Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork
by Chungah
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The easiest and quickest BBQ pulled pork made in the Instant Pot in just 1 hour! So smoky, so tender, so juicy! An absolute crowd-favorite!
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Why you’ll love this bbq pulled pork
- Made in a fraction of the time. The Instant Pot® takes care of all the hard work and time, infusing all the flavors into the most tender, juicy, smoky-sweet shredded pork in less than 90 minutes.
- Freezer-friendly. This recipe yields a generous amount of pulled pork, perfect for freezing up to 3 months for a quick and easy lunch or weeknight dinner down the road.
- Versatile recipe. The beauty of pulled pork is that it goes well with anything and everything – we’re talking sandwiches (with slaw, pickles, and brioche buns), nachos, tacos, quesadillas, and burrito bowls. The possibilities are endless!
What is pulled pork?
Pulled pork is a traditional American dish made from pork butt (Boston butt) or pork shoulder, cooked low and slow until it becomes tender enough to shred easily. It can be served in so many different ways – as sandwiches, with BBQ sides (baked beans or macaroni and cheese), or to fill tacos, burritos, or quesadillas.
Why make pulled pork in the instant pot?
- One pot convenience. With the convenient sauté function of the Instant Pot, this recipe comes together in a single pot start to finish for the easiest clean up ever.
- Lightning speed. Traditional pulled pork requires 6-12 hours of cook time. But the Instant Pot can get it done in just 40 minutes, coming in super handy when you’re short on time.
- Fall-apart, tender goodness. The juicy, ultra-tender pork tastes as if it’s been cooking all day long, infused with all the warm, smoky flavors.
How to make Instant Pot BBQ pulled pork
- Prep the dry rub. Stir together the brown sugar, salt, paprika, chili powder, oregano, garlic powder, mustard, cayenne pepper, cumin, and pepper.
- Season the pork. Generously season the pork pieces with the dry rub, rubbing in thoroughly on all the sides.
- Sear the meat. Set the Instant Pot to the high sauté setting and sear the pork chunks, in batches, until evenly browned.
- Deglaze the pot. Add the chicken stock and vinegar, scraping up any of the browned bits (fond) stuck to the bottom of the pot. This is to maximize flavor and to prevent the dreaded burn error on the Instant Pot.
- Pressure cook. Close and seal the lid, cooking on high pressure for 40 minutes, quick releasing when finished and carefully opening the lid.
- Shred the pork. Shred the pork using two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat. Stir in the remaining vinegar and season one last time with salt and pepper. Pro tip: if the meat is tough and not shredding easily, place the pork back into the Instant Pot, cooking on high pressure in increments of 5 minutes as needed.
- Serve. Serve warm with your favorite BBQ sauce, freezing any leftovers up to 3 months.
which bbq sauce is best?
This is really dependent on personal preference – sweet, spicy, tangy, etc. – but we personally love a sweet BBQ sauce for this recipe, particularly Stubb’s and Sweet Baby Ray’s. Honorable mentions include Trader Joe’s BBQ Sauce and Bachan’s.
what to serve with instant pot bbq pulled pork
Tools For This Recipe
6-qt Instant Pot®
Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork: Frequently Asked Questions
Use a tough, well-marbled cut of pork such as pork butt (Boston butt) or pork shoulder. The high fat and collagen keeps the meat juicy and moist.
Yes! A minimum of 1 cup liquid (ex. chicken stock) is required for the Instant Pot to come to pressure (and to prevent the burn error).
This can happen if the pork is not cooked long enough. Place the pork back into the Instant Pot, cooking in increments of 5 minutes as needed.
Leftover pulled pork can be repurposed in so many ways – from salads, quesadillas, burritos, nachos, tacos, potstickers, and sliders to name a few!
Yes! Let cool completely and portion into plastic freezer bags in individual servings, squeezing out any excess air before sealing. Lay the bags flat in a single layer in the freezer (this will help them freeze quickly). To reheat, thaw overnight in the fridge, reheating over medium heat with leftover cooking liquid (to prevent the pork from drying out), stirring occasionally, until heated through.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days or the freezer for 3 months.
Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork
Video
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 tablespoons paprika
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground mustard
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 4 pounds pork shoulder, excess fat trimmed and cut into 3-inch chunks
- 1 tablespoon canola oil
- 1 cup chicken stock
- 6 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, divided
- 1 (18-ounce) bottle favorite bbq sauce
Instructions
- Set a 6-qt Instant Pot® to the high saute setting.
- In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, salt, paprika, chili powder, oregano, garlic powder, mustard, cayenne pepper, cumin and pepper. Season pork with brown sugar mixture.
- Heat canola oil; working in two batches, add pork and cook until evenly browned, about 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in chicken stock and 4 tablespoons vinegar, scraping any browned bits from the bottom of the pot. Select manual setting; adjust pressure to high, and set time for 40 minutes. When finished cooking, quick-release pressure according to manufacturer’s directions.
- Remove pork shoulder from the Instant Pot® and shred the meat using two forks; stir in remaining 2 tablespoons vinegar and season with salt and pepper, to taste, if needed.
- Serve immediately with your favorite bbq sauce.
Equipment
Notes
- Cut the pork into 3-inch chunks. Using smaller pieces of pork will keep the cook time to a minimum and allow even cooking, ensuring juicy, tender, fall-apart pulled pork.
- Sear the pork. Searing the pork first will add all the extra, deeper flavors here, sealing all the juices inside.
- Work in batches. An overcrowded Instant Pot® can lead to uneven cooking and poor browning. Work in batches to maintain high heat for a good sear and crispy crust on each pork piece.
- Use good-quality stock. The better quality your stock, the better your pulled pork. Many brands love to pack in the salt so always opt for unsalted or a lower-sodium variety. Homemade stock is even better.
- Freeze without the sauce. For best results with leftovers, freeze the leftover shredded pork without the BBQ sauce to preserve the texture and prevent sogginess, adding BBQ sauce when reheating.
Did you make this recipe?
Tag @damn_delicious on Instagram and hashtag it #damndelicious!
So good! The flavor of the pork was great. I just cooked it down some to thicken the juices. Someone said that they were bland, I certainly did not find that so. I did rub the rub into the meat before I browned it, so maybe that helped? I will definitely keep this recipe. I have found great recipes on this site.
I doubled the recipe and it came out too salty. May have been my mistake not to cut back on the salt.
OMG the best pork, the whole family loved it. I put the bbq on the sandwich’s when made. We used left over pork for nachos and quesadilla’s. The flavor was great.
Served this pulled pork to my daughter and son in-law. We ALL agreed it is absolutely the best pulled pork we have ever tasted. I didn’t even put a sauce on it! Tender, flavorful, and damn delicious.
Made this for our family bday party for my son and Everyone Loved it!!! Tasted sooo good. Thank you!! Will use this again in the future.
The best pulled pork ever! I’ve made it twice for my boyfriend and I and the second time substituted smoked paprika and added a little liquid smoke and it was phenomenal! So tender it just fell apart, topped if off with crunchy slaw and its an all time favorite!!
Stubbs is the best
Fifth/6th? time making this recipe in my 8-QT Duo (once in the crock-pot after searing), it’s always delicious and 5 stars. However, we are really not great fans of the vinegary/Carolina style, so this time I tweaked it to suit us, and it was sublime!
I used a 7lb pork butt, cut into 6 chunks, dry-rubbed overnight with doubled-ingredients: subbed smoked paprika, added 1t chipotle pepper, doubled cracked black pepper- but no oregano.
Seared pork in grapeseed oil, deglazed with a 2-Cup mix of chicken/beef/veg stock (used up what I had in fridge). Used only 1T Apple Cider vinegar and 1T Apple balsamic vinegar for this part to help with tenderizing. Added 1/2t of South African Smoke spice and about 1/2t. liquid Hickory smoke.
Nestled those seared lumps of love down in the liquid, set on High Pressure for 60 min; Natural release for 15 min, then quick-release. Man, I tore that tender pork up! While doing so, I added a generous 2T local, real honey and about 1/2 C Stubbs BBQ sauce to the liquid. Simmered that on low for ~15 min & spooned it over the pulled pork in the serving dish. MMMMM! We love this less-vinegar version. 10 stars! It’s not so saucy (unless one wants to add BBQ sauce) and most of us prefer the no-added sauce version after these tweaks. Thanks so much for your recipe, I had meant to leave a comment a couple years ago <3
Best pulled pork yet! That was Damn Delicious. I used a 2 lb roast and the whole seasoning recipe . We like lots of flavour and it gave it a nice little kick. I made tacos and topped the beef with a little bbw sauce and a red cabbage and carrots slaw that I seasoned with salt,lime, and cilantro. A jalapeño is nice in the slaw if you have it too. So tender, and not dry like the slow cooker makes. The seasoning tho. It’s the best. I want to try more of your recipes. Thank you for this one!
Dynamite recipe! The pork is great with bbq sauce but really it’s great by itself. I’ve already made this a second time. Give it a shot.
All I can say is that this really is best damn pork I have EVER EATEN…and I am almost 60!!!I will never eat pork a different way..ever!!!It is phenomenal..I make broccoli slaw to go with it!!!Thank you for this recipe!!I’ve been telling everyone about it. Even a stranger at the market!
Living in the southeastern U.S., I’ve gotten kinda particular about pulled pork, but I decided to give this recipe a try. Not a fan of NC styled pulled pork (heavy on the vinegar), I was hesitant with the vinegar and held back 1T at the end, The result was an AWESOME pulled pork with a slight tang from the vinegar. That was before adding BBQ sauce. Adding the sauce was just “icing on the cake”.
Excellent flavours! Pork was super tasty , moist and great on tacos.
I made this with 2 pieces of pork tenderloin & once it was cooked, I removed the pork & turned the instant pot on sauté & used cornstarch slurry to make a gravy. I shredded the pork & returned it to the gravy. I served this over homemade potato wedges & made it into a pulled pork poutine! Delicious
This is amazing. Your review has made me want to try this instead of the recipe!
I actually haven’t tried this yet, but am going to make it today. I may have missed it, but I wonder if you have a recipe for the slaw that’s on the sandwich in your photo? Or is it just a mixture of cabbage and carrots with out dressing? It looks great and I’m sure it would be a tasty addition to the pulled pork!
Did it in a crockpot on low for 7.5 hours my whole family loved it!
Pork was tender but found it to be bland after it was cooked. Used the leftover juices to make a BBQ sauce which helped it. Might make more rub next time and less to none chicken broth.
So easy to make, flavorful and tender! Great recipe!
Yummm
Incredibly TASTY! SO fast and simple to make too. Very much enjoy every recipe I’ve made from your site. One question on this recipe please. The Cook Time at the top is noted as 60 minutes, yet, step 4 indicates 40 minutes. I started with 40 minutes and it wasn’t done yet. Added another 20 minutes. It indeed fell apart at that point.
You nailed this recipe. I am a Southerner and a connoisseur of good food; southern food especially. So many times you see a recipe for pulled pork and it is laden with sweet pickle relish or without bar-b-que. This one is perfect.