Best Ninja Foodi pulled pork recipe you can throw in with little to no prep time. Comes out tender with TONS of flavor for sliders or tacos! Best using fresh or thawed butt, loin or roast but have directions for frozen pork in pressure cooker here too.
You only need 4 ingredients + seasonings to make this Ninja Foodi pulled pork recipe y’all! I know, tender and delicious pressure cooker pork in just 20 minutes for dinner is a winner. Easy Ninja Foodi recipe here. (affiliate links present)
Table of Contents
- Easy Pulled Pork in the Ninja Foodi
- How long should I pressure cook pork?
- Ninja Foodi Pulled Pork with Barbecue Sauce
- Ingredients
- Pulled pork dry rub
- Variations
- Do you have to sear meat before pressure cooking?
- How long do I cook Pulled Pork in Ninja Foodi
- How to Cook Ninja Foodi Pulled Pork Loin
- What is the best way to serve pulled pork?
- What kind of buns are best with pulled pork?
- Ninja Foodi Pulled Pork Recipe
Easy Pulled Pork in the Ninja Foodi
Tell me you love this classic meal that can be served a multitude of ways. With beef, or pork butt in Ninja Foodi works too. I prefer without a bone because it is easier to shred later but either type works. It doesn’t matter what cut you choose either really.
Our favorite ways to serve this popular meal is probably bbq pulled pork sliders, tacos, putting it inside some flautas, or just simply over rice. I have been known to eat leftovers cold straight out of the fridge as a snack in the middle of the day too. 😉
If you too are obsessed with your pressure cooker and air fryer machine, here are a few resource to start with:
- You can bookmark our Ninja air fryer recipes page, we add to that weekly.
- Here’s an air fryer cooking times chart here for your fridge.
- Be sure to save this link to Instant Pot recipes for beginners too. You can use any of those in your pot too.
- Grab a set of wooden utensils to work with. They are great so your pot doesn’t get scratched!
- Then join our Facebook group where you can share and find more ideas you’ll love. Thousands of others share easy recipe ideas.
I have never done this, but I guess if you had it in much more than 90 minutes or so it may have a mushy texture. Even longer than that you’ll lose moisture which will make it dry and a lost cause.
With tenderloin the answer would be yes, this cut doesn’t take long either. If you’re in a hurry I would suggest this piece. For pork chops or steaks the opposite will happen and they’ll get dry and inedible. BUT if you make Instant Pot pork stew, it gets fork tender to perfection.
How long should I pressure cook pork?
There is a big range when it comes to this question. If you’re cooking a bone in pork shoulder or pork loin like with our pressure cooker Hawaiian pulled pork, cook time about 60 minutes.
This Ninja Foodi pulled pork used a pork tenderloin which is the most tender, and small, so only 12 minutes was needed. With each you want some or all of a natural release to get it really tender. These are the ingredients we used here:
Ninja Foodi Pulled Pork with Barbecue Sauce
First off, you can season the outside of your protein as you like. What we suggest below is just that, a suggestion. If I have the ingredients for the best dry rub I will use that almost always. I tried to make this pressure cooker pork recipe as simple as humanly possible. Bottled bbq sauce was used but of course you can make your own if you’d rather.
Ingredients
- Pork loin, shoulder or Boston butt – 3 lbs. is perfect to feed our family of 5
- Barbecue sauce of your choice but stay away from just brown sugar variety as it is very very thick.
- Brown sugar if you want to add sweetness, optional
- Beef broth, chicken broth / stock, root beer or water work too for necessary liquid
- Wooden spoon
Pulled pork dry rub
- Olive oil to brown meat initially
- Paprika we love
- Salt and pepper are basic seasonings
- Garlic powder is a great one too
- Small bowl to mix these together
Variations
The changes you can make are in regards to the sauce(s) used and seasonings. If you want it spicy add some dry sriracha or red pepper flakes. For the sauce barbecue is great but you could use teriyaki for a sweeter flavor.
I have made this with it whole and cut into 4 pieces. I decided over the years I prefer in pieces as it gets more tender but pictures don’t reflect that.
Do you have to sear meat before pressure cooking?
Once you have the seasonings liberally coating the outside you’re going to sear the outside. This is not a must and if you forget to do this, it will still turn out excellent. The purpose of this step is to create a bit of added texture to the meal and tends to keep the juices in a bit better if do though so it is highly recommended.
- What is an important step after you’re done with this?
- You really should deglaze your pot. Why?
- This step is so that your pot doesn’t show the Need Water notice.
- Sometimes this happens when it senses that something in the pot is burning (may not be though).
It occurs if there are stuck on pieces of meat at the bottom of the pot, so just scrape those off after sauteeing your meat.
How long do I cook Pulled Pork in Ninja Foodi
This will take a bit more than an hour and is just one of many Ninja Foodi pork recipes we have made. Remember that it does take 20 minutes or so to reach pressure initially and you want to naturally release steam to keep it as tender as possible at the end.
How to Cook Ninja Foodi Pulled Pork Loin
- Cut large piece into 4 smaller ones. Mix salt, pepper and paprika together in a bowl. Brush olive oil over pork and rub seasoning mixture all over.
- Set Foodi to sear / saute and sear both sides. Turn off pot.
- Then remove meat and deglaze pot to scrape off any stuck on pieces of meat, use a bit of your broth to do this.
- In a bowl mix your bbq sauce, brown sugar and broth together with a whisk.
- Put meat back into pot and pour sauce on top. (could add some diced onions now if you’d like)
- Close pressure lid and steam valve. Set the Ninja foodi to high pressure cook for 60 minutes, then release the pressure naturally for 10 minutes.
Remove meat and set aside to rest, keep warm. Keep lid off and set pot to saute to thicken sauce inside. Allow to bubble, stir for about 5 minutes until some liquid evaporates and sauce becomes thick. Turn pot off by pressing start stop button.
On a cutting board shred pork or dice, then put back into pot and stir so meat is coated with thick sauce. Can crisp edges with air fryer lid on 400 F for about 5 minutes if you want (we don’t).
You can make pressure cooker pork tacos or… Serve over Ninja Foodi rice, inside tortillas, inside chimichangas or on mini rolls!
Why do you wait at the end when the timer goes off and not just do a quick release? For thicker pieces of meat that you want extremely tender this is the best method for your Ninja Foodi pressure cooker.
When you’re finished cooking and you take your tenderloin or loin out, keep it covered to rest for 10 minutes. This will keep the juices inside and continue to soften it so it shreds easily with forks, similar to slow cooker results.
What is the best way to serve pulled pork?
If you’re seeking a low carb option then quinoa might be good for you with some mixed vegetables. I usually go really easy and buy small pressure cooker carnitas style soft taco shells and just throw it in there. Add some guacamole or cheese and done.
What kind of buns are best with pulled pork?
For us, those little Hawaiian sweet rolls rock! They’re super soft and give these a the perfect savory and sweet mix. Brioche or hamburger buns could be an option too. It depends on whether it’s a meal or appetizer really.
WE have a few more too: Instant Pot pork stew is a great one pot meal. Try our boneless slow cooker pork shoulder recipe with our “famous dry rub” everyone loves!
Printable recipe is below, but you can just come back and “see us” next time you want to make this again too. 😉 Nutritional information is included as well, and accurate if you use the same size piece of meat and sauce.
I mean do what you want but personally I wouldn’t like it much cold. I like foods in general to be as hot as possible really. It’s best as fresh as possible, but we usually have a bit left for lunch for ME the next day.
If you’re making this for a crowd and want to double this, I might increase the time by an additional 50%. For a 5 lb. pork loin I’d venture to guess 45 minutes would well. If you cut it into 4 equal pieces you can decrease the cook time though to maybe 30. That will vary of course since an adult man will consume more than a 10 year old girl, but you get the idea. 😉
1. The general rule is that 1 pound of pork will feed about 3 people.
2. This is a good gage if you have several families coming over so you can plan well.
Ninja Foodi Pulled Pork
Equipment
- 1 pressure cooker
Ingredients
- 3 lbs pork, remove bone if present, cut into 4 equal pieces
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/2 c brown sugar
- 12 oz barbecue sauce, or more at end
- 1 c beef broth
Instructions
- Mix salt, pepper and paprika together in a bowl. Brush olive oil over pork and rub seasoning mixture all over.
- Set Foodi to saute and sear lightly on all sides. Turn off pot. Then remove meat and deglaze pot to scrape off any stuck on pieces of meat, use a bit of your broth to do this.
- In a bowl mix your bbq sauce, brown sugar and rest of your broth together with a whisk.
- Put meat back into pot and pour sauce on top.
- Close lid and steam valve. Set to high pressure cook for 60 minutes with a 10 minute natural pressure release.
- Release rest of pressure, use two forks to shred meat inside of pot.
- Keep lid off and set pot to saute to thicken sauce inside. Allow to bubble, stir for about 5 minutes until some liquid evaporates and sauce becomes thick. Turn pot off. Serve
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
No comment just yet haven’t eaten yet. Question, are Foods supposed to saute with a lid or no lid. I had to put my pressure lid on or it wouldn’t saute. So flip side over burned somewhat. Hopefully it will be ok. I followed your recipe and instructions to a T…did I do something wrong.
@Penny Remington, states in recipe card “keep lid off and set pot to sauté” You should never have the lid on for this function.
It is amazing how tender this pork gets in the pressure cooker in such a short amount of time! This is fabulous!
Yay!!
This pulled pork was delicious and easy to make. Loved it!
OH good
for a 5lb pork what part of the procedure is 30min or cut down 50 percent???