Instant Pot Pulled Pork with barbecue sauce is made to be piled high on your favorite bun. This flavor-packed pulled pork is fall-apart tender and will be ready in no-time for dinner tonight.
Pulled pork is not only economical, it can feed a handful of hungry mouths, makes great leftovers and can easily be frozen for later enjoyment.
Instant Pot Pulled Pork Recipe
If you’re struggling with what to make for dinner, especially when it’s 2 PM and you really didn’t make a plan, this Instant Pot Pulled Pork is going to be a lifesaver. Not only is this pulled pork quick and easy, it’s usually a favorite with both kids and adults.
I have found making the pulled pork in the instant pot, with the barbecue sauce, is the easiest way to get flavor into the meat. I also top each pulled pork sandwich with a little extra barbecue sauce.
This is truly the easiest dinner, perfect for a weeknight or busy weekend.
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Ingredients for Instant Pot Pulled Pork with Barbecue Sauce
Pantry Ingredients
- vegetable oil – or any other high smoke point oil
- chicken broth
- garlic and onion powder
- black pepper and white pepper
- barbecue sauce – use your favorite or make your own
Fresh Ingredients
- 4 lb boneless, pork shoulder (Boston butt) -look for a pork shoulder that’s pinkish-red in color with some marbling in the meat.
How To Make Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Step One: Turn on the sauté function of your Instant Pot.
Step Two: Once the Instant Pot is hot, add oil and begin sautéing the pork on all sides, in batches, until golden brown (1-2 minutes per side). Add more oil if need be. Remove the meat and add 1/2 cup of the chicken broth to deglaze the bottom of the Instant Pot, scraping up any brown bits leftover from sautéing.
Step Three: Add remaining broth, seasonings and barbecue sauce to the Instant Pot and whisk together until all ingredients are combined. Add pork back to the Instant Pot. Turn off sauté function, add the locking lid, secure in place, making sure the vent is set to seal and set pressure to manual on high for 45 minutes.
Step Four: Allow a natural pressure release for 15 minutes and then carefully manually release once the float valve has depressed. (Do not unlock the lid until the pin has dropped.)
Step Five: Remove finished pork to a rimmed baking sheet and shred meat with two forks. The meat will be very tender and will shred easily. At this point you can toss the meat with some of the leftover juices remaining in the Instant Pot or toss with additional barbecue sauce.
Step Six: Serve on toasted buns.
What’s the Difference Between Shoulder, Picnic and Boston Butt?
I know this is super confusing to people. You go to the market looking for a pork shoulder, but find the pork labeled as Boston butts or picnic “hams”. For this recipe I definitely recommend a Boston butt, but let me explain the differences between all three cuts.
Boston butt – this particular cut comes from high on the hog and would be found above the shoulder blade. I think most people end up with this cut and is commonly found at most grocery stores. It has lots of juicy, marbled fat and is very inexpensive per pound. It’s the perfect cut to make pulled pork that is very tender and delicious.
Pork Shoulder – found below the butt is the pork shoulder. This cut is going to include the hog’s front leg quarter, which is more muscular, so the meat is a little tougher than the Boston butt and needs to cook a little longer to get the expected tenderness.
Picnic “ham” – this is what they call pork shoulder that has been cut with the shank or hock attached. This is the least expensive cut because there is very little butchering involved. Some really prefer the flavor of this cut because it really can produce a lot of flavor (the meat being close to the bone). It’s great for smoking because texture wise it holds up well when smoked for an extended period of time…no soft, stringy meat here.
Can I Make Pulled Pork In A Slow Cooker?
You absolutely can.
First sauté the pork in oil on the stove (unless you have a slow cooker with a sauté function).
For the slow cooker I would only use a 1/2 cup of chicken broth total and mix it together with the other ingredients in the slow cooker.
Add the browned pork to the slow cooker and set it on low for eight hours. It will still be nice and tender and easy to shred.
How Much Pulled Pork Do I Need Per Person?
First of all, know who you’re cooking for! Athletes, teenage boys, senior citizens all have different eating capacities. Most people would say I wouldn’t eat a lot, but I do! So you really have to know the people you are making pulled pork for.
As a general rule, one pound of pulled pork will feed three people – about 1/3 per pound (5-ish ounces) per person.
Consider that you will have about a fifty percent yield after your pulled pork is cooked. For example, if you cook a 10-pound raw pork butt, you will have 5 pounds of cooked pulled pork to serve.
If you love math, here’s a formula you can use…
number of guests / number of servings per pound = pounds of cooked pulled pork
pounds of cooked pulled pork / 0.5 (50% yield) = pounds of raw pork required
Simple!
How To Serve Pulled Pork?
- In a bun – if you serve this in a toasted bun, make sure to serve it with pineapple coleslaw either on the side or piled right on top in the bun.
- Put it on top of rice and serve it with a veggie…it’s perfect that way.
- On top of a baked potato.
- As a topping for Hawaiian pizza.
Make Your Own Barbecue Sauce
- Kansas City BBQ Style
- my favorite pulled pork sauce
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Instant Pot Pulled PorkInstant Pot Pulled Pork with barbecue sauce is made to be piled high on your favorite bun. This flavor-packed pulled pork is fall-apart tender and will be ready in no-time for dinner tonight.
Servings: 6 sandwiches
Calories: 494kcal
Ingredients
Instructions
NutritionNutrition Facts
Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Amount Per Serving
Calories 494
Calories from Fat 246
% Daily Value*
Fat 27.3g42% Saturated Fat 0.3g2% Polyunsaturated Fat 0.2g Monounsaturated Fat 1.6g Sodium 322mg14% Potassium 9.4mg0% Carbohydrates 70g23% Fiber 0.1g0% Sugar 0.5g1% Protein 40g80%
Vitamin A 0.1IU0% Vitamin C 0.7mg1% Calcium 1.8mg0% Iron 0.1mg1% * Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
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