I love shredded pork for my Mexican themed recipes, like these Instant Pot Shredded Pork Tostadas. Pressure cooking cubes of pork shoulder turns them into tender, shreddable meat for filling tacos. Or, in this case, topping tostadas.
What makes shredded pork even better? Crisping it after cooking. The contrast between the crunchy browned pieces and the tender, shredded pieces adds a lot to this dish. Sure, you can skip the crisping step, and the extra pan, and the extra work…and I do, if I’m in a big hurry…but the difference in flavor is dramatic. Trust me on this one; don’t skip the crisp!
To double down on crispness, I’m serving the shredded pork on tostadas. Yes, they’re a mess; yes, they will disintegrate when I least expect it. I love them in spite of their tendency to crumble, and I always add a stack of them to my basket when I visit my local Mexican market.
Recipe: Instant Pot Shredded Pork Tostadas
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Instant Pot Shredded Pork Tostadas
- Total Time: 40 minutes
- Yield: 12 tostadas 1x
Description
Instant Pot Shredded Pork Tostadas. Browned and crispy Mexican-style shredded pork, done in minutes thanks to pressure cooking.
Ingredients
- 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1 cup water
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
Accompaniments
- At least a dozen tostadas (whole fried corn tortillas)
- Salsa
- Refried Beans
- Shredded cabbage or shredded lettuce
- Diced Onion
- Guacamole
- Shredded or crumbled cheese
- Minced cilantro
Instructions
- Season the pork: Sprinkle the pork cubes with the salt, then put the pork into the Instant Pot (or pressure cooker pot), pour the 1 cup of water into the pot, and stir.
- Pressure cook for 15 minutes with a natural pressure release: Lock the lid on the pressure cooker. Cook on high pressure for 15 minutes in an Instant Pot or other electric pressure cooker (“Manual” or “Pressure Cook” mode in an Instant Pot), or for 12 minutes in a stovetop PC. Let the pressure come down naturally, about 15 minutes. (You can quick release any remaining pressure after 15 minutes)
- Shred the pork: Unlock the Instant Pot lid and open it away from you – the steam is hot. Scoop the pork to a platter with a slotted spoon, then shred the pork with a pair of forks. (It will be fall-apart tender, and this won’t take much work.)
- Crisp the pork (optional): In a 12-inch fry pan over medium-high heat, heat the vegetable oil until shimmering. Spread the shredded pork in the frypan in a single layer and cook until the bottom is browned and crispy, about 4 minutes. Move the shredded pork to a platter with a slotted spoon, leaving behind as much of the oil as possible. Serve the pork on the tostadas with your favorite Mexican accompaniments and toppings.
Notes
- You can crisp the pork in your instant pot, if you want to keep this as a one-pot meal. Before the “Crisp the pork” step, empty the inner pot and wipe it clean. Put it back in the pressure cooker base and set the pot to Sauté mode on high. In two batches, heat the oil and crisp the pork - you don’t want to crowd the pot too much.
- If you have a fat separator, you can crisp the pork in its own rendered lard. After scooping the pork out of the pressure cooker pot, pour the pot liquid into the fat separator and wait for the fat to float to the top. Pour off the pork juices and transfer the fat layer to the frypan. (Add vegetable oil if it doesn’t look like enough to crisp the pork.)
Tools
- 6 quart or larger pressure cooker (I love my Instant Pot electric pressure cooker)
- Slotted Spoon
- 12-inch fry pan
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Category: Weeknight Dinner
- Method: Pressure Cooker
- Cuisine: Mexican
Keywords: Instant Pot Shredded Pork Tostadas, Pressure Cooker Shredded Pork Tostadas
What do you think?
Questions? Other ideas? Leave them in the comments section below.
Related Posts
Pressure Cooker Quick Chicken Tacos
Instant Pot Flank Steak Tacos
Pressure Cooker Mexican Brown Rice
Easy Instant Pot Shredded Beef
This recipe is a variation on my Instant Pot Carnitas
My list of Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Recipes
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Mike from Austin says
Great recipe! I picked up a tip from Lupe at Casa Chapala here in Austin, Texas. Instead of doing the pan crisping, do it under a broiler. No added oil and great texture. Watch it carefully though!
★★★★★
Mike Vrobel says
14 pounds is too much - I think you can make it work if you do it in 2 batches (7lbs each batch). Cut it into 1-inch cubes (like the recipe says.)
Karen Tripson says
I need to cook 14 lbs of pork butt for my block party. Will that fit in my 8 qt instantpot? How small should the chucks of pork be cut?
★★★★★