbq joint with a friend in New York City. I was intrigued when I saw it on the menu, so decided to try it out, and it was tangy, creamy, a little spicy, and so so delicious.
Ever since then, I basically forgot about it because it’s not a common menu item, and back then, I didn’t try to recreate every delicious restaurant meal at home like I do today. However, when I was making ribs recently, something made me think of that barbecue sauce and I was determined to make a paleo version of it and it turned out even better than I expected.
If you’ve never had white barbecue sauce and feel weirded out by it, you really need to try it out before judging. I loved it so much that I just might favor it over regular barbecue sauce. I actually had leftovers of the sauce and have been putting it on my stir fry, veggies, and salads.
Paleo Instant Pot Ribs Recipe
I was surprised at how quickly these Paleo Instant Pot Ribs came together, and how tasty they were. And I loved that I could use the Instant Pot because there’s been a heat wave in Southern California recently so I didn’t have to leave the oven on for hours, which is how I’ve been making my other ribs like this one. This much shorter cook time still yielded tender and crispy ribs that my husband and I couldn’t stop eating, so I hope you try out this recipe!
White Barbecue Sauce Paleo Instant Pot Ribs
Ingredients
Ribs
- 1 cup of water
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- 4 lb rack of pork spare ribs
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- Salt and pepper, to taste
White Barbecue Sauce
- 2 13.5 oz can of full-fat coconut milk
- 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 2 tbsp whole grain mustard
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp raw honey Omit for Whole30
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- A dash of hot sauce or more, to taste
- Optional: water
Instructions
- Place the steam rack on the bottom of the Instant Pot and pour water and apple cider vinegar on top.
- Pat the ribs dry. Sprinkle garlic, onion, salt, and pepper evenly on the ribs.
- Place the ribs vertically in the Instant Pot on top of the steam rack, so they are standing on their side and coiling around the inside of the pot.
- Close the lid and make sure that the pressure valve is set to "sealing."
- Set to cook on Manual for 25 minutes under high pressure, let it naturally come to pressure for 10-15 minutes.
- In the meantime, Pour coconut milk into a saucepan and heat over medium high heat. Once it start boiling, turn heat to low and let simmer for about 10-15 minutes until it's thick and you can see the milk solids separating from the oil.
- Take off heat and add the rest of the ingredients for the White Barbecue Sauce to the saucepan, then whisk until smooth.
- Preheat oven to broil.
- Remove the ribs from the Instant Pot and place on a baking sheet so they curve down
- Brush the ribs with the White Barbecue Sauce.
- Broil for 3-5 minutes until the ribs form a dark, bubbly crust, keeping a close eye on it.
- Remove from oven and cut into sections. Serve with more White Barbecue Sauce.
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That sauce!!! Swoon! I am all about the sauce on ribs and this sounds amazing! Love that these are IP ribs too – the IP makes the best ribs!
Spare ribs are one of my husband’s favorite meals. I bet he would love this recipe, and I would too!
Oh I would have never thought of a white bbq sauce! I was not sure what to expect but the flavor combo sounds amazing!
I’ve never made a white BBQ sauce but I really love the idea of it, especially on pork or chicken. Will definitely be trying this recipe!
was it blue smoke? i’m OBSESSED with their white bbq sauce wings and have never seen them anywhere else! if i didn’t want this to be paleo, what would be a good substitute for the coconut milk?
I honestly don’t remember. This was probably 10 years ago, haha. And sorry, not sure about a non-paleo substitute for coconut milk. You can maybe try heavy whipping cream, but can’t guarantee the same results.
I love using my Instant Pot for ribs and I took a double take at the white sauce. It looks and sounds amazing.
I have yet to try white BBQ sauce. Looks incredible on ribs!
Cool! I have never seen white BBQ sauce before! Omit the hot sauce and this could be great for people avoiding nightshades! Thnks for sharing.
ohhh!!!! These ribs are so delicious !! Can’t wait to try them !
Yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum, yum!!! Those ribs look delicious – I not the biggest fan of sauces but this is certainly something I’d love to try out! Thank you.
A fantastic recipe, and I will certainly make them. I have never even heard of white sauce but always keen to try new recipes!
I’ve never heard of white BBQ sauce. This looks so good. DROOL!
This was an amazing recipe!! I adapted it for riblets in an Instant Pot pressure cooker by reducing the cooking time to 15 minutes and browning the riblets in a wok immediately after. I then poured the white BBQ sauce directly into the wok with the nicely browned riblets. My family went nuts over this dish. I think they were tired of the usual garlic black bean sauce riblets and desperately needed a break from our routine. They were literally scraping the sauce off the wok! Jean, a million thanks for a phenomenal meal!
Thank you so much for your kind words and I’m SO happy your family loved it! The sauce is one of my favorites. 🙂
This looks so good!!
These were AMAZING! I love all of your recipes so much. I am doing the keto diet and finding recipes like this make it so much easier and much more enjoyable, so thank you 🙂
Thank you so much! SO glad you you enjoyed.