An Easy To Make Cuban Pernil Instant Pot Recipe a.k.a Cuban Pulled Pork Recipe
You guys! I’m sooooo happy, guess what I finally purchased? An Instant Pot! I feel so behind in the IP game, pero, it is what it is. I got the biggest one Instant Pot has to offer, and with my family of 7, it is perfect!
Now, of course, you know the first recipe I had to try out in my new Instant Pot is my Cuban pernil recipe! I admit, for this recipe, I went ahead and took an 8 pound pork shoulder and cut it into 3 huge chunks. I took the third biggest chunk, that also had the bone and made a separate recipe for it. So, what I used is about 4 pounds, and it was made in 90 minutes. Shut the front door man. 90 minutes?! Like what?! I’m hooked. Seriously, hooked.
I went easy on this recipe, since I didn’t know what to expect. I seasoned my pork with lots of dried oregano, lots of salt and pepper, about 6 cloves of garlic roughly chopped, a little bit of cumin, about a cup of white vinegar, and the juice of four ripe limes. I massaged it all into the pork as well as I could, covered it with aluminum foil and forgot left it in the fridge for 2 days, but 1-12 hours is more than enough.
What is an Instant Pot and How Do I Use It?
If you’re wondering what an Instant Pot is, it’s an electric pressure cooker. Depending on which model you buy, they have different settings which gives you the opportunity to make basically anything in it. Like. For. Real. You can saute things, make rice, yogurt, meat, soup, and even cheesecake in it. The neat thing is that on Amazon, they have tons of gadgets to put in it to make the most use out of it. I just bought a basket, and made mashed potatoes the other day (oh so freaking good). Guess how long that took? 10 minutes! (From what I recall… give or take a few minutes, give this mama a break!)
The thing is, this recipe takes 90 minutes to make, which will show as 1:30 on the Instant Pot using the meat setting. It takes anywhere between 5-15 minutes for the pressure to build within the Instant Pot before the timer officially begins. Then, when the 90 minutes of cook time is over, you must use the natural steam release (you don’t move the top valve, but you MUST turn the Instant Pot off so the pressure stops building and it begins to release).
A lot of people are terrified of the Instant Pot because of the horror stories with the older stove top pressure cookers. The neat thing about the electric pressure cookers is that on top, they have this thing that when still up shows that there is pressure still in it, and you will NOT be able to open the lid, until it drops down. (I don’t know the name for it, leave it in the comments if you know.) Talk about assurance! Hashtag #lovemyInstapot
(Here’s a link for more Instant Pot tips! )
This is a phone shot. Geesh, stop judging me! HAHA just kidding. But remember, with the Instant Pot, you need to add liquid. Since I had the vinegar etc marinating with my pork, I added only a cup of water to the Instant Pot. This helps the cooking.
I put it for 90 minutes, which equates to 1:30. Give it a few seconds and then you’ll see it turn into “on”. Then you won’t know it’s done until it beeps and then a countdown starts on the other direction. Make sure once it’s done, you press CANCEL so that the pressure stops building, and let it be for 20 minutes or until the pressure knob drops down.
Once it’s done, you can go ahead and pull out the pork and go to town shredding it. Top with some more juice that’s in the Instant Pot. If you have some pernil left over, go ahead and make some Cuban Sandwich Sliders! That’s it mi gente, be sure to subscribe and follow me on Facebook and Instagram at Latina Mom Meals!
Cuban Pulled Pork Instant Pot Recipe
Ingredients
- 5 pounds of shoulder pork
- 6 cloves of garlic chopped
- 3 teaspoons of salt
- 3 teaspoons of black pepper
- 2 teaspoons of cumin
- 2 tablespoons of dried oregano
- 1/2 cup of white vinegar
- 6 limes juiced
- 1 cup of water
Instructions
- In a large bowl, marinate pork with all ingredients, except water. Cover bowl and refrigerate pork 2-24 hours.
- Place water and pork in Instant Pot, (cut into 2-3 large chunks if necessary). Close lid and set valve to sealing. Press meat option and set time to 90 minutes. When timer goes off, press cancel and allow Instant Pot to naturally depressurize, about 20 minutes. When ready, remove pork and shred with two forks. Add some liquid from instant pot over the pork and serve.
- (I added more lime juice once ready to serve for an extra pop of flavor.)
Nutrition
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I am not an experienced cook but you should mention NOT to put the marinade in the instant pot (even though you just said pork + water). I was second guessing myself and just wasnt sure 😉
Thank you. 🙂
Why wouldn’t you put the marinade in?
I always do. 🙂
If you’re not using the marinade, you’re missing out on all the flavor.
Do you cut the fat off before putting in pot? Can you leave the bone in?
Thanks
Hi Joyce, I do not cut off the fat. 😉 I’m one of those who think fat gives more flavor. As far as the bone in, depends on the size of your pork shoulder? I personally removed the bone so it could fit.
I made pernil for the first time ever using this recipe during Xmas time 2018. It was a hit! for New years eve it was requested again and I received so many compliments of it being the best pernil. The first time I actually only let the meat marinate for 2 hours and was very impressed with the flavor plus how tender the meat was cooked in the IP. The second time, I let the meat marinate for 24 hours. It was too soft and bitter. I highly recommend to marinate for 2-3 hours max. The IP does well at infusing the flavors into the meat. Recipe is on point! Thanks for sharing!
Thank you for your comment! Good to know about the marinating and it being too bitter. So happy it was a hit.