Want pulled pork in a hurry? With the pressure cooker, you can have tender, fall-apart pulled pork in just a little over an hour!
Elise’s low-and-slow slow cooker Mexican pulled pork is fantastic, but when I forget to plan ahead or want it to be ready a little more quickly, I make this speedy version in my Instant Pot.
- Looking for the slow cooker version? Slow Cooker Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas)
Whether you make this pressure cooker version or the slow cooker version, try to allow some time for the pork to come up to room temperature before you begin cooking. This helps the pork develop a better crust when you sear it, which means more browned flavor in the finished dish. An hour is ideal, but any amount of time you can give it will help.
Elise’s spice rub includes chili powder, salt, brown sugar, and a blend of herbs and spices – this mix is so good that I just left it as is. In fact, the only real change that I made was to add some liquid to the pot – you need some in order to properly cook food in a pressure cooker.
You can use fruit juice, broth, or even water, but I went with pineapple juice for its tangy sweetness. I think this complements the spices in the rub nicely!
Pressure Cooker Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas) Recipe
PrintIngredients
For the spice rub:
- 4 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt (if using regular table salt, only use 2 teaspoons)
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon cayenne
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
- Scant pinch of ground cloves
For the pulled pork:
- 3 1/2 pound boneless pork shoulder roast, cut into two pieces
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3/4 cup pineapple juice, orange juice, or water
Optional toppings (pick a few!):
- Sliced avocado
- Sliced radishes
- Thinly sliced red or green cabbage
- Thinly sliced romaine lettuce
- Diced red onions
- Chopped tomatoes
- Crumbled cotija cheese
- Chopped cilantro
- Warm tortillas, corn or flour
- Fresh squeezed lime juice
- Salsa
Special equipment:
- 6-quart electric or stovetop pressure cooker, like an Instant Pot
- Fat separator
Method
1 Season the pork: In a small bowl, combine the spice rub ingredients. Pat the pork dry with paper towels, then sprinkle with half of the spice rub. Turn and rub the spice into the pork until the pieces are evenly coated.
Leave the pork to absorb the rub and to take the chill off the meat, at least 15 minutes or up to an hour. (Room temperature pork will sear better!)
2 Sear the pork: Select the “Sauté” program on your pressure cooker and add the oil to the pot. (If you are using a stovetop pressure cooker, heat the oil over medium heat.)
Use a pair of tongs to lower the pork into the pot so the side with the most fat is facing down. Sear for 5 minutes. Flip it over and sear it for 5 more minutes. Both sides should be browned.
3 Sprinkle the remaining spice rub over the pork, then pour the pineapple juice over the top.
4 Cook the pork: Place the lid on your pressure cooker. Make sure that the pressure regulator is set to the “Sealing” position. Select the “Manual” program on the pressure cooker and set the time to 50 minutes at high pressure. (For stovetop pressure cookers, cook for 45 minutes at high pressure.)
It will take about 10 minutes for your pressure cooker to come up to pressure, and then the 50 minutes of actual cooking will begin.
5 Release the pressure: You can either perform a quick pressure release by immediately moving the vent from “Sealing” to “Venting” (be careful of the steam!), or you can let the pot depressurize naturally, which takes about 20 minutes. (For stovetop pressure cookers, perform a quick pressure release.)
6 Separate the pork and cooking liquid: Use tongs to transfer the pork to a large baking dish or sheet pan. Use heat-proof mitts to lift the inner pot out of the pressure cooker, pour the cooking liquid into a fat separator, then pour the liquid back into the pot. Reserve the fat.
(Alternatively, let the cooking liquid stand for about 10 minutes until the fat floats to the top, then use a shallow spoon to skim as much fat as possible from the surface.)
7 Reduce the cooking liquid: Return the pot to the pressure cooker, select the “Sauté” program, and let the cooking liquid reduce for 10 minutes. (If you are using a stovetop pressure cooker, do the same thing over medium heat.)
8 While the liquid is reducing, use a pair of forks to shred the pork.
9 Broil the pulled pork until crispy (optional for carnitas): To make crispy carnitas, place the pan of shredded pork 6 to 8 inches below the broiler and broil for 5 to 10 minutes until the tips and edges of the pork are browned and crispy.
It's fine to skip this step if you're making a recipe where you don't need the pork to be crispy.
10 Toss the shredded pork with the reduced liquid and serve: Return the pork to the pot with the reduced cooking liquid and toss to coat the pork evenly. If the pork seems a little dry, add a tablespoon or two of the reserved fat.
Serve it in tacos with the fixings listed above, or in burritos or rice bowls, or on a tostada salad.
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Author of The Essential Instant Pot Cookbook and The Ultimate Instant Pot Cookbook. A self-taught cook and classically-trained soprano, Coco Morante writes and sings in the San Francisco Bay Area, where she lives with her husband and their beagle. For more recipes, visit her blog, Lefty Spoon.
Pressure Cooker Mexican Pulled Pork (Carnitas)
I made 15lbs of pulled pork with this recipe except instead of using an instapot, slowcooker, or pressure cooker I cooked it sous vide for 24 hours @ 154°F with my Joule. The reaults were absolutely incredible. Pre-searing is key.
xxxxxyyyyy
I just wanted to say that I made this tonight and it was DELICIOUS! I used half the amount of chilli powder and cayenne pepper (because I don’t do well with hot peppers), I didn’t put pineapple juice because I didn’t have it so just water and the rub spices and the pork was so good!
xxxxxyyyyy
I love this recipe.i must have made it four times in two weeks! (And about to make out again!)
xxxxxyyyyy
I used an electric pressure cooker and the results were just stunning. The meat was well cooked and the flavour came out perfectly.
Made it in a stove-top pressure cooker. Meat was undercooked at 45 minutes. Cooked for another 25 minutes, but it was still tough. I’ve made a lot of pulled pork in my smoker, and so am accustomed to “falling apart” tenderness.
I also found that browning in the oil made the spices quite bitter and didn’t really get the meat itself that brown. Not good.
I made your “Pressure Cooker Chinese Pulled Pork” a month ago, and it turned out great. That recipe, however, does NOT call for browning the meat. Here’s the link to that recipe.
https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/pressure_cooker_chinese_pulled_pork/
So, I think the recipe would work much better without the browning, and with a longer cook.
P.S. I have been using a pressure cooker for decades, and I’ve had my current cooker since the 90s, so I am pretty familiar with what to expect.
xxxxxyyyyy
Hi, John! Emma here, managing editor. I’m so sorry this recipe didn’t turn out as expected! I’m a little puzzled by your experience though, though. We tested this recipe several times, and it’s also consistent with other pressure cooker pulled pork recipes we researched. After over an hour of pressure cooking, that pork should have been falling into shreds without even needing a fork! Browning the meat doesn’t affect the way it cooks or the time it would take to cook (browning just adds flavor), so the only thing that I can think of is that something was going on with your pressure cooker. Maybe it wasn’t sealed properly the first time? Or if you were using a stovetop pressure cooker, maybe it wasn’t quite up to high pressure? As you say, you’re familiar with using a pressure cooker, so you probably would have noticed if it wasn’t behaving normally. I’ll keep exploring for possible culprits. Thank you for your feedback!
Thanks for taking the time to reply!
I guess I wasn’t clear. I had TWO problems. The first, which had to do with browning, is that it made the spices quite bitter. Most recipes say to “bloom” the spices in hot oil, but never for more than about 30 seconds. What happened when I browned the meat that was covered with spice rub is that those spices ended up not just blooming, but burning.
I think the idea of “browning the meat” is not a good one for this recipe. I put that phrase in quotes because with all that rub on the outside, it is not the meat that is browning, but the spices. Thus, there is little Maillard reaction on the meat itself, and therefore no browning in the usual sense.
I agree that browning has very little to do with cooking time. I do sous vide, and when you do a reverse sear, it only adds a degree or two to the internal temp.
The bigger issue was the doneness. I am going to check my pressure cooker to make sure everything is OK. It is a Magefesa that I purchased twenty years ago and that I use at least twice a week. It only has a 15 psi setting, and is as simple as my mother’s old aluminum pressure cooker with the chatterbox weight on the top. Once it starts hissing, basic physics (because of the weight of the regulator) says that it has to be 15 psi.
I’ll try again in a few weeks, but with some modifications, and see if I can get a better result. As I said, your Chinese pressure cooker pulled pork turned out great.
Ahhh, I see. Your explanation makes sense. I’ll look into the issue with the spices — I actually think it would work just as well to sear the pork on its own and then add the spices in the pot, but will see what the recipe testers say.
And yes, it really is a puzzle that the Chinese pulled pork turned out so well, but this one didn’t! I look forward to hearing about your further experiments!