Flavorful Instant Pot Pork Carnitas Tacos pressure cooked with a delicious blend of spices and seasonings. These carnitas are topped with fresh corn salsa.
Simple Dump and Start Instant Pot Pork Carnitas Tacos
Making these Instant Pot Pork Carnitas couldn't be simpler. It's as easy as applying a dry rub on the pork, sauteeing the meat until brown, adding the ingredients on top of the pork in the pot, and manual pressure cooking it for 40 minutes!
While the Instant Pot is doing all the cooking, it's easy to get together the corn salsa for serving as well as the other ingredients. It's literally easy as adding everything to the pot after sauteing the meat!
Crispy Pork Carnitas
Make sure to allow a Natural Pressure release after the carnitas are done pressure cooking. By doing this you will ensure flavorful and moist pork.
If you perform a Quick Release on this recipe, it will suck the moisture out of the pot and your pork will become dry and lose flavor. It's worth the wait!
When you open the lid to the Instant Pot, you will see the pork carnitas sitting in juice. Simply use a slotted spoon to remove the meat from the juices and shred it.
Add any veggies back to the pork before serving. To make the pork carnitas crispy, lay the pork and veggies on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet and broil in the oven for about 5 minutes.
It gives the carnitas a pleasant crunch to the texture! You may need to adjust your broiling time depending on your oven - just keep an eye on it!
Related: Instant Pot Salsa Verde Chicken Tacos
Fresh Corn Salsa
The corn salsa is completely optional when serving these Instant Pot Pork Carnitas Tacos but we absolutely love it. It gives a nice refreshing crisp flavor and texture to the tacos! I also add additional chopped cilantro to the top of the tacos but that's really just preference.
If you're not a fan of cilantro, you can easily omit or reduce the amount of cilantro that you add to the corn salsa if you choose to make it.
📖 Recipe
Instant Pot Pork Carnitas with Fresh Corn Salsa
Ingredients
- 3 lb pork butt
- 2 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon oregano
- 3 teaspoon cumin
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 onion - diced
- 1 jalapeno - diced
- 1 red pepper - diced
- 4 cloves garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 can diced green chiles
- ½ cup orange juice - fresh orange
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 8 tortillas - warmed
Corn Salsa (OPTIONAL)
- 12 oz super sweet corn
- 1 red onion - diced
- 1 bunch cilantro - chopped
- 2 tablespoon lime juice
Instructions
- Combine salt, oregano, cumin, and brown sugar together in a bowl.
- Cut the 3 lb pork butt into 6 large chunks.
- Roll the chunks of meat into the seasoning mixture.
- Add 2 tablespoon of olive oil to the Instant Pot and turn it onto SAUTE.
- Add the chunks of meat into the pot, turning to brown all sides.
- Add the garlic, diced jalapenos, diced red pepper, diced green chiles, and orange juice.
- Pour in the 1 cup of chicken broth and close the lid and the vent.
- Set the Instant Pot to MANUAL/PRESSURE COOK for 40 minutes.
- Allow for the Instant Pot to perform a NATURAL RELEASE for 15 minutes before removing the lid.
- If not broiling the carnitas, use a slotted spoon to remove carnitas from the juices.
OPTIONAL:
- Turn the oven to broil and lay the pork and veggies onto an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.
- Broil in oven for about 5 minutes to get the carnitas crispy.
Corn Salsa
- Combine diced red onion, chopped cilantro, and super sweet corn.
- Toss in the lime juice and serve.
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate based on third-party calculations. Actual values may vary due to ingredients, measurements, and serving sizes.
© Mama Needs Cake
Dana is an experienced recipe creator who crafts easy and delicious recipes for all levels of home cooks.
Her recipes range from classic comfort foods to healthy and nutritious meals, and she is always on the lookout for new and exciting ways to bring flavor and variety to the table.
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