Instant Pot Pulled Pork
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Need a quick and easy way to get tender, fall-apart pork? The trick is to use your pressure cooker! Instant Pot Pulled Pork is amazing with only 5 minutes of prep time. The pork is seasoned and then pressure cooked with the end result being a mouth-watering and tender pulled pork to pile on buns. Don’t forget to top with your favorite BBQ sauce!

Tender, juicy shredded seasoned pork piled on buns with BBQ sauce is my idea of a delicious easy dinner! And it all happens in a pressure cooker so it’s much faster than slow-cooking it in the oven all day. Anytime I can shave hours off a recipe make me very happy! If this all sounds great to you, too, you are going to have to try this easy Instant Pot Pulled Pork!
Of course, you don’t have a pressure cooker I have you covered with my equally delicious (and easy!) crock pot pulled pork so you should definitely check it out. If you do have an Instant Pot get ready to fire it up so you can make this amazing pork – it makes the best sandwiches! The pork is seasoned and then cooked until it’s falling apart tender. Add your favorite BBQ sauce and you get a dinner your whole family will love. We love these sandwiches with some macaroni salad or broccoli salad on the side!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Vegetable oil – You could also use olive oil, avocado oil etc.
- Boneless pork shoulder – You definitely want to use pork shoulder which is a tougher cut of meat that has the right amount of fat. As it cooks all the fat melts and the meat turns really tender. If you can’t find pork shoulder you can use pork butt, too, which is a similar (but not the same!) cut.
- Salt and pepper
- Water
- Hickory flavored liquid smoke – If Smoke Flavor isn’t your thing you could leave this out.
- Barbecue sauce – Homemade or store bought depending on your taste preference.
Steps for Cooking Pulled Pork in a Pressure Cooker
The steps are so easy! Basically you brown the meat, seal up the Instant Pot and pressure cook the meat until it’s falling apart tender!
- Prep – Turn the saute setting on and once it’s heated add the vegetable oil.
- Season & Saute – Season the pork shoulder with the salt and pepper and place it in the pressure cooker. Brown it on all sides until a nice golden crust forms. It usually takes about three minutes per side.
- Add Ingredients – Once it’s browned on all sides, add the water and liquid smoke.
- Cook – Secure the lid, close the steam valve, and set the IP to cook on high pressure for 75 minutes. When the timer goes off let the steam naturally release for 20 minutes.
Shred the Pork and Sauce it Up!
Once the steam has released you can open the vent and take off the lid. Only a few more easy steps left!
- Shred – Take the cooked meat out of the IP and shred it using two forks. As you shred it, separate the excess fat and discard it. There will be liquid in the Instant Pot. Go ahead and discard all but a 1/2 cup of the liquid. Add the shredded pork back to the pressure cooker.
- Sauce – Pour the BBQ sauce over the top. Turn on the saute setting. As the instant pot heats up, stir the meat with the sauce until it’s warmed up.
How to Serve It
We love this BBQ pulled pork on hamburger buns, but there are other ways you can serve it, too!
- Wrap it up in flour tortillas with cheese like these taquitos or enchiladas.
- Or serve it with crunchy taco shells and your favorite toppings for a twist on tacos!
- We love this pulled pork with homemade macaroni and cheese. It’s a great comfort food dinner!
- Cold? Warm up with a big bowl of Pulled Pork Chili.
- Make a BBQ pork pizza with mozzarella and cheddar cheese, sliced red onions and my favorite easy pizza dough.
- You can also spread the shredded meat over tortilla chips to make nachos.
- Or try my easy pulled pork quesadillas!
If you have leftovers they will keep well in the fridge for three to four days – three cheers for easy lunches! I love a dinner that takes care of lunch the next day, too.
I hope you give this pulled pork recipe a try – we love it year-round at our house and making it in the Instant Pot is just so easy!
More Easy Recipes for Your Instant Pot!
Love your IP as much as I love mine? You will love these recipes, too!
- With a name like Crack Chicken you know it has to be good! The combination of chicken, bacon, cheese, and ranch is so hard to resist – pile it on buns for an easy dinner!
- Another sandwich we love is French Dip Sandwiches. They are super easy to make in the Instant Pot!
- If you think BBQ ribs take too long to make you have to try my Instant Pot Ribs recipe. You’ll want to make them all the time!
- Instant Pot Chicken Wings that are perfectly sticky!
- Instant Pot Brisket Sliders with Caramelized Onions are Tender, Shredded Brisket Cooked in Your Instant Pot.
WATCH THE STEP BY STEP VIDEO FOR THIS INSTANT POT PULLED PORK RECIPE BELOW:
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Try it and love it? Rate it, please!!!? Seriously though a five-star rating below will make my day! If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!!
Did you make this? If you snap a photo, please be sure tag me on Instagram at @julieseatsandtreats or #julieseatsandtreats so I can see your yummy treat!
Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Video
Ingredients
- 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 3-4 lb boneless pork shoulder cut in half
- ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp ground black pepper
- ½ c. water
- 1 tsp hickory flavored smoke
- 1 c. barbecue sauce
- Optional: Buns additional BBQ sauce of topping
Instructions
- Select the saute function on the Instant Pot to preheat the pot. When the pot is hot add vegetable oil to it. Place pork in pot and brown on all sides, about 3 minutes per side.
- Add water and hickory flavored smoker to cooking pot.
- Place lid on in lock position and make sure the valve is turned to closed. Select High Pressure for 75 minutes.
- When the cook time ends, let it naturally release for 20 minutes.
- After 20 minutes let any remaining pressure out of Instant Pot be turning the valve to open.
- Remove pork from the pot and shred with two forks, discard excess fat as your shred.
- Strain liquid from pot, reserving ½ c. of liquid. Place shredded pork in the cooking pot with 1 c. of barbecue sauce and reserved liquid. Stir to combine. Set Instant Pot to saute to warm the mixture up; stirring frequently.
- Serve on buns with additional barbecue sauce if desired.
Tips
- You definitely want to use pork shoulder which is a tougher cut of meat that has the right amount of fat. As it cooks all the fat melts and the meat turns really tender. If you can’t find pork shoulder you can use pork butt, too, which is a similar (but not the same!) cut.
- Leftovers they will keep well in the fridge for three to four days
- Nutrition does not include buns.
Adrienne says
This was so easy to make and had tons of flavor! The meat was tender and juicy. We used it to make pulled pork nachos 3 times in one week!
Sarah Hill says
Yum – that sounds delicious! So glad this worked out well for you! Thanks so much for commenting and rating this recipe!
Cathy Kellen says
First of all I want to say you have written the best instructions on how to use the Instant Pot that I have ever come across. Thank you for my new found confidence! The French Dip was so easy to make due to your instructions and the taste was phenomenal with only using simple ingredients that are easy to find. I will definitely be browsing your recipes moving forward as I meal plan!
Julie says
Thanks, Cathy! I’m so glad you enjoyed it and built some confidence in your Instant Pot skills!
Malinda Linnebur says
This was so easy to make and so full of flavor! I never thought of adding liquid smoke!! Thanks again for another amazing recipe!
Julie says
You’re welcome! I’m glad you loved it!
Alison LaFortune says
Such an easy recipe for the instant pot! The meat was tender and so flavorful. The whole family loved it!
Julie says
Wonderful to hear!
Danielle Green says
The meat came out incredibly tender and the smoke flavor was just right!
Julie says
I’m glad you enjoyed it!
Katie says
My family would be all over this one! Can’t wait to try it.
Julie says
I know you’ll all love it!
Rachael Yerkes says
These are the best! Such a great dinner option and everyone in the family loves it!
Julie says
Glad to hear it, Rachael!
Carrie Robinson says
Pulled pork is one of my favorites! I love that you made this in the instant pot. 🙂
Julie says
Anything to make life easier! Glad you loved it!
Katie says
Pulled pork is my favorite! This recipe looks insanely delicious and I am so excited to try it!
Julie says
I know you’ll love it!
Barb Brethauer says
Can you make this in a regular pressure cooker in place of an instant pot?
Julie says
Do you mean a stove top pressure cooker or just another brand of electric pressure cooker? I have only tested this in the Instant Pot but a different brand of electric pressure cooker should work just fine, I’m not sure about a stove top version.