This versatile and easy Asian pulled pork Instant Pot recipe can be used to make rice bowls, Asian pork tacos, sliders, or sandwiches. Tender pieces of pork are spiced to perfection with the Asian flavors of soy sauce and sambal chili paste, making every flavor-packed bite worth savoring. [Oven instructions included.]
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This Instant Pot Asian pork recipe is so flavorful that you’ll find yourself making it over and over. I use the meat to make sandwiches, tacos, and rice bowls. I also like to use it in Asian soups like pho and ramen.
Asian pulled pork Instant Pot recipe is great for meal prep. You can make the pork, freeze it in smaller batches in quart-size freezer bags, and thaw the meat in the refrigerator the day before you plan on using it.
Sue O says ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Most tender and delicious pork I’ve ever had!
The recipe calls for pork shoulder. Pork shoulder cooks really well in the Instant Pot because it’s a fatty meat, which is what the Instant Pot is best at. If you use tenderloin or other lean meat, the results aren’t as good because the meat gets dried out.
What I like most about this recipe is how easy it is. Just add all ingredients to the Instant Pot and start pressure cooking. That’s it!
➡ Looking for pork Instant Pot recipes? Try Instant Pot Char Siu Pork Barbeque, Instant Pot Green Chile Stew (with pork), or Instant Pot Pork Tacos – Carnitas. All very different, but amazing recipes!
Ingredients and Tips
🧂 Instant Pot Asian Pulled Pork Ingredients
💡 Ingredient and Recipe Tips
🥩 Pork Cuts: Use fattier, tougher cuts like pork shoulder (also called pork butt) for best Instant Pot results. Cut into 2-3 large pieces – smaller pieces cook faster. One large piece may need 90+ minutes of pressure cooking.
🍖 Country-Style Ribs: Boneless country-style ribs (from the same cut as pork shoulder) work great! These 2-3 inch marbled pieces are pre-portioned, so you can reduce cook time to 30 minutes.
🧂 Soy Sauce: The seasoning level is perfect as written, but if you’re salt-sensitive, reduce to ⅓ cup soy sauce and increase broth to ½ cup.
🌶️ Sambal Oelek: This Indonesian chili paste (pronounced saam-baal oo-leck) adds perfect heat. Substitute with ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes, sriracha (sourer), chili garlic sauce, or Thai chili paste. Sambal is thicker and coarser than sriracha, with less vinegar than most hot sauces. The recipe, as written, is quite mild – reduce if concerned.
🍯 Brown Sugar: Reduce brown sugar if you prefer less sweetness, though I love the balance it provides. Substitute with granulated sugar or honey.
💧 Removing Fat: After cooking, skim fat off with a large spoon, use a fat separator, or refrigerate liquid until fat solidifies and remove from the surface.
🌮 Serving as Tacos: Heat oil in a large nonstick pan over medium heat. Add shredded pork and press down gently. Pour 2-3 tablespoon cooking juices over the meat. Fry until browned and crisp on bottom, 6-8 minutes (don’t flip). Serve in warm corn or flour tortillas with pickled onions, cabbage, cilantro, and sesame seeds.
🍚 Serving as Rice Bowl: Layer jasmine rice, brown rice, or farro with sautéed vegetables and shredded pork. Drizzle reserved sauce over top. Add fried egg and garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
🔥 Burn Message: It shouldn’t be an issue – the soy sauce, broth, and meat juices provide plenty of liquid. If your Instant Pot is prone to burn message, add an extra ¼ cup of broth.
❓ FAQS
Yes, you can substitute bone-in pork shoulder for the boneless. The cooking time remains the same.
This recipe is best with a fattier cut of pork. Pork tenderloin or pork loin will yield dry results.
Yes, you can double the recipe. Keep the cooking time the same.
Yes, this recipe can be frozen. Freeze it in gallon Ziploc bags for up to three months.
Add some sauteed vegetables to the pulled pork to reduce the saltiness. Next time, reduce the quantity of soy sauce to ⅓ cup.
I often pressure cook the pork ahead of time and store the sauce separately from the pork until I’m ready to use it.
⏲️ How to Make Asian Pulled Pork Shoulder in Instant Pot
- Combine the soy sauce, sesame oil, ginger, garlic, sambal oelek, brown sugar, and chicken broth in the Instant Pot inner pot.
- Add the pork shoulder (cut into 1 ½ inch thick strips) to the sauce.
- Coat the pork with the sauce. Pressure cook for 30 minutes on high pressure and do a natural release. If cooking larger chunks of pork, pressure cook for 60 minutes.
- Open the Instant Pot.
- Transfer the pork from the Instant Pot to a large bowl using a slotted spoon.
- Use two forks or a meat shredder to shred the pork.
- If you’re using the pork in tacos, saute the meat in a frying pan.
- Spread the pork in a large frying pan and add some of the cooking liquid to the meat.
- Cook the pork until it’s brown on one side.
See the recipe card below for detailed instructions.
Asian Pulled Pork Instant Pot Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Pork
- 4 lbs boneless pork shoulder (2 kg) or boneless country-style pork ribs
- ½ cup soy sauce
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon ginger minced
- 2 tablespoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon sambal oelek or other chili paste
- 3 tablespoon brown sugar
- ⅓ cup low sodium chicken broth or beef broth
- green onions to garnish
- sesame seeds toasted
Instructions
Instant Pot Instructions
- Mix ½ cup soy sauce, 2 tablespoon sesame oil, 2 tablespoon ginger, 2 tablespoon garlic, 1 tablespoon sambal oelek, 3 tablespoon brown sugar, and ⅓ cup low sodium chicken broth together in the Instant Pot inner pot.
- Place 4 lbs boneless pork shoulder in the Instant Pot and turn to coat with sauce.
- Close the lid and pressure cook for 60 minutes at High Pressure. [See Note 1]
- Allow the pressure to release naturally (NPR), press Cancel and open the lid. [Read More: The Different Pressure Release Methods.]
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the pork from the Instant Pot to a large bowl and set aside. Skim the fat from the surface of the remaining liquid or use a fat separator to separate the fat and discard it.
- Turn on Saute mode and reduce the sauce until slightly thickened. Use a splatter screen, if necessary, to prevent splatters.
- Shred the meat using two forks or a meat shredder and remove any visible fat.
Stovetop/Oven Instructions
- For stovetop version you'll need additional ingredients: salt, pepper, vegetable oil.
- Preheat the oven to 350° Fahrenheit.
- Coat all sides of the pork shoulder with salt and pepper.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large oven-safe skillet on medium-high heat.
- Sear both sides of the pork until browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Turn off the heat and transfer the pork to a paper towel-lined baking sheet and set aside.
- Heat the skillet over medium heat. Stir in remaining ingredients and heat through. Turn off the heat and return the seared pork back to the skillet and ladle the sauce over the pork.
- Cover the skillet with aluminum foil. Place into preheated oven and roast for 3 ½ to 4 hours, turning the meat halfway through. If too much liquid has evaporated, add a small amount of broth to replenish.
- Bake until the pork is fall-apart tender. Remove the meat from the oven and transfer it to a large bowl. Allow the pork to rest for about 15 minutes.
- Use two large forks or a meat shredder to shred the pork into small pieces.
- Skim off any excess fat from the sauce that's still in the skillet and pour the sauce into the bowl in small batches and mix well. Taste as you and add more sauce as needed.
Serving Instructions
- To serve as part of a rice bowl: – Add the sauce back into the meat in small increments, tasting as you go, until the flavor is just right. Reserve the remaining sauce to serve.– Add jasmine rice, brown rice, or other grain such as farro to a bowl.– Arrange sauteed vegetables and shredded pork over the rice.– Drizzle reserved sauce over the pork. Top with a fried egg.– Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
- To serve as tacos:– Heat oil in a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat. Place desired amount of shredded pork in the frying pan and press down gently.– Pour 2 to 3 tablespoon of the juices from the Instant Pot over the meat to moisten the pork while it’s cooking.– Fry the Asian pulled pork until it is browned and crisp on the bottom. Don’t flip the meat over, just fry it on one side, about 6 to 8 minutes.– To serve, place pork in a heated corn or flour tortilla and add your choice of fillings such as pickled onions, cabbage, cilantro, sriracha mayo, and sesame seeds.
Notes
- Note 1: If you’re using country-style ribs, reduce the pressure cooking time to 30 minutes.
- Note 2: For even more flavor, marinate the pork in the sauce for 4 to 6 hours before pressure cooking.
- If you get the Food Burn or Burn error messages with this recipe, you may need to add an additional ¼ cup of broth.
- See the blog post for more detailed recipe tips.
Nutrition
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I am not a certified nutritionist. I provide my best estimate of nutritional information merely as a courtesy to my readers. If you depend on nutritional information for dietary or health reasons, I suggest using your favorite online nutrition calculator to confirm the nutritional value of this recipe based on the actual ingredients that you use.
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Rachel says
Waiting for it to finish cooking in the instant pot but my goodness does my house smell so good. Excited for dinner
Neena Panicker says
Rachel, I hope you enjoyed the Asian pulled pork recipe! Thank you for your comment.
Linda B. says
Great taste with far less ingredients than some Asian recipes. I’m very happy to have found your recipe and website.
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Linda, thank you for giving the recipe a try. I think you’ll like my other recipes e.g. Char Siu pork.
Sue O says
Most tender and delicious pork I’ve ever had!
Paint the Kitchen Red says
Thank you so much for the comment – I’m thrilled that you liked the recipe!