Instant Pot Pulled Pork is unbelievably flavorful, tender, and easy to make! This pulled pork comes out quite flavorful and tender and you can leave it as is or mix it with homemade BBQ sauce. Thanks to the Instant Pot, you’ll love how fast this pulled pork comes together.
Enjoy more of my favorite pork recipes like Pork Carnitas and Stuffed Pork Chops.
Table of Contents
Everyone should have pulled pork in their recipe arsenal, and this recipe is amazing! Pork comes out so tender and so flavorful, you just can’t get enough. The best part is the flavor of the the pork and the homemade BBQ sauce. The other best part is the fact that it only takes an hour and a half to cook it to a tender perfection in an Instant Pot!
The flavor of the meat is created by coating the pork shoulder generously in seasoning and then searing it on all sides. This helps infuse the meat with delicious flavor as it cooks. Combination of apple cider vinegar and apple juice goes wonderfully with pork too. All of these flavors cooked into the meat juices is also what gives the BBQ sauce its flavor.
While Pulled Pork Sandwiches are the most classic way to serve this meat, there are so many other ways to enjoy it! Scroll down to take a peak at just a few of my recommended serving suggestions. I love this pork so much, I suggest making a double batch, keep some in the fridge, and freeze the rest.
Ingredient Notes
Pork Butt or Pork Shoulder– Pork shoulder and pork butt actually both come from the shoulder part of the pig. The name “pork butt” can be confusing since it does not actually come from the rear of the animal. Both cuts are shoulder but one is the top part and the other is the bottom part. The best cut for making pulled pork is Boston butt. It has less fat on the outside and the fat is spread more throughout the muscle, making the meat more tender and juicy when slow cooked.
Dry Rub – It’s a simple combination of seasonings you can throw together in a couple of minutes. You will need the basics like brown sugar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, salt, and pepper.
Liquids – It’s important to add some liquid for the Instant Pot to work properly and also get some more flavor into the pork and BBQ sauce. Use a combination of apple cider vinegar, chicken broth, and apple juice.
Ketchup – Your favorite brand should work just fine with this easy recipe, but I usually use Heinz and I’m always happy with my results.
Brown Sugar – You can always make your own by combining 1 cup of white granulated sugar with 1 TBSP of molasses.
Seasonings – You’ll need a mix of onion powder, garlic powder, paprika, black pepper and salt. You can add a smokey flavor by using smoked paprika instead if you’d like.
See the recipe card below for the full list of ingredients and instructions.
How To Make Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Mix the liquids. Mix apple juice, apple cider vinegar, and broth in a bowl and set aside.
Dry rub the pork. Combine all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place pork shoulder on a sheet of parchment paper and season it generously on all sides (1).
Sear the pork. Preheat Instant Pot on “sauté” setting and add some oil. Sear seasoned pork on all sides until browned. Use metal tongs to turn the meat. Turn sauté setting off when pork is browned (2).
Pressure cook. Pour apple juice mixture into the pot. Close the lid and make sure it’s latched. Turn the valve to “seal” and set the Instant Pot to cook on high pressure cook mode for 70 minutes.
Release the pressure. Turn off the Instant Pot when it’s done and let it naturally release for 10 minutes. You can carefully do manual release after that.
Let it cool. Take all the meat out into a mixing bowl and let it cool (3).
Strain the juices. Pour the juices from cooking meat out of the Instant Pot into a separate container. Pour it through a fine mesh strainer.
Make the BBQ sauce. Set the Instant Pot to “sauté” and combine the ingredients for BBQ sauce in the pot. Bring it to simmer and slowly stir while it simmers for a few minutes (4). Turn off the Instant Pot and set sauce aside, off the heat.
Pull the pork and add the sauce. Pull pork apart once it’s cooled enough to be handled. As you’re working through it, discard excess fat and membrane. Combine pulled pork meat and BBQ sauce until thoroughly mixed together.
PRO TIP: Pork shoulder often comes pre-cut and tied together. If your pork is not cut, cut it in half. I find it easier to sear pork in an Instant pot as one piece tied together because of the smaller space. Just untie it after searing, before cooking.
Recipe FAQs
You can! Just a couple of things to remember when using bone-in pork butt. Remember to account for the weight of the bone. So either get a larger piece or know that you won’t get as much meat out of the piece. You will also want to let it cook a little longer. So for Instant Pot, give it an additional 5-10 minutes and for the Crockpot, cook it for 8-10 hours on low.
Yes, this is gluten-free. However, you should always double check the labels on all the seasonings and other ingredients to make sure!
You can always check out my favorite pulled pork sandwich recipe for more info about my favorite toppings like homemade coleslaw!
Sharp cheddar cheese is always delicious as well. You could always get more adventurous with toppings like creamy horseradish, caramelized or pickled onions, fresh or pickled jalapeños, and sliced avocados.
Skip the BBQ sauce and use this pulled pork to make pork tacos!
How to Make Pulled Pork in the Crockpot
To make this in a slow cooker, sear the pork in the pan or in a skillet first. Transfer seared pork into the slow cooker, pour in the apple juice mixture, and cook on LOW for about 8 hours.
Make the BBQ sauce on your stovetop. Use a sauce pot and bring it to simmer over medium heat.
Freezing Instructions
You can easily freeze this pulled pork with or without sauce. Make sure to cool the pork to room temperature before freezing. Portion pulled pork into several zip-top freezer bags, let all the air out, seal and label.
Freeze for up to 6 months. Thaw slowly, in the refrigerator, overnight.
Serving Suggestions
Appetizers – Use pulled pork to stuff potato skins, taquitos, and quesadillas.
Tacos – Top off pulled pork tacos with some coleslaw and use either corn or flour tortillas.
Sandwiches – The most classic way to serve BBQ pulled pork is on a roll with some pickles and coleslaw. You can also add some on top of burgers.
Baked Potatoes – Add some pulled pork and shredded cheddar on top of baked potatoes.
Pasta Casserole – Use pulled pork in pasta casseroles with cheese, BBQ ranch and veggies.
Also try some of my favorite pulled pork recipes like BBQ Pulled Pork Loaded Fries and The Best Pulled Pork Nachos.
More Easy Instant Pot Recipes
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BBQ Pulled Pork Recipe
Ingredients
- 4.5 lb pork shoulder or pork butt*
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 cup apple juice
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
Seasoning:
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 1/2 tbsp paprika
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp cracked black pepper
BBQ Sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups juices from cooking the pork
- 1 1/2 cups ketchup
- 2 1/2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 2 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp cracked black pepper
- Salt
Instructions
- Mix apple juice, apple cider vinegar, and broth in a bowl and set aside.
- Pork shoulder often comes pre-cut and tied together. If your pork is not cut, cut it in half. I find it easier to sear pork in an Instant pot as one piece tied together because of the smaller space. Just untie it after searing, before cooking.
- Combine all the seasoning ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Place pork shoulder on a sheet of parchment paper and season it generously on all sides.
- Preheat Instant Pot on "saute" setting and add some oil. Sear seasoned pork on all sides until browned. Use metal tongs to turn the meat. Turn saute setting off when pork is browned.
- Pour apple juice mixture into the pot.
- Close the lid and make sure it’s latched. Turn the valve to “seal” and set the Instant Pot to cook on high pressure cook mode for 70 minutes.
- Turn off the Instant Pot when it’s done and let it naturally release for 10 minutes. You can carefully do manual release after that.
- Take all the meat out into a mixing bowl and let it cool.
BBQ Sauce:
- Pour the juices from cooking meat out of the Instant Pot into a separate container. Pour it through a fine mesh strainer.
- Set the Instant Pot to "saute" and combine the ingredients for BBQ sauce in the pot. Bring it to simmer and slowly stir while it simmers for a few minutes. Turn off the Instant Pot and set sauce aside, off the heat. (Leftover juices can be used to make gravy.)
- Pull pork apart once it's cooled enough to be handled. As you're working through it, discard excess fat and membrane.
- Combine pulled pork meat and BBQ sauce until thoroughly mixed together.
Video
Notes
- Want to use bone-in pork butt? You can! Just a couple of things to remember when using bone-in pork butt. Remember to account for the weight of the bone. So either get a larger piece or know that you won’t get as much meat out of the piece. You will also want to let it cook a little longer. So for Instant Pot, give it an additional 5-10 minutes and for the Crock Pot, cook it for 8-10 hours on low.
- Make this pork in a Slow Cooker: To make this in a slow cooker, sear the pork in the pan or in a skillet first. Transfer seared pork into the slow cooker, pour in the apple juice mixture, and cook on LOW for about 8 hours. Make the BBQ sauce on your stovetop. Use a sauce pot and bring it to simmer over medium heat.
Cheryl says
I found this recipe very good and not difficult at all. There was a comment about it being too spicy, I didn’t find it spicy at all! In fact my husband doesn’t like anything spicy so he asked me not to mix the bbq sauce and the meat together. We ladled on the bbq sauce until he tasted it and then said it’s not spicy at all add the sauce to the meat. I did and it was fine. Maybe too much sauce so I did keep some on the side so it could be added if someone wanted more sauce and this way the pork wasn’t swimming in sauce. Besides I have found that after pulled pork is refrigerated and then heated back up you need more sauce, so I already have it set aside. Thank you!
Traci says
My favorite pulled pork recipe!! A winner every time.
Shana says
Omgoodness 🤤 This is an amazing recipe! I used a small boneless pork roast since there is just 3 of us and it turned out so tender! I did add a touch of cayenne and a few drops of liquid smoke to the sauce and then a slurry made with about 1 Tbsp of corn starch and juice from the meat to make it slightly thicker and let me just tell you, it is DELICIOUS! This will be my go to for my BBQ from now on! Thank you for sharing 💖
LyubaB says
So glad you liked it, Shana!
Nikki says
Do you know how long it should cook in a regular crockpot? Thank you.
LyubaB says
To make this in a slow cooker, sear the pork in the pan or in a skillet first. Transfer seared pork into the slow cooker, pour in the apple juice mixture, and cook on LOW for about 8 hours. You can make the BBQ sauce on stove-top. Use a sauce pot and bring it to simmer over medium heat.
Mimi says
This was a great recipe! I am making it again because it was such a hit with my family. Pretty easy to make (a plus for me). I don’t make the BBQ sauce because my hubby only likes KC Masterpiece. (multiple attempts to get him to switch have failed).
LyubaB says
Thank you, Mimi! I am so glad your family enjoyed it!
Kara says
It is way too spicy!
LyubaB says
Hi Kara,
I am sorry it was too spicy for you. It really shouldn’t have been as there isn’t anything spicy in it. Did you put cayenne instead of paprika by mistake? If not the only other thing you can do is cut down the black pepper to 1 tsp in the seasoning and 1/2 tsp in the bbq sauce.
Sarah Mitchell says
This looks very good and doesn’t take long to make. This recipe is perfect for a weekday meal.