Instant Pot Pulled Pork is seasoned to perfection, and mouthwateringly tender! Make this easy and super flavorful pulled pork using a pork loin roast and have your family's new favorite instant pot pork recipe on the table in an hour!
How Do You Make Pulled Pork?
Pulled pork is a very simple dish to make at home, and there are a few ways to make it even more quick and easy.
Pulled pork recipes start with basic seasonings that you probably already have at home. I like to use a mixture of brown sugar, salt, garlic and onion powder, paprika, pepper, and cumin.
Once you have seasoned your meat, you will mix up your wet ingredients. I prefer to use broth over water for added flavor. Use your favorite type of barbecue sauce, and then a bit of apple cider vinegar. The vinegar not only adds great flavor, but, the acid helps to tenderize the meat as it cooks!
After you have seasoned your meat, and mixed up your wet ingredients it's time to get cooking!
This recipe, in particular, is for the Instant Pot. If you don't have an instant pot, I highly recommend that you try out my Crockpot Bourbon Bacon Pulled Pork and you can find the recipe for that right HERE.
Instant Pot Pulled Pork Recipe:
As far as meat, I typically use a pork loin roast. You can also use a pork shoulder if that is your preference. A lot of people worry about a pork roast becoming tender enough. As long as you use the right method and ingredients, it turns out absolutely perfect every time!
My general method has always been to slow cook pulled pork, like in the recipe I linked to above. But, since I've become a huge fan of my instant pot, I wanted to try cooking it that way. Happy to say it turned out great!
If you have time you will add your rub to your cubed pork roast, seal it in a bag, and let it marinate for a good 30-60 minutes before cooking for maximum flavor. When I make pulled pork in my crockpot, I find that marinating isn't necessary because all of those flavors slow cook together for hours. However, for instant pot pulled pork, marinating really is the way to go.
Next, you will heat up your oil right in your pot, sear the meat in batches until browned on all sides. It won't need to be cooked through at that point.
Then, you will want to use a small amount of beef broth to deglaze the bottom of your pot. If you don't you may end up with that dreaded "burn" warning during cooking.
To deglaze, you'll simply pour the broth right into the bottom of the instant pot and use a wooden spoon to scrape all of those brown bits off. This also adds great flavor to continue seasoning your meat as it cooks.
After you deglaze simply add everything into your instant pot, close the lid and valve to sealing. Then, you will cook as directed below for 40 minutes. After your cooking time is up, allow the instant pot to natural release for 10 minutes, then you can quick release.
After your quick release, you are ready to shred your meat, and serve on soft hamburger buns, with your favorite toppings!
Remember if you are looking for the slow cooker method of making pulled pork you can find it HERE. I also happen to adore this Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Chili!
Enjoy!
~Nichole
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Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- 1 Tablespoon Packed Brown Sugar
- 2 Teaspoons Paprika
- 2 Teaspoons Garlic Powder
- 2 Teaspoons Onion Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Pepper
- ½ Teaspoon Cumin
- ¼ Teaspoon Cayenne, Optional
- 3 Pound Boneless Pork Roast, Cut into 3-4 inch cubes
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- ⅓ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 Cups Barbecue Sauce, Divided
- 1 ¼ Cup Chicken or Beef Broth
- 1 Teaspoon Hot Pepper Sauce, Optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl mix together the brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, cumin, and cayenne.
- Season the cubed pork with the spice mixture and set aside.
- In a medium bowl whisk together the apple cider vinegar, one cup of the barbecue sauce, the hot pepper sauce if using, and one cup of the broth.
- Turn your instant pot to the saute setting. Add the olive oil and allow it to get hot.
- Add half of the cubed pork to the hot oil and saute for 5 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Remove the browned pork to a plate and repeat with the remaining half of the cubed pork.
- Turn the instant pot off. Use the remaining ¼ cup of beef broth and a wooden spoon to deglaze (scrape the brown bits) from the bottom of the pot.
- Add all of the meat along with the barbecue sauce mixture to the instant pot.
- Close the lid and set to sealing.
- Cook on manual high pressure for 40 minutes. Once the cooking time is up, allow the pressure to release naturally for 10 minutes, then do a quick release.
- Remove the meat from the instant pot and shred. Stir in the remaining cup of bbq sauce and serve on buns as desired.
My most favorite pulled pork recipe to date!
I omitted the paprika since I couldn’t find ours.
I also omitted the cayenne since kids.
It turned out so good and tasty! I’ve been having pulled pork for lunch and dinner and am not tired of it yet!
Soooo good! I took the meat out, shredded it, then added a lot of the juice back in because it was so tasty and the pork was very juicy.
Love this recipe! I’m wondering if it’s possible to make a double batch at once, or would I need to do it twice? Trying to make enough for 12 servings. Thanks!
Did you end up doubling this recipe? If so, did you change the cooking time? I want 12 serving as well.
I cook 5-7 pounds in my instant pot often. I don't even cube it, I cut it into 4 pieces before rubbing and glazing. Then I put it in for a full hour and let it pressure down by itself, usually half hour. I know this is later than you posted, but for future reference.
So fantastic! This was my first time using my instant pot and this was great! I followed the recipe almost exactly (tad more on the hot sauce and then didn't add as much BBQ sauce at the end) and it turned out great. I let the meat marinate in the dry rub for about 60 minutes and it turned out juicy and packed with flavor. Definitely going to be making this again!! Thanks so much!
how long should it cook if i have a 7lb pork?!
first one turned out excellent was 5.7lbs and did 60 minute and 10 min natural release
I read the same thing in the guidebook. I'm making this right now with a 4.5 pound pork butt and setting it at 1 hour and 7 minutes (15 min/lb). I also added another 1/2 cup of water before I set the time. Hopefully it turns out good, it sure smells delicious.
Wow! So amazing, and so easy. As others have said, barbecue sauce is not needed. The flavor of the meat is excellent without it. I used ketchup instead of the 1 cup of barbecue sauce in the pressure cooking step, and when served, everyone thought it was excellent without adding barbecue sauce.
I love this recipe and use it for tacos, too! We are traveling and want to make a version of it, but won't have an instant pot. Any recommendations to modify?
You mentioned marinating the pork. Did you mean only with the rub or also along with the wet ingredients (usually what I think of as marinating)?
After I cooked the pork in the Instant Pot I transferred the meat to a crock pot and added a whole sautéed onion and a bunch of cooked bacon to the shredded meat. Then served on a bun with some coleslaw and a slice of cheese and it was fantastic.
Thanks 😉
I used this recipe, and it turned out delicious!
I am currently out of apple cider vinegar but have white vinegar on hand. Will it be okay to use that instead?
Probably too late for you, but I've substitute one vinegar for the other successfully
Hiya I plan to cook 5 lb of pork. Do I need to increase the cook time? Thanks!
This is by far the easiest, fastest and most delicious pulled pork recipe. Everyone is always shocked that it only takes an hour to prep and cook!
Just an hour out of your day will give you multiple meals throughout the week. We love to use leftovers with other recipes!
Thank you thank you thank you!!
What recipes do you use the leftovers?
We make frito pies with it, fritos topped with pulled pork, lettuce, tomatoes, cheese. We also make pulled pork quesadillas or tacos with it. So good!
Omeletes are amazing with this as leftovers added.
I use this recipe all the time and it is awesome. In a pinch for time you can skip the sear step but I don’t recommend it.
Love this recipe! I have done it twice now. At the end I add the 1 cup bbq sauce in addition to some of the juices from the hot pot. Absolutely delicious!
This recipe lists all of the ingredients - except for the pork. Oops.
I determined that it must take about 3 lbs of pork. I doubled the recipe and can fit 6 pounds of pork in the larger Instapot.
The pork is listed, it is #9 on the ingredient list. Thanks for trying, glad it worked out for you! 🙂
2 questions:
1) Are the beef cubes supposed to be 3" to 4" , or 3/4"? I made mine 3/4", bc the pork loin is never more than 2" thick, so cubes of 3-4" wouldn't be possible.
2) when we remove the pork from the Instant Pot to shred, should we discard the juice, or keep it with the pork? I left my juice with it, and the result seemed too watery.
The taste was awesome! Thanks!
It's about 3 to 4 inch cubes and step 10 in the recipe says to "remove meat from instant pot and shred. Stir in remaining cup of bbq sauce and serve on buns as desired." So no the remaining liquids inside pot shouldn't have been added but you could always make a cornstarch slurry, bring to a boil to thicken and serve on the side. Glad it turned out okay and you enjoyed the taste because this really is a great recipe for a quick, fast and in a hurry pulled pork recipe! 😍
How would I prepare this if the Pork was Frozen?
Other Pulled Pork recipes I have seen that use frozen pork call for about 1 hour, 30 minutes. Check them out, then come back to this and adjust.
I had my students make this in our culinary class in high school. They loved it and it turned out great. We did not add the bbq sauce and left it on the side.
I doubled the recipe and kept the same cooking time. It was tender but slightly dry compared to the crockpot chicken I made alongside it. However the dry rub came through for flavor. Didn’t need the extra cup of BBQ sauce at the end since there was more than enough liquid but added cornstarch slurry instead to thicken up the sauce.
Would definitely make it again and also try it using pork butt/ shoulder.
Made this once before and loved it! Currently waiting on another batch to cook.
Just curious, what is the purpose of the browning step? Would you need to pressure cook longer if you skipped it, or would skipping it just be totally not recommended?
My understanding is that the browning step will lock in the juices of the meat to prevent it from drying out.