Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Meltingly tender, Instant Pot carnitas are ready in a fraction of the time it normally takes to make this traditional braised pork. So flavorful and delicious, carnitas will become an Instant Pot favorite!
How long it takes: 1 hour, 35 minutes (mostly hands-off time)
Equipment you’ll need: Instant Pot pressure cooker, sheet pan
Servings: 8
What Are Carnitas?
You could say that carnitas are Mexican pulled pork. Literally translated “little meats,” pork carnitas are traditionally braised in lard or oil for three to four hours until the pork is fall-apart tender, with crispy bits. Served in charred corn tortillas and topped with pico de gallo, carnitas are so finger-licking good and it’s not surprising how popular they are.
Easy Instant Pot Carnitas
Pressure cooking greatly reduces cooking time. Maybe you aren’t convinced of the usefulness of your Instant Pot yet. Try these Instant Pot carnitas and you’ll never look back! Instead of braising pork for half a day, these carnitas are well-done and so unbelievably tender in an hour! Yes, that’s right, an hour (disclaimer: that doesn’t include marinating time).
Healthier than traditional methods. While braising the pork in lard undoubtedly makes delicious carnitas, it adds a lot of fat to an already fatty meat. When you use an Instant Pot, the pressurized heat tenderizes the meat without sacrificing flavor.
A flavorful marinade. I love that the meat is marinated right in the Instant Pot, and then cooked in the marinade so you end up with such flavorful pork. The marinade is made with orange and lime juice, lots of garlic, along with herbs and seasonings.
Can be made ahead. Make the pork ahead and reheat it under the broiler when you’re ready to serve it with your favorite taco toppings. Serve Instant Pot carnitas at your next get-together.
What Kind Of Pork To Buy
I usually use boneless pork shoulder or Boston butt (or pork butt) to make carnitas. They’re similar cuts but pork butt is generally a little more tender. Since the pork is cubed before it’s cooked, it’s much easier if the pork is boneless. You’ll need four to five pounds.
How To Make Instant Pot carnitas
How much time you’ll need: The total cooking time, including prep time, marinating, time to pressurize, cooking, natural release, and broiling is approximately 1 hour and 35 minutes. Most of the time is hands-off which allows you time to prep the toppings and side dishes you’ll need.
Mix up a simple marinade of orange juice, lime juice, fresh garlic, dried bay leaves, and seasoning. The seasoning is a mixture of salt, pepper, cumin, paprika, oregano, and coriander, all simple pantry items. If you intend to make carnitas on a regular basis, you could mix up a big batch of the seasoning and keep a jar of it on hand. I like to do that with taco seasoning and salmon seasoning. So convenient!
Marinate the pork. Cut the meat into two inch chunks, more or less. Trim off excess fat and put the pork right into your Instant Pot. Pour the marinade over the pork, stir it up, and let it marinate for 30 minutes. You don’t need to refrigerate it while it’s marinating. It’s actually better to let the meat warm up a little so it cooks more evenly. However, if you want to marinate it longer than 30 minutes, definitely refrigerate it.
Pressure cook. Cover the Instant Pot, and set it to Pressure Cook for 15 minutes. (Some models will be Manual, High Pressure). It takes about twenty additional minutes to come to pressure. Allow the pressure to natural release for fifteen minutes, then release any remaining pressure.
Broil the cooked pork. You may be wondering about the “crispy bits.” Aren’t they what make carnitas so good? That’s why we add one final step!
When the pork is cool enough to handle, remove it from the Instant Pot and spread it out on a sheet pan. Shred the pork chunks with a couple of forks, sprinkle on some of the cooking liquid, and broil the carnitas for five to ten minutes until the pork browns just a bit. You decide how brown and crispy you want it.
Stovetop method: If you don’t want to turn your oven on, you can brown carnitas in a large skillet over high heat. Heat for about five minutes without stirring so the shredded pork browns on the bottom, stir well, and continue until it’s browned and lightly crisped.
Serve. Serve carnitas with lightly charred corn tortillas, homemade pico de gallo, lime wedges, chopped fresh cilantro, shredded cabbage or lettuce, guacamole, pickled onions, and sour cream or crema.
Mexican corn dip, refried beans, and cilantro lime rice are great side dishes to serve with your carnitas. Don’t forget tortilla chips with salsa and a frosty Dos Equis beer.
More Serving Suggestions
You’ll find that there are many ways to serve carnitas!
- Traditional: Serve carnitas with warm corn tortillas, homemade pico de gallo, lime wedges, chopped fresh cilantro, shredded cabbage, guacamole, pickled onions, and sour cream or crema.
- Burritos. Serve carnitas wrapped in flour tortillas with toppings to make burritos.
- Meal bowls. Serve carnitas with rice or another grain in a bowl, with desired toppings.
- Nachos. Like loaded chips and cheese? Carnitas are perfect to make nachos. Add carnitas to these cauliflower nachos, replacing the chicken with pork.
Slow Cooker Pork Tacos
Looking for a crockpot shredded pork recipe? Try slow cooker pork tacos. Somewhat similar to carnitas, this recipe makes pulled pork that cooks all day in your crockpot in a flavorful tomatillo sauce. It’s incredibly tender and so easy to make.
Make carnitas a day or two ahead, but skip the crisping step (broiler or frying pan). Gently reheat the meat in a slow cooker or Dutch oven and then crisp it up under the broiler before serving.
Pork carnitas are great leftover. In fact, they taste a little better the next day.
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for three to four days, or up to three months in the freezer.
Free Meal Plan
Interested in a weekly meal plan that includes this recipe? Take a look at Meal Plan #79. You’ll find a wholesome recipe for each weekday plus a categorized grocery list. We add a new meal plan weekly.
More Instant Pot Recipes
Instant Pot Carnitas Recipe
Ingredients
- 4 to 5 pounds boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2 inch cubes
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- ½ cup fresh orange juice (from 1 large orange)
- ¼ cup fresh lime juice (from 2 limes)
- 3 cloves garlic, crushed
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- ½ teaspoon coriander
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- charred corn tortillas, pico de gallo, lime wedges, chopped fresh cilantro, shredded cabbage, guacamole, pickled onions, sour cream or crema
Instructions
- Combine chicken broth, orange juice, lime juice, garlic, bay leaves, salt, cumin, oregano, paprika, coriander, and pepper in small bowl or measuring cup.1 cup low-sodium chicken broth, ½ cup fresh orange juice, ¼ cup fresh lime juice, 3 cloves garlic, crushed, 2 bay leaves, 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, 2 teaspoons ground cumin, 2 teaspoons dried oregano, 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, ½ teaspoon coriander, ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- Put trimmed pork into Instant Pot. Pour marinade over the pork, stir to coat well. Marinate at room temperature for 30 minutes. Note: If you want to marinate the pork longer, refrigerate it. Bring to room temperature before cooking.4 to 5 pounds boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2 inch cubes
- Cover Instant Pot, turn valve to seal, and set for Pressure Cook for 15 minutes (or Manual, High Pressure, depending on your model). Pork will take approximately 20 minutes to come to full pressure before the cooking time starts.
- When the timer goes off, allow pressure to naturally release for 15 minutes before turning valve to vent any remaining pressure.
- Allow the meat to cool enough to handle. Use a slotted spoon to remove pork to a large sheet pan. Using two forks, shred the pork on the sheet pan, arranging it in a single layer.
- Sprinkle some of the cooking liquid over the pork. Broil for 5 minutes until tips of pork are slightly crisp. (Skillet method: Heat the pork in a large heavy skillet over high heat, stirring only once or twice).
- Serve with corn tortillas, pico de gallo, and desired toppings.
Notes
- Nutrition information does not include tortillas or toppings.
- Storage: Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for three to four days, or up to three months in the freezer.
- Make ahead tip: Make carnitas a day or two ahead, but skip the crisping step. Gently reheat in a slow cooker or Dutch oven, and then crisp them up under the broiler.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
sounds delicious. i just printed your fajita recipe. what is the difference in carnitas and fajitas?
Carnitas are pork that has been typically slow cooked and then pan fried or broiled until slightly crispy. Fajitas are typically made with grilled meat (steak, chicken, and/or shrimp), but you could also make fajitas using carnitas as the protein if you wanted to. I hope that helps!
sounds to die for
They really are!
I stil haven’t bought an instant pot, too many gadgets as is, including a rarely used slow cooker! But may have have to for this when I think about the time saved versus a slow cooker, lovely pictures remind me how much I miss carnitas, thank you!
I love my Instant pot so much! And these carnitas are one of my favorite things I’ve made in it!