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This Instant Pot BBQ Pulled Pork recipe is quick and easy to make in the pressure cooker, and only calls for a few simple ingredients. (This post also contains some affiliate links.)
Annnnnd, we have another game-changer today thanks to the mighty magical Instant Pot.
BBQ Pulled Pork for the win, guys!!
Oh man, as a Kansas City girl, this recipe is everything I love about classic pulled pork this time of year. It’s ultra-juicy and fall-off-the-fork tender. It’s packed with all of my favorite smoky, tangy, sweet, savory, and downright mouthwatering BBQ flavors. It’s super-versatile, and easy to pile high onto sandwiches or serve on its own or whatever sounds good. It also happens to make for fantastic leftovers. And best of all? It’s super easy to prep, and only takes a little over 1 hour to cook in the Instant Pot. Not all day in the smoker. Not 8 hours in the slow cooker. Just 1 hour of actual cooking time in the pressure cooker, folks.
Let’s do this.
To begin, grab the starring ingredient of this recipe — your favorite BBQ sauce.
Again, as a Kansas City girl, I’ve been around enough BBQ in life to know that everyone has strong opinions when it comes to their own favorite sauce. So grab a large bottle, or whip up a batch of your own (<– I’m partial to this easy recipe of mine, which is a long-time fave and also includes ingredients I feel good about).
Then for extra flavor, I also recommend whipping up a quick dry rub to season the pork before cooking. Then — if you have the time — I recommend letting that soak in for at least 30 minutes before cooking (or you can let it refrigerate overnight, or if you’re in a hurry you can skip the wait time altogether). Then use the “Sauté” feature on the Instant Pot to brown your pork on all sides. Then cook it on high pressure along with some BBQ sauce and chicken stock for 1 hour. Let it vent naturally.
And then voila — this flavor-packed, tender and juicy pot of pork will be ready to shred and enjoy!
I recommend transferring the pork to a separate plate or cutting board to shred, while you let the remaining juices simmer and reduce in the Instant Pot for 10 minutes, skimming off the extra fat on top if you’d like. (Or you can use a fat separator – I bought this one for $10 on Amazon.) Then add the pork back in and give it one more good toss in all of those juices (which are super red and vibrant, btw, thanks to that smoked paprika!).
Then serve it up however you’d like! I made some sliders this weekend, topped with a simple cilantro-lime-mango slaw and extra BBQ sauce. And they tasted like sweet and savory and smoky and tangy heaven. Love all of those flavors together.
So if you also find yourself looking for a quicker shortcut to delicious BBQ this summer, get that Instant Pot to cookin’!
Learn how to make juicy, tender, and flavorful BBQ pulled pork easily with this easy Instant Pot recipe!
Ingredients
Scale
2 tablespoons smoked paprika
1 tablespoon packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1 teaspoon freshly-ground black pepper
1 teaspoon ground mustard
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
3–4 pound boneless pork roast*, cut into 2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce (homemade or store-bought), divided
1 cup chicken stock or water
Instructions
Whisk together the smoked paprika, brown sugar, garlic powder, black pepper, mustard and salt in a large bowl until evenly combined. Add the pork, then gently toss with the spice blend until it is evenly coated. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, or overnight.
When you’re ready to cook the pork, press “Sauté” on the Instant Pot. Add the oil. Then once it is hot (it will be shimmering), add a single layer of the pork pieces. Brown the pork on all sides, then transfer the pork to a clean plate and set aside. Repeat with the remaining pieces of pork. (This may take you 2 or 3 batches.)
Once all of the pork has been browned, turn the Instant Pot off. Then add the browned pork, chicken stock, and 1 cup of the BBQ sauce to the Instant Pot, and give the mixture a quick toss to combine everything. Twist on the lid, turn the vent to “Sealing”, then set the pressure cooker to “Manual” for 60 minutes. Once the time is up, let the vent naturally release. (Don’t do the quick release option.)
Carefully open the lid. Transfer the pork to a separate clean plate with a slotted spoon, leaving the juices behind. Press the “Sauté” button once more, and let the sauce simmer for 10 minutes or until it has thickened and reduced by more than half. Meanwhile, shred the pork with two forks.**
Once the sauce has reduced a bit, skim some of the fat off of the top with a spoon or use a fat separator to separate and discard it. Then add the shredded pork back into the sauce, and give everything a good toss so that it can soak up those tasty juices.
Serve immediately, topped with an extra spoonful or two of the remaining BBQ sauce.
Notes
*I recommend using boneless pork shoulder. You are welcome to use more tender cuts of meat, but the pork may not be quite as tender and juicy.
**If the pork does not shred easily, just pop it back in the Instant Pot and cook for an additional 10-15 minutes on high pressure.
I served my pulled pork with a Cilantro-Lime Mango Slaw, which was just a combination of coleslaw + shredded carrots + fresh chopped mango + fresh chopped cilantro + fresh lime juice + a pinch of salt and pepper and ground cumin. Super easy and delicious!
Wonderful recipe ! I have always seen and tried the traditional barbecue or slow oven cooked version but instant pot sounds delicious and convenient. Just wondering for how long a instant pot pulled pork can be stored in the fridge ?
Hayley @ Gimme Some Oven —
Thank you, Pooja, we hope you can try this soon! And this should be fine in the fridge for about 5 days to about a week.
What a great recipe. This is so similar to the pulled pork I make in my Instant Pot that I can guarantee it’s a winner, and everyone should try it. I wanted to let your readers know that if they only want to make enough for 2, they can still use a juicy, flavorful cut without buying a shoulder roast. I scale the recipe and use a pork blade steak, which is also cut from the shoulder. It comes out exactly like the larger pork butt/shoulder roast and only needs to cook for 30 minutes. I use the same cut when making carnitas for the 2 of us, with the same timing.
This was AMAZING!!! I did 40 minutes high pressure and since they were already so flavorful didn’t put the shredded pork back into the pot but did spoon some of the remaining juices on the leftovers).
I count the recipe and use a pork steak, which is also cut from the shoulders. It came out exactly like the pork / rump of a bigger pig and only needed to cook for 30 minutes. I use the same piece when making carnitas for 2 of us, with the same time.
Thank you for sharing…this is my new GO-TO pulled pork recipe! My family loves it! So much more flavor with the dry rub, even though I rather have time to let it sit before cooking. When time permits, I’ll have to try leaving it although it has more than enough great flavor as is, The cole slaw and the right bun just make this dish a family favourite any night of the week.
Excellent! The rub makes all the difference! I didn’t have all the ingredients for your BBQ sauce this time around, so I used Jack Daniels sauce. Next time, I’ll use your sauce recipe. I’ve made other bbq pork in the IP, but this is my favorite so far.
This was delicious! This was my first meal ever in my new instant pot and it’s my favorite. I’m still new with using this thing but next time I make this I will let the sauce reduce for at least another 5 min. My finished product was a little runny when i made the sandwiches. Other than that the flavor was on point.
This looks amazingly delicious! What size of pot did you use for this recipe? I am new to Instant Pot and trying to decide between the 6 Qt or 8 Qt. It’s usually just my husband and me and we like enough leftovers for two additional meals. Wondering if you would be able to share your opinion if the 6 Qt is too small or 8 Qt is too big for regular use. Thank you! :)
This was absolutely delicious! Better than restaurant pulled pork. I topped mine with cole slaw and pickled onions and it was to die for! Thanks for the recipe!
Got an instant pot for Christmas and made this tonight (My first time using it) and it came out perfect! Thanks for the great recipe! I look forward to making more of your recipes!
This was delicious! I think the rub makes all the difference in the flavors. I had a 3.75 lb roast and followed the directions and it came out fall-apart tender. This was just my third attempt at using the Instant pot and first real success. Will definitely make this again!
Wow! Just made this tonight. I used a 1 lb. pork shoulder steak for just the 2 of us and it was the perfect amount. I used the same amount of liquids in the IP as the recipe (never want to skimp on liquids in the IP), but decreased the cooking time down to 35 minutes. Turned out amazing… my husband said this is the best thing I’ve made in the IP to date. He already wants it again next week.
I made this for a game night. Everybody raved about it! They were amazed that I was able to cook pork so tender in just a few hours. I also made the mango coleslaw as suggested, which really complimented the pulled pork nicely. I am planning to make this again for Super Bowl this Sunday, using a different BBQ sauce. Thanks for such a great recipe! Your blog is wonderful.
I tried this recipe tonight and it was delicious. This is only the second use of my Instant Pot and it was wonderful. The meat was tender and flavorful and it literally took 1 1//2 hours start to finish!
I’m sorry in advance for this silly question, but when you say “brown” the meat, do you mean just until it gets that sort of light beige color at the beginning of cooking, or should it be actually brown, like how it looks if you let it go a bit longer. I’m new to cooking meat in general, so I thought I’d ask – thanks so much for the recipe!
I’ve tried a couple of instant pot BBQ pork recipes and this has become my “go-to” one. I was in a time crunch so I skipped the browning and 30 minute marinate time. I just threw everything in and hit start. It wasn’t as good as when I did the extra steps, but still super yummy and my family gobbled it up. As another reviewer stated, it is really good with a little liquid smoke. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
This was very tasty and very easy — I used a 4-lb bone-in Boston butt roast (carved the meat into chunks and took out the bone, although I wondered if I should leave it in the pot for flavour) and I worried 60 minutes would be too much time but it was just right. I found a maple bourbon BBQ sauce that was wonderful. The timer delay function on the IP was very useful; I sauteed the meat, deglazed the pan with some water, mixed in the BBQ sauce and the rest of the water, and put the delay function on to start it cooking two hours before we wanted to eat. It was depressurized and ready to go when we sat down. It served about eight hungry people for dinner. Thanks for the recipe; will be making it again!
Becky —
Thanks for the post, I was wondering about using a bone-in butt instead.
We make this on the REG. It’s so good and so easy. I’m having a baby soon so I made a bunch extra and froze it for fast meals after the babe arrives. Thanks for having such delish recipes!
The pork came out so tender. I used a 2 lb pork butt instead of the shoulder. Still cooked it for 60 min in the instant pot. I decided not to do step 5, since the pork already tasted so good and I was nervous it’d seem greasy if I put it back into its juice – just a personal preference it think. I used the gimme some oven BBQ sauce recipe and made the suggested mango lime slaw. This one’s a keeper.
Loved the flavors in this recipe! I have a few words of advice. Browning the pork in the olive oil leaves a crust in the bottom of the IP. I deglazed the pot with about a half cup of chicken broth (you could also use water) and made sure to scrape up all of the browned bits. By doing so, you’re much more likely to avoid the dreaded “Burn” notice. I’ll definitely make this again.
Yummy!! We made this and it is delicious. Question: If I don’t want o include the BBQ sauce while cooking (picky child), do I need to add more/another liquid? Thanks.
I added some sauteed onion to it only because we like the added flavor. It was so delicious, will definitely be our go to for pulled pork, thank you for sharing!!
Just made this…..I did trim off a ton of fat -before cooking – so I didn’t need to separate the fat afterwards…Cooked a 3.75 lb pork butt – but trimmed it heavily of fat – so it probably turned out to be about 3 lbs net….I used the dry rub as listed in the recipe and let sit in the fridge for 36 hours. This was my virgin Instantpot recipe….It turned out PERFECT! I didn’t make my own BBQ asuce because I didn’t have enough tomato sauce in the pantry. I used only 1 cup of Phil’s BBQ sauce with the 1 cup chicken stock (didn’t need the extra cup)..I used 1 TBL Better than Boullion chicken stock base diluted with 1 cup warm H20). It all turned out divine- and my hubby is a BBQ-er! Such an easy 90 minute recipe
(including browning tine). I will never again waste an entire Saturday or Sunday afternoon making 6-8 hour pulled pork!
Wonderful recipe ! I have always seen and tried the traditional barbecue or slow oven cooked version but instant pot sounds delicious and convenient. Just wondering for how long a instant pot pulled pork can be stored in the fridge ?
Thank you, Pooja, we hope you can try this soon! And this should be fine in the fridge for about 5 days to about a week.
how long to cook in slow cooker? thanks!
Hi Terry! 6-8 hours, or until the pork is cooked and pulls apart easily with a fork. Make sure you cook on low. We hope you enjoy!
Put in a few drops of Liquid Smoke and you’ll swear it was cooked low-and slow in your smoker.
Thanks for this bbq recipe. I have been looking for something like this. This really looks delicious.
Hi Ali,
What a great recipe. This is so similar to the pulled pork I make in my Instant Pot that I can guarantee it’s a winner, and everyone should try it. I wanted to let your readers know that if they only want to make enough for 2, they can still use a juicy, flavorful cut without buying a shoulder roast. I scale the recipe and use a pork blade steak, which is also cut from the shoulder. It comes out exactly like the larger pork butt/shoulder roast and only needs to cook for 30 minutes. I use the same cut when making carnitas for the 2 of us, with the same timing.
I just bought an instant pot and have only made hard boiled eggs in it! I can’t wait to try this!
Yes, we hope you can give it a try soon, Kelli! :)
Very delicious ,quick snack for a bachelor like me,love it
Thanks, Dan, we hope you can give this a try sometime soon!
Hey there,
The pot of pork is like happiness in a pot :))) Lovely. I would definitely try it and make some sandwiches later. Cheers.
Thanks, Valerie, we hope you can enjoy it!
Girl, you are killin’ it. LOVE me a good instant pot recipe, and this looks divine. Can’t wait to try it!
Thanks, Karly, we hope you can give it a try soon!
great reminder, good excuse for an instant pot! thank you for this recipe!
I have a 7 lb roast. How much would I increase the cook time for that size? Will it even fit? Thanks!
Hi Liz! Wow, that’s a big one! We’re afraid that might be too much for the Instant Pot. Any way you can cut it down to 4-5 lbs?
I think that’s what I’ll do! Maybe I’ll just slow cook the rest ? Thanks!!
This was AMAZING!!! I did 40 minutes high pressure and since they were already so flavorful didn’t put the shredded pork back into the pot but did spoon some of the remaining juices on the leftovers).
Thank you, Sara, we’re so happy you enjoyed it!
I count the recipe and use a pork steak, which is also cut from the shoulders. It came out exactly like the pork / rump of a bigger pig and only needed to cook for 30 minutes. I use the same piece when making carnitas for 2 of us, with the same time.
This is the best pulled pork I’ve ever had, including from my smoker. Easy, delicious.
Yay, so happy to hear it!
Soooooo good. Our family loves your BBQ sauce too!
Thank you for sharing…this is my new GO-TO pulled pork recipe! My family loves it! So much more flavor with the dry rub, even though I rather have time to let it sit before cooking. When time permits, I’ll have to try leaving it although it has more than enough great flavor as is, The cole slaw and the right bun just make this dish a family favourite any night of the week.
Excellent! The rub makes all the difference! I didn’t have all the ingredients for your BBQ sauce this time around, so I used Jack Daniels sauce. Next time, I’ll use your sauce recipe. I’ve made other bbq pork in the IP, but this is my favorite so far.
One of our family favorites! Such an easy weeknight meal on busy sports days! Thanks!
Ok…Seriously the first thing I made in my new Instant Pot and OMG my husband was soooo thrilled with this..huge success. thank you
YAY! So happy to hear it! :)
This was delicious! This was my first meal ever in my new instant pot and it’s my favorite. I’m still new with using this thing but next time I make this I will let the sauce reduce for at least another 5 min. My finished product was a little runny when i made the sandwiches. Other than that the flavor was on point.
Thank you!
This looks amazingly delicious! What size of pot did you use for this recipe? I am new to Instant Pot and trying to decide between the 6 Qt or 8 Qt. It’s usually just my husband and me and we like enough leftovers for two additional meals. Wondering if you would be able to share your opinion if the 6 Qt is too small or 8 Qt is too big for regular use. Thank you! :)
This was absolutely delicious! Better than restaurant pulled pork. I topped mine with cole slaw and pickled onions and it was to die for! Thanks for the recipe!
Got an instant pot for Christmas and made this tonight (My first time using it) and it came out perfect! Thanks for the great recipe! I look forward to making more of your recipes!
This was delicious! I think the rub makes all the difference in the flavors. I had a 3.75 lb roast and followed the directions and it came out fall-apart tender. This was just my third attempt at using the Instant pot and first real success. Will definitely make this again!
Wow! Just made this tonight. I used a 1 lb. pork shoulder steak for just the 2 of us and it was the perfect amount. I used the same amount of liquids in the IP as the recipe (never want to skimp on liquids in the IP), but decreased the cooking time down to 35 minutes. Turned out amazing… my husband said this is the best thing I’ve made in the IP to date. He already wants it again next week.
This is going to be my first recipe in my instant pot! I have 2.5-3 lbs of pork. Should I still go with 60 minutes of cook time?
We just made this! My husband said BEST pulled pork he’s ever had. Used the Costco pork sirloin fall apart goodness! Thanks!
The e best pulled pork I have ever had. Easy to make and no waiting for hours and hours.
I made this for a game night. Everybody raved about it! They were amazed that I was able to cook pork so tender in just a few hours. I also made the mango coleslaw as suggested, which really complimented the pulled pork nicely. I am planning to make this again for Super Bowl this Sunday, using a different BBQ sauce. Thanks for such a great recipe! Your blog is wonderful.
I tried this recipe tonight and it was delicious. This is only the second use of my Instant Pot and it was wonderful. The meat was tender and flavorful and it literally took 1 1//2 hours start to finish!
The BBQ sauce is incredible. I will never use store bought again! Thanks.
Love it! Turned out perfect
Perfect! So easy to do and so good. Thanks!
I’m sorry in advance for this silly question, but when you say “brown” the meat, do you mean just until it gets that sort of light beige color at the beginning of cooking, or should it be actually brown, like how it looks if you let it go a bit longer. I’m new to cooking meat in general, so I thought I’d ask – thanks so much for the recipe!
I’ve tried a couple of instant pot BBQ pork recipes and this has become my “go-to” one. I was in a time crunch so I skipped the browning and 30 minute marinate time. I just threw everything in and hit start. It wasn’t as good as when I did the extra steps, but still super yummy and my family gobbled it up. As another reviewer stated, it is really good with a little liquid smoke. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe!
This was very tasty and very easy — I used a 4-lb bone-in Boston butt roast (carved the meat into chunks and took out the bone, although I wondered if I should leave it in the pot for flavour) and I worried 60 minutes would be too much time but it was just right. I found a maple bourbon BBQ sauce that was wonderful. The timer delay function on the IP was very useful; I sauteed the meat, deglazed the pan with some water, mixed in the BBQ sauce and the rest of the water, and put the delay function on to start it cooking two hours before we wanted to eat. It was depressurized and ready to go when we sat down. It served about eight hungry people for dinner. Thanks for the recipe; will be making it again!
Thanks for the post, I was wondering about using a bone-in butt instead.
We make this on the REG. It’s so good and so easy. I’m having a baby soon so I made a bunch extra and froze it for fast meals after the babe arrives. Thanks for having such delish recipes!
The pork came out so tender. I used a 2 lb pork butt instead of the shoulder. Still cooked it for 60 min in the instant pot. I decided not to do step 5, since the pork already tasted so good and I was nervous it’d seem greasy if I put it back into its juice – just a personal preference it think. I used the gimme some oven BBQ sauce recipe and made the suggested mango lime slaw. This one’s a keeper.
If I double the recipe do I need to alter the cooking time?
Made it tonight and the family loved it- thanks for posting!
Made this today for lunch and we loved it! Thanks for the recipe.
What’s the recipe for the coleslaw? How much lime juice, cilantro and mango?
This turned out soooo good! I put the rubbed pork pieces in a plastic bag overnight and I cooked it on my instapot…perfection. Thanks for sharing! ❤️
Loved the flavors in this recipe! I have a few words of advice. Browning the pork in the olive oil leaves a crust in the bottom of the IP. I deglazed the pot with about a half cup of chicken broth (you could also use water) and made sure to scrape up all of the browned bits. By doing so, you’re much more likely to avoid the dreaded “Burn” notice. I’ll definitely make this again.
Yummy!! We made this and it is delicious. Question: If I don’t want o include the BBQ sauce while cooking (picky child), do I need to add more/another liquid? Thanks.
I added some sauteed onion to it only because we like the added flavor. It was so delicious, will definitely be our go to for pulled pork, thank you for sharing!!
great!
Just made this…..I did trim off a ton of fat -before cooking – so I didn’t need to separate the fat afterwards…Cooked a 3.75 lb pork butt – but trimmed it heavily of fat – so it probably turned out to be about 3 lbs net….I used the dry rub as listed in the recipe and let sit in the fridge for 36 hours. This was my virgin Instantpot recipe….It turned out PERFECT! I didn’t make my own BBQ asuce because I didn’t have enough tomato sauce in the pantry. I used only 1 cup of Phil’s BBQ sauce with the 1 cup chicken stock (didn’t need the extra cup)..I used 1 TBL Better than Boullion chicken stock base diluted with 1 cup warm H20). It all turned out divine- and my hubby is a BBQ-er! Such an easy 90 minute recipe
(including browning tine). I will never again waste an entire Saturday or Sunday afternoon making 6-8 hour pulled pork!
This was my first attempt at making pulled pork and it turned out perfect! I don’t think there will be any leftovers. Fantastic!
Love it! Very tender meat and I added a tsp of liquid smoke it was delicious!