Keto Instant Pot Carnitas
Instant pot Mexican inspired pulled pork made in the instant pot, then broiled to get crispy and caramelized. The most delicious carnitas you’ll ever have!
I must insist you stop everything you’re doing and add this keto instant pot carnitas to your dinner menu ASAP. It is SO GOOD!
Even better? It makes a ton so you’ll have leftovers you can use for meal prep lunches!
Crispy Keto Instant Pot Carnitas
I’ve updated my slow cooker carnitas to work in the instant pot, and I love them even more!
The secret to these amazing carnitas is to broil them after they’re done cooking in the instant pot. This will get them crispy, and help caramelize the fat. The flavor is out of this world!
Ingredients
The amazing flavor is thanks to high quality pork butt. I get my humanely raised hormone + antibiotic free pork butt from ButcherBox (which I highly recommend!). An animal stores any toxins in it’s fat. Pork butt has a high amount of fat, so it’s important to get the highest quality pork.
To add even more flavor, I cook the pork butt with a mojo sauce of onions, orange juice, lime juice, chicken stock, + oregano. After it’s done cooking in the instant pot, I spoon some of the cooking juices over the shredded carnitas before broiling. This keeps the meat juicy and flavorful.
Serving
To serve, I love a delicious carnitas bowl with fajita veggies, cauliflower rice, salsa, guacamole and fresh cilantro.
This makes enough for 8 servings, so you can meal prep your leftover carnitas for lunches for the week!
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Keto Instant Pot Carnitas
Ingredients
- 4 pound boneless pork butt, cut into 2" chunks
- 1 yellow onion, sliced
- 2 cups chicken stock
- juice from 1 orange
- juice from 2 or 3 limes
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 bay leaves (optional)
Equipment
Instructions
- In your instant pot, add cubed pork butt + raw onion. Pour over the chicken stock, orange juice, lime juice, oregano, salt, pepper + bay leaves. Stir to combine. Close with the lid, and make sure the vent is at SEALING.
- Close with the lid, and make sure the vent is at SEALING. Cook on HIGH PRESSURE for 30 minutes. Will take about 10-15 minutes to reach pressure, then it will start counting down from 30. After the 30 minutes is up, do a QUICK RELEASE, where you move the valve to VENTING to release all the steam. Once all the steam is gone and the float valve has dropped, you can safely open the instant pot.
- Set your oven to BROIL.
- Gently remove all the carnitas and cooked onions, transferring them to a rimmed baking sheet. Discard the bay leaves. Shred the carnitas using 2 forks. Pour 1 a cup of the cooking liquid from the instant pot over the carnitas.
- BROIL the carnitas for 5 minutes, until crispy. If I have time, I like to turn the carnitas 3 or 4 times and keep broiling in 5 minute increments. This really caramelizes the fat and gives it the most amazing texture and flavor.
- Serve warm topped with chopped cilantro. Delicious in burrito/taco bowls with fajita veggies, cauliflower rice, guacamole + salsa. Can also serve as tacos or as a salad.
- Will keep in an airtight container for 5 days, or frozen for 6 months.
- See the Recipe Notes below for more tips, FAQ's and ingredient substitutions.
155 Comments on “Keto Instant Pot Carnitas”
Cumin is listed in your directions, but the amount is not listed in the ingredients. I made this without it & it was delicious, but I’d like to know how much cumin to add. Thank you.
I used to add it but now I find in unnecessary. But if you want to add it in you can use 2 teaspoons!
So glad you liked it!
So easy and delicious! Everybody enjoyed. I’m really happy there are leftovers too :)
Love this, Lauren! I am so glad it was such a hit (& leftovers for you, woo hoo!)
How much cumin?
That is my question too! I made this before and it is really good- but I love cumin!
You can add 2 teaspoons of cumin, but I’ve started skipping the cumin. I don’t find it necessary.
You can add 2 teaspoons of cumin, but I’ve started skipping the cumin. I don’t find it necessary.
Absolutely delicious and super easy to make! I sprinkled a little salt on it while it broiled too to add to the taste. I will most definitely be making this again! Thank you for such a great recipe!
This makes me so happy! I am so glad you liked this recipe and I love the idea of sprinkling the salt before broiling- a brilliant way to bring out more flavor!
SO MUCH YUM! The broiling at the end was key to making the carnitas soooo good and restaurant-like. Thank you!
Love this! The broiling makes it SO perfect right?! So glad you liked it, Natalie!
Made this for the 3rd time tonight and just had to let you know how much my family & I love this recipe! Even my daughter who doesn’t usually like pork will eat it! I can’t tell you how many people I have recommended this recipe to, especially as a started recipe when using the instapot. Thank you again for all your amazing recipes & all the time & love you put into them!
Oh Jenn you are so sweet! Thank you so much! So glad to hear that your whole family loves this recipe, and so appreciate you sharing it with your friends!
Amazing!! Would love more instant pot recipes. Thanks for going into detail on how to use it, first time user here and liked how easy it was 😊
Hi Olya! Awesome, I am so glad it was easy for you! I hope you love your Instant Pot! I have a ton of recipes on my blog. Go to the search bar on my blog and type in “Instant Pot” and a ton will pop up for you!
These are a family favorite! My kids requested these for Christmas dinner this year. So we’re having a Carnitas Christmas! So easy. So delicious. So perfect. Thank you for this one! 🤍
Kelly! This is so fun! I hope you had the loveliest Carnitas Christmas dinner!
Delicious and so flavorful!
Thank you, Amanda!
So easy and so yummy!
Thanks, Alicia! I am so glad you liked it!
Fabulous recipe, and like all of your recipes it turns out PERFECT! Adults and kid loved it. I used pork loin as that was all I could find, but it worked great! Didn’t crisp up as much as the pork butt would have, but did get crispy nonetheless! This is a great recipe to add to our monthly rotation! Thank you!
Aww, Cara, you are always so wonderful! I am so glad you liked it! This is one of my FAVORITES too!
The instructions were easy to follow and the meat was juicy and tender. Highly recommend this recipe, especially if you are new to using your instant pot and need a simple recipe to start with. Love that we have enough leftover to freeze for another week. Definitely going to be in our regular rotation of meal options.
Oh this makes me so happy! This is one of my very favorite recipes! So so glad you found it helpful.
Made tonight for the first time, it was so good! My husband loved it too! Definitely a must try
You are so sweet! So glad to hear you both loved this recipe!
Go make this!! I just did it for lunch and to have for the week and it’s so flavorful and delicious! Gave some to my friends and they loved it too. Thanks!
I love that you made it for lunch all week and even shared with friends Michelle. Yum!