Instant Happiness

I’m easily entertained, particularly when I’m in my kitchen, and I always enjoy sharing my favorite tools, tips and techniques with you. In my culinary adventures over the last year, I’ve become a serious fan of pressure cooking. I’m over the moon for the quick, easy, delicious results I get with this age-old cooking method. I bought an Instant Pot – a cool, electric, incredibly versatile version, and have been turning out all manner of yummy food including these wonderful Instant Pot Carnitas.

I love how fast, easy and hands-off pressure cooking is. This week I took a beautiful, lovingly raised pork shoulder from my friend Sara at Hilltop Pastures Family Farm and turned it into a rich, spicy, flavorful meal – two of my favorite things.

It’s always a win to create a recipe that everyone enjoys. These Carnitas are equally at home in a rice bowl, as the filling in a couple of tacos and/or fried up with a couple of eggs. Hard to beat, and as a bonus, it’s nice and cool in this summer heat.

I hope you give it a try. I think your family will be glad you did.

Instant Pot Carnitas

Quick and easy with the use of an Instant Pot or pressure cooker, this tasty pork is incredibly tender and full of flavor with just the right amount of heat. Perfect as taco filling, I love it in a Quinoa or rice bowl as well. To make it in a slow cooker - follow the recipe and cook the meat on low for 6-8 hours. YUM

Servings people

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 40

Total Time 50

Ingredients

2.5 pounds pork shoulder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
6 large cloves garlic
3-4 large chipotle peppers in adobo sauce more or less to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1 tablespoon olive oil

Instructions

Cut the pork shoulder into 2" cubes. This is a beautiful pork shoulder from my friends at Hilltop Family Farms - available at the Midtown Farmer's Market
Mix the salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and oregano in a small bowl
Place the pork into the Instant Pot or pressure cooker and sprinkle the spice mixture on top - mix quickly
Peel and smash the garlic cloves and add them to the pork mixture
Grab your chipotle peppers in adobe sauce. I love these San Marcos and often buy the tiny cans at El Burrito Mercado
Chop the chipotle peppers and sauce. Feel free to add more or less depending on how much heat you like
Add the chipotle peppers and sauce to the Instant pot along with the chicken stock. Give the mixture a quick stir
Set the Instant Pot on Manual to 40 minutes. Be sure the vent is set to sealed (not vent). If you are using a pressure cooker, bring it to high pressure, reduce the heat slightly and cook under high pressure for 40 minutes.
Once the time is up, turn off the Instant Pot and let the pressure release naturally - it will take about 15 minutes
Remove the cover and enjoy the smell while you remove the tender pork from the Instant Pot
Place the pork on a meat board and shred with forks. It will be easy to pull apart. Try not to eat too much while you are shredding it!
Heat some oil in your favorite cast iron pan or skillet until it's nice and hot and fry up some of the pork until it's nice and crispy. You can skip this step if you like - I love the added crunch and flavor
Serve the pork in a bowl with quinoa or rice, pickled onions, cilantro and lime or....
In warm tortillas with onions, sour cream and salsa. Enjoy!