Easy Instant Pot Pulled Pork 4 Ways | Perfect for Meal Prep!

No BBQ season passes by without the delicious and flavorful pulled pork. I love it. Dustin loves it. The kids love it. Everybody loves it. It’s so delicious! Not to mention pulled pork is perfect for so many different occasions. Think BBQ summer parties, holidays, weeknight meals and so on.

But, since the traditional pulled pork recipe is not the healthiest, I made it healthier. And dare I say easier? It involves the Instant Pot, which means little to no effort to make it because it significantly reduces cooking time.

 Watch Me Make Instant Pot Pulled Pork

How To Make Pulled Pork In A Pressure Cooker

Ok, so we've all heard how amazing Instant Pots are, but… how do you make pulled pork in an Instant Pot?

For a traditional pulled pork recipe, you must cook the meat slowly to allow the pork protein to break down properly and achieve that juicy tenderness pulled pork is known for.  However, since we’ll be making an Instant Pot pulled pork recipe, there’s no need to stress about this part. The Instant Pot takes care of it. It's magic.

All you have to do is…

1. Trim fat from pork roast
2. Cut into even chunks (if too large)
3. In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients then rub pork with the mix and coat well
4. In the Instant Pot, add a little bit of olive oil and set to Sauté
5. Once the Instant Pot is hot, add the seasoned pork
6. Sear for 3-5 minutes per side then remove from Instant Pot
7. Press cancel and add chicken broth to Instant Pot
8. Deglaze the bottom with a spoon
9. Place pork back into the Instant Pot, secure lid and pressure cook for 60 minutes
10. Let pressure release naturally for 20 minutes before opening

What's The Best Cut Of Pork For Pulled Pork?

The best pork cuts for pulled pork are called "Boston butt," "pork shoulder," "pork roast," or "pork loin."  For my Instant Pot shredded pork, I prefer using pork shoulder because it's super flavorful. You can use either boneless or bone-in. That being said, a lot of people say the best cut of pork for pulled pork is Boston butt because it's the most flavorful and high in fat, which makes for tender pulled pork. Pork loin would be the leanest.

Yes, pork is relatively high in fat for a protein, compared to chicken breast, for example. But thankfully, it’s a great source of protein, too. And it contains vitamins and minerals. Pulled pork contains 11g of protein per portion, while shredded chicken contains only 5g. As you’ve seen in the steps for how to make pulled pork, I like to trim the fat to reduce the fat content. In general, I'll reduce my overall serving of pulled pork, but I do still enjoy it was part of my cleanish lifestyle.

How To Make Pulled Pork Healthy

All the steps and tips we’ve discussed so far work for any Instant Pot pulled pork recipe. But we don’t want to make any kind of Instant Pot pulled pork. We want to make healthy pulled pork.

Authentic pulled pork requires a dry rub usually made with paprika, sugar, salt, and, sometimes, other spices. We’re cool with the spices. We’re cool with the rub too. But we’re not cool with the sugar. So we’re not going to use any.

We also don't want to add a ton of sugar-filled sauces to it so we're keeping it as simple as possible using spice rubs and strong flavors to get the flavors to pop.  There's no reason to drown delicious pulled pork in sauce if you cook it right and it's already full of flavor, ya know?

How To Shred Pork

Once the pork is cooked and the pressure from the Instant Pot released, it is time to shred the pork and turn it into pulled pork. For this, I like to use 2 forks but you can do it with a food processor or even a hand blender, if you prefer. In my opinion, the mess of those doesn't seem worth it when the forks are very easy to use and clean.

How To Shred Pork With Forks

To shred pork with forks:

1. Transfer the pork from the Instant Pot to a large bowl or cutting board
2. Hold pork down with one fork and shred it with the other one
3. Discard any large pieces of fat

How To Shred Pork With A Food Processor

Shredding pork in a food processor takes seconds but it’s important to use the proper technique and blade to get perfect shreds. Here’s how to do it:

1. Transfer pork to the food processor
2. Use a slicer blade, not the shredder blade (the shredder blade is best for veggies but doesn’t work very well with meat
3. Pulse without pushing the top down and you’ll get perfect pork shreds

4 Flavors For Instant Pot Pulled Pork

Speaking of flavors… I think it’s time to discuss each one of these Instant Pot pork recipes. They have different flavors, but are all so delicious. It’s hard to choose a favorite one. I LOVE them all!

Instant Pot Pulled Pork

Let’s start with a simple Instant Pot Pulled Pork recipe. This one is made with sea salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, olive oil, and chicken broth. Mild, but awesome flavors.