Keto Instant Pot ribs
June 29, 2026 · 1 min read
Ribs usually mean hours at a smoker or a low oven, but the pressure cooker gets them fall-off-the-bone tender in 25 minutes, and a few minutes under the broiler with a sugar-free glaze gives you the sticky, caramelized finish. With a sugar-free rub and sauce, a serving lands around 3g net carbs — real barbecue on a weeknight.
The carbs in ribs come entirely from the rub and sauce, so a sugar-free brown sweetener and barbecue sauce are the whole trick.
Ingredients
- 2 racks baby back ribs
- 2 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon keto brown sweetener
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 2 teaspoons salt, 1 teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup water
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
- Sugar-free barbecue sauce, to glaze
Steps
- Peel the membrane off the back of the ribs. Mix the paprika, garlic and onion powder, sweetener, chili powder, salt, and pepper into a rub and coat the ribs all over.
- Pour the water and vinegar into the pressure cooker and set the trivet inside. Stand the ribs up around the edge, curved along the wall.
- Seal and cook on high pressure for 25 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally for 10 minutes.
- Lift the ribs onto a foil-lined sheet pan and brush with sugar-free barbecue sauce.
- Broil 4–6 minutes, until the glaze caramelizes and bubbles. Rest a few minutes, then cut and serve.
Notes and swaps
Baby back ribs cook a little faster than spare ribs; add 5 minutes of pressure for spares. Peeling the membrane off the back lets the rub and sauce get in and makes them more tender. The broiler step is what turns pale pressure-cooked ribs into proper glazed barbecue, so don't skip it. Serve with coleslaw and bacon-wrapped asparagus.
Tell Copper Keto Companion "half a rack of ribs with sugar-free sauce" and it works out the net carbs on your portion — no weighing, no database.