Pressure Cooker Carnitas Tacos
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Pressure Cooker carnitas tacos are quick and easy to make in the Instant Pot and the recipe produces tender, melt-in-your-mouth pork filling for tacos.
This Instant Pot carnitas recipe is a guaranteed crowd pleaser. In an under an hour, you will have juicy and flavorful pork carnitas that is perfect for turning into tacos, creating taco bowls, or even eating on its own.
Why You’ll Love This Pressure Cooker Carnitas Taco Recipe
- It is so easy to make! Using the Instant Pot, you can have tender, juicy, melt-in-your mouth carnitas with little work and less than an hour.
- So versatile! The pork that comes from this Instant Pot carnitas recipe can be used in tacos, salads, bowls, quesadillas, and many other thing.
- Great for Meal Prep! I make a batch of carnitas on Sunday and use it for meal prep. It makes having delicious meals ready for lunch or busy evenings so easy.
- Only a little clean up! Besides one small bowl, everything for cooking these pressure cooker pork carnitas tacos is done in the bowl of the Instant Pot.
Ingredients for Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas
Pork Butt: This cut of pork makes the best carnitas. You can also substitute a boneless pork shoulder.
Spices and Seasonings: Kosher salt, black pepper, ground cumin, oregano, and garlic powder are all combined together to make a delicious spice rub.
Garlic Cloves: Use fresh garlic, if available.
Chicken Broth: You could substitute water or vegetable broth here with only mild impact to the flavor of the recipe.
Chipotle Peppers in Adobo: These help add a smoky flavor.
Bay Leaves
Orange Juice: Fresh orange juice works best but feel free to us bottled if that is what you have on hand.
Soy Sauce: You can use tamari or coconut aminos here if you need a gluten free option.
Cinnamon Stick
How to Make Instant Pot Carnitas
This recipe is so simple to make. Chunks of the pork are coated in the spice rub and then marinated in a blend of orange juice, soy sauce, and a cinnamon stick. After marinating, the additional ingredients are added and the Instant Pot does the rest of the work.
Once the meat is cooked, you can spread the meat onto a baking sheet and place under the broiler for 5-7 minutes to crisp it. Alternatively, you can remove the liquid from the Instant Pot and switch it to the sauté function to crisp the cooked pork.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between a pressure cooker and an Instant Pot? The primary difference between the two is that a pressure cooker is a stand alone appliance that uses high pressure to cook foods while and Instant Pot is usually a multi-functional appliance. An electric pressure cooker is generally used interchangeably with an Instant Pot in many recipes.
Do I need to use the spice rub and the marinade? You don’t need to spend the extra time marinating the meat but it does help add extra flavor. However, if you don’t spend the time marinating, you do still need to add those ingredients to your pressure cooker.
How long does this recipe take? The actual cooking time for this recipe is 20 minutes with a 10 minute natural release. However, each Instant Pot or pressure cooker takes different amounts of time to get up to pressure so I would budget an additional 15-20 minutes into your cooking time to account for the time it takes the appliance to come up to pressure.
What to Serve with Carnitas
This recipe is so versatile and really goes with a lot of different items. Some of our favorites are:
- Cilantro Lime Rice or Mexican style rice
- Refried Beans
- Classic taco toppings like chopped white onion and cilantro
- Elote (Mexican corn)
- Guacamole
- Salsa Verde
More Great Instant Pot Recipes
You can use the Instant Pot to make an entire week of meals using this sample menu
Sunday: Apple Cider Braised Pork
Monday: Pressure Cooker Salmon Potato Soup
Tuesday: Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas
Wednesday: Pressure Cooker Chorizo Kale Stuffed Sweet Potatoes
Thursday: Pressure Cooker Loaded Baked Potato Soup
Friday: Pressure Cooker Chicken Tikka Masala
Saturday: Crock-Pot Mongolian Beef
Pressure Cooker Pork Carnitas
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 pound pork butt
- 5 garlic cloves minced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo
- 2 bay leaves
Spice Rub
- 3 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
Marinade
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1 Tablespoon soy sauce
- 1 cinnamon stick
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine salt, black pepper, cumin, oregano and garlic powder. Stir to combine.3 teaspoons kosher salt, 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, 2 teaspoon ground cumin, 1/2 teaspoon oregano, 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- Cut pork butt into large chunks. Coat with spice mix from step one.2 1/2 pound pork butt
- Combine the orange juice, soy sauce and cinnamon stick inside of the bowl of the pressure cooker. Add pork pieces and marinate for 10 minutes.1/2 cup orange juice, 1 Tablespoon soy sauce, 1 cinnamon stick
- To the pot, add garlic cloves, chicken broth, peppers in adobo and bay leaves. Close and lock the lid and set to high pressure. Cook for 20 minutes on high. Let the pressure naturally release for 10 minutes and then manually release the remaining pressure (keeping your hands and face away from the steam). Remove the bay leaves and then shred meat using two forks.5 garlic cloves, 1 cup chicken broth, 2 chipotle peppers in adobo, 2 bay leaves
Notes
- When calculating cooking time, please add 15-20 minutes to the stated time to account for the amount of time it takes for the pressure cooker to come up to pressure. This varies widely by models so it is not included in the overall cooking time listed here.
- After releasing the pressure, you can crisp the cooked pork by either placing the chunks onto a baking sheet under the broiler for 5-7 minutes and then shredding or draining the liquid from the Instant Pot, switching it to the sauté function, and cooking for 3-5 minutes, stirring frequently.
Nutrition
