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.
This is the second time I've used my instant pot and I'm glad I did this recipe!! Flavor is amazing!! My slight modifications were to keep quantities the same except I used 2.7lbs of pork butt and I put 1/3 cup of coca cola with the liquid ingredients and cooked it for around 33 mins. Superb! Thanks for sharing!!!
Has anyone made this using pork sirloin chops instead of the roast, same total weight but since it’s not as think wondering if need to decrease the time
Fabulous!
This is so easy, so delicious and waaay less time than making pulled pork in the crock pot like is used to do. I also am partial to Sweet Baby Ray’s bbq sauce. I have made this several times and am going to make it tonight but trying pretzel buns this time! 😁
Holy mackerel Andy Rooney! This pulled pork recipe is yumsterdoodle do! It has just the right amount of sweetness, and the pork was so tender and juicy. The only thing I didn’t add was the hot sauce (optional ingredient) and I used a pork shoulder roast. As the recipe suggested, I marinated the pork in the spices for about an hour before cooking. Seriously, if you want to have people rise up and called you blessed, make this for them. Pair with a good cole slaw and maybe a Mac salad, and you’re going to be all that!
This is my favorite pulled pork recipe and I recommend it to everyone I know.
I made this previously with boneless pork shoulder and it was AMAZING but my store was out of it this time so I got a bone in pork loin sirloin. Will that still work? Do I take the bones out after it is cooked? Thanks!
I’ve made pulled pork with bone in pork roast. It came out great. The bones add flavor. Just a little more work to remove them. You might need to cook longer since you won’t be able to cut it into pieces.
Very simple and easy to tweak to your flavor profile. Gonna be my go to recipe
I have not made this recipe yet,
What kind of bbq sauce do you suggest?
We love Sweet Baby Ray's in our house 🙂
More of a sweeter BBQ taste I also use Sweet Baby Ray's. For more of a tangier taste I use Open Pits BBQ.
I use Sweet Baby Ray's a lot with my shrimp appetizers. My favorite is, Bacon Wrapped Shrimp Sauteed in Sweet Baby Ray's. First to always go. Fantastic Pulled Pork
Omg delicious! It’s so flavorful & easy to make.
This was only my second time using my instant pot... Based on my first go around where I didn't have enough liquid in the recipe I tried, I doubled the bbq, vinegar mix for this. I'm glad I did because in the end it was absolutely perfect without having to add that final cup of bbq. The meat was perfect, the seasoning was great. I was so pleased to be so thoroughly walked through the right technique.
Turned out PERFECT... The only thing I did differently is use a boneless pork loin instead of a pork roast... It was still PERFECT not dry at all... Thanks so much for another great recipe