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carnitas
4.98 from 172 votes

Instant Pot Carnitas

Recipe by Amy + Jacky | PressureCookRecipes.com
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!
Servings 4 - 6
Total Time 1 hour 25 minutes

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:

Equipment

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!
Author: Amy + Jacky
Calories: 373kcal

Nutrition

Calories: 373kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 29.3g | Fat: 26.4g | Sodium: 165mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 1.4g