Instant Pot Pulled Pork

Instant Pot Pulled Pork. When I don't have all day to smoke a pork shoulder, I turn to this recipe. Pork cooked to shreddable tenderness, ready in about an hour.

Need some quick, tender, shredded pork? Here is my pressure cooker pulled pork recipe. Recipe may be overstating it - this is barely a recipe. There are 5 ingredients. One is Pork Shoulder, two is water, three is (optional) liquid smoke, and the BBQ rub and BBQ sauce can be store-bought if you are really in a hurry.

Jump to:

• 🥫Ingredients
• How to Make Instant Pot Pulled Pork
• How long to cook pulled pork in an Instant Pot
• 🛠 Equipment
• 📏Scaling
• 💡Tips and Tricks
• Serving Suggestions
• Instant Pot Pulled Pork
• ☃️ Storage
• 🤝 Related Posts
• 💬 Comments

For the barbecue purists: Yes, I know this is another fake barbecue recipe. (Faux bbq. Fauxbq?) If you're looking for the real deal, check my pork shoulder smoked all day in a Weber Kettle. (Yes, I'm trying to head off the "Heresy!" comments that I am sure are coming when I post this.)

On the other hand, if you are willing to take shortcuts with your "BBQ" (and don't mind BBQ purists clutching their pearls and feeling a little faint), this pulled pork recipe is a quick and easy way to good pork. Is it as good as real-deal, all-day pork, cooked in a smoker with real wood? No, but pressure cooker pulled pork is 90% of the way there, with much less effort. (For more Faux BBQ, check out my Instant Pot Spare Ribs with BBQ Rub and Sauce, Pressure Cooker Beef Brisket, and Pressure Cooker Baby Back Ribs.)

🥫Ingredients

• Boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch by 2-inch pieces of pork
• Barbecue rub (see below)
• Water
• Liquid Smoke (optional)
• Barbecue sauce (see below)
• Hamburger buns, dill pickles, and coleslaw as optional accompaniments.

See the recipe card for quantities.

Pork Butt or Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder?

They're all the same cuts of meat. I've heard the name "pork butt" comes because it is the part of the shoulder that "butts" up against the body of the pig. (And the theory is that this name came from Boston.) At least, that's what I've heard - sources differ on the internet. (I know, different opinions on the internet? I'm shocked.) No matter where the names came from, pork butt, Boston butt, and pork shoulder all refer to the same cut of meat, and all will work in this recipe. (And, whatever you do, don't use pork loin in this recipe. Lean pork loin dries out if you cook it this long in a pressure cooker.)

What is liquid smoke?

Liquid Smoke is made by burning wood in a low-oxygen environment and distilling the water vapor that is produced. That's right; liquid smoke is actually condensed wood smoke. It's a side effect of making charcoal, and "wood vinegar," as everyone else calls it, has been around for centuries. (Pliny the Elder mentions it back in Ancient Rome. See, Latin class was worth something!)

It's optional in this recipe, but I like the extra depth of flavor when I add just a little of it to the water before cooking.

How to Make Instant Pot Pulled Pork

• Mix up the BBQ rub and BBQ sauce (or use store-bought rub and sauce)
• Cut the pork shoulder into 2-inch by 2-inch pieces, and sprinkle them with the BBQ rub.
• Pour a cup of water into the Instant Pot (or another pressure cooker), add the liquid smoke, and then loosely stack the strips of pork shoulder in the pot.
• Lock the lid and pressure cook for 45 minutes, then let the pressure release naturally.
• Move the pork to a platter and shred it with a pair of forks. Mix a little of the barbecue sauce into the pulled pork.
• Serve as a pile of pulled pork on a plate or as sandwiches in buns, with (optional) pickles and coleslaw. Pass the extra barbecue sauce for people to add at the table.
  

How long to cook pulled pork in an Instant Pot

I pressure cook this pork for 45 minutes at high pressure to get the tenderness I'm looking for. Pork shoulder holds up remarkably well to pressure; I've done cooking times as long as an hour, and there wasn't much difference in the result. (That's why I kept it to 45 minutes - why cook for longer if you don't have to?) I've never gone past an hour under pressure, but I have left it in "keep warm" mode for an hour after it spent 45 minutes pressure cooking, and it came out fine. Pork shoulder is very forgiving, and hard to overcook. You can do it, but you have to work at it.

🛠 Equipment

A 6-quart pressure cooker

📏Scaling

You can double this recipe in a 6-quart pressure cooker. You don't need to double the water or liquid smoke, just the pork, rub, and barbecue sauce. You can halve the recipe, too, if you need to fit it in a 3-quart pressure cooker, but again, keep the water and liquid smoke amounts. Just cut back on the pork, rub, and barbecue sauce. (You need 1 cup of water to come up to pressure.)

No matter which way you scale the recipe, up or down, the cooking time remains the same. 2-inch by 2-inch pieces of pork shoulder cook in the same amount of time, regardless of how many there are in the pot.

💡Tips and Tricks

• Finesse the barbecue sauce - stir ½ cup of the pot liquid into the BBQ sauce. It will take some of the porky goodness from the liquid and add it back to the recipe.
• The liquid smoke is optional…but as I found out, it's worth using it. Look near the barbecue sauce at your local grocery store.
• If you have a cup of chicken broth lying around (especially homemade chicken broth), it will add extra depth to the recipe.
• I substitute soy sauce for the traditional Worcestershire sauce in my barbecue sauce.
• Cut the pork roast into strips before pressure cooking: Large roasts don't pressure cook well. It takes a long time for the heat to penetrate into the center of the roast. That's fine when you're cooking low and slow all day in a smoker, but not so good in a pressure cooker. To help the pressure do its work, I cut my pork shoulder into 2-inch by 2-inch strips before cooking. Why 2-inch by 2-inch strips? Because the pork roasts I get from the grocery store are usually 4 inches thick. I cut them in half, then cut each half into 2-inch wide pieces. That gives me pieces with even thickness, so they cook consistently. Since the goal is to shred the roast, why not break it down a little first?
  

Serving Suggestions

These sandwiches are a taste of summer barbecue any time of the year. I serve them with buns, pickles, coleslaw, and extra barbecue sauce. Good side dishes are my Instant Pot Potato Salad, and my Instant Pot Cajun Pinto Beans. And, of course, a tasty beverage, whether that's lemonade, sweet tea, or a beer.

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☃️ Storage

Pulled pork can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days, then reheated for serving. I freeze leftover pulled pork by packing it flat in gallon zip-top bags and freezing it; the flat bags thaw quickly in the microwave, making them easy to reheat.

🤝 Related Posts

Pressure Cooker Pork Steaks, St. Louis BBQ Style
Rotisserie Pork Shoulder with South Carolina Mustard Barbecue Sauce
Pressure Cooker Korean BBQ Pork Lettuce Wraps
Instant Pot Beef Brisket
My other Instant Pot and Pressure Cooker Recipes

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