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Instant Pot Pulled Pork is a pork shoulder that has cooked long enough to become super tender, and it has a ton of flavor! Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork is made in a fraction of the normal time!
Delicious pulled pork made in the Instant Pot is good on tortillas, buns, and over your favorite starch (potatoes, rice, etc.).
Originally published on Jan 15, 2018
Instant Pot Pulled Pork
You may not think that pulled Pork made in a pressure cooker would be that great, but let me tell you that it is awesome!
This is an Instant Pot Dump and Start recipe so it is very easy, and takes a fraction of the time that pulled pork normally takes with other cooking methods.
You can make this pulled pork recipe just the way you like it, from spicy to a more mild and sweet barbecue.
The Steps to Make Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
Start with a pork shoulder roast that you have trimmed most of the fat off of. Then cut it into 1-pound chunks. Pictured is a 3-pound roast, so I cut it in 3 equal pieces. This will ensure even cooking, and faster results. Use whatever size roast you have, but cut it into the 1-pound chunks.
Rub the spice rub mixture onto all sides of the pieces generously, and place in the pot on top of the onions and liquid (in this case, it’s Dr. Pepper® pop).
When finished cooking, remove the pieces of meat to a bowl and use 2 forks to shred the meat. It will be very tender. Then season a little more, add back some of the cooking liquid, and serve (with your favorite bbq sauce for even more flavor).
How to Serve Instant Pot Pulled Pork
• Make a fabulous Instant Pot Pulled Pork sandwich, served on a soft kaiser roll. Add any toppings you like, or just the meat.
• You can also serve over potatoes or rice.
• Make pulled pork tacos!
• Try Pulled Pork on Mac and Cheese, it’s amazing!
The meat is shredded after cooking and can be used for pulled pork sandwiches, tacos, served over rice, or with potatoes.
Instant Pot Barbecue Beef Roast
Instant Pot Simple Pot Roast
Instant Pot Beef Guinness Stew
Instant Pot Bone-In Ham
Instant Pot Baked Potatoes
If you make this delicious pressure cooker pulled pork recipe, please leave me a comment below. Let me know how you liked it!
Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Equipment
Ingredients
Spice Rub
- 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
- 1 ½ Tablespoons Smoked Paprika
- 2 teaspoons Salt
- 1 teaspoon Pepper
- 1 teaspoon Garlic Powder
- ½ teaspoon Onion Powder
- 3 teaspoons Chili Powder
- 2 teaspoons Cumin
- ¼ teaspoon Cayenne Powder (optional), for heat
Pork
- 3-4 lbs Pork Shoulder Roast (Pork Butt) Fat trimmed off, and cut in 1lb chunks
- 1 Onion, cut in eighths
- 1 (12 oz) can Dr. Pepper or Cola (or 1 ½ cups chicken stock or water)
- 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar (or more to taste)
- ½ teaspoon Salt (or more to taste)
Instructions
- Mix the spices together for the rub. Remove 2 Tablespoons of the mix and set aside for later.
- Rub all sides of the pork roast chunks generously with the spice rub. Set meat aside.
- Cut the onion into 8 pieces (cut in half, then cut each half into 4 pieces). Put the onion into the inner cooking pot of the pressure cooker.
- Pour the can of pop (or water/broth) into the the pot over the onion*.
- Set the pork chunks on top of the onions. Sprinkle the brown sugar over the pork.
- Place the lid on and lock into place. Set the steam release knob to the sealing position.
- Press the Pressure Cook/Manual Button (or use dial) and then the +/- button (or dial) to choose 65 minutes. High Pressure.
- After the cooking time has finished, let the pot sit undisturbed for 15 minutes. Then turn the steam release knob to the Venting position (or push button) to manually Quick Release the remaining pressure/steam.
- When the pin in the lid drops down, open it and remove the meat to a large bowl. Use a slotted spoon to get the onions out and add to the meat. Use two forks to shred the meat.
- Sprinkle the reserved spice rub and ½ tsp salt into the meat. Mix well. Taste and add more salt and/or brown sugar, if desired.
- Use a large spoon (or a fat separator) to skim off the fat from the cooking liquid that is still in the pot. Then add ½ - 1 cup of the liquid to the meat and mix in. You can add more of the liquid to the meat if you like it more moist.
- Serve on buns, or over rice or potatoes, or in tortillas.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Resources to Make Pulled Pork Recipe in the Instant Pot
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Can you cook in crock pot instead?
Yes. Just add it all in, but use less liquid. It takes about 6-8 hours on Low.
Esquisito!! I prepared as directed and it came out better then expected. Let me rephrase a piece of that statement. Almost as directed, because I did add a splash of liquid smoke to the cooking liquid before adding to the chipped pork. But it did not add to or take away from a simply spot-on recipe.
Can I use pork tenderloin?
I haven’t tried that cut for this recipe. I think I would cut the cook time way down to maybe 30 minutes if I did. I would want to test it before making an official recommendation.
I finally got an Instant Pot and am loving it! I wanted to try this recipe and am so glad I did. Tender meat, incredible flavor, and fast. My family loves it!.
Pulled pork was made for the InstaPot. I used a crockpot for Pulled Pork for years.
I think you missed an important step. You can make the flavors change simply by
changing the BBQ sauce or other liquid. For savory sauces,I use Carolina style
with the rich flavor of vinegar and BBQ sauce. Another version adds less vinegar
and add salad mustard(French’s). Adding liquid smoke makes the sauce like a day long
roasting of the meat. These sauces allow the guests to add flavor profiles of their own.
Adding these sauces in the crockpot doesn’t get infused as done in the InstaPot. I also
sear the meat on all sides to increase the”burnt”flavors, too. Thank you for sharing.
I’ve used Sandy’s recipe at least 3 times and every time was amazing. I prefer Dr Pepper to coke, but I like plenty of onions and the spices can be adjusted to taste. Thank you for posting again.
I made this in March of 2019 and just found it again. I had emailed it to a friend because it was incredibly delicious! Smelled amazing! Can’t wait to make it again soon. Thank you!
Absolutely delicious. Big hit!!
I have 2 (boneless) pieces that total about 5.5 pounds. Could I leave the 2 pieces as is instead of cutting into chunks? Also, should I be adding extra liquid / cooking time?
You can leave them uncut, but the cook time may be a little longer. It really depends on the thickness of the chunks. You can leave the liquid the same and it will work well.
Absolutely yes, I do it in two or 3 big chunks all the time and there is no need for extra liquid…however, I do add a generous dash of liquid smoke, and cook for 90 minutes (1hr and 30 mins.) High Pressure and then do the 15 minutes rest with a quick release of the remaining pressure…or a full Natural Pressure Release (NPR)
Perfect every time…don’t bother with any other recipe because this is hands down the best Instant Pot Pulled Pork recipe you will find 😋
Thank you, Sandy…your recipes are “the bomb” 😀
I have to say, every person who said this recipe was amazing was right! The meat was tender and moist and the seasoning blend was so delicious! I had some left over after making this so I put it on popcorn and it was awesome! Highly recommend (both the pork and the popcorn!)
Wait, you put pulled pork on popcorn?! That sounds amazing! I never would have thought to do that!
Ha! I just came back here to make this recipe again and saw your reply to my comment. I can see how it might have looked like I was saying I put the pork on popcorn (maybe I should try that??) but what I meant to say was I put the extra spice rub on popcorn (I made a big batch of the rub bc I loved it so much) and it was fabulous! Thanks again for the great recipe! Still making it, 4 years later!
Ahhh, thanks for the clarification, haha!
Delicious seasoning on the pulled pork. I use it on my ribs now.