Instant Pot Carnitas

carnitas

Step-by-Step Guide on how to make Instant Pot Carnitas with healthy pantry ingredients. Easy Pork Carnitas Instant Pot recipe makes irresistibly delicious Crispy Mexican Pulled Pork. Juicy, tender, flavorful pork with browned crisped crust. Great for pork tacos, burritos, tamales, and nachos, serve it with rice and beans, and more!

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carnitas instant pot

Mexico is one of the beautiful countries that holds a dear place in our hearts.

Every time we taste Mexican food, it transports us back to the sweet memories from our honeymoon trip. Our stay was way too short and there’s so much more to explore!

Streets of Cozumel Mexico

Mexico honeymoon trip
Tacos de Pescado (Beer-battered Mahi-Mahi fillet with shredded cabbage, light mayo + chipotle sauce); Mangorita!

Carnitas

Carnitas is a popular classic Mexican pulled pork. Often made with marbled pork shoulder seasoned with herbs, spices, flavorings, and lard.

Traditionally, the seasoned pork is braised or simmered in lard for hours over low heat until it’s juicy and tender. Then the pork is crisped up before shredding.

Pork carnitas is a very versatile dish you can enjoy in many ways. Make carnitas tacos by wrapping crispy carnitas with a warm crisped tortilla, topping it with refreshing pico de gallo, and a squeeze of zesty lime. A mouthful of exciting and satisfying sensations!

pork carnitas instant pot

Instant Pot Carnitas is great for: Mexican fiesta celebrations (e.g. Cinco de Mayo), BBQs, Picnics, Potlucks, Holidays, Dinners, Parties, Game Days, and more.

What cut of meat is best for carnitas? It’s most common to use Boston butt, pork butt, or pork shoulder to make carnitas. An inexpensive cut of pork that’s heavily marbled with fat. It yields tender juicy carnitas with rich porky flavors.

How to Make Instant Pot Carnitas

This flavor-bursting, juicy, tender, crispy pork carnitas Instant Pot recipe is easy to make yet irresistibly tasty to eat!

instant pot pork carnitas

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5 Steps to Make Carnitas in Instant Pot:

We designed this pork carnitas Instant Pot recipe to be easier and much quicker than traditional or slow cooker methods. Yet it doesn’t skim on flavors and crispy deliciousness!

  1. Cube Pork Shoulder
  2. Marinate Pork
  3. Pressure Cook Marinated Pork
  4. Crisp Pressure Cooked Pork
  5. Shred and Enjoy~

Ingredients for Making Carnitas in Instant Pot

carnitas ingredients

Pork Shoulder (Pork Butt)

Pork Butt Meat or Boston Butt is one of our favorite cuts of pork. It’s the upper part of the pig’s shoulder, above the picnic shoulder cut in the front legs. It’s beautifully marbled with enough fat to keep the meat moist and juicy while cooking. So try your best to use a pork butt with some nice marbling and fat.

  • Bone-in Pork Shoulder: You can use bone-in pork shoulder for this carnitas Instant Pot recipe. Keep in mind it may be harder to cut into 2.5-inch cubes.
  • Substitute with Pork Tenderloin, Pork Sirloin Roast, or Pork Loin: These cuts are quite lean and lack the marbling and fat needed to make tender juicy carnitas. For best results, we don’t recommend using these cuts for this Instant Pot carnitas recipe.
Amy + Jacky’s Tips!

1) Our goal is for our pork to have a crisp crust on the outside and juicy tender on the inside. So, be careful not to overcook the pork shoulder in Instant Pot or oven/air fryer. Or else they’ll come out dry.

2) Pork Shoulder (already a budget cut) is usually quite a bit cheaper in Asian markets. They’re usually labeled as “Pork Butt Meat” or “Char Siu Meat”. So if there are Asian markets nearby that sell fresh meat, go check them out.

Other Ingredients

Cinnamon: One of our secret ingredients for making Instant Pot carnitas! A touch of cinnamon adds a unique taste that enriches the carnitas’ flavors. Keep in mind different brands or types of cinnamon vary in intensity, flavors, aroma, and heat. So if your cinnamon is very strong or has a richer taste, you may use less cinnamon powder. You may also omit it if you wish, the carnitas will still be tasty.

Orange Juice: Best to use orange juice squeezed from a fresh orange.

  • Substitute with Bottled/Carton Orange Juice: It’ll change the carnitas’ flavor profile, and it may come out too sweet.
  • Substitute with Lemon Juice: If you don’t have an orange, you may substitute it with lemon juice. You may need to balance the flavors by adding a bit of sugar to compensate for losing the orange juice’s sweetness.

Unsalted Chicken Stock: We develop recipes with unsalted ingredients so we can better control the flavors. If you’re substituting it with salted chicken stock, keep in mind that the sodium level can vary a lot between different brands. Always taste and adjust accordingly.

Regular Soy Sauce: Soy sauce isn’t a traditional carnitas ingredient. But it’ll add a boost of tasty umami flavors to the carnitas. Give it a shot!

pressure cooker carnitas

Tools for Making Carnitas Instant Pot Recipe

Step 1

Cut Pork Shoulder

cubed pork shoulder or pork butt

Remove the rind and bone from the pork shoulder. Then, cut pork shoulder into ~2 – 2¼ inches cubes.

Amy + Jacky’s Tips!

1) Try to cut each piece as uniformly as possible with similar thickness. Or else the pork shoulder won’t cook as evenly and won’t be as juicy.

2) Don’t throw away the excess fat! We’ll be pressure cooking the pork shoulder with its’ fat.

3) Don’t trim off the fat from cubed pork shoulder because they help retain the juiciness and add flavors to the carnitas. If you like, you can trim them off after pressure cooking.

Step 2

Marinate Cubed Pork Shoulder

Inactive Marinating Time: 20 minutes

pork shoulder in instant pot

Place cubed pork shoulder and excess fat in Instant Pot’s inner pot.

Season pork shoulder very generously with kosher salt and ground black pepper.

Add 4 crushed garlic cloves, chopped onion, 1 teaspoon (2g) ground cumin, ½ teaspoon to 1 teaspoon (1g – 2g) cinnamon powder, 2 bay leaves, 1 tablespoon (15ml) regular soy sauce, and 55ml orange juice (from 1 orange) in Instant Pot.

Mix well, then let the pork shoulder marinate for 20 minutes.

Step 3

Pressure Cook Pork Shoulder

Pour ~⅘ cup (200ml) unsalted chicken stock in Instant Pot.

Carnitas in Instant Pot

Close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position.

Instant Pot Carnitas Cooking Time: Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 30 minutes, then Natural Release for 15 minutes.

After natural releasing, turn the Venting Knob to the Venting position to release the remaining pressure. Open the lid carefully.

Instant Pot Ultra: pressure cook at high pressure for 30 minutes

Step 4

Crisp Pork Shoulder

Take a bite and see if the pork is salty enough. If the pork cubes are not salty enough, add more kosher salt to the cooking liquid. Taste and adjust accordingly.

Transfer the pork shoulder in Instant Pot to a baking tray.

remove pork shoulder

Brush some of the cooking liquid on each piece of pork before crisping.

Amy + Jacky’s Basting Tip: The cooking liquid should be mostly fat. If not, mix ¼ cup (63ml) cooking liquid with 2 tbsp (30ml) vegetable oil, then drizzle it over each piece of pork. The fat and oil will protect the pork from drying out and the surface will crisp faster.

Place pork shoulder 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 pork shoulder cubes, brush each piece with more cooking liquid, then place them in the oven again until the surface is crisped.

Step 5

Optional – Heat Corn Tortillas

If you’re making carnitas tacos and serving them with corn tortillas, heat up the corn tortillas when the pork is browning in the oven.

If you’d like to serve it with homemade Pico de Gallo, here’s our Fresh Salsa Recipe.

corn tortillas and salsa

Step 6

Serve Instant Pot Carnitas

You can shred the pressure cooker carnitas with forks or leave them as chunks.

For Carnitas Tacos: Place piping hot Instant Pot pork carnitas on top of the warmed corn tortillas with a spoonful of salsa (Pico De Gallo). Finish off with a squeeze of lime.

Ta da! Serve carnitas immediately and enjoy! 🙂

Amy + Jacky’s Tips. After crisping the carnitas, it’s best to enjoy them immediately! If you let the carnitas sit for too long, the meat will dry out.

instant pot carnitas recipe

What to Serve with Carnitas

This carnitas Instant Pot recipe is very versatile, and you can use it for many tasty Mexican dishes. Like pork tacos, burritos, tamales, enchiladas, nachos, quesadillas, huarache, burrito bowls, gringa, and more.

You can also enjoy a Mexican meal and serve pressure cooker carnitas on a plate with Mexican side dishes. Like Instant Pot Black Beans, Instant Pot Mexican Rice or Instant Pot Rice, Instant Pot Refried Beans, Instant Pot Pinto Beans (Frijoles Charros), Instant Pot Mexican Street Corn (Elote), fresh guacamole, salsa, salads, or soups.

Don’t forget to wrap up the delicious meal with some sweet Mexican desserts like Instant Pot Flan, Instant Pot Arroz con Leche, or churros with ice cream.

Enjoy Best Instant Pot Carnitas!

4.98 from 168 votes

Instant Pot Carnitas

Author: Amy + Jacky
How to make Instant Pot Carnitas: Easy Pork Carnitas Instant Pot recipe makes irresistibly delicious Crispy Mexican Pulled Pork. Juicy, tender, flavorful pork with browned crisped crust. Great for pork tacos, burritos, tamales, and nachos, serve it with rice and beans, and more!
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Servings 4 - 6
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes
Rate this Recipe

Ingredients

  • 3 ¼ pounds (~1475g) pork shoulder meat (pork butt meat) , cut into 2 – 2 ¼ inches cubes
  • 200 ml (~⅘ cup) unsalted chicken stock

Marinade

Optional:

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Instructions 

  • Cut Pork Shoulder: Remove rind and bone from pork shoulder. Cut pork shoulder into ~2 – 2¼ inches cubes as uniformly as possible. Keep the excess fat.
    Amy + Jacky's Tip: Don't trim off the fat from cubed pork shoulder.
  • Marinate Pork Shoulder Cubes: Place pork shoulder cubes and excess fat in Instant Pot. Season very generously with kosher salt and ground black pepper.
    Add 4 crushed garlic cloves, chopped onion, 1 tsp (2g) ground cumin, ½ - 1 tsp (1g - 2g) cinnamon powder, 2 bay leaves, 1 tbsp (15ml) regular soy sauce, and 55ml orange juice (from 1 orange) in Instant Pot.
    Mix well, then let the pork marinate for 20 minutes.
  • Pressure Cook Pork Shoulder Cubes: Pour ~⅘ cup (200ml) unsalted chicken stock in Instant Pot.
    Close the lid, then turn Venting Knob to Sealing Position. Pressure Cook at High Pressure for 30 minutes, then Natural Release for 15 minutes. Release the remaining pressure. Open the lid carefully.
  • Crisp Pork Shoulder: Take a bite and see if the pork is salty enough. If the pork is not salty enough, add more kosher salt to the cooking liquid. Taste and adjust accordingly.
    Transfer the pork shoulder to a baking tray. Brush some of the cooking liquid on each piece of pork before crisping.
    Amy + Jacky's Basting Tip: The cooking liquid should be mostly fat. If not, mix ¼ cup (63ml) cooking liquid with 2 tbsp (30ml) vegetable oil, then drizzle over each piece of pork. The fat & oil will protect the pork from drying out and the surface will crisp faster.
    Place pork shoulder 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 cooking liquid, then place them in the oven again until the surface is crisped.
  • (Optional) Heat Corn Tortillas: If you are serving the carnitas with corn tortillas, heat up the corn tortillas when the pork is browning in the oven.
  • Serve & Enjoy: Place piping hot Carnitas on top of the warmed corn tortillas with a spoonful of salsa (Pico De Gallo). Serve immediately!

Notes

1) Pork Shoulder: Best to use pork butt with some nice marbling and fat.
  • Substitute with Pork Tenderloin, Pork Sirloin Roast, or Pork Loin: These cuts are quite lean and lack the marbling and fat to make tender juicy carnitas. For best results, we don’t recommend using these cuts for this recipe.
  • Our goal is for the pork to have a crisp crust on the outside and juicy tender on the inside. So, be careful not to overcook the pork in Instant Pot or oven/air fryer.
2) Marinating the Pork:
  • Can I marinate it overnight? You can if you like. The marinade will penetrate a little more into the meat overnight. But the acid in the orange juice can make the pork’s surface a little mushy after marinating for about 18 hours.
  • Can I skip the marinating step? We don't recommend skipping this step. Marinating the pork will make a difference in the final results.
3) Do I need to broil the pork? No, it's not a necessary step. The pressure cooked pork is ready to eat. But the crisping process will increase the depth of flavors and aroma, and add some tasty crispy crust to the carnitas.
4) Cinnamon: One of our secret ingredients! A touch of cinnamon adds a unique taste that enriches the carnitas' flavors. Keep in mind different brands or types of cinnamon vary in intensity, flavors, aroma, and heat. So if your cinnamon is very strong or has a richer taste, you may use less cinnamon powder. You can also omit it if you wish, the carnitas will still be tasty.
5) Orange Juice: Best to use orange juice squeezed from a fresh orange.
  • Substitute with Bottled/Carton Orange Juice: It'll change the carnitas' flavor profile, and it may come out too sweet.
  • Substitute with Lemon Juice: You can substitute it with lemon juice. You may need to balance the flavors by adding a bit of sugar to compensate for losing the orange juice’s sweetness.
6) Unsalted Chicken Stock: If you’re substituting it with salted chicken stock, keep in mind that the sodium level can vary a lot between different brands. Taste and adjust accordingly.
7) Regular Soy Sauce: Soy sauce isn't a traditional carnitas ingredient. But it’ll add a boost of tasty umami flavors to the carnitas. Try it!
8) 3qt or 8qt Instant Pot: We experimented & developed this carnitas recipe with 6qt Instant Pots. You can make this recipe in 3qt or 8qt Instant Pots using the same amount of liquid.
9) Half the recipe: Use the same amount of liquid stated in the recipe. Since the “get up to pressure” time will be shorter, increase the Pressure Cooking time by 1 to 3 minutes.
10) Double the recipe: Increase the amount of liquid by 25%, and increase the spices, herbs, & seasonings by about 50%. Since the “get up to pressure” time will be longer, decrease the Pressure Cooking time by 1 to 3 minutes.
11) Can I make carnitas ahead? It’s not the most ideal to make carnitas in Instant Pot ahead of time, but you can if you need to. Chill and store it with the cooking liquid. Keep in mind the pork will be slightly drier.
12) Freezing carnitas/Storing leftovers: You can store pressure cooked carnitas straight from Instant Pot to the freezer. When ready to eat, reheat carnitas with the cooking liquid using the pot-in-pot method. The trade-off is the pork will be slightly drier.
13) How to use the leftover cooking liquid: If you don’t want to waste the delicious sauce, you can make a gravy with the sauce. Simmer it down a little and thicken it with a roux or cornstarch, then serve it as a gravy for pan-seared pork chops.
14) Total Cooking Time: cooking time did not include inactive marinating time.
Rate Amy + Jacky's Recipe: If you've tried our recipe, rate the recipe in the Comments section. Thank you!
Calories: 373kcal
Course: Appetizer, Main
Cuisine: Mexican
Keyword: carnitas instant pot, carnitas tacos, instant pot carnitas, instant pot pork carnitas, mexican pulled pork, pork carnitas instant pot, pork tacos instant pot, pressure cooker carnitas

Nutrition

Calories: 373kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 29.3g | Fat: 26.4g | Sodium: 165mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 1.4g
instant pot carnitas | instant pot pork carnitas | pork tacos instant pot | carnitas tacos | pressure cooker carnitas
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