These easy five-ingredient Instant Pot carnitas are tender and juicy, with a great citrusy flavor. They are wonderful over rice, in tacos, in lettuce wraps, with an egg on top, or just plain!
These slow-cooker carnitas lettuce wraps are one of my favorite dinners, and ever since getting an Instant Pot, I’ve been working on converting the carnitas recipe so it can be made more quickly. It’s not necessarily weeknight quick because it takes about an hour and a half to make, but that’s a lot less than the 8-10 hour slow-cooking time. This is perfect for whipping up on a weekend afternoon to have a stockpile of delicious meat for the days ahead.
To make this recipe extra easy, I’ve streamlined the ingredients list. You only need five things (not counting salt, pepper, and water). Also, this recipe is made start to finish in the Instant Pot, without any broiling at the end or any other dirty pans.
Carnitas are traditionally made on the stovetop like this, where they cook low and slow, often with spices and citrus juices. Eventually, all of the juices cook off, and the carnitas begin to caramelize and crisp up a little in the dry pan.
When I make carnitas in my crockpot, I have to discard most of the juices and broil the carnitas after slow cooking to crisp them up and get that characteristic carnitas texture. With the Instant Pot’s sauté feature, though, I can cook off all of the liquid pretty quickly without using more than one pot. That means Instant Pot carnitas are just as easy as the original stovetop version, but much quicker.
Here’s a breakdown of how easy these Instant Pot carnitas are: first you toss pork chunks with Mexican seasoning, salt, and pepper right in the pot, then you add orange juice, lime juice, and a little water, and then you set the pot to pressure cook on high for 50 minutes. Finally, once it’s done and the pressure has released, you hit the “saute” button and let the sauce reduce until it’s almost gone, stir in a little ghee, and wait as long as you can stand it for the meat to develop those extra delicious browned bits.
No Instant Pot yet? You can totally make this is in the slow cooker–just see the note below the recipe. You will have to either broil the carnitas or crisp them up in a skillet if you want browned bits, though.
For an especially delicious way to repurpose these carnitas for breakfast, try carnitas con huevo with avocado crema.
Looking for more Instant Pot recipes? Check out a few of my favorites right below the recipe card.
These easy five-ingredient Instant Pot carnitas are tender and juicy, with a great citrusy flavor. They are wonderful over rice, in tacos, in lettuce wraps, with an egg on top, or just plain! *I use Frontier Mexican Seasoning, but taco seasoning or even chili powder would also work. Reduce or omit the sea salt if your spice blend is already salted. **To make these carnitas in a slow cooker, omit the water in Step 2. Cook on low for 8-10 hours. Remove the meat and shred with two forks. Spread the meat out on a foil-lined baking sheet and moisten with a little of the cooking liquid. Broil for about five minutes, until browned to your liking. You can also finish these in the broiler after making them in the IP if you'd like. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases. The nutrition label provided is an estimate for informational purposes only and may not be accurate. I am not a nutritionist or medical professional.
Five-Ingredient Instant Pot Carnitas
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Recommended Products
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 6 servings
Serving Size: 1 serving
Amount Per Serving:
Calories: 729Total Fat: 51gSaturated Fat: 19gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 27gCholesterol: 210mgSodium: 1203mgCarbohydrates: 12gFiber: 1gSugar: 9gProtein: 53g
Try these other Instant Pot favorites!
Instant Pot Bacon and Sweet Potato Chili
This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase on Amazon after clicking one of my links, I receive a small commission (the price you pay is not affected). Thank you so much for supporting my site!
Hi, I’m looking to make this recipe however I only want to make one pound instead of 2.5-3. Do I also decrease the cooking time by 1/3? Thank you!
I think it will still require the same amount of time, although I haven’t tried it myself!
I have a question. What does “let the pressure release naturally” mean? Do you mean at that point you turn that little knob to let out the steam? Thanks!
No, releasing the pressure naturally means to just wait and do nothing until the valve drops on its own (moving it over yourself is called releasing the pressure manually).
Making this today.. when do you add the ghee???
After pressure cooking (it’s in Step 4). You can also finish these in the broiler without any extra fat if you prefer (see notes below recipe). Hope you enjoy!
I usually don’t but I had to post here. I tried this last night with a few changes, mostly because we have 6 children. I just doubled most of it and added some liquid smoke. After realizing there was too much meat and juices to saute’ in the instant pot, I just finished them in the broiler like 4 minutes then toss add juice and repeat until half the liquid was gone. Oddly enough, after having carnitas all around the world and the US, these were easily in the top 3. Just got my instant pot last month and wow it has already paid for itself in flavor and time.
Yay, I’m so happy you enjoyed them! It’s definitely quicker to broil than to finish in the IP, especially if you’re doubling the recipe. Thanks for commenting! Glad you’re enjoying the Instant Pot.
So am I right in thinking that you just put the seasoned pork pieces and citrus juices into the slow cooker and leave for allotted time if using a slow cooker not Instant Pot? Thanks 🙂
Pretty much, but you won’t need to add the water, and after slow cooking you’ll need to broil or pan-fry the meat to crisp it up. There’s a little note below the recipe with all the slow-cooker details. Hope you enjoy! 🙂
When you updated the picture, did you also change the recipe? I made this several times, a few years ago and decided to make it again. However, they just didn’t come out the same. Not as flavorful as I remember.
Hi Christie! This recipe was new as of its Oct. 2016 post date and has not been updated, so maybe you made a different recipe a few years ago? I have a slow-cooker recipe from 2014 (http://acalculatedwhisk.com/slow-cooker-carnitas-lettuce-wraps/), but in my opinion this newer, IP one if more flavorful. However, it could be something as simple as not having added as much salt the second time around or using a different Mexican seasoning! You could always play around with adding more seasoning and/or citrus juice if you’d like.
This sounds delicious! Can’t wait to try it, Could you post the ounces of orange juice, and lime juice? Thanks.
Thanks, Cheryl! I don’t measure the juices in ounces–I just squeeze the amount of fresh fruit called for in the recipe and then add water until it’s 8 fluid ounces (1 cup) total–that’s about how much liquid the IP needs to come to pressure reliably. Sometimes I don’t need to add any water because the juiciness of the fruit varies. If you need more details you could try googling the typical yield of oranges and limes in ounces.
Hi Becky! Just wanted to thank you for this wonderful recipe. My husband and I recently got an Instant Pot and – being big carnitas lovers – wanted to try it in our new toy. But we were dismayed by the complicated recipes we kept on finding. Until we found yours. Just today, we followed your recipe to the letter and absolutely loved the result! It was tasty and tender and everything we love in good carnitas. Thank you so much for posting the recipe…it now has place of honor in our growing Instant Pot recipe collection!
— Barbara and Art
Hi Barbara! Thank you so much for your comment. I’m so happy you and your husband enjoyed the carnitas! 🙂
Yaaas! So simple, so much flavor, so much love. These have to go on my dinner menu ASAP!
Thank you so much, Karly! 🙂
I have never heard of an instant pot before! I am intrigued!
The Instant Pot is mainly a really good electric pressure cooker, but it also functions as a slow cooker, rice cooker, and steamer. Plus, it has settings to pasteurize milk and make yogurt (I have yet to take advantage of those…). It enables you to make a lot of dishes in a much shorter time!
I keep hearing whispers about the Instant Pot, and I’m super intrigued! I’m all about kitchen appliances that serve multiple functions and slow-cooked food is my faaaaavorite! Loving the idea of a simple carnitas recipe – my pork-loving boyfriend would go crazy over this!
You should totally get one! It was sale last year for Black Friday so I treated myself, and I’ve been having so much fun playing around with it.