Flavored with spices and wine, this easy instant pot pulled pork comes out so tender and tasty! It cooks in no time because it’s all done in the pressure cooker – feeds a crowd!
There’s a group in our church composed mainly of young adults (both married and unmarried) that we call YAMS or Young and Married. Before the pandemic, we met regularly at our house, usually on a Friday evening for some quick discussion and, naturally, enjoy some good food!
I always look forward to this meeting and have truly missed everyone. Thankfully, we still see each other at church on Sundays.
When it was still ongoing, I often would serve a dish that would be good for a crowd – or something that would feed about 10 or so people. We have about 15-20 people sometimes but since it’s always a potluck and everyone contributes, I only need to share food good enough for about half of that or a dozen perhaps.
Hence, I have many recipes on the blog that can accommodate a dozen eaters! This delicious Easy Instant Pot Pulled Pork is certainly one of them. Such a perfect recipe to serve when you have guests coming over and you don’t want to spend the entire day preparing!
In just over an hour, you have delicious foo0d that tastes like you fussed over it for an entire day but actually did not! That’s the beauty of this instant pot version!
You make everything in one pot from beginning to end (less clean up time, yay!)! What’s more, it doesn’t require a lot of chopping and any major prep. The only ingredient you need to cut up is the meat – and only in 4-6 pieces!
WHAT IS PULLED PORK?
For those not too familiar with this famous classic American dish, you may wonder – what is pulled pork?
Pulled pork is essentially an American barbecue dish more specifically from the southern part of the US. The meat often used to make this is pork shoulder that is typically slow-smoked over wood in a smoker. Other variations include the use of a slow cooker or even the oven. The meat, once done is then shredded manually and mixed with a barbecue sauce. It may be served on bread or eaten on its own.
I’m a rice eater so I definitely love this with rice, too! Anything is good with rice!
INGREDIENTS
- Pork (boneless pork shoulder or pork butt or country-style ribs)
- Spice rub (chili powder, cumin, smoked paprika, brown sugar, black pepper)
- Simmering liquid (apple juice, wine of choice or vinegar)
- Sauces (ketchup and barbecue sauce of choice)
As you can see, except for the pork that you simply cut-up, none of the other ingredients require any prep!
The rest is simply dumping everything else on the instant pot and letting it do the work!
This way you can concentrate on readying yourself and your house for your guests and not worry too much about the food. Since it’s summertime, it helps that this recipe requires no turning the oven on as well so the house doesn’t turn into an oven itself!
You also get all that yummy summer barbecue tastes without turning on the grill or the smoker! So what are you waiting for? Make this for your family and friends, soon!
Want more delicious barbecue recipes? Check these out!
Slow Cooker Asian Barbecue Ribs
Shortcut Chinese Barbecue Pork
Inihaw na Liempo (Grilled Pork Belly)
Easy and Yummy Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Equipment
- Pressure Cooker or Instant Pot
Ingredients
- 4-5 lbs boneless pork roast (pork shoulder or pork butt) or boneless country-style ribs, cut-up
- 4 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp chili powder
- 1½ tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp salt, or to taste
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup apple juice
- ½ cup red (or white) wine
- ½ cup ketchup
- 1 cup favorite barbecue sauce (we use sweet Baby Rays)
Instructions
- Slice the roast into 4-6 equal pieces. If using country-style ribs, they would have been pre-cut so you can slice them into 2 pieces, if desired.
- In a small bowl, combine the rub components – brown sugar, chili powder, paprika, cumin and salt. Rub the pork pieces all over.
- Into the instant pot or pressure cooker, pour in the apple juice, wine and ketchup. Stir to blend. Add the spiced-covered pork pieces.
- Secure the lid. Make sure knob is on sealing position. Select manual and cook at high pressure for 50 minutes. Allow natural release (15 minutes or so) once the cycle is finished.
- Transfer the pork to a platter and shred with a fork. Remove but 2 cups of the liquid remaining (use the 2 cup line on the instant pot for guidance). Alternately, you can also do a saute on the instant pot and allow the sauce to simmer until it reduces up to the 2 cup line. Whatever is easier!
- Return the shredded pork with the barbecue sauce, stirring to ensure the pork is well coated with the sauce. Saute just until the sauce and meat is fully heated through. Taste and adjust seasoning, if desired.
- Spoon just enough pulled pork onto the soft hamburger buns. Serve as is or add some coleslaw and cheese on top of the pulled pork.
Notes
Last updated on February 14th, 2024 at 10:13 pm
This looks great. My husband’s favorite meal is pulled pork and the easier the better cooking it, so this recipe is perfect. I love how you put it all in a delicious sandwich.
I usually do pulled pork in the slow cooker, but this instant pot version looks amazing.
Looks really delicious and sounds easy to make!
I love how you’ve made this pulled pork recipe so easy in the instant pot! Thanks for the recipe. 🙂
Another great recipe for my InstaPot. I have never had great results with pulled pork so I can’t wait to try your recipe.
This is such a great recipe to feed a hungry crowd. I know this would be a hit at my next party. Leftovers would be awesome with pasta…or eggs for breakfast.
Love the sandwich you made with this beautiful pulled pork! So delicious when made in an Instant Pot!
I am so glad I gave this pulled pork a try in my new Instant Pot! Total winner!
I’ve only made pulled pork with BBQ sauce. This is so much better with all the spices and ketchup added. Looks amazing!
I love pulled pork, especially with brown sugar! Love the idea of making this in an instant pot.
This looks delicious. This is the reason why I should get an Instant Pot! Such flavorful, tender pork that falls apart – in just one hour!
This came out beautifully in the Instant Pot and you can just see how tender and flavorful the meat is in those lovely photos.
Your pulled pork looks amazing, I love how you can just use the instant pot with minimal fuss and less washing up too. I’ve been thinking about getting one for awhile, going to put it on my present list.
What a flavour explosion! I will give this a go in my KitchenAid Cook as I don’t own an Instant Pot. Pulled pork is one of my favourites.
I love pulled pork! And, I love it even more from the Instant Pot. The pork came out perfectly moist and tender.
The flavor of this pulled pork sounds incredible, and the red wine is such a creative and flavorful add!
I’m all about simple recipes like this during summer and my whole family loved this easy instant pot pulled pork! It was delicious!
This instant pot pulled pork looks insane and mouth-watering. I have a chunk of pork and I know exactly what I am going to make with it now. Thank you so much for sharing this delicious recipe!
I love how flavorful and tender this pork turned out. I served mine on burger buns topped with an Asian slaw and it was a hit with my family. Thanks, Gail!
I love simple recipes like these for the weekday! My roommate has an Instant Pot, so I gotta try this!
This sounds like a perfect recipe for informal get togethers, which we will hopefully be able to start having again soon. Going to bookmark it for then!
This definitely looks like a crowd-pleaser recipe to try for any get together. Love the beautiful colors of the dish.
The pulled pork made in Instant pot looks great and I loved how you made those sandwiches with them.