Jump to Recipe

Instant Pot Carnitas Nachos:

Todd loves Mexican food, I think he has it at least once a week. He tells me that all the time that I need to start making more home cooked Mexican meals for him so he can stop eating out. So I have been experimenting in the kitchen and trying to remix his favorites into healthier options, because I love a good challenge. Not only is this helping us save money but it helps us know EXACTLY what we are putting into our bodies. As you know I am a strong proponent on focusing eating REAL FOOD vs. DIETS so remixing our favorite comfort foods into healthier options is how I roll.

Instant pot to the rescue:

Not going to lie this was my first time making carnitas since I don’t typically eat them. I figured since my instant pot never fails me when it comes to cooking meat I was going to cook my pork in it. I meal prepped everything on Sunday so that during the work week, it would be easy to put together a variety of meals.

Steps for making carnitas in instant pot:

  1. Set your instant pot to saute function and add in some avocado oil
  2. Add in onion, jalapeno, salt + pepper and saute for about 5-7 minutes
  3. Season your pork butt or pork shoulder with salt + pepper, cumin, chili pepper, oregano, garlic and add to instant pot
  4. Brown your pork a couple minutes on each side
  5. Add in bone broth, orange juice, lime juice, and lots of cilantro
  6. Cover your instant pot, seal valve, set to manual high pressure and cook for 3o minutes
  7. Once the 3o minutes is done let the pressure release naturally (about 10-12 minutes) you will know when the pressure is released when you can open your instant pot
  8. Carefully shred your pork with two forks, transfer to a baking dish lined with parchment paper, and broil for 5 minutes (or until you reach your desired crispiness)

What to do with the carnitas:

Now that you have your crispy carnitas done the possibilities are ENDLESS as far as meals you can make with them. Our personal favorites include nachos using homemade air fried plantain chips and tacos on Siete Foods Almond Flour grain free tortillas.

Our toppings include:
  1. Zubiate’s Cocina Queso De Jalapeno (mild)
  2. Zubiate’s Crema De Jalapeno (medium)
  3. Homemade guacomole
  4. Cilantro
  5. Chopped red onions
  6. Jalapenos

Print Recipe

Instant pot carnitas

Ingredients

  • 1 lb Buy Ranch Direct pork shoulder or pork butt
  • 1 tbsp avocado oil
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 1/3 cup diced onions
  • 1 jalapeño deseeded
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 Orange juiced
  • 2 limes juiced
  • Salt + pepper to taste
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1/2 tsp chili powder
  • 1-2 tbsp oregano
  • Handful of diced cilantro

Instructions

  • Set Instant pot to sauté function and add avocado oil
  • Add diced onion, jalapeño, salt + pepper to taste, and sauté for 5-7 minutes
  • Season your pork with salt + pepper, cumin, chili pepper, oregano, garlic
  • Add in chunks of pork and brown a couple minutes each side
  • Add in broth, orange juice, lime juice, and cilantro
  • Cover Instant pot and set to manual high pressure for 30 minutes
  • Let pressure release naturally once done (about 15-20 minutes)
  • Take out meat and shred with two forks
  • Add to a baking dish lined with parchment paper and broil depending on your oven. I used my convection oven on broil 400 for 10 minutes to get nice and crispy
Pin5
Share
Tweet
5 Shares