Easy Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
The Instant Pot pulled pork recipe makes perfectly juicy and tender BBQ pulled pork in a fraction of the time as grilling or slow roasting. Our version has you coat the ribs in a savory pork rub, which you then sear to lock in moisture and flavor, and then pressure cook for just 1 hour!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 lb pork butt bone-in (or pork shoulder roast). 3 lb if boneless
- 2 tablespoon pork rub mix our homemade recipe our store-bought
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- ½ cup liquid chicken broth, beef broth, apple or pineapple juice
- ½ cup+ BBQ sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke optional
Instructions
- Preheat the Instant Pot to Saute High and add 2 tablespoon of oil to the pot.
- Cut the pork roast into 4 large pieces. If it's boneless pork that's really easy to get similar-sized hunks of meat. If you have bone-in pork roast you can do this one of two ways: either leave the bone attached to one of the large chunks of meat OR carefully cut the bone off of the meat.
- Sprinkle the pork with the rub mix. Press the rub into the pork with clean hands to help make sure the seasoning stays on the pork butt and doesn't just fall to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Sear the pork roast pieces on each side for 3-4 minutes until brown. It'll be a snug fit in the pot, but all pork pieces will fit. Do not peek at the pork until you're ready to flip it over, you won't want to keep it from browning to a nice crisp. And be sure not to fry it on each side for too long, otherwise, the pork rub will start to burn.
- You'll need to deglaze the pot to avoid getting the burn signal during cooking. Press the Cancel button to stop the pot from cooking before you deglaze. To do this, remove the pork pieces and set them aside on a plate. Add ½ cup of liquid like chicken broth, beef broth, apple juice, or pineapple juice, and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Add the 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke now if you're using it (optional).
- Add the pork back to the Instant Pot and pour ½ cup+ of BBQ sauce over the top.
- Turn the pot to Manual High for 60 minutes. Do a Natural release for 10 minutes before doing a quick release of the remaining pressure in the pot. Once the pin drops, you can open your lid.
- Let the pork cool down for 5-10 minutes before shredding it with forks, meat claws, or a mixer. Enjoy! Serve as a sandwich with a side of closeslaw, as sliders, or on lettuce wraps.
Notes
- Pull the meat out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
- Searing is optional but helps to give the pork roast a nice crust.
- Note: If you cook the meat for 60 minutes and it's still tough and not fork tender, it is NOT done cooking! Usually, when meat is tough it's often considered "overcooked," (think steak or a pork chop) with cuts of meat like pork butt, you need to cook it LONGER. It literally gets cooked until it falls apart and is super easy to shred! Just pot the meat back in the pressure cooker and add more time in 5-minute increments.
- Low carb - Serve the BBQ pulled pork on a bed of lettuce or on top of coleslaw. Use golden monk fruit 1:1 in place of the brown sugar, and buy a sugar-free sauce like GH Hughes.
Nutrition
Serving: 1gCalories: 415kcalCarbohydrates: 1gProtein: 32gFat: 30gSaturated Fat: 10gPolyunsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 120mgSodium: 129mgSugar: 1g
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