These Instant Pot Pork Carnitas are one of the easiest meals you could ever make. They are so insanely delicious you’ll want to make them over and over again!

If I told you that you could have the most amazing pork carnitas with only a pork roast and some salt, would you believe me?
Well you should, because it’s true!
You guys, we can’t get enough of these Instant Pot Pork Carnitas. My friend told me how to make these and I was completely blown away and how ridiculously good they are. I mean it’s pork roast with salt on it, that’s it, nothing else. How could they be thaaat good?
Now I absolutely love these pork carnitas, but these Instant Pot Pork Carnitas can literally be thrown together in 3 minutes and thrown into your Instant Pot. . . with only salt sprinkled on the pork!

The meat is the most flavorful thing ever! It’s a miracle there is even any left to crisp up because we literally eat it with our fingers while I’m shredding it.Now the key is to really make sure you salt it well enough. Be generous, but if you’re worried about over-salting it then you can do less and then just salt it more once it’s shredded if you think it needs it.

Crisp up the meat in a nonstick skillet and pile it on a corn tortilla, some chopped onion and cilantro and squeeze a little lime juice . . . .it’s carnitas heaven, I swear!
Hopefully if you didn’t already have one, you grabbed an Instant Pot from one of the Black Friday or Cyber Monday sales. If you did, then this needs to be the first recipe you make the second Mr. UPS man delivers it. If you already have one, then run to the store, buy a pork butt roast and make these carnitas!
If I were to let my husband and each of my boys share their feelings about these carnitas, this blog post may never end. They shovel these in their mouths like there is no tomorrow. Not even joking.
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Instant Pot Pork Carnitas
Ingredients
- 1 pork butt roast (about 3 pounds)
- 1/2 cup water
- Salt
Toppings:
- Finely chopped onion
- Fresh cilantro, chopped
- Corn tortillas
- Lime wedges
Instructions
- Cut the pork roast into 3 or 4 chunks. Generously season with salt.
- Pour the water into the Instant Pot and place pork roast pieces on top.
- Secure lid and select “Manual” and cook on high pressure for 50 minutes. When cooking time is up, let the Instant Pot do a natural release for 15 minutes, then you can do a quick release to release any remaining pressure.
- Transfer pork pieces to a cookie sheet (or plate) and shred, removing any fat.
- Heat a non stick skillet over medium high heat. Once pan is hot, put desired amount of pork into the skillet to crisp it up. (Don’t overload your skillet, I usually do it in batches).
- You can drizzle some of the juices from the Instant Pot over the pork if you want.
- Serve on corn tortillas and top with onions, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime juice.
Notes
- You can certainly cook a bigger pork roast if you want and freeze any leftover meat or you can use it for pulled pork sandwiches. Just don’t crisp up the extra meat and then pour your BBQ sauce over it. Such another simple meal to make.
- If you don’t have an instant pot, you can cook this in your slow cooker on high for 7-8 hours or until the meat easily shreds. You’lI need to use mor water, probably about 2 cups.
- Category: Pork
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