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
- 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 by far the best pulled pork recipie I ve tried. I ve even given the link to this recipe to a few friends who feel the same as I do. Thank you, this is a keeper!
Best pulled pork ever! And I'm a picky pulled pork eater. It's always too dry; not this one! In fact, I found it to be TOO saucy. I'll have to play with the levels of bbq/cider vinegar/broth ratios. I did cut this recipe in half because I only had 1.5lb pork loin thawed out so maybe that had something to do with the saucy-ness? I also only pressure cooked it for 35min. The taste was great! I used Dave's Insanity Sauce (just under 1/2 a Tsp!) for the hot sauce option. Everyone LOVED it, including the six year old.
Thank you!!
In the video you posted the time was set to 60 minutes. I did for 50 and it turned out perfectly!
Can I slow cook this vs pressure cooking?
Really good flavor, however, I feel like the loin roast meat dried out too much for my liking. Maybe I’ll try this again with shoulder roast.
Amazing
Excellent! I made this for my birthday with coleslaw and corn on the cob, and it did not disappoint! I followed the recipe as written and will make this again and again!
Very good recipe. Spiced just right. Super tasty. My only negative comment is in regards to prep time. I find a fault in most online recipes in that it takes much longer to prepare than the recipe states. This one says 50 minutes total. But if you add up the sauté time of 10 minutes, cook time of 40 minutes (plus the 12 minutes it takes to reach pressure), the pressure release of 10 minutes, and the time it takes to assemble the ingredients, cut and shred the meat, and heat the oil… this recipe actually takes 75 or more minutes to prepare! Which is fine, but there’s a huge discrepancy between the stated and the actual prep time. What is the purpose of understating the time it takes to make? It’s annoying.
My favorite pulled pork recipe! I was curious if subbing out the meat (for chicken maybe) could still work with otherwise the exact same ingredients? I want to cook this for someone who doesn't eat pork...
I’ve done it with canned jackfruit and it worked just fine! Was a huge hit actually . Keep in mind if you buy the jackfruit in brine you need to rinse really well and I would decrease the ACV by 1/2 at least. Good luck!
I made this with a beef roast cubed up anit it was delicious. Other than the meat I followed the recipie entirely .
Made this today and we loved it!! I ended up doubling the spice rub for the 3 pounds of meat and used a Hawaiian pineapple BBQ sauce and it was so good! Definitely will be using this recipe again
Do you trim the fat off beforehand?
The meat does not need to be in a Trivet? And if not, it won’t burn or char on the bottom?
I never use a trivet in my pressure cooker and have yet to burn the bottom of meet. This was even when using the old fashioned top of stove pressure cooker.
Hello!
I wasn’t able to find 3 pounds of meat, only 8 1/2. Do you have to adjust the cooking time on the instant pot when cooking more meat at once?
How big are the cubes supposed to be? Thanks!
LOVE this recipe! It makes the pork so much tastier than cooking a whole pork butt in just water. I've made it several times already. Whenever I make it, I triple the recipe to accomodate the large pork butts I get at Sam's. The tripled recipe fits nicely in my 8qt pot. (You would probably only want to double if using a 6qt pot.) I have found the same 40min pressure time works even when tripling the recipe. The meat comes out so tender it pulls apart right in the pot with just tongs.
If I double this to 6 pounds, should I adjust the cook time?
I use this every time I make pulled pork and everyone thinks I slow roasted it! Perfect every single time.
I love this pulled pork recipe. The pork comes out so tender. The spices are just right.
I have made this recipe many times and it's fantastic! Now I'm curious could it be made ahead of time, possibly frozen?
Absolutely! I've found I can triple this recipe and it still fits in my 8qt Instant Pot. (Triple is perfect for the large Pork Butt Roasts from Sam's Club.) I then freeze the extra and reheat later. Usually, I add extra BBQ sauce after reheatig to compensate for moisture lost during freezing. Also, I portion my extra into quart freezer bags so I get several meals out of one big batch.
Thank you Gale! Do you use the same cooking time as listed in the recipe when you triple it?
This is my favorite Pulled Pork recipe. I can count on it to turn out perfect every time! We love it. I made this for a birthday party and it was delicious! Everyone wanted the recipe! Thanks so much 😋