Here by popular demand: Instant Pot Korean Short Ribs! It’s made in a jiffy and Whole30 and gluten-free, too!
The best Instant Pot short ribs recipe!
Ever since the scales fell from my eyes and I became a raving Instant Pot evangelist a few years ago, readers have been asking me to convert their favorite recipes so they can be cooked in this magical device. Requests run the gamut from the simple (kalua pig!) to the impossible (fish ’n chips!). Sorry to be the bearer of bad tidings, folks, but not every dish can or should be cooked under high pressure.
Here’s a good rule of thumb: if you can make the dish faster and/or tastier using a different method, don’t cook it in your pressure cooker. For example, if you insist on cooking delicate fish fillets in your Instant Pot, the statistical likelihood of overcooking those pricey pieces of protein is 99.99%. For the love of cod, people: reach for parchment paper (and the technique shown in this recipe) or a frying pan (and the method demonstrated in this recipe) instead. And to the reader who asked me for an Instant Pot kabob recipe: I hate to break it to you, but a pressure cooker is crap at grilling and/or broiling meat.
Korean short ribs in a fraction of the time!
That said, some recipes—particularly stews, braises, and soups—are forehead-smackingly perfect for converting into Instant Pot versions. Take this recipe, which is a super-straightforward adaptation of my classic Slow Cooker Korean Short Ribs recipe. This deeply flavorful, Asian-inspired dish has long been a fan favorite, but it turns out that my Korean Short Ribs are even simpler to prepare in the Instant Pot—and just as deliciously satisfying to eat. For the sake of speed and ease, you don’t even need to broil the ribs like in the slow cooker recipe: Just season the ribs, blitz the sauce, and cook everything for 45 minutes under high pressure. BOOM! (Note: That was an exclamation of triumph—not the sound of a pressure cooker exploding, because the Instant Pot is super-safe.)
My favorite instant pot
Ingredients
- Bone-in English-style beef short ribs: Don’t go above 5 pounds or it won’t fit in a 6-quart Instant Pot.
- Diamond Crystal kosher salt: Use half the amount if you’re using a fine grain salt!
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Coconut aminos: Combined with fish sauce, this makes the best slightly sweet soy sauce alternative.
- Red Boat fish sauce
- Rice wine vinegar, white balsamic, or coconut vinegar
- Asian pear, regular pear, or Fuji apple
- Garlic cloves
- Green onions / scallions
- Fresh ginger
- Small handful of roughly chopped fresh cilantro
How to make Instant Pot Korean short ribs
Pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Use your hands to rub the salt and pepper all over the ribs.
Transfer the seasoned ribs to a 6-quart (or larger) pressure cooker.
You may have to play some short rib Tetris to make sure all the meat fits in the pot. Sometimes, I have to cut off the bone from the meat so I can fit the meaty pieces properly (but I still throw the bones on top for added flavor). Ideally, though, everything fits like a puzzle.
Toss the coconut aminos, vinegar, fish sauce…
…pear/apple, garlic, scallions, and ginger in a high-speed blender or food processor…
…and blitz until smooth.
Pour the sauce over the short ribs in the pressure cooker, and stir everything around so the sauce reaches the bottom of the pot.
If the sauce doesn’t reach the bottom of the pot, the ribs might burn and you’ll get an “ovHT” or “BURN” error message on the Instant Pot display. (Got the error message even though the sauce hit the bottom of the pot? Turn off your Instant Pot, and add ¼ cup broth or water. Scrape up any brown bits on the bottom and then, restart the Instant Pot. That should clear the error.)
Shut and lock the lid, turn the valve at the top to “sealing,” and program the Instant Pot to cook under high pressure for 45 minutes.
Let the pressure release naturally. If the pressure hasn’t dropped after 25 minutes, release it manually by turning the top valve to the “venting” position. Pop open the lid and check that the ribs are fork-tender. If they’re not, cook ’em for another 5 to 10 minutes under high pressure.
Transfer the ribs to a plate or platter, and taste the liquid for seasoning. Adjust if necessary with additional salt and pepper. Yes, there will be plenty of fat at the top of the liquid, which is totally normal and expected with this cut of meat. If you want, you can skim the fat off the top and then spoon the sauce on top of the ribs.
Garnish with cilantro before serving!
This dish tastes even better the next day, so I recommend making it ahead of time. You can refrigerate it for up to 4 days or freeze it for up to 3 months. It’s like a yummy, meaty gift to your future self!
After the stew has been refrigerated or frozen, the fat on top will solidify, making it easy to remove if desired. (I’m not fat-phobic, but I prefer to take it off ’cause I don’t like an overly greasy sauce.)
Plus, you can totally reheat the stew in an Instant Pot—simply dump the ribs and sauce back into the Instant Pot and cook under high pressure for 5 minutes. Keep the short ribs warm until you’re ready to serve!
Dig in!
What can you serve with the Korean Short Ribs?
To keep things paleo and Whole30, serve the short ribs with cauliflower rice and some vegetable sides, like Korean Cucumber Salad, Korean Spinach Side Dish (Sigeumchi Namul), Pineapple Coleslaw, Quick Sugar Snap Peas with Basil, Mint, and Lime, or Garlic Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes.
How to store leftovers?
Store leftover Korean Short Ribs in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
More Korean-inspired Paleo and Whole30 recipes
Looking for more recipe ideas? Head on over to my Recipe Index. You’ll also find exclusive recipes in my cookbooks, Nom Nom Paleo: Food for Humans (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2013), Ready or Not! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2017), and Nom Nom Paleo: Let’s Go! (Andrews McMeel Publishing 2022).
PRINTER-FRIENDLY RECIPE CARD
Instant Pot Korean Short Ribs
Ingredients
- 5 pounds beef short ribs don’t go above 5 pounds or it won’t fit in a 6-quart pressure cooker
- 1 tablespoon Diamond Crystal kosher salt use half the amount if you’re using a fine grain salt
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ cup coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon rice vinegar white balsamic, or coconut vinegar
- 2 teaspoons Red Boat fish sauce
- 1 medium pear Asian pear, or Fuji apple, peeled, cored, and chopped coarsely
- 6 garlic cloves peeled and roughly chopped
- 3 scallions roughly chopped
- 1 hunk of fresh ginger about 2 inches, cut into 2 pieces
- Small handful of roughly chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
- Pat the short ribs dry with a paper towel and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Use your hands to rub the salt and pepper all over the ribs.
- Transfer the seasoned ribs to a 6-quart (or larger) pressure cooker, making sure all the ribs fit in the pot.
- Add the coconut aminos, vinegar, fish sauce, pear or apple, garlic, scallions, and ginger in a high-speed blender or food processor. Blitz until smooth.
- Pour the sauce over the short ribs in the pressure cooker, and stir everything around so the sauce reaches the bottom of the pot. If the sauce doesn’t reach the bottom of the pot, the ribs might burn and you’ll get an “ovHT” or “BURN”error message on the Instant Pot display. (Got the error message even though the sauce hit the bottom of the pot? Turn off your Instant Pot, and add ¼ cup broth or water. Scrape up the brown bits on the bottom and then, restart the Instant Pot. That should clear the error.)
- Shut and lock the lid, turn the valve at the top to “sealing,” and program the Instant Pot to cook under high pressure for 45 minutes.
- Let the pressure release naturally. If the pressure hasn’t dropped after 25 minutes, release it manually by turning the top valve to the “venting” position. Pop open the lid and check that the ribs are fork-tender. If they’re not, cook ’em for another 5 to 10 minutes under high pressure.
- Transfer the ribs to a plate or platter, and taste the liquid for seasoning. Adjust if necessary with additional salt and pepper. If desired, skim the fat off the top.
- Spoon the sauce on top of the ribs, and garnish with cilantro before serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I bought some lovely bone-in beef short-ribs at the farmers market today and was excited to cook this recipe with my new instant pot. I have never been more disappointed in a recipe. The meat does not look like the roasted golden ribs photographed here. And, the meat was not fork tender even after cook ’em for another 10 minutes under high pressure. The meat looked grey and it was sinewy. I’m a big fan of yours, but this was a major #fail.
I’m sorry it didn’t turn out. Were you cooking the ribs under high pressure? It sounds like they were undercooked and you need to cook them longer. Tough cuts like short ribs will get more tender the longer you cook them (unlike lean cuts of meat).
I cooked them for the amount of time in the recipe.
In your video, you mentioned that you don’t save the fat. I can’t stand to throw mine away, as I too have an excellent source for my beef. So, since potatoes are back, I save mine and when I have enough, I make old fashioned beef tallow french fries. My family loves them! No veggie oil, and you have to commit a decent amount of time in the kitchen to make them, so you can’t eat them as often as say, McDonalds.;)
This recipe was so so DELICIOUS!! I can’t wait to make it again!!
I’m about to make these – just wondering, do I keep them cooking for 45 mins and then let the pressure release, or do I set it for 45 and then let the pressure release naturally, around the 25 min mark?
Let the pressure drop naturally after it cooks for 45 min. The natural release takes an additional 25 min after it finishes cooking.
I made this recipe a couple nights ago and was quite disappointed. The flavor was bland and didn’t really have any “korean” flavors. I also made Michelle’s “damn fine chicken” tonight, the ingredients for flavor seemed very similar (one with vinegar one with out) and either turned out to be like Michelles. What am I doing wrong? The meat is quite tender though.
I’m sorry the dish didn’t turn out to your liking. I wish I could help, but I’m not sure what went wrong because I’m not with you in the kitchen.
Great recipe. I actually really appreciate this amazing recipe. I will make it for my family. Thanks!
I made these for myself while meal prepping for the week. I made them exactly as the recipe instructed and they were amazing. My question is, my wife tasted them and she really liked it (which is saying a lot because she just started eating red meat for the first time in 20 years when I recently started AIP) but she cannot eat high fodmap foods, apples and pears affect her very badly. What fruit can I use besides apple or pear? Or can I just leave it out? I make paleomom’s short ribs (no fruit in recipe) and it wasn’t as amazing as this one (sorry paleomom).
I’m not sure which fruit would work because everything I can think of is considered high fodmap!
I’m making this tonight and could only find the short ribs that are thinly cut into strips with several bones (think Korean style). How should I alter the cooking and natural release times? Thanks!!! I’ve tried almost all of your instant pot recipes and just bought the newest cookbook. So sad I was out of town when you came to Toronto!!!! =(
Did you figure something out?
I’ve been making my way through the Nom Nom Paleo Instant Pot recipes and this one was another hit! I wasn’t able to find good bone-in short ribs so I ended up using the boneless option from Costco, 3 pounds worth (I figured that was close to the amount of meat that 5 pounds of bone-in would have). One benefit of the boneless is that you can fit them into the pot a little easier, if nothing else. I did reduce the time to 40 minutes and released the pressure a bit sooner than 20 minutes after they finished. They were fantastic. The meat browns just right despite never being seared, falls apart, and all of the extra fat melts off and into the sauce. I removed the meat and switched the pot to saute to reduce the sauce a bit, then served it on the side.
I’m glad I read your reply. I bought some boneless “ribs” today and was wondering how long to cook them. Thank you.
Would ginger powder work as a substitute?