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brioche bun filled with pulled pork, on a white plate with potato chips and a pickle spear.
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5 from 4 votes

Instant Pot Pulled Pork

This instant pot pulled pork is succulent and tender, and goes perfectly with your favorite bbq sauce!
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Pressure Release10 minutes
Total Time1 hour 10 minutes
Course: Entree, Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: homemade pulled pork
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 249kcal
Author: The Chunky Chef

Ingredients

Spice rub

  • 1 1/2 Tbsp packed light brown sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp onion powder
  • 1/2 tsp dried mustard powder
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
  • 1/4 tsp ground cumin

Pork

  • 2 Tbsp vegetable oil
  • 3 lb boneless pork loin cut into roughly 3" pieces
  • 1 1/2 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
  • 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
  • 1 - 2 tsp hot sauce
  • your favorite bbq sauce

Instructions

Make the rub

  • Combine brown sugar, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, ground mustard, cayenne, and cumin in a small mixing bowl.

Season and sear pork

  • Rub the seasoning mix liberally into the pork pieces.
  • Select “saute” and if you have an option to select “high” select that.  Add vegetable oil and when hot, add pork pieces. 
  • Cook for approximately 2-3 minutes per side, then remove pork pieces to a plate.

Deglaze and add liquids

  • To the now empty pot, add chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the pot with a wooden spoon to release any browned pork bits.  
  • Press “cancel”.  Pour in vinegar and hot sauce, stirring to combine, then add browned pork pieces back to the pot.

Pressure cook

  • Secure lid and make sure the valve is on “sealing”.  Press “manual” or “pressure cook” and pressure cook on high for 40 minutes.
  • When the time is up, don’t touch the pot and just let it sit for 10 minutes.  Once 10 minutes has passed, move the valve to “venting” to release any remaining pressure.  When the pin has dropped, remove the lid.
  • ** save the cooking liquid! **

Shred pork

  • Carefully remove pork to a large mixing bowl and shred.
  • Pour about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid to the mixing bowl with the pork, stirring to combine.
  • Add your favorite bbq sauce, the amount is up to you.

Serve

  • Serve hot. If you want to make sandwiches, I recommend toasting the buns, adding some pork, then topping with coleslaw.

Notes

  1. I highly recommend a great coleslaw to go alongside this shredded bbq chicken. Either of these two would be great options: Chick-Fil-A copycat coleslaw or classic sweet and tangy coleslaw.
  2. I've estimated that this recipe serves 8, but feel free to divide this into as many servings as you'd like.

Slow Cooker Directions:

  • instead of chopping the pork into 3" pieces, you can either leave it whole, or cut it half.
  1. Rub seasoning rub into pork.
  2. Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over MED HIGH heat. Add pork and sear for 2-3 minutes per side, then remove to the insert of a slow cooker.
  3. Pour in chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the skillet to loosen browned bits. Stir in vinegar and hot sauce.
  4. Pour the liquids from the skillet into the slow cooker insert with the pork.
  5. Cover and cook on LOW for 8-10 hours, or HIGH for 4-5 hours (I have the best results cooking on low though).
  6. Remove pork from the slow cooker to a bowl, and shred.
  7. Moisten with 1/2 - 3/4 cup of the cooking liquid to the mixing bowl with the pork, stirring to combine.
  8. Add your favorite bbq sauce, the amount is up to you.
  9. Serve as desired.

Nutrition

Calories: 249kcal | Carbohydrates: 4g | Protein: 39g | Fat: 7g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 107mg | Sodium: 548mg | Potassium: 705mg | Fiber: 0.3g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 152IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 18mg | Iron: 1mg