Make this irresistible Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork Recipe with your own Dry Rub and BBQ Sauce. Tender, juicy pulled pork exploding with sweet & smoky flavors. Making BBQ Pulled Pork has never been this quick and easy! You gotta try it. 😀
We’ve first made some Pulled Pork Sandwich with our pressure cooker pulled pork.
A bite of slightly crisp toasted buns wrapped around the crunchy lettuce and a mouthful of tender pulled pork bursting with sweet & smoky BBQ sauce. Oh, it was just deliciously PERFECT!
Jacky & I couldn’t resist and chomped down 2 in a row within minutes. 😛
It usually takes hours to make slow cooker pulled pork, but it only took us roughly 1.5 hour using our pressure cooker.
This pressure cooker pulled pork is great with so many things: sandwiches, burgers, wraps, on rice, or on nachos. These are perfect as appetizers, snacks, lunch, dinner, treating guests at BBQ or parties.
You can make these pressure cooker pulled pork when you’re looking for something fulfilling, thrifty, bold in flavors. Also great for making ahead for parties or enough for a few meals. The possibilities are endless.
How else do you enjoy your BBQ pulled pork? Tell me!! 😀
Ingredients for Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
- Pork shoulder picnic
- Olive oil
- Homemade Pulled Pork Dry Rub*
- Brown sugar
- Black pepper
- Onion powder
- Garlic powder
- Cinnamon powder
- Kosher salt
- Cumin seed
- Fennel seed
- Cayenne pepper
- Homemade BBQ Sauce for Pulled Pork*
- Medium onion
- Garlic cloves
- Ketchup
- Water
- Maple syrup
- Honey
- Apple cider vinegar
- Dijon mustard
- Brown sugar
*Substitutes: If you don’t want to make your own Dry Rub or BBQ Sauce for Pulled Pork, substitute them with your favorite store bought Dry Rub & BBQ Sauce. 😀
Tools for Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
- Fat separator – This is such a handy tool! Instead of scooping the fatty oil with a ladle or spoon a little at a time, this fat separator will help you quickly separate the fat/oil from the BBQ sauce.
- Quickly separates unwanted fat from flavorful juices
- BPA-free, heat-resistant plastic
- BEAR PAWS Shredder Claws – If you want to feel like Wolverine from X-Men, get these claws to shred your meat!!! 😛 It saves you a lot of time and makes pulling pork so much easier and FUN. Some people use these claws to pick up hot food too. We’re still debating whether we should get the black one or pink one. Hehehe~ What do you think?
- TIME SAVER - Bear Paws are the answer to perfectly shredded meat without the mess and...
- MELTPROOF and DISHWASHER SAFE - Made of BPA-free nylon and heat-resistant up to 475...
Tips for Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
1. Browning the Pork Shoulder: It’s very easy to burn the dry rub on the pork shoulder, so be sure to flip frequently as you are browning the pork meat.
2. Skin on vs Skin off: Keeping the skin and fat cap on will keep the nearby meat very moist. Make sure to keep the skin side facing up when you put it into the pressure cooker. However, the BBQ sauce will be very oily if you leave the skin and fat cap on. Just be sure to use a fat separator to remove the oil from the BBQ sauce before serving.
3. Pressure Cooking Time: The best cooking time for pork shoulder depends on how thick you cut your pork shoulder pieces. It’s better to “undercook” the meat than overcooking as you can add additional cooking time later.Here are the pressure cooking times depending on the size you cut your 4 pounds pork shoulder picnic:
- If it’s cut into 8 pieces: roughly 55 – 60 minutes pressure cooking time.
- If it’s cut into 4 pieces: roughly 60 – 70 minutes pressure cooking time.
- If it’s cut into 2 pieces: roughly 75 – 80 minutes pressure cooking time.
4. Storage Duration: The pressure cooker pulled pork can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 – 5 days.
5. Got Leftover Pulled Pork? We seriously encourage you to try making our BBQ Pulled Pork Savory Waffles!!
Watch: How To Make Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork Video
Can’t see the cooking video? Watch it here.
Now it’s YOUR turn to take out your pressure cooker and make some truly irresistible Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork!
Instant Pot Pulled Pork 2.0
Ingredients
- 4 pounds (1730g) pork shoulder (pork butt meat) , cut into 2 – 2¼ inches cubes
- 1 tablespoon (15ml) olive oil or vegetable oil
Pulled Pork Dry Rub:
- 2 tablespoons (25g) brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons (5g) chili powder
- 2 teaspoons (4g) ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon (2.4g) onion powder
- 1 teaspoon (2.8g) garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon (2.3g) cinnamon powder
- 1 teaspoon (3g) kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon (1g) cumin seed , ground
- ½ teaspoon (1g) fennel seed , ground
- ⅛ - ¼ teaspoon (0.25g - 0.5g) cayenne pepper (see notes)
BBQ Sauce for Pulled Pork:
- 1 (200g) medium onion , sliced
- 1 tablespoon (12.5g) brown sugar
- 3 garlic cloves , minced
- ¾ cup cup (188ml) unsalted chicken stock
- ⅛ cup (31ml) maple syrup or honey
- ⅛ cup (31ml) honey
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) apple cider vinegar
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) Dijon mustard
- Optional: 3 drops liquid smoke
- 1 cup (250ml) ketchup
Thickener
- 4 tablespoons (32g) all purpose flour or cornstarch
- ¼ cup (63ml) cold tap water
Equipment
♥ Share this Recipe so We can create more yummy recipes for you. Thank you 🙂
Instructions
- Rub Pulled Pork Dry Rub: Mix all Dry Rub ingredients, then rub it all over the cubed pork. Put pork in fridge for 30 minutes up to overnight.
- Optional – Saute Onion and Garlic: Heat up Instant Pot using “Sauté More” function. Wait until it says “HOT” on the screen (roughly 8 mins).Add 1 tbsp (15ml) olive oil or vegetable oil in Instant Pot. Make sure the oil coats the whole bottom of the pot.Add in sliced onions and 1 tbsp (12.5g) brown sugar, then saute for 3 minutes.Add in minced garlic, then saute for another minute.
- Deglaze Instant Pot: Add ¾ cup (188ml) unsalted chicken stock in Instant Pot. Then completely deglaze the bottom of the pot by scrubbing the flavorful brown bits with a wooden spoon.
- Pressure Cook Pork Shoulder: Add ⅛ cup (31ml) maple syrup, ⅛ cup (31ml) honey, 2 tbsp (30ml) apple cider vinegar, 2 tbsp (30ml) Dijon mustard, and 3 drops liquid smoke to the Instant Pot. Give it a quick mix.Place all cubed pork in Instant Pot.Amy + Jacky’s Pro Tips: Try to keep the pork's skin side facing up and make sure they’re at least partially submerged in cooking liquid.Layer 1 cup (250ml) of ketchup on top of the pork. Do not mix.With Venting Knob in Venting Position, close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position. Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 35 minutes, then Natural Release for 15 minutes. Open the lid carefully.
- Check Pork Shoulder’s Tenderness: Check if the pork is tender enough. If the pork is still tough, Pressure Cook at High Pressure for another 10 minutes.Then, place pork in a large container.
- Thicken BBQ Sauce: Bring BBQ sauce to a simmer with “Saute” function.In a container, mix 4 tbsp (32g) all-purpose flour with ¼ cup (63ml) cold water. Make sure to mix it really well.When BBQ Sauce is simmering, mix the flour mixture into the BBQ sauce one-third at a time until your desired thickness.
- Season BBQ Sauce: Taste BBQ sauce and add more brown sugar or kosher salt as needed. For reference, we added 2 pinches of salt and 2 tsp brown sugar at the end to balance flavors.Taste test once more to make sure everything is perfectly seasoned.Option 1: Shred pork, place pulled pork in BBQ sauce, then serve BBQ pulled pork.Option 2 (proceed to next step): You can place the whole pork cubes in oven to further enhance the flavors.
- Optional Flavor-Enhancing – Crisp Pork Shoulder: Coat pork cubes generously with BBQ Sauce.Place pork under a broiler or the top rack of a preheated 450°F toaster oven until the surface is crisped (roughly 8 to 10 minutes).Flip the cubed pork, brush each piece with more BBQ sauce, then place them in oven again until the surface is crisped.
- Shred Pork & Serve: Shred BBQ Pulled Pork with 2 forks.If you like a saucier Pulled Pork, place pulled pork back in BBQ sauce. Then serve it in sandwiches, sliders, or with your favorite side dishes. Enjoy~
Video
Notes
- Skin on vs. Skin off: Keeping the skin and fat cap on will keep the nearby meat very moist. But the BBQ sauce will be very oily. You can use a Fat separator to remove the oil from the BBQ sauce before serving.
- Shopping Tip: It's already an inexpensive cut, but it's usually even cheaper in Asian markets. It’s often labeled as Pork Butt Meat or Char Siu Meat.
- Bone-in Pork Shoulder: Dry rub the bones too. You can cook the bones with the meat because they’ll add flavor to the sauce.
- Medium Spicy: use ¼ tsp cayenne pepper
- Mild Spicy: use ⅛ tsp cayenne pepper
Nutrition
All Our Pressure Cooker Recipes
*Disclosure: We are an Amazon Influencer/Amazon Associate. This means that if you decide to purchase items or services on Amazon through our links on Pressure Cook Recipes to Amazon, Amazon will send a small commission to us at no additional costs to you. Thank you!