Instant Pot Hawaiian Pulled Pork

This easy Instant Pot Hawaiian pulled pork loin recipe is amazing and perfect for any party. Kalua pork served as sliders or on top of rice is a tasty family dinner for all. Use the sauce for other meat too like our Instant Pot Hawaiian chicken or make in Ninja Foodi pressure cooker too.

Instant Pot Hawaiian Pulled Pork Recipe

This Instant Pot dinner is something I can whip together fast. High in protein with a whop of great flavors, everyone will love this one for sure. You can serve these wrapped up inside lettuce leaves as a wrap or inside little buns. Hawaiian rolls specifically work the best.

No worries if you don’t have the IP brand. You can use a Crockpot Express or make this as an easy Ninja Foodi recipe like we did with our Ninja Foodi pulled pork. We made this one with just a jar of bbq sauce to make it extra easy. Any and all electric pressure cooker will work with the high pressure function.

Ninja Foodi Hawaiian Pulled Pork

Throw it in my pressure cooker or Ninja Foodi on days where I don’t have a lot of time. It’s something hearty you can make into sliders or over rice that will keep our bellies full. Why do I use my Instant Pot as often as I do? Well during the summertime I do NOT want to turn on my oven when it’s 90ish degrees outside.

During the busy school year it’s great too because we are BUSY! To start with all you need are a few items that can be found at your local Stokes Fresh Food Market including this boneless Smithfield Pork Loin; it’s great for making pulled pork!

Pressure Cooker Kalua Pork

You see….not all pork is created equal. With Smithfield Prime Fresh Pork cuts you’ll get a piece of meat that is 20% more tender, there are no added hormones or steroids. It’s also a product of the USA, and is gluten free.

You could use their pork tenderloin for this but I wanted a larger cut of meat. The center cut pork loin is what I chose to use this time. Ours was about 3.5 lbs. in size and feed all 5 of us.

Ingredient. Notes

I used about a 3.5 lb Boneless Pork Loin, yes you could use another part like pork butt but remove the bone beforehand for best results so it really breaks down in order to shred with 2 forks when done.

1. Olive oil to saute at the start
2. Vegetable broth or beef works too
3. Onions diced adds flavor and texture
4. Pineapple tidbits & some pineapple juice out of the can
5. Soy sauce will make the sauce savory
6. Apple cider vinegar gives it a pop
7. Ketchup is part of the homemade sauce too
8. Tomato paste will make it a bit thicker

Here is a quick step by step of Instant pot kalua pork but there is also a printable recipe card at the bottom of this post for your convenience.

How to Cook Hawaiian pulled pork

Cut your larger piece of Kalua pig / pork roast into 4 equal smaller pieces and rub seasoning all over each one. (1 piece is missing from photo because it didn’t fit at the same time). Brown pieces with olive oil, lightly sear all sides and then deglaze.

What does deglaze Instant Pot mean?

Deglazing when cooking means to scrape all little pieces of meat off the bottom of your pot. It is best to use a wooden spatula to do this so you don’t scratch the insides. You should use a bit of broth or water to loosen the food and remove entirely before continuing to cook.

Put your seared pork pieces back into your pot with your diced onions and vegetable broth. Lock the lid and steam valve. Set your Instant Pot or other version of pressure cooker to pressure cook high pressure for 60 minutes. Mix ingredients for your Hawaiian Kalua sauce in a small bowl so it’s ready once your meat is fork tender.

When your pot beeps do a quick pressure release and smell the wonder already…and it’s not even done yet! Shred your OH SO TENDER pork with two forks (I usually do this in a separate bowl).

Drain your pot into a strainer keeping the tender onions, return those to your pot. Put your meat back in with pineapple tidbits and the sauce. Gently mix and put lid back on for about 15 minutes to soak up. Serve on top of rice or use our easy roll recipe topped with Hawaiian cole slaw and enjoy!!

Is Hawaiian pulled pork and kalua pork the same?

Kalua is in fact a traditional Hawaiian dish served at luaus or special occasions but it actually refers to the cooking method, meaning “to cook in an underground oven” (an imu) with a whole pig is seasoned with Hawaiian sea salt. Traditionally it is wrapped in banana leaves slow-cooked which gives it a unique, smoky flavor.

To make things easier when brought over to the U.S. people have adapted the cooking into this kitchen appliance using smaller cuts and a copycat sauce like this one.

The pork keeps well for hours in your Instant Pot and is awesome if you’re having a party and want to keep it for grazing throughout the afternoon.

If you want to warm it back up just set your machine to sauté again and use tongs to gently move around until it’s all warmed again and then turn off again. Leaving the top on will keep it nice and warm too. Then make pressure cooker Hawaiian pulled pork sliders for everyone to enjoy.

This is what you’re going to need to get started on this. If you wanted to add a bit of heat you could easily use a bit of Sriracha and/or red pepper flakes.

What can I make with pulled pork besides sandwiches?

Well that is our go to as you can see below with these sliders. They can be a hearty appetizer or main dish. We have served it over rice too though. Other options would be to put it on top of a salad, inside a lettuce wrap, inside an Instant Pot casserole, or inside 5 ingredient chili instead of ground beef.

Other easy pressure cooker pork recipes you’ll love

We hope you love our dinner creation, if you’re looking for other easy pressure cooker recipes here are a few:

• Instant Pot tacos with beef or Instant Pot pork tacos are the bomb.
• This easy Instant Pot pork tenderloin is great too.
• Our tender Instant Pot pork shoulder has a more savory sea salt sauce rather than sweet like this one. Next you’ve gotta try this Instant Pot Hawaiian chicken! It is so amazing. Jump to recipe and get started.

If you want to make pulled pork in your Crockpot Express, the directions will remain the same other than some buttons say brown instead of saute. We’ve made a slow cooker pork shoulder version too. Print recipe below.