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
Check out our video for this recipe below, and be sure to follow along on Facebook where we’re always sharing the best recipes!
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
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin
- 1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne, Optional
- 3 Pound Boneless Pork Roast, Cut into 3-4 inch cubes
- 2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
- 1/3 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 Cups Barbecue Sauce, Divided
- 1 1/4 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 1/4 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.
Followed to the tee except didn’t have onion powder, and doubled the amount of cumin. Delicious!
Nichole – thanks so much for the recipe. My favorite dish to cook is the bourbon bbq pulled pork that you linked above. My family, friends, and coworkers rave about it!
In the Instant Pot recipe … is Bourbon still okay to use or does it not “dissolve” fast enough in the instant pot to be of use? Thanks again!
Hi! Yes, the bourbon should work just fine since the Instant Pot cooks much faster 🙂
Great recipe made with pork shoulder. Meat was tender and very flavourful. We loved it. I did a couple of changes to accommodate my oldest son who is on a keto diet
– substituted erythritol for brown sugar
– increased the paprika to 1 tablespoon; used smoked paprika which gave a really nice flavour
– used a low carb ketchup to which we added anchovy paste (a reasonable substitute for standard barbecue sauce)
Thank you.
I’ve made this recipe 3 times now. Used a pork butt the first time… too much fatty chunks that needed to be removed after cooking/shredding…. used trimmed pork roasts the second time and pork tenderloins the third time. Outstanding results with the latter 2. Also doubled the meat and rub…. didnt double the liquid. Kept the cooking time the same. Came out perfect
Delicious and easy! My husband raved on it!
Is the BBQ sauce necessary during the coooking process? I have some picky people around here. Some will eat the sauce, some won’t. I’m hoping I can just add this after the cooking process
You can leave it out and add when serving 🙂
It was a great recipe. My husband and I both loved it.
I can’t wait to try this! Question: Do I still need to add ACV if I’m using a vinegar-based pork sauce?
I would still add it, yes 🙂
Turned out great!!! Thanks for the recipe, it’s definitely a keeper!
Hands down the best pulled pork I’ve ever made!!!!
I literally just made this and am eating a sandwich now. It’s my first IP recipe and it came out great, no burn error, no problems. I didn’t have apple cider vinegar so I used balsamic instead and the meat is so tender. And I love the left over sauce, I made a slurry of the sauce in there and corn starch and set it to saute and thicken and I’m using that instead of the other cup of bbq sauce. Thanks for the great recipe and the awesome instructions!
Super easy and super delicious!
We make this twice a month! Absolutely delicious and so easy to make 🙂
Awesome recipe! Thanks for sharing! And thanks for the tip about reducing the liquid.
VEYR tender and tasty. Best pulled pork I have ever had.