For my birthday my parents got me an Instant Pot. For months it sat in the spare room where I house most of my cooking appliances (oh the joys of a small kitchen and little pantry space) because I was terrified that it would blow up when I turned it on. I knew it had to be easy, otherwise people wouldn’t be so obsessed with them, but still the fear lingered.  Finally, after making plan after plan to cook something I just went for it.  I made a whole chicken, and it was a miracle.  Tender, moist, and just falling off the bone… I was sold.  The next week after I finished my chicken I made a pork roast so I could have carnitas for the week.

I didn’t even end up crisping the pork to make it true carnitas.  It was divine, and so easy.  From the minute I took the pork out of the fridge all the way through pulling the roast, I was only 1.5 hours in.  For about an hour of that time I was doing other things, waiting for the Instant Pot to do it’s thing.  It was magic.

Last week I made the realization that my local grocery store often has meat on sale on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  They must pack it on Fridays for the most part and then the sell by that falls mid-week.  Beef is usually only a little on sale, but this week pork was half off.  For perfectly good pork.  I bought two packages, one for this week and one for the freezer.  I’ll be doing most of my meat shopping mid-week from now on!

To make this I winged what I threw in, because I didn’t have everything I wanted on hand.  Next time I want to try apple juice instead of ginger ale… the first time I made pulled pork I used orange juice and it was too much.  Some recipes use just water, but I like the sweetness of juice (or in the case, pop).

Recipe: Instant Pot Pulled Pork

3 Pounds Pork Roast, cut into large chunks
Spices to taste… I used
Cumin, Chili Powder, Chili Flakes, Oregano, Garlic Powder, Onion Powder, Salt, Pepper, Chipolte Seasoning
1 Orange, sliced
1/4 Red Bell Pepper, Sliced
1 Ginger A le
Olive Oil

Turn the Instant Pot onto Sautee. Add in olive oil, pork. Brown. Add on top all your seasonings and bell pepper, toss to mix. Place orange slices all on top of pork, followed by the ginger ale. Turn the instant pot onto manual high pressure, for 25 minutes. Natural Release for 15-20 minutes, before Quick Release. Transfer meat to a heat-proof dish and pull. Enjoy!

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