Our Instant Pot pulled pork recipe makes perfectly juicy and tender BBQ pulled pork in a fraction of the time as grilling or slow roasting. Coat the ribs in a savory pork rub, sear to lock in moisture (and to get those burnt ends!), and then pressure cook for just 1 hour. It's a Whole Lotta Yum!

This is the best Instant Pot Pulled Pork recipe!
We're sharing all of our tips and tricks to making succulent yet easy pulled pork, whether you're trying to make pressure cooker pork butt (either bone-in or boneless) or pork shoulder to use for shredding for sliders or served straight onto a plate.
Our recipe even gives you the prized crispy "burnt ends" by doing a quick sear of the seasoned meat before cooking it under pressure. Once you make our shredded pork, you'll never go back to any other method!!
These are great served on a bun, served as pulled pork sliders, or make them lower carb by using lettuce wraps. Get inspo from, our pulled pork sides and leftover pulled pork ideas too.
Whether you want to sear or not sear, use a different cut of pork, make shredded pork without sugar, add BBQ sauce before or after, or cook your roast bone-in or boneless....get all of your questions answered!
While many serious meat masters slow cook or smoke meat all. day. long. many of us don't have time for that. Making pulled pork in an Instant Pot is the next best way to get meat that will have everyone believing you slow cooked it like a grill master!
Main ingredients
- 4 lb pork butt, bone-in (or pork shoulder roast). 3 lb if boneless
- pork rub mix - our homemade recipe or your favorite store-bought brand
- avocado oil or olive oil
- liquid (chicken broth, beef broth, apple or pineapple juice)
- BBQ sauce
- optional- liquid smoke
Pork Rub Ingredients
We highly recommend making your own pork rub, once you start making it in bulk, you'll never go back to less tasty store-bought versions!
Our rub recipe will make MORE than you need for this batch of instant pot BBQ pork, which is a good thing! It keeps for months in a jar and that means you already have some on hand for the next time you make pulled pork.
- 1 tablespoon cumin
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 Tbsp ground garlic
- 1 Tbsp ground onion powder
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoon sea salt
- 1 tablespoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 2 tablespoon brown sugar (or 2 tablespoon golden monk fruit for a no sugar option)
Supplies Used
- Pressure Cooker- For the Instant pot pulled pork recipe, you'll need a pressure cooker. It doesn't need to be an IP brand, but here's the Instant Pot model we used for the recipe.
- Meat shredded claws - A fork or electric mixer works too
- Rubber Handled Tongs
Cooking instructions
Take the pork butt/pork shoulder out of the fridge 30 minutes before cook time. Starting to bring the roast up to room temperature means the meat cooks more evenly and simply, turns out even better!
Step 1. Preheat the Instant Pot to Saute High and add 2 tablespoon of oil to the pot. While you're waiting for the pot to give you the Hot signal, you'll want to cut your meat into large chunks and add the dry mix.
Step 2. Cut the pork roast into 4 large pieces. If it's boneless pork that's really easy to get similar sized hunks of meat. If you have bone-in pork roast you can do this one of two ways: either leave the bone attached to one of the large chunks of meat OR carefully cut the bone off of the meat.
Step 3. Sprinkle the pork with the rub mix. Press the rub into the pork with clean hands to help make sure the seasoning stays on the pork butt and doesn't just fall to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
Step 4. Sear the pork roast pieces on each side for 3-4 minutes until brown. It'll be a snug fit in the pot, but all pork pieces will fit. Do not peek at the pork until you're ready to flip it over, you won't want to keep it from browning to a nice crisp. And be sure not to fry it on each side for too long, otherwise the pork rub will start to burn.
Step 5. You'll need to deglaze the pot to avoid getting the burn signal during cooking. Press the Cancel button to stop the pot from cooking before you deglaze. To do this, remove the pork pieces and set aside on a plate.
Add the half cup of liquid-like chicken broth, beef broth, apple juice or pineapple juice and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot. Basically, just deglaze the pot with whatever liquid you're planning to add to help bring the pot to pressure.
Add the 1 teaspoon of optional liquid smoke now if you're using it.
Step 6. Add the pork back to the Instant Pot and pour ½ cup+ of BBQ sauce over the top. Turn the pot to Manual High (or Pressure Cook depending on your model) for 60 minutes. Our pot took about 15 minutes to come to pressure.
Step 7. Natural release for 10 minutes before doing a quick release of the remaining pressure in the pot. Once the pin drops, you can open your lid.
If you cook the meat 60 minutes and it's still tough and not fork tender, it is NOT done cooking! Usually, when meat is tough it's often considered "overcooked," (think steak or a pork chop) with cuts of meat like pork butt, you need to cook it LONGER.
It literally gets cooked until it falls apart and is super easy to shred! Just put the meat back in the pressure cooker and add more time in 5-minute increments.
Step 8. Shred and serve. Let the pork cool down slightly for 5-10 minutes before shredding. Shred the meat in a large bowl, and some liquid from the pot for extra moisture.
We served the pulled pork with a simple homemade coleslaw on Hawaiian rolls to make pulled pork sliders for a family party, these are also terrific as lettuce wraps when you're cutting back on carbs. A super easy meal that's always everyone's favorite!
Jenni's tips
- Cutting the roast into 4 pieces when the bone is attached can be a little tricky. Some of the meat hunks will have the bone attached and others won't. Just cut them into as equal sizes as you can. Trust me, it'll work!
- You can skip the searing, but if you have the time it gives the pork roast the "burnt ends" crispy pieces; plus helps to lock in moisture and flavor.
- Adding liquid smoke is totally optional. We actually didn't add it but many people love that smokey flavor. Just 1 teaspoon is all that's recommended.
- Making this a sugar free recipe - use golden monk fruit in place of brown sugar in the rub. There are also multiple sugar-free BBQ sauces on the market, our favorite is this brand.
- Be sure to scrape up the meat bits on the bottom of the pot after searing to avoid the burn signal.
Storage and leftovers
Having shredded pork, beef, or chicken on hand makes putting together a last-minute meal so easy! Use it for pulled pork sandwiches, sliders, on tacos, on nachos, topping a pizza, as lettuce wraps, or in salads.
- Leftovers will keep in the fridge up to 5 days.
- Freezing- We recommend dividing the shredded pressure cooker pork roast (seasoned or unseasoned) into 4 quart-sized bags or split the batch in two and put it into 2 gallon-sized bags. It'll keep in the freezer for up to 2-3 months.
- For longer storage, it's worth it to invest in something like a Foodsaver that preserves meat even longer, like 6-12 months.
Reader questions
The most popular pork roasts for pulled pork are either a pork butt (bone-in or boneless) or a pork shoulder roast (bone-in or boneless). Where you live might determine what kind of pork roast you can buy at the grocery store and use in your Instant Pot. We live in the PNW and our grocery stores mostly carry bone-in pork shoulder roast, whereas when I visit my sister in NC, finding pork butt at her grocery stores is more common than pork shoulder.
Both pork butt and pork shoulder are from the same section of a pig (the shoulder), pork butt comes from higher on the shoulder and pork shoulder is a cut a little further down. You might also sometimes hear pork butt referred to as Boston butt, and that again, might depend on where you live.
If you have a bone-in pork shoulder/butt roast then try to get one around 4 lb. If it's a boneless roast they're usually sold close to 3 lb. We can't get boneless pork shoulder roasts in our area, so we buy the 4 lb and cut the meat off of the bone. The bone itself usually weighs around 1 lb.
If you have to cut the pork from the bone, don't worry if your pieces aren't identical in shape and size!
If your pulled pork is tough in the Instant Pot, it’s either undercooked or overcooked. The pork butt should be falling off of the bone and easy to shred, if the roast is still firm it might be cooked through but not long enough for shredding.
How to Fix: Just put the meat back in the pressure cooker and cook it for a few more minutes. The pot will come to pressure very quickly!
Likewise, if it’s dry and stringy, it cooked for too long in the pressure cooker. The ideal internal temp for pulled pork is 195-205 F.
The cooking time for Instant Pot pork can vary depending on the cut of meat, how much it weighs, and the desired doneness. In general,, pork typically takes about 15-20 minutes per pound to cook in an Instant Pot on the manual High setting.
Yes, it’s possible to overcook pulled pork. Overcooked pork is dry and stringy, and hard to shred. We recommend using a digital meat thermometer so you don’t overcook the meat. The ideal temp for pulled pork is between 195-205°F.
Serving ideas
Our favorite pulled pork side dishes
- Instant pot corn on the cob
- Mexican street corn salad
- Healthy coleslaw
- Warm German potato salad (no mayo)
- Buns - pretzel or sweet buns
More Instant Pot pork recipes
- Instant pot bratwurst
- Instant pot sausage and peppers
- Instant Pot boneless pork ribs
- Pressure cooker baby back ribs
Recipe
Easy Pressure Cooker Pulled Pork
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4 lb pork butt bone-in (or pork shoulder roast). 3 lb if boneless
- 2 tablespoon pork rub mix our homemade recipe our store-bought
- 2 tablespoon avocado oil or olive oil
- ½ cup liquid chicken broth, beef broth, apple or pineapple juice
- ½ cup+ BBQ sauce
- 1 teaspoon liquid smoke optional
Instructions
- Preheat the Instant Pot to Saute High and add 2 tablespoon of oil to the pot.
- Cut the pork roast into 4 large pieces. If it's boneless pork that's really easy to get similar-sized hunks of meat. If you have bone-in pork roast you can do this one of two ways: either leave the bone attached to one of the large chunks of meat OR carefully cut the bone off of the meat.
- Sprinkle the pork with the rub mix. Press the rub into the pork with clean hands to help make sure the seasoning stays on the pork butt and doesn't just fall to the bottom of the Instant Pot.
- Sear the pork roast pieces on each side for 3-4 minutes until brown. It'll be a snug fit in the pot, but all pork pieces will fit. Do not peek at the pork until you're ready to flip it over, you won't want to keep it from browning to a nice crisp. And be sure not to fry it on each side for too long, otherwise, the pork rub will start to burn.
- You'll need to deglaze the pot to avoid getting the burn signal during cooking. Press the Cancel button to stop the pot from cooking before you deglaze. To do this, remove the pork pieces and set them aside on a plate. Add ½ cup of liquid like chicken broth, beef broth, apple juice, or pineapple juice, and scrape up the brown bits on the bottom of the pot.
- Add the 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke now if you're using it (optional).
- Add the pork back to the Instant Pot and pour ½ cup+ of BBQ sauce over the top.
- Turn the pot to Manual High for 60 minutes. Do a Natural release for 10 minutes before doing a quick release of the remaining pressure in the pot. Once the pin drops, you can open your lid.
- Let the pork cool down for 5-10 minutes before shredding it with forks, meat claws, or a mixer. Enjoy! Serve as a sandwich with a side of closeslaw, as sliders, or on lettuce wraps.
Notes
- Pull the meat out of the fridge 30 minutes before cooking.
- Searing is optional but helps to give the pork roast a nice crust.
- Note: If you cook the meat for 60 minutes and it's still tough and not fork tender, it is NOT done cooking! Usually, when meat is tough it's often considered "overcooked," (think steak or a pork chop) with cuts of meat like pork butt, you need to cook it LONGER. It literally gets cooked until it falls apart and is super easy to shred! Just pot the meat back in the pressure cooker and add more time in 5-minute increments.
- Low carb - Serve the BBQ pulled pork on a bed of lettuce or on top of coleslaw. Use golden monk fruit 1:1 in place of the brown sugar, and buy a sugar-free sauce like GH Hughes.
Nutrition
Diane says
Just wanted to let you know that your recipe is my absolute go to! It’s probably due to your spice rub & I wouldn’t be without it. This is so tasty that I usually don’t bother with cut BBQ sauce…can always add it with the meal. I use this pork for tacos, omelettes, sandwiches, quesadillas & yes, even by itself! Thx much for keeping me on my health journey.
Beck and Bulow says
I made this recipe and it turned out great. I also added some crushed pistachios to the oil and herb mix. Nice flavor and presentation. and please visit us: https://www.beckandbulow.com
Heather says
Made tonight used pineapple juice as the base. The only issue was there wasn't enough left overs. Delicious will make again.
Emily says
I literally just made it and it's so yummy! But quick question: Do you throw the meat back into the juice after shredding? Or do you just toss the meat with more BBQ sauce? Thanks.
WholeLottaYum says
I'm so glad you enjoyed the pulled pork! I add BBQ sauce and sometimes even more liquid from the pot to taste and mix it all with the shredded pork.
Lulu V says
My house smelled amazing, like wishing I could bottle up the smell and save it for later! xD It's not done cooking but I can already tell it's going to be amazing. Thank you!
Amanda B. says
I have two bone in pork butts, both equaling about 7.5 pounds each. I don’t plan on cutting or removing the bones. How should I adjust the cooking time?
Dawn says
Oh My Goodness! This is the BEST! My grown boys are always adding more barbecue sauce to pulled pork...not this time. I made a 5# boneless pork butt and there wasn't a bit left over for 6 adults and a toddler. This will be a regular at my house. Thank you!
WholeLottaYum says
You're welcome, Dawn! I'm so glad your family loved it! We skip the BBQ sauce too!
Clare says
Hi, how long do you set the IP for when you add the BBQ sauce? I'm a little confused as you only mention it takes 15 mins to come to pressure followed by 10 mins natural release.
Thanks
Sue says
Made this pulled pork on a Friday to enjoy on Sunday after a day on the ski slopes. It is so delicious. For the 1/2 c liquid I added some no sugar apple sauce to some chicken stock and then a 1/2 c of bottled smoked barbecue sauce. I shredded the fall apart pork and just wanted to keep eating it. It’s a winning recipe.
Christine says
This is delicious. Made it several times now. I drain out the excess liquid after it's cooked then mix in the bbq sauce. Always comes out great.
Joanne Martinez says
I have a question regarding the size of the roast. How do you adjust the pressure time if your roast is smaller or larger than the 4 pounds in the recipe? I have a boneless pork roast of 5.3 pounds.
Lizzie says
Trying out this recipe. But you never state to put half of the bbq sauce in prior to the 1hr cooking. It is written a little confusingly. After you deglaze, you obviously have to put the pork back into the pot, but you don't state to do that or add bbq sauce. You do say to put the pork back in the pot for 15 minutes. And add the other half of the bbq sauce, despite not saying to use the first half. It wasn't until I read through the blog post where you recommend cooking it with the bbw sauce that I realized I missed it.
I'm sure it'll turn out. But some editing would be nice
Taylor says
That is what I was wondering too! I came to the comments to figure out if I just put meat in the broth for the 60 min cook then add the bbq sauce and cook for 15 min more? I’m still not sure if I add any during the first main cook. I’m sure it will be good regardless but I’d like to do it the way it’s specified
WholeLottaYum says
The cook time of 60 minutes is correct! Two steps were accidentally out of order in the recipe card, but it's better worded now per feedback from readers.
Lecia says
Made this pulled pork recipe this morning. Followed directions exactly minus adding the barbecue sauce. Excellent recipe! Plan on using it for pulled pork sandwiches tomorrow (to be served with barbecue sauce on the side) and will use leftovers for tacos. The rub for this recipe made this delicious. As did searing the meat before cooking.
WholeLottaYum says
Thank you Lecia, I'm so glad you enjoyed the pulled pork recipe! It's one of our summertime faves for sure. Jen
Ann says
Thanks for all of the helpful tips! Can’t wait to try this.
WholeLottaYum says
It's seriously our favorite way to make pulled pork in an instant pot!