Here is a really easy Instant Pot pork shoulder recipe you will love. Amazing barbecue pulled pork sandwiches in your pressure cooker. Juicy pork usually takes all day to get this tender but in your Instant Pot it takes less than a few hours to fall apart. Forgotten to defrost your meat? We even have instructions for Instant Pot frozen pork shoulder too.
If you loved pulled pork sandwiches, here is a really easy Instant Pot pork shoulder recipe you will love! You can use pre-made barbecue sauce as the base or whip up a quick one with the recipe I have here. It’s one of our favorite Instant Pot recipes. (originally published 3/17, affiliate links present)
Ninja Foodi Pork Shoulder
This is such an inexpensive meal, and so yummy too! If you’re looking for a Ninja Foodi recipe that pot will work just as well, no worries. We have tried it in our Crockpot Express and Mealthy pots too and there isn’t any difference in timing. Even if it starts off rock hard frozen there isn’t a huge difference.
This is our go to every time we have a large group over. Reason being is that it is quite inexpensive to feed a lot of people to fill them up quickly with a lot of protein. There are tons of ways to serve it up too. With rolls, larger buns, toast, or over rice. Add a cool item like coleslaw on top for extra pretty and yum.
FIRST – You should sign up for my free newsletter so you get new posts emailed to you twice a week and never miss out on anything! Now let’s start with a few basic tips:
- Make sure to Bookmark our InstaPot recipes page. We add new ones each week!
- Then PRINT this —–> Instant Pot cooking times cheat sheet that will help you understand how long meat, vegetables and beans take to cook in your pressure cooker.
- This is a great InstaPot cookbook and a set of wooden utensils are great to grab too.
- I HIGHLY recommend you buy this non stick pot.
- You should still deglaze pressure cooker after sautéing but it won’t have as many issues with this better liner.
For reference, this is the pressure cooker I have (a 6 quart) and use for all recipe creations.

Instant Pot Pulled Pork
Mix up a bit of sweet and savory rub for your pork shoulder and it is done, fall off the bone (if there is one) meat in just 90 minutes. This is why I love my pressure cooker so much.
Let me show you just how easy cooking pulled pork is using this method. You can use bone in which is typical or if you find boneless give that a whirl. Typically it will have one and you just need to pull the meat off at the end and discard.
- This would take all day normally, and usually does when I make my pulled pork Crockpot recipe but not any longer.
Just like our beef roast shoulder these cuts have quite a bit of connective tissues and needs to be broken down. If you don’t have all day this is how to get it done quickly, but still the perfect texture.

Pork Shoulder in Instant Pot
I bet you have all the ingredients in your house already, other than the pork shoulder. So it’s really easy to throw together once you have that.
If you want a really quick way you can just use bottled barbecue sauce and a bottled already made rub. But I have an even better homemade recipe below that is super quick too.
- I love using my Instant Pot because it cuts the cooking time in at least half, usually less than that. To cook pork in a pressure cooker takes only about 90 minutes for a 5 lb. piece of meat cut in half.
- I’ve put it in whole too but cut in half comes out a bit more tender.
- You can use your Ninja Foodi to make this as well.
Put some on a bun topped with cole slaw and it’s a fantastic meal.

Instant Pot pork shoulder recipe
- Small bowl
- Pressure cooker
- if you have an Instant Pot I HIGHLY suggest you get a non stick pot
- it will help you avoid the false burn notice from appearing on any recipe
- 4-5 lb. pork shoulder
- Apple cider vinegar
- Ketchup
- Worcestershire sauce
- Spice mixture to rub on your pork
- Brown sugar
- Onion and garlic powder
- Paprika
- Chili powder
- Seasoned salt, we used Lawry’s
- Cole slaw – great to use for sliders, here’s an easy homemade recipe for Hawaiian cole slaw
- Hawaiian sweet rolls – we use these when making sliders, the best! Or serve with veggie muffins on the side.
What is the best cut of pork for pulled pork?
The best roast is the shoulder. High in fat and connective tissue, the shoulder is also the most flavorful part of the hog. Pork shoulder is typically cut into two parts, the Boston Butt, and the Picnic Roast. You may see them called this too.

Instant Pot Pork Shoulder Bone-in
Here are the steps to follow, I recommend watching the video first though as it is a good example
- Mix together your dry seasonings and rub it all over your pork shoulder or pork butt, cut it in half so it becomes more tender when you pressure cook it.
- Then mix together sauce ingredients and pour half inside your pot
- Lay meat on top of that with remaining sauce poured on top
Some prefer to sear the outside of the meat first with some olive oil, I generally do not. If you do you MUST ensure that you deglaze your pot before continuing or you’ll get the burn notice.
- Close lid and turn steam valve to sealing.
- Set to high pressure for 90 minutes followed by a 10 – 15 minute natural release.
- Quick release isn’t recommended as you want the meat to be as tender as possible.
- Shred with fork, remove any chunks of fat, allow to sit in sauce while people serve themselves.
Everyone in our family loves this quick Instant Pot pork recipe. The flavorful cooking liquid you pour on the bottom of the pot permeates into each piece and makes it taste amazing. It is great during the summertime when you don’t want to heat up your oven or use your bbq.

Looking for more Instant Pot pork recipes?
This Instant Pot pulled pork recipe has an Asian twist. We use a different sauce in our Ninja Foodi pulled pork recipe you can try too.
- Or make Instant Pot carnitas with green salsa some night
- Instant Pot Hawaiian pulled pork (seen above) makes for great sliders with easy rolls, or served over Instant Pot white rice
- Pressure cooker pork chop recipe and our dutch oven pork roast are fab
- This is how to cook a frozen pork loin in an Instant Pot
- Use your leftover pork in an Instant Pot casserole!
How can I eat pulled pork without bread?
Helpful if you are following a high protein and/or keto friendly diet.
- Tacos – fill it with your meat, avocado, sour cream etc and enjoy on Tuesdays (or any day of the week)
- Serve them on top of mashed potatoes with some gravy if you have it
- Polenta is also a good alternative
- Added it inside of a batch of chili – great idea for leftover pulled pork
- Some like to add it to poached eggs, kimchi, or inside the potato cakes mixture
- Serve it inside a wrap with hummus
What do you serve with pulled pork??
Make a quick batch of Instant Pot vegetables to go with it if you want.

How long is leftover pulled pork good for?
Leftover pulled pork is the same as leftover ham or any other cooked meat. According to food safety guidelines, the safe storage life of these cooked meats is 3 to 4 days in the refrigerator if stored properly.
- This means you need to either wrap leftover inside tinfoil, or I prefer to keep it inside a freezer bag with the air removed so it doesn’t dry out.
Can you freeze leftover pulled pork?
Yes!! You can freeze the excess of a double or triple batch for future meals. This comes in handy if you are frequently short on time. Just store it properly inside airtight containers and you’ll have a quick and tasty meal for nights when you don’t have time to cook. Here’s the printable recipe to follow
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Instant Pot Pork Shoulder Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 Pork shoulder ours was about 5 lbs.
- 1 c apple cider vinegar
- 1 c ketchup
- 2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 2 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp chili powder or more, your preference
- 2 tbsp garlic powder
- 2 tbsp seasoned salt I use Lawry’s
- 1 tsp onion powder
Instructions
- Mix together your ketchup, vinegar, and worcestershire sauce. Pour half of this into your pot.
- Mix together your spices and then rub it into your pork shoulder, top and bottom.
- Cut your pork shoulder in half and put it into your Instant Pot or pressure cooker. (it comes out more tender when cut into smaller pieces)
- Pour the remaining sauce you made over your piece of pork and set your IP to manual, pressure, high, for 90 minutes (for 4.5 pounds this made it very easy to shred).
- Close steam valve.
- When done do a natural release for 10 minutes, then release rest of steam and carefully lift lid. Shred pork with 2 forks and serve on buns with coleslaw for sandwiches.
Video

Magdalena
Friday 22nd of July 2022
Absolutely brilliant recipe! Delicious! Even hubby who doesn't eat pork much loved it ;) thanks !!
The Typical Mom
Wednesday 27th of July 2022
Oh good!
The Typical Mom
Saturday 23rd of July 2022
Oh yay
Kim Avery
Monday 14th of September 2020
Super Yummy! Great for lazy football days. I highly recommend trying the coleslaw!
The Typical Mom
Tuesday 15th of September 2020
Awesome!!
Ronn Dula
Thursday 24th of October 2019
This recipe yielded a beautifully moist and tender shoulder, very similar to the North Carolina barbecue I grew up on and cannot find in Texas. The only thing missing is the flavor of a true vinegar based North Carolina barbecue sauce. While you can add sauce after the meat is cooked, it then becomes an added-on flavor rather than being an integrated flavor in the finished product. I'm going to experiment with adding sauce to the InstantPot before cooking and see what happens, as well as defining how much sauce to use in the process. As a side note, North Carolina barbecue is traditionally chopped into chunks 1/2 inch on a side, larger or smaller to personal preference. Contrary to common belief, it is not normally pulled except at a pig picking, where the whole hog is cooked and the guests pull what they want from the displayed whole critter on a buffet.
The Typical Mom
Thursday 24th of October 2019
I am glad it was fall apart tender like we all like it.
Lisa
Sunday 4th of November 2018
I've made this multiple times. Love how easy it is, and so delicious! I have used a pork loin too, for a leaner version. Not quite as moist, but it's a good option.
The Typical Mom
Sunday 4th of November 2018
OH I am so glad you have enjoyed it!
Judie Patterson
Tuesday 17th of July 2018
I am a change ingredients type cooker; I cut roast in half, sauteed removed roast, mixed 1 cup chicken broth to 1 can of cream of Jalapeno and 1 packet of Lipton seasoning of Herb & Garlic - added on top of roast 2 quartered onions, several carrots (regular, not little sweet) and threw in a little mess of the small red potatoes - high pressure - 90 minutes - will get back to after I see..... This is the worst time cause you can't open, you can't see - it's a surprise!!!
Rick
Wednesday 6th of April 2022
@Judie Patterson, you didn’t even make the same recipe !!!!
The Typical Mom
Tuesday 17th of July 2018
Hope you loved it too