Instant Pot Pulled Pork (4 ingredients)

The most incredibly tender Instant Pot Pulled Pork, made with just 4 simple ingredients! Plus meal hacks to show you how to make it once, eat it 3+ times throughout the week!

Perfect for those summer BBQ’s or a casual weekday dinner, this pulled pork recipe is made with just 4 ingredients, and is ready in about an hour, instead of taking all day in the slow cooker!

This post is sponsored by the Ohio Pork Council. All opinions are my own.

Here in Ohio the weather is starting to warm up, and I’m trying not to get my hopes up (it is Ohio after all – we regularly get snow in March)… but it’s so hard!  As soon as the temperatures rise and the sun comes out, all I can think about is my favorite food-time of year… cookout season!

Do you call them cookouts?  BBQ’s?  Whatever you call them, you know they are so fun.  All that great outdoor party food like macaroni/pasta salad, baked beans, strawberry pie, and of course, pulled pork!

Up until this year, I always made slow cooker pulled pork, which takes about 8 hours, depending on the size and cut of your pork.  But I recently picked up an Instant Pot and am blown away by how easy, and quick, it is to make pulled pork now!

Despite the name… it’s not “instant”, and you do have to wait for it to come up to pressure, and release the pressure after cooking, but it’s still a good 6.5 hours quicker than a slow cooker.

WHAT KIND OF MEAT DO YOU USE FOR PULLED PORK

You can use a pork shoulder, pork butt, or pork loin.  Loin is readily available in my grocery store, and usually at a pretty good price!   I buy them when they’re on sale, then freeze them.

CAN YOU FREEZE PULLED PORK

Yep!  When you have some left over (and aren’t using my meal hacks detailed later in the post), portion it out into plastic freezer bags.  To reheat, I like to set the frozen bags in the refrigerator overnight, then take the meat out of the bag, wrap in foil and reheat in a 225 F degree oven until hot.

HOW MUCH PULLED PORK DO I NEED PER PERSON

That’s the quintessential question… especially for a party!  A good rule of thumb is 6 oz of cooked pulled pork per person (which can go up or down depending on the person’s appetite, but 6 oz is average).  Notice I said “cooked pulled pork per person”, not pork.  As you cook pork (or any meat), it loses weight as the water is released and cooked away.  Basically you want to double the amount of cooked pork, and that’s how much raw pork you need.  Also, know your guests… 10 hungry adults or athletes are going to eat more than 10 kids 🙂

So for a party of 10 people, 10 people x 6 oz = 60 oz of cooked pulled pork.  60 oz x 2 = 120 oz of raw pork meat.  So you’d need to pick up 7 1/2 lbs of pork loin/shoulder/butt for your party.  Make sense?

HOW TO MEAL PREP WITH PULLED PORK

I LOVE to make a big batch of pulled pork, then either meal prep or use the leftovers to make different dinners all week long.  I call them “meal hacks”, and they’re super fun to whip up!

Here are some of my favorite ideas:

• Top a baked potato with a pat of butter and bbq pulled pork to have pulled pork potatoes!
• Char some tortillas, add pulled pork and some slaw to have pulled pork tacos!
• Jazz up breakfast by scrambling some eggs, adding pulled pork and cheese!
• Add some pulled pork to macaroni and cheese (or get crazy and make these fried Mac and cheese bites with pulled pork!)
• Top a burger with pulled pork… the sky is the limit!

WHY USE Dr Pepper FOR PULLED PORK

I know it may seem weird… but trust me on this one.  The meat doesn’t taste like pop or soda at all, I promise.  The reason I like to use it is it contains great caramelized sugar flavors, and it has acidity which is great for flavor balance and keeps the meat nice and tender.  The chipotles I think add a nice kick, and the smokiness is fabulous with anything “pulled”, like pulled pork, pulled beef, or pulled chicken.

I REALLY hope you give this awesome Instant Pot Pulled Pork recipe a try soon!

HELPFUL TOOLS:

• Instant Pot – I have this one and I LOVE it!  I can’t wait to share more Instant Pot recipes with you all, so grab one today.
• Chipotles in adobo sauce – This is the brand I usually buy.

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4 Ingredient Instant Pot Pulled Pork

4.22 from 105 votes

Prep Time: 35 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 5 minutes minutes

Calories: 476

Servings: 8 - 12 servings

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The most incredibly tender Instant Pot Pulled Pork, made with just 4 simple ingredients! Plus meal hacks to show you how to make it once, eat it 3+ times throughout the week!

Ingredients

• ▢ 4 lb boneless pork loin or boneless pork shoulder/butt
• ▢ 1 tsp kosher salt
• ▢ 1/2 tsp black pepper
• ▢ 1-2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
• ▢ 12 oz Dr Pepper soda
• ▢ your favorite bbq sauce

Instructions

• Slice pork into 4 pieces and season with salt and pepper.  Place pork in instant pot insert and top with minced chipotle peppers.  Pour Dr Pepper around the pork.
• Place lid on Instant Pot and seal.  Press manual and set for 45 minutes.  Instant Pot will start counting down once it comes up to pressure, which is usually 15 minutes or so.
• Once cooked, let naturally release for 15 minutes, then quick release to get rid of any remaining pressure.
• Carefully remove pork to a large mixing bowl (it will be so tender it may start to fall apart during the transfer).  Shred using two forks and add bbq sauce to your tastes.

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Chef Tips

Prep time includes time for the Instant Pot to come up to pressure and release the pressure.

Video

Nutrition Disclaimer

The Chunky Chef is not a dietician or nutritionist, and any nutritional information shared is an estimate. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, we recommend running the ingredients through whichever online nutritional calculator you prefer. Calories can vary quite a bit depending on which brands were used.

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