These are hands-down the BEST carnitas I’ve ever had. They’re impossibly tender and moist, and they’re crazy easy and quick to make in the Instant Pot. Perfect for entertaining, picnics, and meal prep, these Instant Pot carnitas are kind of life changing!
These pressure cooker carnitas are the perfect dinner in the summer. They require so little effort and are made easy in the Instant Pot. Translation: no heating up the house and more time spent outside. Carnitas are versatile and keep well, perfect with salsas over lettuce, over cauliflower rice, in tacos, or on nachos. Even better, these carnitas are keto, paleo, Whole30-compliant, and low carb.
These carnitas are tender, juicy, and full of flavor; they’re made with economical pork tenderloin and produce a bunch. The recipe is ridiculously easy, too. The cinnamon and orange juice is heady and just right. I rubbed the whole tenderloin with a rich, smoky spice mix, covered it with aromatics and fresh citrus juices. 15 minutes later? Carnitas perfection.
What Makes This Recipe So Good
Pork tenderloin – A lean cut of meat that is tender, juicy, and affordable.
Onion – Aromatic and lightly sweet when cooked, onions pair perfectly with the saltiness of the pork.
Garlic cloves – One of my favorite seasonings that helps give the carnitas the perfect flavor.
Cinnamon stick – The strong, sweet, and warm flavor with a bit woodiness helps give the juices the pork is cooked in a little kick.
Orange and lime juice – Fresh citrus juice as the base of the cooking juices makes the pork tenderloin extra zesty.
How To Make Instant Pot Carnitas
Mix all the rub ingredients together except the pork.
Rub onto the pork tenderloin.
Turn your Instant Pot on Sauté mode and add a drizzle of olive oil or avocado oil to coat the bottom of the pot.
Add rubbed pork tenderloin and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides.
Add all the carnitas cooking juice ingredients to the Instant Pot over the browned pork.
Secure lid and cook on Manual at high pressure for 15 minutes. Quick release, remove the pork and shred with a fork, potato masher, or a hand-held mixer on low..
Preheat your broiler.
Place the carnitas you plan on serving on a parchment-lined baking sheet and ladle a bit of the cooking juice over them.
Broil for 5 minutes. Keep an eye on them to make sure they don’t burn, and stir if needed. Serve and enjoy!
Top Tips For Making
- After rubbing the rub onto the pork tenderloin, if you have time, let it sit and dry marinade for up to two hours. I highly recommend it to let the seasonings soak in.
- Don’t ladle too much sauce in the broiling pan or the carnitas won’t crisp up! The secret to crispy carnitas is making sure to broil them long enough.
- If you aren’t cooking all of the carnitas at once, keep the pork with the juices in an airtight container in the fridge one week. Before serving each time, follow the broiling instructions.
- Don’t have an Instant Pot or pressure cooker? This is one I have, and I highly recommend it!
More Delicious Instant Pot Recipes
- Instant Pot Potato Salad
- Instant Pot Red Beans & Rice
- Dreamy Instant Pot Chicken & Rice
- Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Thighs
- Instant Pot Dal
Hey – you’ve made it this far, and now we’re best friends! If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to give it a star rating ★ below. Make sure you follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook, too!
Instant Pot Carnitas
Ingredients
- 2 pounds boneless pork tenderloin , excess fat trimmed, cubed
Rub
- 1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil or avocado oil plus more for browning
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground chipotle chile pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Cooking Juice
- 1 onion , peeled, quartered
- 4 garlic cloves , minced
- 2 teaspoons dried oregano
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup fresh orange juice
- 1/3 cup fresh lime juice
Instructions
- Mix all rub ingredients together, minus pork tenderloin, and rub onto pork tenderloin. You can let this sit and dry marinade for up to two hours; if you have the time, I highly recommend it. Otherwise, continue on with the directions.
- Turn your Instant Pot on Sauté mode and add a drizzle of olive oil or avocado oil to coat the bottom of the pot. Add rubbed pork tenderloin and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned on all sides.
- Add all cooking juice ingredients to the Instant Pot over the browned pork. Secure lid and cook on Manual at high pressure for 15 minutes. Quick release, remove the pork and shred (or use a potato masher to shred).
- Preheat your broiler. Place amount of carnitas to be served on a parchment-lined baking sheet and ladle with a bit of cooking juice. Broil 5 minutes, watching so as not to burn. Serve.
Notes
- Dry marinade: After rubbing the rub onto the pork tenderloin, if you have time, let it sit and dry marinade for up to two hours. I highly recommend it to let the seasonings soak in.
- Broiling tips: Don’t ladle too much sauce in the broiling pan or the carnitas won’t crisp up! The secret to crispy carnitas is making sure to broil them long enough.
- Leftover carnitas: If you aren’t cooking all of the carnitas at once, keep the pork with the juices in an airtight container in the fridge one week. Before serving each time, follow the broiling instructions.
Nutrition
Cheryl Malik is the recipe developer, writer, and photographer behind the healthy, flavorful, family friendly recipes at 40 Aprons. She’s been a blogger for 10 years and is known for her delicious recipes and detailed recipe instructions. Cheryl is a mom of two who lives in Memphis, TN.
Donna says
These are awesome! Just made them and served on a cassava flour tortilla with radish, cilantro, lime, avocado and a drizzle of the Sir Kensington chili lime cream- OMG! Heaven! Thank you so much!
Amelia Camurati says
So glad you loved these Donna!
Nadine says
What kind of tortilla’s did you use – are they corn?
Cheryl Malik says
I used corn, but you could definitely use flour or whatever else you wanted to!
Jaime Klein says
When do you add the onion, cinnamon sticks and the garlic??
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
We add them in step three on top of the pork!
Danielle Greene says
Can I make this with chicken? Cooking time with chicken?
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
We would cook the chicken at high pressure for about 10 minutes!
Tammy White says
Here’s proof I’m a teacher…I didn’t see the “cubed” part! Lol I made it with whole pork loin but because I doubled the meat I added time, thankfully. It turned out so delicious that another batch is in the pot right now for camping this week! Thanks for all the great recipes!
Cheryl Malik says
Haha! Glad it worked out!
Katie says
What would the IP time be if I were to use chicken breasts (2lb)??
Savannah | 40 Aprons Team says
We’d cook the chicken breasts at manual pressure for 25 minutes, then quick release. Hope this helps!
Kennedi says
Does browning the meat require cooking the cubes all the way through? Or just to brown the edges and let the meat reach temp during the pressure cook?
Julia says
If I only use 1 pound, still cut into cubes, do I need to adjust the cooking time at all? Thanks!
Cheryl Malik says
I would only cut down on the cooking time maybe a minute or two!
Tina says
You mention to marinade for “up to two hours”. I was planning on marinating it overnight. Would you not advise this? Thank you!
Cheryl Malik says
Overnight would be totally fine! 🙂
Kathy says
I let the pork sit with the rub overnight, which worked out great. It had good, but not too much flavor. The end result was a little dry. It was fine in a taco with guacamole, but too dry to eat by itself. My tenderloin was 1.89 pounds, cut into 1-2” cubes, cooked on manual setting for 15 minutes. My boyfriend made a giant quesadilla and loved it. I’m still new to the Instapot so I don’t know if I need another minute or two or if I should switch to a pork roast with a little more fat.
Amelia Camurati says
Since this is meant to be put into dishes, the end result may be a bit dry on its own. A little guacamole on top would bring a lot of extra moisture back to the pork!
Sally says
Do you cut the pork up prior to browning or you just throw the whole thing in the instant pot? Sorry if the question is silly
Amelia Camurati says
No silly questions here! If it will fit in the instant pot whole, that’s fine! If not, you can cut it to fit.
Lisa says
Hi there, I’m planning on making this tonight- about how big should the cubes of meat be? I’ve seen some pork recipes with 1-inch cubes and others with 4-5 inch cubes hehe so specifics would be appreciated. Thanks!
Cheryl Malik says
1-2″ cubes will be perfect! Honestly you can do almost anything with this recipe BUT that size cubes will make it much easier to shred.
Jennifer says
I have an 8 pound shoulder…would that also work and for how long in the Instant Pot?
Cheryl Malik says
It probably won’t all fit so I’d split it into two cooking times. I’ve doubled this recipe exactly before and had great success. You’ll need to cook it much longer though – I’d try something like 45 minutes!
Mary Lozano says
Still slightly confused about “these ingredients” mentioned in step 3. You responded above that it refers to the ingredients in step #2, but there are no ingredients in step 2 (beyond pork and oil). There would need to be some liquid added to the Instant Pot, though, for it to work appropriately. Is step 3 adding the cooking juices?
Cheryl Malik says
Ah! You’re correct. Not sure how that slipped through! Step 3 is adding the cooking juices. Thank you for catching that! I’ll update ❤️
Mara says
I’m so excited to try these!
Quick question….I feel like I’m missing something obvious, but what do I do with the cooking juice ingredients? Is it in step 3 where it says, “Add these ingredients…”?
Cheryl Malik says
Step 3 refers to the ingredients in step #2 🙂
Lindsay says
I’m new to instant pot, can you tell me if this recipe could be doubled? Suggested adjustments in cooking time?
Cheryl Malik says
You can definitely double the recipe! I’ve done so many times and have found no need to increase the cooking time.
Annmarie says
I made this in the instant pot and it came out dry and not easily shreddsble. Any suggestions?
Cheryl Malik says
Are you sure you used the proper poundage for the pork? I make these probably every three weeks exactly as written, and they come out perfectly tender with tons of juice every single time. How big of pieces did you cut the pork into?
Juli says
We have an orange allergy in our family. What do you think would be a good substitute for the orange juice? Thanks.
Cheryl Malik says
I’d substitute about half of the orange juice with more lime juice and the other half with broth. Let me know how it goes!
Keila says
I made this last night! Very tasty but I needed to pressure cook mine for 50 minutes. Could your instructions have a typo?
Cheryl Malik says
15 minutes at High in the Instant Pot should be enough time after you sauté the chunks. Did you use an Instant Pot or other pressure cooker? I will certainly retest this recipe in a different device with your experience in mind! Thank you for letting me know 🙂 And I’m glad you liked the taste!
Karla says
How would I make this in a crockpot – not purchasing an instant pot.
Cheryl Malik says
Hi Karla! You would love this recipe; it’s very similar but made in a Crockpot. Let me know how you like it! https://40aprons.com/paleo-carnitas-whole30-crockpot/