Creole, not to be mistaken with cajun, has unique history and culturally diverse cuisine. With flavors of African, European, Caribbean, and Spanish origin, it is the perfect stage for an unassuming vegetable to shine. Cabbage, much like the potato, can be transformed into over 100 different dishes. It’s naturally savory and salty. One head of of this leafy queen can add the perfect crunch to coleslaw, or become the melt-in-your-mouth vehicle for baked stuffed beef rolls.
In our travels to the Caribbean last year, one stand-out dish we enjoyed was jerk spareribs with cabbage. Tender and falling off the bone, served on a heaping bed of slow-cooked caramelized onions and cabbage. Herbal flavors of Caribbean jerk and Creole spices blended together perfectly when paired with a glass of chilled wine. It made for a memorable night. So re-creating that at home was a no brainer.
In our house, and in many of our community-foodie’s homes, the Instant Pot gets put to a lot of good use. A number of great recipes have come to us by accident from our tabletop experiments. Our latest recipe is one of those, and it uses all of the features this unicorn-of-a-pressure-cooker has to offer. The real magic is in the Instant Pot’s ability to take any type of ribs (short, spare, baby back, country, pork or beef) and cook them to slide-off-the-bone perfection in less than 30 mins, which normally takes 2-12 hrs. Yeah, you heard me right! To top it all off you can sear, reduce, and slow cook any ingredient you want to put into it. Thank you Instant Pot for saving me from a kitchen sink full of pots and pans!
Chef’s Notes
If you don’t have an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, what are you waiting for? Seriously, this thing is a life saver after a long day. Anyway, if you don’t have one, prepare the recipe as follows with the ribs on the bottom of the pot:
Place a metal rack to apply pressure on top of the cabbage, add all the liquid, top again with a sheet of parchment, and seal with a lid. Set the stove on medium heat for 15 mins and place in the oven at 450(f) degrees for the remainder to expedite cooking times. A little trick I learned in my catering days.
| Prep Time | 10 mins |
| Cook Time | 40 mins |
| Servings |
servings
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- 1 head Cabbage, large chop
- 1 rack Pork Spareribs, cut into individual ribs Substitute country, baby back pork or beef short ribs and oxtails(+15 mins cooking time)
- 1 lrg Onion, sliced
- 3 whole Bayleaf
- 2 tbls Creole Seasoning McCormick
- 2 tbls Jerk Seasoning McCormick
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1/2 tsp Celery Seed
- 1/2 tsp Oregano
- 1/2 tsp Cracked Black Pepper
- 1 tsp Salt
- 2 cups Pork, Chicken, or Beef Broth
- 1 tbls olive oil
Ingredients
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|
- Set instant pot to saute. Add olive oil. While heating, season ribs with creole and jerk seasoning.
- Once hot notification is on, place ribs on bottom and sear 2 mins each side or until golden brown. Remove ribs and set aside.
- Add onions, cabbage, salt, pepper, garlic powder, oregano, and celery seed in the pot. Continue sautéing for 4-8 mins until onions are lightly caramelized. Place instant pot metal lifting rack on top of the cabbage. Pour broth in until reaches just above the metal rack.
- Place ribs onto the metal rack, it's okay if it touches the broth, nestle to fit in one or two layers. Replace lid on the instant pot.
- Make sure the valve is set to sealing, cancel sauté mode and set to pressure cook. High pressure 20 mins.
- Note: For beef short ribs and oxtails, reverse order of layering and place ribs on the bottom with cabbage on the top. Add an additional 10-15 mins of pressure cooking.
- Once finished, toggle the valve to quickly release the steam. Remove lid and set to meat/stew/slow cook setting. Let it slow cook for 10-15 mins to let the flavors develop even more.
- When ready, serve it as is, along side some rice or with my personal favorite, slices of toasted day-old bread.
The flavors continue to build over time and get better each day, so get pumped for leftovers.
