You are sure to fall in love with this recipe for Instant Pot Carnitas! With the help of the pressure cooker, you can make the most tender, juicy Pork Carnitas ever!
If you like Instant Pot Carnitas, you may also enjoy Instant Pot Pulled Pork, Instant Pot Chicken Tacos, or one of my many other Instant Pot Recipes. No Instant Pot? Try out my Slow Cooker Carnitas.
I have been making Pork Carnitas for years.
Or at least what I THOUGHT to be Pork Carnitas…….Do you know the actual definition of Pork Carnitas?
Pork Carnitas
According to wikipedia, Carnitas are made by braising or simmering pork in oil or preferably lard until tender.
You guys, I have been doing this carnitas thing all wrong! I do NOT simmer my pork roast in lard or oil!
But guess what? My recipe for Instant Pot Shredded Mexican pork still tastes a LOT like traditional carnitas–tender, juicy, and full of flavor. Just minus the lard!
Pork Roast For Carnitas
This recipe for Instant Pot Carnitas can be made with either pork shoulder, pork butt, or pork loin.
- Pork Butt or Boston Butt)–A pork butt is marbled evenly throughout the roast and usually uniform in size. A very tender roast that shreds easily and stands up to bold flavor.
- Pork Shoulder (or Picnic Roast)–Has less marbling than a pork butt and typically comes with skin on that needs trimmed.
- Pork Loin Roast–Pork Loin Roasts are quite a bit leaner, which is ideal if you are watching fat or calories. However, you may find it is a bit tougher to shred pork loin after cooking. To ease the process, cut your pork loin into 2-3 inch chunks BEFORE cooking. Follow directions as stated, but cook for 20 minutes on high pressure. You can opt to keep your pork loin whole and cook for 25 minutes per pound, but you may find that your pork loin roast will need to be sliced verses shredding easily with 2 forks.
I recommend Pork Butt for Instant Pot Carnitas because it is well marbled and uniform in size making this cut of pork the juiciest, tender meat for shredding.
How To Make Pressure Cooker Carnitas
Step One: Sear Pork Roast (OPTIONAL!)
- Turn your pressure cooker to Saute and pour in 1 tablespoon oil.
- Wait until your pressure cooker reads Hot, and then sear your meat 2-3 minutes per side until browned.
Step Two: Cook the Pork Loin in the Instant Pot
- Cooking pork loin in the pressure cooker is as easy as hitting manual button.
- Set cook time for 20 minutes per pound on high pressure for fresh pork loin
- Set cook time for 30 minutes per pound for frozen pork loin.
*If you have cut your pork loin into smaller roasts, set for the time of the largest piece of meat (ie–if you have two 2 lb roasts, cook for 40 minutes instead of 80 minutes total. Alternatively, if you are cooking 2 inch chunks of pork loin, I find that 20 minutes total time is perfect.)
Step Three: Shred the Cooked Pork
- After the cook time has elapsed on the instant pot, let pressure release naturally. This is an extremely important step if you want to achieve tender pressure cooker meat.
- Once pressure has released, open Instant Pot.
- To shred the pork, I break it into 2-3 large chunks with a butter knife.
- Place hand-held mixer right into the instant pot, turn to medium low and shred away.*The juice the pork has cooked in, will splash a bit, but the inner pot is deep enough, I don’t find this to be much of an issue. *You could also just remove your pork loin from the pressure cooker and use two forks to shred the meat or shred in a stand-mixer if desired.
What if the pork roast is not tender after cooking time?
If after your pork has cooked and pressure has been NATURALLY released, and your pork roast will not easily shred for you, don’t panic. This can easily happen with a leaner cut of meat like pork loin if you don’t cut into smaller chunks before cooking.
- Cut your pork into chunks and place back in your pressure cooker right inside the cooking juices.
- Set the pressure to high and cook for an additional 10 minutes and let pressure release naturally again. Your meat should be perfect at this point!
Crispy Instant Pot Carnitas
If you desire those crispy edges on your pork roast for contrast in texture, take a few minutes to crisp up your Pulled Mexican Pork.
- Turn your broiler on your oven to high.
- Spread your shredded pork loin on a large rimmed baking sheet, along with 1/2 cup of the cooking juices.
- Place the baking sheet under the broiler for 3-5 minutes or until the juice has begun to evaporate and the meat begins to brown.
- At this point, you can flip the meat, add an additional 1/2 cup cooking liquid and repeat the process on the remaining side, or you can serve as is.
Mexican Slaw
I love to serve these carnitas with a simple slaw that helps cut through the richness of the pork.
- Mix 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice with 1 teaspoon honey (or sugar), and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
- Toss with 2 cups shredded cabbage.
- Refrigerate for at least 20 minute prior to serving.
How to Serve Instant Pot Mexican Shredded Pork
- In tortillas with cheese, cabbage, and or sour cream
- In a Pork Carnita Bowl
- Over a Baked Potato or Sweet Potato
- As a topping for Mexican Cobb Salad or Mexican Pizza.
Tips for Instant Pot Pork Carnitas
- Pro Tip: If you are purchasing a large pork roast (any variety) and it is too large for your pressure cooker, simply ask your butcher to cut for you. Your butcher will do this for FREE–you just have to ask!
- Freshly squeezed orange juice is best, but any orange juice you have will work.
- If you don’t want to use chicken stock in this pork carnitas recipe, I suggest a light beer. Just remember that if using beer, these Instant Pot Pork Tacos, will no longer be gluten-free or paleo.
- Shredded Mexican Pork will keep safely in your refrigerator for 3-4 days and will freeze for up to 3 months.
More Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Rotisserie Chicken
- Instant Pot Chicken Marsala
- Pressure Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
- Instant Pot Lasagna
Instant Pot Carnitas
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil optional
- 1 3-4 pound pork roast shoulder or butt is preferred
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 cup orange juice
- 1 cup chicken stock or light beer
- 2 teaspoons cumin
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
To Serve
- tortillas, shredded cheese (cheddar or queso fresco), shredded cabbage
Instructions
- OPTIONAL: Turn your instant pot to saute and add in oil. Season pork roast liberally with the kosher salt. When Instant Pot reads "Hot," add pork loin to instant pot and sear until browned on each side. (Skip if you are in a time crunch or using a frozen pork roast.)
- Mix together orange juice, stock, cumin, oregano and garlic powder and pour over pork loin.
- Seal pressure cooker and be sure vent is pointing to "sealed." Set pressure to high and cook for 20 minutes per pound (60 minutes for 3 pounds or 80 minutes for 4 pounds.)
- Once cook time has elapsed, let pressure release naturally.
- Shred pork with 2 forks or kitchen mixer (stand or hand-held mixer both work.)
- If you want to crisp the edges of the shredded pork, place meat on rimmed sheet pan with 1/2 cup cooking liquid and broil under high heat for 3-5 minutes per side.
- Serve Mexican pork with tortillas and shredded cheese, over rice, or over baked potatoes.
Notes
- For Pork Loin Roast: If using pork loin instead of pork butt or shoulder, you may find it is a bit tougher to shred after cooking. To ease the process, cut your pork loin in 2 inch chunks BEFORE cooking. Follow directions as stated, but cook for 20 minutes on high pressure. You can omit to keep your pork loin whole and cook for 20 minutes per pound, but you may find that your pork loin roast will need to be sliced verses shredding easily.
- For FROZEN pork roast: Do NOT sear the meat, omit the oil, and add 10 minutes to cooking time per pound (30 minutes per pound.)
To Make Instant Pot Carnitas, You May Need
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Kristen Chidsey
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The orange juice in this recipe is the best advice ever! I cut a 3 pound shoulder (or butt, can’t remember) in half, sauteed until browned, and set for 50 minutes with the addition of green pepper, poblano pepper, onion, lime juice and some other spices, and it came out much better than my previous attempt without OJ. I’m a little bummed we don’t have more leftovers as we ate almost all of it. Thank you!
I am so glad you enjoyed this recipe Gale–I love the orange juice as well. Sorry you didn’t have leftovers though!
Super delicious and super easy.
My husband and I came back from a festival today and I wanted to make a quick, easy dinner but needed to use some pork we had from Costo. It was one of their tenderloins so I cut it into cubes just as the directions said. Used the juice from a bunch of cuties that I couldn’t finish and all the rest, including broiling the meat (a little added juice and a spray of canola oil) and wabam! Deliciousness! Love this recipe and will use it again.
I am so glad you enjoyed Kristin–and that you used with what you had on hand! Hope you enjoy many more times!
Thank you for this recipe. I didn’t have any OJ so I used apple juice. I followed your instructions for cooking a pork loin roast (mine was 1.5 lbs) with the same amount of liquid. I also scraped the brown bits from the bottom so I wouldn’t get a burn message. After it was finished cooking, the roast shred easily with electric beaters. I added about 2/3 cup of the liquid back to the shredded pork when it was all done. It was so so good!
Hi Melissa! I am so glad you enjoyed the Pork Loin! I love to use apple juice to cook pork in as well, especially for Instant Pot Pulled Pork. Have a great day!
Tremendous recipe. I followed the recipe at written and was left with exactly zero leftovers. The troops devoured the entire 4.25 lbs of pork shoulder. Served the pork with soft tortillas, sour cream and avocado.
YAY!! I am so glad you and your crew enjoyed Michael! Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a review.
Super easy to make and my husband says that *I* out did myself on it. Which is a huge compliment to you and this recipe. He is a Sally when it comes to food: he would totally claim that he isn’t picky about his food, but he definitely is (like Sally from When Harry Met Sally). Anyways, we are definitely going to be using this again.
Oh that is fabulous Joan! You let him believe it is all you 😉
I made these a few nights ago and they were a HIT! So tasty! Only thing I changed is that I used pineapple/orange juice because that’s what I had, and I also added a little cornstarch to thicken the sauce at the end juuuust a tad (about a 1.5 tsp dissolved into a little cold water). We will absolutely be making these again. I am fairly new to using my (offbrand) instant pot, but I am loving it so far! Looking forward to trying more recipes like this!
I am so glad you enjoyed Monika! Thank you for sharing your modifications too!
Another great instant pot recipe! Thank you I was looking for a pork recipe using my instant pot! It was easy and delicious 😀
I am so glad you enjoyed!
Great tip with the shredding! Way to make a quick, tasty and easy recipe even quicker!!
The shredding meat with the mixer is one of my favorite tips!
Worked late, whole pork loin – what to do? Cubed it up, tossed it in the Mega Cocina (Miami’s answer to the Instant Pot) followed this recipe (I quartered an onion and chopped the top off of a small head of garlic and put it directly in the pot – no peeling!) and cooked it 25 minutes. Removed the meat from the pot into a mixing bowl to shred – Love love love the hand mixer for pulling the meat! Strained the remaining juice from the pressure cooker onto the meat and served it up with some tortillas and pico de gallo. If I would have had more time, I might have crisped the meat up after shredding it on a flat top/skillet but it was delicious as was. Thanks!
I am so glad you were able to enjoy this meal after a long day at work! I hope you enjoy many more times 🙂
Love how flavorful this meal is! Delicious!
I am so glad you enjoyed!
This was so delicious! I love using my IP to cook meals like this one.
The Instant Pot makes this SO easy!
I made these tonight for the first time (which is sad since I’m half Costa Rican and my dad used to make carnitas all the time!) and they turned out quite good. I didn’t measure the seasonings so they needed to be bumped up after the fact, but that was all on me. I didn’t have oj and the only really acidic liquid in the fridge was some whey leftover from making yogurt. I dumped some in and am happy to report it worked out great! I had it in a bowl and my nephew had a burrito. Thanks for such well written and tested recipes!
Hi Erika! I am so glad you enjoyed these! And great idea to use the whey! I love adding that to smoothies, but never thought to add to carnitas.
So, I made this tonight and it came out really dry and wouldn’t shred. What did I do wrong?
I did 4 lbs of meat cut into 2 lb pieces. I set the timer for 40 minutes.
This was my first time making pork, so I am not sure if I messed it up in what I did. I appreciate your thoughts.
Hi Jessica! I am sorry you are having issues shredding your pork. Can I ask what cut of meat you used? Also, you want to be sure you let pressure release naturally.
I’m using a 4lb frozen pork butt. So is the math 18mins (pork butt) + 10mins (frozen) = 28mins. Then x 4lbs? So 1hr 52mins?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Hi Matt! That is correct! I hope you enjoy!
If you are using 2 pounds of meat, do you use less liquid?
Hi Amy, you can cut the liquid back to 1-1 1/12 cups total–just use equal parts beer and orange juice.
Hi! This may be confusion on my part, but I noticed that you listed 2 different cooking times for the same cut of meat – the pork “butt” is the shoulder. Which cooking time should I use? The pork loin tips are amazingly helpful. Thanks for the post!
Hi Alisha! So sorry for any confusion. Pork Butt and Pork Shoulder are often said to be the same thing, however I was referring to a picnic shoulder. Which is a different part of the pig. I will clarify that now.
I haven’t tried the recipe yet but I will tonight and I expect it will be delicious. I wanted to thank you for the tip on cooking the meat in the pot. I have just started using the instant pot and hadn’t really considered cooking time being based on the size of the meat vs. the weight of the meat. That is probably the best tip I have ever gotten on cooking in the instant pot. It may be common sense to some but for me….well, like I said….I’m new at this. That tip alone is worth a 5 star rating to me. Thanks a Lot!!!
I am so glad that tip helped Tammy! It is NOT common sense for most, so you are not alone in that at all. Enjoy!
Great site! I would appreciate making sure everything is listed that is shown in the picture. I saw there was a different kind of cheese, so I needed to look up pork carnitas to figure out what kind of cheese. And we need some kind of tortilla – do you have recommendations? Is there a reason why you leave that off? I noticed the same thing with the pulled pork – there is no “bun” listed even though it’s in the picture. This seems really nit picky, but I’m afraid if I just scan down the recipe to make a quick shoppping list, I’ll forget really important things! Thank you =)
Hi Rebecca! I am sorry for any confusion. I do list how to serve the carnitas in the post, but it would certainly be helpful to have optional ideas in the post. I will be sure to update these posts for others as well, and will keep this in mind for future posts. Thanks!
As for tortillas–I love Tortilla Land. They are fresh tortillas made with just wheat, water and oil. They are in refrigerated section and need to be cooked before using. They can be hard to find, but I have seen them at Walmart and Costco. For cheese, I use feta, shredded cheddar, or queso fresco.
I’m confused about the cooking times for a pork loin. I have a giant 8 lb pork loin. What’s the best way and time to cook that at?
Hi Mike! To cook 8 lbs in your instant pot, you need to cut it into pieces that will fit into your IP. I would suggest cutting in half and if that works, you would cook BOTH pieces together but base the time on cooking 4 pounds of meat (you always base timing based on largest piece of meat, not total meat) So that would be 80 minutes on high pressure. If you cut into 3 pieces I would cook for 60 minutes on high pressure. Hope that helps! Enjoy
I love the tip to shred the meat – easy and smart!!
Thanks Debra! That tip is one of my favorites. Not that shredding meat with forks is hard, but this method is QUICK!
Did you shred it with hand mixer? What’s the difference?
Hi Amy, I actually shredded this with a hand mixer because I didn’t want to dirty up my stand mixer-but both work about the same.