Instant Pot Pork Carnitas

When you’re making Instant Pot pork carnitas, you’re basically making the Mexican version of pulled pork. That’s because carnitas translates to “little meat.” Meat is carne in Spanish and when you add the diminutive suffix “ita” or “ito” to a word, it means little or small.

Instant Pot Pork Carnitas

With this recipe, you’re using your Instant Pot with two different settings, plus your oven on broil. First, you’ll start on saute to get the meat braised. Note: when you use this setting, you DO NOT use the lid. If you mistakenly close the electric pressure cooker, you’ll end up getting an error message and the meat won’t cook. Trust me: I’ve made this mistake before and it is frustrating.

Next, after you’re done browning the meat, then you’ll use the Instant Pot in a more traditional manner to slow cook the meat. Interestingly, you’re not actually slow cooking as everything will be done in under an hour. That’s why I love my Instant Pot so much.

In the end, you get tender delicious pork that is versatile enough to be used pulled apart and served in tacos or wraps. Also, like the Slow Cooker Pork Loin recipe, you can serve it with rice — maybe even Instant Pot rice — veggies or the side of your choosing as an entree.

Step-by-Step Instructions

As mentioned earlier, you’ll be cooking this pork in two steps, using your Instant Pot to first braise the meat and then to cook it all the way through with pressure cooking. These instructions are broken out to reflect those separate steps.

Browning the Carnitas Pork in the Instant Pot

In a medium bowl, whisk together chicken broth, fresh orange juice, and lime juice with the chili powder, smoked paprika, Mexican oregano, and ground cumin. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste, and set aside.

Push the “Sauté” button on Instant Pot. Once the display reads “On,” add 1 tablespoon olive oil and half the pork shoulder pieces to the container. Season with salt and black pepper, to taste, and cook until pork is browned on all sides, approximately 1-2 minutes per side. 

Note: DO NOT use lid while using the “Sauté” function on an Instant Pot!

Once browned, transfer seared pork to a plate and repeat this process with additional olive oil and the rest of pork. Remove browned pork from the Instant Pot and set aside.

Add remaining tablespoon olive oil to the Instant Pot, along with red onion, jalapeno, and fresh garlic. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, approximately 3-4 minutes.

Pressure Cooking the Pork

Add browned pork back to the pot and pour chicken broth/orange juice mixture over top. Add lid and seal, making sure the steam release handle is positioned toward “Sealing.” 

Press the “Manual” button and set the time to 30 minutes at high pressure. Once the cooking time is up, allow 20-25 minutes for the “natural release” of the steam inside the Instant Pot. After that time, perform a manual “quick release” to vent any remaining steam to release the lid, if necessary.

Oven Broiling

A few minutes before the steam is fully released, preheat the oven broiler to high and line a large, rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Transfer pork to the prepared baking sheet and gently shred with two forks. Drizzle with ¼ cup juices from the Instant Pot and toss to combine before spreading into a thin, even layer.

Place pork under broiler for 4-5 minutes, then remove from the oven and add a little more juice before turning the meat to brown on the other side. Place back under the broiler for another 4-5 minutes or until the pork is nice and crispy on the edges.

Once pork is under the broiler, press “Sauté” on the Instant Pot to reduce the cooking liquid by one half while the pork is broiling. Remember: don’t put the lid on.

When finished broiling, remove the baking sheet from the oven and serve immediately with the reduced cooking liquid, fresh lime wedges and chopped cilantro. Enjoy!