This Instant Pot pulled pork chili verde is made by pressure cooking pieces of pork shoulder in a delicious homemade chile salsa verde made with roasted green chiles, tomatillos, onions, garlic and cilantro. Serve alone, as tacos or top french fries to make carnitas fries. Got leftovers? Find leftover pulled pork recipes here. Sponsored by the New Mexico Department of Agriculture through Kitchen PLAY.
Comfort food evokes different responses depending on who you ask. For my family and I, we love so many varieties of foods. One of our favorite comfort foods is pulled pork.
My family loves a smoked pulled pork roast on the grill and when we don’t feel like grilling, I make crispy oven pulled pork in my oven. It is not only easy on the budget to prepare, but it is also very versatile.
Here in San Diego, we have an amazing selection of Mexican food. And the Mexican version of pulled pork is carnitas. Today I am sharing how to make carnitas in the Instant Pot with a very dreamy New Mexico green chile salsa verde. Totally delicious comfort food.
Why you should try this recipe
The instant pot makes this meal so easy to put together. And that chile verde sauce is so full of flavor. Once cooked there are so many different ways to enjoy it.
Every city is famous for something culinary and San Diego is no different. We are not only the home of California Mex, but also the birthplace of carne asada fries. Have you never heard of carne asada fries? Well, let me educate you!
Crispy french fries are topped with seasoned steak, cheese, salsa, sour cream and guacamole. Think nachos but instead of chips we are using fries.
These carnitas fries are a twist on this San Diego classic. The carnitas and salsa verde were amazing over the fries and my kids were over the moon when I gave it to them for dinner!
If you do not to serve your carnitas over fries, feel free to try them in tacos, nachos or stuff them in a burrito. Total comfort food.
Ingredients you need
Pork Roast
If you are making pulled pork/carnitas, you have several choices in meat cuts. The most common choice is the pork shoulder. Another popular cut of meat for pulled pork is a Boston butt. Despite what its name suggests, this cut is from the high part of the pig’s shoulder, above the shoulder blade, and not from the actual butt of the pig.
The picnic shoulder, or picnic ham, is the shoulder cut with the shank attached. This cut is cheaper than the other cuts because it requires less work butchering it, but it contains more bone.
You can use any of these cuts of meat for this recipe. Because we are using a pressure cooker, the roast will need to be cut into smaller pieces. But, don’t cut them too small. You want large chunks of meat, about 4-5 inches long, including any meat that is still on the bone. Once prepared in the instant pot, the meat will be fall apart tender which can be easily shredded.
Green Chiles
Since the key to this dish is the salsa verde, you want to use the most flavorful ingredients you can find. And some of the best chile peppers I have ever cooked with and eaten are from New Mexico. People commonly know New Mexico green chile peppers as Hatch Chiles. What makes them so special?
New Mexico provides the perfect climate and soil for growing chile peppers. Oh, and let’s get this straight. It’s a CHILE pepper NOT a CHILI pepper. Think of growing chile peppers like growing grapes for wine making. Soil and climate will alter the flavor of the grapes. The same is true with chile peppers.
Have you heard of the Anaheim pepper? Well, the Anaheim Pepper is a transplanted New Mexico pepper brought to Anaheim, California by Emilio Ortega. And because it is grown in Anaheim, California and not New Mexico, the flavor is very different.
August is peak New Mexico green chile season. And here in California that means chile roasts at the grocery store. If you have never been to a chile roast, the smell is incredible! Even if your local store doesn’t roast chile peppers, you can easily roast them at home.
For the salsa verde used in this recipe, I roast the chile peppers in the oven, under the broiler. You can also grill them or char them on a pan on the stove.
Every August I do my best to get a supply of New Mexico green chile peppers. If I am lucky, I get a case! What do I do with all of those chile peppers? Well, if they aren’t already roasted, I roast them. Once roasted, I use the chile peppers in everything, from chile corn dip to chile chocolate chip cookies!
And the chile peppers that I don’t use right away, I pack into freezer safe sealable bags and freeze them. The frozen chile peppers will last you until NEXT chile season! Whether you are using them right away or freezing them for later use, remember to peel off the tough outer skin of the green chile. They slide off very easily once the chile is roasted.
Not only are chile peppers delicious, they come in a variety of heat indexes like mild, medium and hot. The chile is also a nutrient dense food. It naturally contains calcium, iron and many vitamins.
Don’t let the green color fool you. Red chile peppers are just mature green chile peppers. Red chile peppers are a bit more sweet than their green counterparts and contain the antioxidant beta-carotene.
Other Ingredients
- Tomatillos: These resemble green tomatoes, but are wrapped in a green cover. They are sour and have tremendous flavor. To prep, you will need to remove the paper wrapping and wash off the sticky residue.
- Onion: Regular brown onions work great in this recipe.
- Cilantro: Fresh cilantro is a must for a delicious chile verde sauce.
- Olive Oil: Oil is used to coat the vegetables prior to roasting.
- Salt
Step-by-step directions
1. Peel the tomatillos and clean with water to remove the stickiness. Pat dry. Place the tomatillos, chile peppers and onion on the baking sheet and coat with olive oil.
2. Place under the broiler for 5 minutes. Flip vegetables over and broil for an additional 3-5 minutes until charred, but not burnt. Remove from the oven and cover chile peppers with aluminum foil. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
3. In the meantime, trim any excess fat on the exterior of the pork roast. Cut pork into smaller pieces about 4-5 inches long and then place it in the Instant Pot.
4. Uncover and remove skin from the chile peppers. Remove the seeds if you don’t want your dish too spicy. Add the broiled vegetables into a large blender with cilantro, garlic and salt. Blend until smooth.
5. Reserve about 1-cup of chile verde and pour remainder over pork. Coat all the pork pieces with sauce.
6, Cover pressure cooker and secure the lid then set for 75 minutes high pressure. Make sure the vent is in sealing position. Let it natural pressure release for 20-30 minutes then release any remaining pressure. Open and remove the lid. Pork should be fall apart fork tender.
7. Remove the pork from the pressure cooker and place it on a baking sheet. Using two forks, begin shredding the pork into bite size pieces while removing any large chunks of fat.
8. For crispy pulled pork, add a single layer of shredded pork onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with some of the liquid remaining in the Instant Pot.
Recipe tips and FAQs
To make carnitas fries, you can fry up your own potatoes or use frozen french fries. You can add as much or as little toppings as you like. Besides adding a layer of carnitas, you can also add:
- cheese
- sour cream
- guacamole
- extra chile verde sauce
- pico de gallo
- jalapeño slices
- fresh cilantro
Carnitas in Spanish translates to “little meats” and is a quintessential pork dish in Mexican cuisine. Its origins are from the state of Michoacan, but it is now prepared everywhere and in a number of different ways. Carnitas is typically slowly braised or roasted for several hours, but it can also be prepared more quickly in a pressure cooker.
Once cooked, carnitas can be served alone or it can be used as an ingredient for tamales, tacos, burritos, nachos or quesadillas. You can learn more about the origins of carnitas here. My version of carnitas is cooking a pork roast in salsa verde using the Instant Pot.
My family and I do like our pulled pork crispy. Whether you prepare the carnitas in the Instant Pot or slow cooker, the result is far from crispy. So, I choose the added step of crisping up the meat.
Spread a layer of shredded pork on a baking sheet drizzled with a little bit of cooking liquid, about ¼-cup. Place it under the broiler about 4-6 inches from the cooking element and cook for 5 minutes.
Using long handled tongs flip over and mix up the meat, spreading it out again. Cook for an additional 3-5 minutes or until done to your personal preference. For the 8-pound roast I used, I needed to divide this process into two batches.
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Instant Pot Pulled Pork Chile Verde
This Instant Pot pulled pork chile verde is made by pressure cooking pieces of pork shoulder in a delicious homemade chile salsa verde made with roasted green chiles, tomatillos, onions, garlic and cilantro. Serve alone, as tacos or top french fries to make carnitas fries.
Ingredients
- 5 New Mexico green chile peppers
- 8 tomatillos, peeled
- 1 small onion, quartered
- 1 TBS olive oil
- 7-8 lb bone-in pork shoulder
- 1 bunch fresh cilantro
- 6 garlic cloves
- 2 teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Peel the tomatillos and clean with water to remove the stickiness. Pat dry.
- Place the tomatillos, chile peppers and onion on the baking sheet and coat with olive oil.
- Place under the broiler for 5 minutes. Flip vegetables over and broil for an additional 3-5 minutes until charred, but not burnt.
- Remove from the oven and cover chile peppers with aluminum foil. Let it sit for 10 minutes.
- In the meantime, trim any excess fat on the exterior of the pork roast.
- Cut pork into smaller pieces about 4-5 inches long and then place it in the Instant Pot.
- Uncover and remove skin from the chile peppers. Remove the seeds if you don't want your dish too spicy.
- Add the broiled vegetables into a large blender with cilantro, garlic and salt. Blend until smooth.
- Reserve about 1-cup of chile verde and pour remainder over pork. Coat all the pork pieces with sauce.
- Cover pressure cooker and secure the lid then set for 75 minutes high pressure. Make sure the vent is in sealing position.
- Let it natural pressure release for 20-30 minutes then release any remaining pressure. Open and remove the lid. Pork should be fall apart fork tender.
- Remove the pork from the pressure cooker and place it on a baking sheet. Using two forks, begin shredding the pork into bite size pieces while removing any large chunks of fat.
- For crispy pulled pork, add a single layer of shredded pork onto a baking sheet. Drizzle with some of the liquid remaining in the Instant Pot.
- Place the baking sheet under the broiler about 4-6 inches away and cook for 5 minutes.
- Using long handled tongs mix and flip the crispy pieces over and cook under the broiler for another 2-3 minutes until crispy and not burnt.
- Serve as tacos or top french fries. Serve with reserved salsa verde, shredded cheese, pico de gallo, guacamole, sour cream, radishes, and/or wedges of lime.
Notes
You can use a pork shoulder, port butt or picnic roast.
If making carnitas fries, prepare french fries then place on a baking sheet. Top generously with cheese and place under the broiler until cheese is melted. Top with carnitas and any other of your favorite toppings.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 9316Total Fat: 681gSaturated Fat: 250gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 367gCholesterol: 2858mgSodium: 2745mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 1gSugar: 3gProtein: 740g
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Disclosure: I did receive a stipend from the New Mexico Department of Agriculture to develop a recipe using their green chile peppers. The story I have written is all true, and the opinions are truly mine. If I didn’t like it, I wouldn’t blog about it.
Lotta stuff going on in this post! Really informative. Love carnitas (who doesn’t?) and chile verde. Using the IP is a great idea — so easy. Thanks!