Instant Pot Carnitas Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
These Instant Pot Carnitas tacos are a meal to remember, packed with flavor and the most delightful mix of textures, from the tender, crispy-edged pork to the creamy avocado and fresh pineapple salsa. Make extra: the carnitas reheat beautifully for burrito bowls and salads all week long.
I’ve been making carnitas once or twice a year for approximately a decade, thanks to a recipe shared long ago by Smitten Kitchen based on the wisdom of Lisa Fain, also known as The Homesick Texan. Braised in the oven was forever my favorite method, but sadly, I found myself only rarely having the necessary three plus hours to get that done, even on weekends. The slow cooker is hands off but had an unpleasant tendency to overcook the pork at times.
Then, a little over a year ago, I tossed all the same ingredients I’ve come to love in carnitas into the Instant Pot. Pressure cooking has never wowed me for pasta, but for many meats, it has an amazing ability to get the tender, moist effect of a braised roast in well under half the time. This is why, even though the Instant Pot is no longer the trendy gadget, it still holds a coveted spot in my kitchen drawers and in my heart. Frankly, it could earn its keep based on these Instant Pot carnitas alone.
Best Instant Pot Carnitas Tacos
The carnitas — “little meats,” as it were — are a study in flavor and textural contrast all by themselves. Rubbed with a quick mixture of brown sugar, cumin, oregano, chili, and garlic, then bathed in orange and lime, they have a delightful but subtle flavor that enhances without overwhelming the pork. The pieces then literally fall apart into the most tender shreds that fit perfectly into tacos — or straight onto your fork — but a quick broil or sauté adds deeply-browned, crisp edges that are hard to resist eating straight off the pan.
Pork and pineapple are a natural combination, so this pineapple salsa is a no-brainer to spice up carnitas tacos with a fresh, sweet, ever-so-slightly spicy condiment, and avocado just makes everything better. And that’s it: the best taco night ever is served.
Related: Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients & Common Substitutions
Here are a few notes and shopping tips about the ingredients you’ll need. Find full amounts in the print-friendly recipe card below.
- For the meat: pork shoulder, orange juice, lime juice, and seasonings to include brown sugar, cumin, dried oregano, chili powder, garlic powder, and kosher salt.
- For the salsa: diced pineapple, red onion, cilantro, more limes, jalapeño, and salt.
- For the tacos: tortillas (flour or corn or hard shell), a ripe avocado, and any other toppings you wish.
How To Make Instant Pot Carnitas
The pressure cooker makes far quicker work of large pieces of meat than does the slow cooker or oven, so this process can even be achieved on a busy-ish day, especially if you have some time to prep in advance.
First, grab your largest, sharpest knife, and cut a large pork shoulder into cubes of roughly four inches. If you were able to buy a boneless pork shoulder (aka pork butt) this will be especially easy. Don’t worry if there are streaks of fat remaining within the pieces. Just do your best to trim any large sections of fat off of the edges. You will have another chance to remove any excessively fatty bits after the pork cooks, as you shred it.
Add the cut pork to the insert of your Instant Pot. Combine lime juice and dry seasonings into a loose rub and toss to gently spread this over the pork. Pour orange juice and a bit of water on top — this adds flavor, but even more importantly helps avoid the dreaded burn notice.
How long to pressure cook pork shoulder?
Seal the lid and cook on high pressure for 40 minutes. Allow 10 minutes of a natural pressure release, then vent the remaining pressure.
Remove the pork and pull each piece gently apart with two forks. It should fall very easily into small shreds. This is the best time to discard any extra bits of fat. Use your best judgment — if it’s big enough that you wouldn’t want it in your taco, pull it out of the pork now.
Now you can quickly crisp up that shredded pork using either a skillet or the broiler setting of an oven or toaster oven. Look at the difference between the pork on the left vs. the pork on the right here: that’s the beauty of crisping it up!
While the pork is cooking and crisping, you’ll have plenty of time to whip up the simple pineapple salsa, toast your tortillas or taco shells, and prep any other toppings you like.
Assemble it all: a warmed tortilla, a generous layer of carnitas, one or two spoonfuls of salsa, and a few small slices of avocado for creaminess. Voila! A taco night for the books.
Storage Tips
- Storing Carnitas: Go ahead and make a double batch! Once cooked, pork carnitas keep very well in the fridge, in any airtight container, for 5-6 days, and are easy to reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop. More importantly, it’s absolutely delicious in burrito bowls, quesadillas, extra tacos, or mixed into breakfast burritos or scrambled eggs.
- Freezing Carnitas: Pork carnitas also freeze well! Package in a freezer-safe container and remove as much air as possible. Freeze for up to 4 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator, reheat and use as desired.
- Pineapple Salsa: This salsa really has the best texture just after it’s prepared, so I can’t enthusiastically recommend making it too far ahead, but if you have extra it keeps reasonably well in the fridge for 1-2 days.
One of my favorite lunches in the world is a big bowl of these leftover carnitas, a few spoonfuls of pineapple salsa, freshly diced avocado, and a warm tortilla on the side. Heaven.
Related Recipes
Other favorite tacos include green shrimp adobo, Baja chicken, sweet potato black bean tacos, and the easiest black bean tacos ever. But my kids’ favorites, of course, are the simple ones! Instant Pot ground beef tacos, baked tacos, and super simple ground chicken tacos are the ones most likely to succeed for my little ones!
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Instant Pot Carnitas Tacos with Pineapple Salsa
Ingredients
For the Carnitas:
- 3-4 pounds boneless pork shoulder aka pork butt
- 3 Tablespoons lime juice
- 2 Tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 Tablespoon cumin
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/4 cup water
For the Salsa:
- 2 cups pineapple diced into small pieces
- 1 jalapeño pepper seeded and finely chopped
- 1/2 cup cilantro leaves chopped
- 1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 Tablespoon lime juice
For the Tacos:
- tortillas
- avocado
- cilantro and extra lime wedges optional garnish
Instructions
- To make the carnitas: Cut the pork shoulder into pieces of roughly 4 inches. Trim off and discard any large pieces of fat along the edges, and place the meat in the Instant Pot.
- In a small bowl, combine lime juice, brown sugar, cumin, salt, oregano, chili powder, and garlic powder. Pour this mixture over the pork and rub in gently so that it coats each side of the meat.
- Pour orange juice and water over the pork. Seal the lid and cook on high pressure for 40 minutes.
- Allow a natural pressure release for 10 minutes, then turn the valve to “vent” to manually release remaining pressure. Open the lid, remove pieces of pork, and shred them by pulling apart with two forks into bite-size shreds. Leave liquid in the pot.
- To crisp the carnitas by broiling: Spread the shredded pork out on a sheet pan. Turn oven to high broil setting. Place sheet pan approximately 4” below the heating element, close the door, and watch carefully — you’ll want to remove the pan when the top bits of pork turn brown and crispy, which should take just 2-3 minutes. If you desire lots of crispy bits, toss the meat a bit with tongs and place under the broiler for another 1-2 minutes. Meanwhile, set the Instant Pot to sauté to reduce the leftover cooking liquid. Transfer crisped pork to a large serving bowl, drizzle reduced liquid on top if desired, and serve.
- Alternatively, to crisp the carnitas on the stovetop: Warm 1 Tablespoon avocado or olive oil in a large Dutch oven or non-stick skillet set over medium-high heat. When hot, add an even layer of the shredded pork to the skillet — don’t crowd it too much. Drizzle 2-3 Tablespoons of liquid from the Instant Pot over the pork and cook for 2-3 minutes, just until the liquid mostly evaporates and the pork has crispy, golden brown edges. Stir, cook 1 minute more, then remove pork from the skillet and place in a serving bowl. Add 2-3 Tablespoons more liquid from the Instant Pot to the pan, then scrape vigorously to remove any browned bits from the bottom. Let the liquid evaporate, then scoop out these crispy bits and add to the bowl with the pork. Add more oil to the skillet, and repeat as necessary until all the pork is crisped. (I can usually do this in two batches.)
- Optionally, for extra sauce: After removing the last batch of pork and crispy browned bits, pour remaining liquid from the Instant Pot into the skillet. Add a pinch of salt and simmer over medium-high heat for 3-4 minutes, until noticeably thickened and reduced. Pour this rich sauce over the shredded pork, and toss very well to combine.
- To make the salsa: Combine pineapple, jalapeño, cilantro, onion, salt, and lime juice in a small bowl. Be sure everything is chopped into relatively even, small pieces. Stir well to combine. Sample and add extra salt and/or lime juice to taste.
- Assemble the tacos: Warm tortillas, dice avocado, and pull a few leaves of cilantro off of the stems. Pile tortillas with carnitas, salsa, avocado, a few cilantro leaves, and any other toppings as desired. Enjoy!
Notes
- Don’t worry if there are streaks of fat remaining within the pieces of pork as you add them to the Instant Pot. Just do your best to trim any large sections of fat off of the edges. You will have another chance to remove any excessively fatty pieces after the pork cooks, as you shred it.
- The pork keeps very well in the fridge, in any airtight container, for 5-6 days, and is easy to reheat in the microwave or on the stovetop. It’s perfection in bowls, quesadillas, extra tacos, or mixed into breakfast burritos or scrambled eggs for a breakfast treat!
- The pineapple salsa keeps reasonably well in the fridge for 1-2 days if you have leftovers, but really has the best texture right away.
- Carnitas recipe adapted from The Homesick Texan via Smitten Kitchen; salsa recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum.