Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas [Crispy Mexican Pulled Pork]

These Instant Pot Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas {Crispy Mexican Pulled Pork} are crispy, yet deliciously moist and full of deep and complex flavors.

Instant Pot Cooker Carnitas Mexican Pulled Pork

There are very few things in life that are more delicious than Pork Carnitas {Mexican Pulled Pork}.

My Instant Pot Pork Carniatas are one of those recipes that are so incredible, you almost cannot believe that you are so lucky to get yet another bite! I do a few things differently than the many of Pork Carnitas recipes you will find on line. I’m really picky with my Mexican food. These Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas {Mexican Pulled Pork} are definitely one of my favorite meals. The flavors are complex and deep and my recipe is easy to make.

Cast of Ingredients for Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas {Mexican Pulled Pork}

The recipe developed over the years and to me, this is the perfect Carnitas recipe. Using the Instant Pot, Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker, they are quicker and just as fabulous. It only takes 40 minutes to cook a Pork Shoulder in the Pressure Cooker! We’ll crisp them up right in the pressure cooker too using the crisping lid!!!

Ingredients to Instant Pot Carnitas

• Pork Shoulder – butt or picnic
• Oranges and Lemons
• Cumin and Cinnamon
• Oregano – Yeah, I know it is not normally used in Carnitas, but, my husband (Latino ancestors, remember), had me add o to my Jewish Chicken Soup and oh my gosh, it was goooooood.
• Garlic, Salt and Pepper

My dad introduced me to all kinds of food and made me the foodie I am today. The seasonings and spices, layers of complex flavors and interesting cooking techniques, grabbed a hold of me at an early age. This recipe is fantastic cooked on the grill, but equally as good cooked under pressure. I do love to grill and if you do, please check out my Grilled Steak or Tri-Tip.

Season the Chunks of Meat

Another trick and which adds an extra layer of flavor, is after removing the bone, cut the Pork Shoulder into big chunks and place them into a Medium Mixing Bowl and massage the spice really well into the meat.

Not only will it cook faster, but there will be more surface spots to absorb all the goodness. Don’t forget to save your bone, so you can make a nice Pressure Cooker Stock/Bone Broth.

Squeeze Orange Juice into Cooking Pot

Another fantastic pulled pork recipe to make in your pressure cooker is my Pressure Cooker Chinese BBQ Char Siu Pulled Pork, My Southern Style Carolina Pulled Pork recipe is found in my cookbook called This Old Gal’s Pressure Cooker Cookbook. The rub I use for it can be found here – Carolina All Purpose Barbecue Rub.

Pro Tip: If your pork shoulder has skin on it, place the skin in the Air Fryer for a few minutes and crisp it up. My dad and also Ed love to eat the skin after it crisps. Ed’s grandmother is from Puerto Rico and much like the Cubans, they love their Pork Rinds. Not me. I remember sitting at the counter in Cuban restaurants and the owner handing us a piece of the Crackling Skin. They do that if they like you, apparently.

Why Use the Fat Cap?

• The fat cap of the pork shoulder adds an additional layer of flavor to the Instant Pot Carnitas.
• Allowing it to melt in the pot and then cooking the pork in the fat, adds another layer of flavor without have to first sear the pork. I then deglaze the pot with orange juice.

This step can be skipped (and how I wrote up the recipe on the recipe card) and if you have prepped this for a freezer meal, don’t worry about it and just toss all the ingredients into the pot. When Pork Shoulder is on sale, this is one of the recipes that I do prep and freeze. For more prep and freeze meals, check out my Freezer Recipe Archives.

Pro Tip: Grab a FoodSaver Vacuum Sealing System and prepare several batches of Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas, so that you are all ready to cook in an instant.

Add the Seasoned Pork, Veggies and Orange Juice

Add in the Seasoned Pork, all the chopped veggies, the Cinnamon Sticks and the Bay Leaves. Squeeze the rest of the Oranges into the cooking pot. If you don’t have Fresh Oranges, Orange Juice or Frozen Concentrate Orange Juice is fine. You want to make sure not to add a whole lot of liquid, as the pork will release its own juice and you want the liquid to stay very concentrated and salty.

Another Secret Ingredient

Another of my little tricks which you won’t find in many on-line recipes (remember, I live two hours from Mexico; Tijuana is one of my playgrounds) is the addition of Freshly Squeezed Lime Juice. Just one lime is good. You don’t want to overpower the flavor, plus, upon serving, you can squeeze on some more Fresh Lime Juice.

As always, if you don’t have Fresh Limes, try using this wonderful crystallized miracle . It tastes every bit as good and fresh as Fresh Limes. The Lime that I cut to squeeze, was all dried out, so luckily, I just pulled out my True Lime and sprinkled on a bit. You need to have some True Lime Crystallized Granules in your pantry, really you do!

Remove Meat, Cook Down Sauce and Shred

The cooking time is greatly reduced using a Pressure Cooker. You can literally prep everything, cook and get a meal on the table in under 1.5 hours!

Use a slotted strainer to remove the Pork. I recommend this Bamboo Strainer as it is very efficient.

Why Remove the Pork?

• The pork needs to have the liquid strained out, so that it is prepared to crisp.
• The liquid will cook down and become a rich broth, which is later added back to the pork, so that as the pork crisps, it remains very juicy, but crisp.

The recipe card will have the exact directions, so please make sure to scroll to the bottom. You will also see my trick for making the pork crisp, yet juicy.

Use Two Forks to Shred the Pork

I have a set of Bear Claw Shredders, but I think I like using two forks. You can see that the excess liquid was drained from the Pork and the Pork is nicely shredded.

We will add back in some juice, after removing some of the fat off the top. The Carnitas will be crispy, but also remain moist and juicy.

You are ready to crisp up the Carnitas and I will show you two different methods. Please, however, do me a favor, don’t use your Broiler/Oven or your Air Fryer. They are both dry cooking environments and your Carnitas will dry out a bit. While they will still taste good, they won’t be as delicious as they can be with the following method(s). Let’s make some super delicious, crispy and JUICY Carnitas!!!

How To Crisp Up Carnitas

Cast Iron Pan Method

Heat a Cast Iron until Very Hot

Get your Cast Iron Skillet very hot. Let it heat up for 10 minutes before adding in the oil. You can see how dry the center looks because of allowing it to really heat up.

Why Use Cast Iron to Crisp?

• Cast iron skillets are great for higher heat temperatures. They distribute the heat nicely around the skillet.
• With a very high heat, the meat will caramelize and crisp up much quicker. This allows one side of the meat to be crisp, while the top part of the meat will remain nice and juicy. The condensed juice keeps the meat moist during the searing of the meat.

You will need to do this in batches IF and I said IF, you are serving all the Carnitas at once. If you will be eating this the next day, just fry up what you will use now. Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas are so great for making in advance, because you can have them completely cooked, shredded, fat removed from liquid, all in advance.

Look Closely at the Caramelized Pork

Come close. Really. Look at those crispy bits of Pork. I flipped some over in the Skillet, so you could take a close look. You can see the moistness of the Pork too. When you are ready to serve, pour a little more juice over the Pork. I have not done so in this photo, as I like you to see what is cooking in real honest time.

Instant Pot Air Fryer Lid or Mealthy Crisplid Method

Use Crisping Lid to Crisp Up the Carnitas

This is really fantastic, as now you can make Instant Pot Carnitas completely in your Instant Pot, Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker.

After draining, simmering the liquid and then removing from the cooking pot, we will use a crisping lid to crisp up the pulled pork.

There are two types of crisping lids to use.

• Mealthy CrispLid (buy from Mealthy) / Mealthy CrispLid (buy from Amazon)
• Instant Pot Crisping Lid (buy from Instant Pot) / Instant Pot Crisping Lid (buy from Amazon)

They both work the same way, so whichever brand you prefer will work for wonderful Instant Pot Carnitas. I can’t wait for you to try this recipe. It is perfect for Cinco de Mayo parties, as the Carnitas can be made in advance and fried right before serving.

Fry Tortillas in Cast Iron

I also use the cast iron skillet to fry up Corn or Flour Tortillas.

Tips for Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas.

1. Don’t forget to make a batch of my super simple Homemade Classic Pico de Gallo as Carnitas as not the same without some Fresh Pico de Gallo
2. Instead of Sour Cream, choose some Homemade Thick Greek Yogurt, instead.
3. I like to pile the Carnitas over shredded cabbage for a nice little crunch surprise.

Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas (Mexican Pulled Pork)

Garnish with lots of Fresh Cilantro and Lime Wedges. My husband will not eat Cilantro, so I had to put it to the side, so that he would be able to eat dinner. Remember about the trick in my Pressure Cooker Thai Coconut Chicken Recipe? Well, it won’t work here. Therefore, Fresh Cilantro is pushed off to the side. 🙂

If you want cheese, I recommend crumbling some Cotija. It’s the only cheese, I feel pairs well. Feta has a similar taste to Cotija so I’m lumping it in with Cotija. Cheddar Cheese does not pair well with Pork Carnitas.

More Instant Pot Mexican Recipes to Make:

• Pressure Cooker Creamy Mexican Macaroni and Cheese
• Instant Pot Mexican Hot Chocolate Frozen Yogurt Bars
• Pressure Cooker Drive Thru Tacos [Instant Pot]
• Mexican Elote Corn on the Cob [Oven/Air Fryer]

I’d love it if you would leave me some comments down below and let me know how you enjoyed this recipe.

Kitchen Equipment and Essentials

• Instant Pot, Mealthy MultiPot or Pressure Cooker
• J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef’s Knife
• Amco Advanced Performance 18/10 Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons
• Culina Stackable (Dry) Stainless Steel Measuring Cups
• Anchor Hocking Glass (Liquid) Measuring Cups
• di Oro Living Silicone Spatulas Set
• Alton Brown Salt Box
• Gravity Electric Salt and Pepper Grinder
• My FANTASTIC Teak Cutting & Charcuterie Board & Compartments
• Salbree Steamer Basket
• OXO Stainless Steel Tongs
• Lodge 10.25″ Cast Iron Skillet or
  • Mealthy CrispLid (buy from Mealthy) / Mealthy CrispLid (buy from Amazon) or
  • Instant Pot Crisping Lid (buy from Instant Pot) / Instant Pot Crisping Lid (buy from Amazon)
• Bamboo Strainer

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Here is the handy printable recipe:

Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas {Crispy Mexican Pulled Pork}

5 from 19 votes

Print Pin Rate

Course: Dinner, Lunch, Main Course

Cuisine: Latin, Mexican

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 40 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour 10 minutes

Servings: 10 people

Calories: 70kcal

Author: Jill Selkowitz

Ingredients

• 5 lbs/2.27 kg Pork Shoulder/Butt bone and skin removed/cut into pieces
• 4 large Oranges
• 1 Lime
• 1 large Yellow/Brown Onion chopped
• 10 cloves Fresh Garlic minced
• 1 large Jalapeño Pepper stems/seeds removed/chopped
• 2 Cinnamon Sticks
• 2 Bay Leaves
• 1-2 TBL Extra Virgin Olive Oil

Pork Rub

• 2 TBL Kosher Salt (or 1.5 tsp Sea Salt)
• 1 TBL Ground Cumin
• 2 tsp Dried Oregano
• 1/4 tsp Freshly Ground Black Pepper

Garnish

• Limes
• Homemade Pico de Gallo
• Fresh Cilantro Leaves
• Avocados

Recommended Products

Instant Pot Electric Pressure Cooker

J.A. Henckels Classic 8 inch Chef's Knife

Liquid Measuring Cup Set

Stainless Steel Measuring Spoons

Lodge Cast Iron Skillet 10"

Mealthy Crisplid

Instructions

• Cut pork into 8-10 pieces and place into bowl. 
• Mix together salt, cumin, oregano and black pepper.
• Pour seasoning mix over pork and massage into pork so that all pieces are completely coated.
• Add half the chopped onions and squeeze the juice of one orange (about 1/2 cup) into cooking pot.
• Place seasoned pork chunks into cooking pot on top of orange juice and onions.
• Add the rest of the onions, garlic, jalapeño, cinnamon sticks and Bay leaves to cooking pot. 
• Squeeze in the juice of three oranges and two limes.
• Lock on Lid and close Pressure Valve.  Cook at High Pressure (most machines default to high pressure) for 40 minutes. 
• When beep sounds, wait 20 minutes and then remove the rest of the pressure.

Prepare Pork and Liquid

• Remove pork from cooking pot and place into a strainer basket to drain off excess liquid.
• Select Sauté/Browning on the pressure cooker and adjust to "low heat."  simmer about 10 minutes to reduce the liquid. 
• While cooking liquid is simmering, place drained pork into a bowl and with two forks, shred the pork.
• Carefully pour liquid from cooking pot into a fat separator and get ready to crisp the pork.

Crisp the Carnitas (two methods)

• In Cast Iron Skillet

  Heat cast iron skillet on medium high for 10 minutes.  Add olive oil to skillet. Add shredded pork to skillet in a flat layer.  Wait one minute and then add in 1/2 cup of the hot liquid.  Fry on just one side, until liquid has evaporated and then place on serving platter. Repeat each batch until done.

  Using Mealthy Crisplid or Instant Pot Crisping Lid

  Add 1/2 cup hot cooking liquid to pressure cooker cooking pot. Place about half the shredded pork into cooking pot in a flat layer. Drizzle a little olive oil over the pork. Place crisping lid over pot. Set temperature on lid to 400 degrees and time to 8 minutes. When crisping lid beeps, remove lid and stir pork. (If more liquid is needed, add 1/4. Pork should not be drenched.) Remove lid and stir pork. Place crisping lid back onto pressure cooker and set temperature to 400 degrees and time to 4 minutes.

Garnish

• Place crisped Carnitas onto serving platter.
• Drizzle about 1/4 cup of hot liquid over Carnitas.
• Squeeze one lime over Carnitas and sprinkle chopped cilantro over pork.
• Serve in tortillas, topped with various garnishes.

Notes

You can use a 3-7 pound pork shoulder in this recipe.

Serve with a side of Pressure Cooker Frijoles {Re-Fried Beans} and Pressure Cooker White Rice.

For a real treat, try my Elote {Mexican Street Food Corn on the Cobb} recipe. Once you try Elote, you will never eat corn any other way. It's truly the best Corn I have ever had. Talk about blowing your mind!

Nutrition

Nutrition Facts

Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas {Crispy Mexican Pulled Pork}

Amount Per Serving

Calories 70 Calories from Fat 18

% Daily Value*

Fat 2g3%

Saturated Fat 1g6%

Cholesterol 1mg0%

Sodium 1150mg50%

Potassium 205mg6%

Carbohydrates 13g4%

Fiber 3g13%

Sugar 8g9%

Protein 2g4%

Vitamin A 206IU4%

Vitamin C 45mg55%

Calcium 68mg7%

Iron 1mg6%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.

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Pressure Cooker Instant Pot Pork Carnitas {Crispy Mexican Pulled Pork}