This Instant Pot Carnitas recipe is quick and easy to make in the pressure cooker, perfectly crispy and juicy, and so delicious!
This Instant Pot carnitas recipe is a game-changer. ♡
After years and years of making my favorite Mexican-inspired crispy pork carnitas recipe in the slow cooker — letting the pork slowly simmer all day long until it is perfectly tender and shred-able — I’ve now become a total convert to making pressure cooker carnitas instead.
Why? Well, mainly because this Instant Pot carnitas recipe is just crazy fast. Instead of having to plan 5-8 hours in advance to make carnitas in the slow cooker, this pressure cooker carnitas recipe can be ready to go from start to finish in just over 1 hour, making this recipe legit do-able on a weeknight or anytime you’re craving some carnitas stat. It also succeeds in making carnitas that are extra-juicy and crispy, thanks to a quick broil in the oven and a toss in those leftover cooking juices after the Instant Pot has worked its magic. It’s seasoned with a zesty garlic-citrus mojo sauce, making each bite of pork extra flavorful even before any extra salsas or toppings are added. But more than anything, I just love this carnitas recipe because it is irresistibly, unfailingly, crowd-pleasingly, gotta-go-back-for-seconds-(and-thirds)-ingly, deliciously GOOD.
These carnitas are, of course, absolutely fabulous served up in soft corn tortillas as carnitas tacos. But if you’re looking for a different spin on carnitas (especially if you have leftovers and want to mix things up a bit for the second round), this flavorful shredded pork is also delicious served up in burritos, burrito bowls, quesadillas, enchiladas, tostadas, salads, or even in carnitas soup as well.
So if you are a fellow fan of carnitas, pull out your pressure cooker and let’s make a batch together!
Instant Pot Carnitas | 1-Minute Video
Carnitas Ingredients:
To make pork carnitas in the Instant Pot, you will need the following ingredients:
- Pork: I recommend using boneless pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch chunks with the excess fat trimmed off.
- Salt, pepper, oil: For seasoning and cooking the meat.
- Mojo sauce: A citrusy garlic sauce that we’ll make with beer (or chicken stock), garlic, fresh orange juice, lime juice, oregano, cumin, salt and pepper.
- Salsa: I love serving carnitas with a juicy fresh mango salsa or pineapple salsa (as pictured below). But any type of salsa that you love — red, green, fruit, etc. — will work.
- Toppings: I recommend lots of chopped fresh cilantro and finely-chopped red or white onion.
How To Make Carnitas:
To make this pork carnitas recipe, simply…
- Make the mojo sauce. Whisk together those garlicky citrus sauce ingredients until combined.
- Season and sear the pork. Generously season the pork chunks with salt and pepper. Then use the “Sauté” function on the Instant Pot to briefly sear the pork on all sides in a bit of oil. You might need to do this in two batches, depending on the size of your Instant Pot.
- Pressure cook. Add the sauce to the pork, then pressure cook on high for 30 minutes, followed by a natural release.
- Shred. Once the pork is cooked, go ahead and give it a good shred with two forks.
- (Optional) Broil. Then — if you want the carnitas to be nice and crispy — spread the shredded pork out in an even layer on a large baking sheet, and spoon about 1/3 of the remaining juices from the Instant Pot evenly on top of the pork. Pop the baking sheet into the oven for about 4-5 minutes, or until the edges of the pork are golden and crispy. Then remove from the oven, give the pork a good toss with half of the remaining juices, and broil for 4-5 more minutes. Remove from the oven, toss with the remaining juices and…
- Serve warm. However you prefer — in tacos, burritos, burrito bowls, tostadas, quesadillas, in a soup or salad, or whatever sounds good!
Full instructions included in the recipe box below.
Possible Variations:
Want to customize your own homemade carnitas recipe? Feel free to…
- Make it spicy. Add a diced jalapeño or serrano chile pepper (seeded, for less heat) into the Instant Pot if you would like to kick things up a spicy notch.
- Make it smoky. I also love adding a diced chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (with an extra tablespoon of sauce) into the Instant Pot to make the carnitas a bit more smoky.
- Use chicken. If pork isn’t your thing, you’re welcome to make this carnitas recipe with boneless skinless chicken thighs (or breasts) instead.
Ways To Serve Carnitas:
There are so many fun ways to serve this carnitas recipe! For example, they would be delicious in:
- Tacos (hard or soft)
- Burritos or burrito bowls
- Enchiladas, taquitos, quesadillas or tostadas
- Nachos or chilaquiles
- Salads (warm or cold)
- Soup or chili
- …and so much more! Be creative!
What To Serve With Carnitas:
Looking for some ideas on what to serve with carnitas tacos? (Or carnitas burritos, quesadillas, etc?) Here are a few of my faves:
- Chips and salsa (My Favorite Red Salsa and/or Salsa Verde)
- Everyday Mexican Salad or Mexican Caesar Salad
- Guacamole or Elote Dip
- Refried Beans
- Margaritas
Instant Pot Crispy Carnitas
Ingredients
Instant Pot Crispy Carnitas Ingredients:
- 1 (4-5 pound) lean boneless pork roast, cut into 2-inch chunks (with excess fat trimmed off)
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper
- 1 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- 1 batch mojo sauce (see below)
- for serving: chopped fresh cilantro, diced white or red onion, and/or fresh salsa (I used the pineapple salsa recipe included below)
Mojo Sauce Ingredients:
- 1 cup beer (or chicken stock)
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly-cracked black pepper
Instructions
To Make The Instant Pot Crispy Carnitas:
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the mojo sauce ingredients until combined. Set aside until ready to use.
- Season pork chunks on all sides with salt and pepper.
- Click the “Sauté” setting on the Instant Pot. Add the oil, followed by half of the pork, and sear — turning every 45-60 seconds or so — until the pork is browned on all sides. Transfer pork to a separate clean plate, and repeat with the remaining pork, searing until it has browned on all sides. Press “Cancel” to turn off the heat.
- Pour in the mojo sauce, and toss briefly to combine with the pork. Close lid securely and set vent to “Sealing”.
- Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes, followed by a natural release (about 15 minutes).
- Set the oven broiler to high heat.
- Remove the lid of the Instant Pot. Shred the pork with two forks. Then transfer it with a slotted spoon to a large baking sheet. Spoon about a third of the leftover juices evenly on top of the pork and toss to combine. Broil for 4-5 minutes, or until the edges of the pork begin browning and crisping up. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, then half of the remaining juices from the Instant Pot evenly over the pork and toss to combine. Broil for an additional 5 minutes to get the meat even more crispy. Remove baking sheet from the oven, then ladle the remaining juices over the pork, and toss to combine.
- Sprinkle with chopped fresh cilantro, then serve warm in tacos, burritos, salads, or whatever sounds good to you! Or, refrigerate pork in a sealed container for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
Notes
- 2 cups finely-diced fresh pineapple
- 1/2 cup finely-chopped fresh cilantro
- 1/2 cup finely-diced red onion
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 jalapeño, seeded and finely-diced
- fine sea salt and freshly-cracked black pepper, to taste
Did you make this?Let me know how it turned out in the comments below!This post contains affiliate links.
This is so dang tasty. The recipe + broiling makes perfect meat. I agree with some of the other comments though, it takes much longer than stated between all the steps. The timing does not include cutting the meat and browning it, and shredding. Which is fine, but just don’t expect it to only take 55 minutes total.
Made the carnitas today, and everybody loved it— from ages 14-58! I was nervous the broiling would dry the pork, but it did not. This is definitely going into the favorite recipes binder. The orange and lime juices definitely help break down the meat. One change: I had a bone in pork shoulder and cut it into larger chunks and left the bone in. Given the larger pieces and bone, I let it cook in the hot pot for about 48 minutes and natural release for another 20. It was perfect and shredding barely required forks! Yum. Make this.
Made this, and…WOW! This is a keeper!! Amazing flavor, tender, and very very easy to make. I got carnitas a few days ago at a Mexican food place I’ve always loved, and it just completely fell short in flavor, after eating this! I’ll never order carnitas again, because this just blows it all away!
I deviated in a few ways…I went 1 cup orange juice and 1/2 cup lime juice, a few more cloves worth of garlic, a tsp cumin instead of a tbsp, maybe 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and set the instant pot for 65min for 5lbs of country ribs. And, Instead of putting it in the broiler afterwards, I put a couple tsp of bacon fat in a pan and pan fried it…doesn’t make it greasy or too salty, just adds a nice subtle flavor, and more like a “traditional” carnitas texture.
Even just pan frying with a touch of olive oil worked great! But the broiler method works great too! Just personal preference on the bacon fat/olive oil. Done either of these three ways….DELICIOUS! I do use a slotted spoon to drain off most of the liquid when I pan fry it, crisps it up nicely that way.
I vacuum sealed and froze 2lbs of it, and upon reheating it, the flavor was as good, or better, as fresh! So, it freezes PERFECTLY. I just threw the frozen vacuum sealed bag in not-quite-boiling water for 5-10 min (sous vide I guess?) and then pan fried. EASY quick dinner in about 15min.
I think a chipotle pepper and some adobo sauce blended up would put this over the top in flavor, but unfortunately my gf doesn’t like the chipotle heat. As-is though, it’s nothing short of amazing. THANK YOU so much for sharing this recipe!
My husband’s all-time favorite! Easy and absolutely delicious, it’s great for an easy weeknight meal or for hosting a taco party. We like to double down on the broil time for extra crunch.
This is a regular recipe in our house, and for good reason: it is delicious, freezes well, and can be enjoyed in many different ways (in a bowl on quinoa, in a taco, a salad, a sandwich….) It is wonderful with pork but we typically make it with boneless skinless chicken thighs to save on prep. We also use Mexican oregano, and have used pineapple juice instead of orange when that’s all we had on hand. Outstanding, and highly recommended!
Did you freeze it cooked or raw? We love this recipe and I’m thinking of putting some into my freezer stash. Thanks
This was pretty good!
The first thing is the prep is WAY off. Not 5 minutes and nowhere close to that and I cook often.
I saw a few comments saying it was a bit bland, so I did a fry marinade for a few hours and I feel it helped some. I’d make this again though!
How would you work this recipe differently using a crockpot?
Overall, an enjoyable dinner! The pineapple salsa, in my opinion, is what is the most flavorful part of this meal. The mojo just didn’t have enough of a punch for us. Additionally, I found it incredibly hard to shred chicken in the instant pot, so I spooned it on the baking sheet first, then shred. WAY easier. Obviously you have to be careful not to scratch your pan, but much less awkward to maneuver. I agree that the overall cooking/prep times on this are much longer.
This was my first time making Carnitas. The best tasting meat I’ve ever had! So excited to get the flavor IN the meat instead of just on it. Because I was in a hurry I used a bottle of Goya Mojo Criolo marinade and added the called for garlic, lemon juice, oregano and cumin. Browned and pressure cooked. This is a keeper!!
I get a better sear in my cast iron skillet so to speed up the process I sauteed in both my skillet and the instant pot. I just deglazed the skillet with some of the mojo sauce. Great recipe!