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The Whole Smiths

The Whole Smiths

Whole Eating + Happy Living

  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Recipes
    • Cooking Method
      • 5 Ingredients or Less
      • 30 Minutes or Less
      • Easy-to-Make
      • Instant Pot
      • Make Ahead, Keep on Hand
      • One Dish, Pan, Pot or Sheet Pan
      • Weekend Living
    • Dietary Guidelines
      • Dairy-Free
      • Gluten-Free
      • Grain-Free
      • Paleo
      • Vegan
      • Vegetarian
      • Whole30
    • Meal Type
      • Breakfast + Brunch
      • Dinner
      • Lunch
      • Soups, Stews, + Chilis Too
      • Vegetables, Sides + Salads
      • Smoothies + Beverages
      • Dessert
      • Snacks + Appetizers
  • COOKBOOKS
    • Good Food Cookbook
    • Real Food Every Day
  • Podcast
    • Episodes
  • About
    • Meet Michelle
    • Food Philosophy
    • Michelle This Month
  • Resources
    • Discounts
    • Shop
    • Cooking Staples
    • Better Beauty
  • Contact
    • Work with Me
    • Contact

Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas

These Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas from the Whole Smiths are a breeze to make and perfect to make ahead to use in recipes throughout the week. If you’ve been looking for the perfect way to make tasty carnitas, this recipe is for you. 

These Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas from the Whole Smiths are a breeze to make and perfect to make ahead to use in recipes throughout the week.

Carnitas, carnitas, carnitas! You scream, I scream, we all scream for carnitas. No? That’s not how they saying goes? Well, it should because carnitas are bomb. What are carnitas? In short, carnitas are slowly cooked pork butt shoulder that is then crisped up. There are a ton of ways to make carnitas from the very traditional Mexcian method in a copper pot to this easy less-than-authentic (but amazing) tasty 3-ingredient Instant Pot version. There’s lots of options, lots of different ingredients to add for different flavors but here’s the thing, I want quick and I want it to be clean.

These Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas from the Whole Smiths are a breeze to make and perfect to make ahead to use in recipes throughout the week.

This particular recipe is for the Instant Pot but you can make it using your slow cooker too. I don’t have a slow cooker and I didn’t test this recipe for that, however the recipe is so easy there’s pretty much no way that you can mess it up by using a slow cooker. Just know, you will need to slow cook it for a loooong time as you want to get that meat super tender, my suggestion would be for about 10 hours. If at the end of those 10 hours your pork isn’t falling apart then keep slow cooking my friend. Once you’ve gotten the pork to it’s desired doneness, you can go on with the rest of the recipe just as you would with the Instant Pot version.

These Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas from the Whole Smiths are a breeze to make and perfect to make ahead to use in recipes throughout the week.

The cut of pork that you will want for this is a boneless pork butt shoulder aka Boston Butt. Typically it’s a large cut of meat but I break it down to a 6 – 7 pound, more manageable size. As well, it fits into my Instant Pot quite nicely. From there I typically take my 6 – 7 pound piece and cut into into 3 large pieces to help it fit even better into my IP. Theres no right or wrong way to do this, just into three chunks that can nestle into your IP easily.

These Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas from the Whole Smiths are a breeze to make and perfect to make ahead to use in recipes throughout the week.

As far as time goes, the longer the better. This is a tough, large cut of meat and the longer it spends napping in your IP, the better it is for everyone. You want it falling apart as you try to pull it out of the Instant Pot. As far as letting your IP de-pressure on it’s own or to release the pressure that’s up to you. I like to let it naturally depressurize when I have the time but if I’m short on time I release that valve. I don’t know if it makes a difference but in my mind the longer that thing is in there, the better it’s gonna be. Check out the Instagram story that I uploaded detailing out exactly how to make these.

Once you’ve cooked your pork and it’s oh-so-tender, you can either store it and use it as pulled pork  in a variety of recipes or you can move onto step two and crisp up those bits of fat for some even tastier carnitas. I’m guessing since this is a carnitas recipe you’re going to want to go with that and lucky for you it’s super easy. You need a pan (preferable a cast iron) and a touch of your favorite cooking oil, I recommend extra-light tasting olive oil, avocado oil or even coconut oil. Heat the pan to medium high, add the oil to the pan, add the pork and let it sit. Don’t touch it yet! Let it sit there and get it’s ‘do on. I.e. crisp up.

These Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas from the Whole Smiths are a breeze to make and perfect to make ahead to use in recipes throughout the week.

That’s it! Once you have your carnitas you can eat it in a variety of ways. So let’s go this, eh? 1. In a taco salad. 2. Over top a sweet potato with some guac and salsa, veggies on the side. 3. My Baja Shrimp Tacos (just swap the shrimp for carnitas) 4. My Pulled Pork + Bacon Hash 5. Added to some gluten-free ramen noodles with some cabbage, carrots, coconut aminos, sesame oil… oh wait. That recipe is still on the way, you’re going to have to wait for that.

These Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas from the Whole Smiths are a breeze to make and perfect to make ahead to use in recipes throughout the week.

Ok friends, go pull out that Instant Pot and get going on this one.

These Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas from the Whole Smiths are a breeze to make and perfect to make ahead to use in recipes throughout the week.
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5 from 2 votes

Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas

These Easy Instant Pot Whole30 Carnitas from the Whole Smiths are a breeze to make and perfect to make ahead to use in recipes throughout the week. Paleo and gluten-free. 
Prep Time2 mins
Cook Time2 hrs
Total Time2 hrs 2 mins
Course: Main
Cuisine: Paleo Whole30
Servings: 6
Author: The Whole Smiths

Ingredients

  • 6-7   pound boneless pork butt shoulder
  • 2 tablespoons salt more for seasoning to taste later
  • 2 tablespoons cooking oil such as extra-light tasting olive oil avocado oil or coconut oil

Instructions

  • Add the pork butt shoulder to your Instant Pot along with the 2 tablespoons of salt and fill the Instant Pot about 2/3 of the way up the pork with water.
  • Set your Instant Pot to the Meat / Stew setting on high pressure for 120 minutes and start.
  • Once the meat has finished in the Instant Pot, heat a medium sized cast iron skillet over medium high heat and add the oil to the skillet. When the oil is hot add the carnitas and do not stir them for 3-4 minutes so that they can crisp up. Once they have crisped up, flip them to crisp the other side for 3-4 minutes. When the carnitas have reached their desired crispiness, salt to taste and serve.
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Note: I only work with companies and products that I feel passionately about and that align with the Whole Smiths’ views and that this post contains sponsored content. While I am compensated for the work I do, my opinions and bad jokes are always 100% my own.

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Recipe Rating




Comments

  1. Jennifer D'Amico says

    May 2, 2018 at 10:57 pm

    I assume you fill the IP up with water?

    Reply
  2. Chantal says

    May 30, 2018 at 4:55 am

    These were literally a breeze! SO EASY AND YUMMY!

    Reply
  3. Jackie says

    October 8, 2018 at 2:23 am

    This is seriously delicious! I used my slow cooker and it still came out amazing! I brought some to my friend’s house and they couldn’t stop talking about how good this was!

    Reply

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Thanks for stopping by my little corner of the internet, I’m Michelle and welcome to the Whole Smiths. These days I’m a mother to two smiley girls, a happy wife to one fantastic dude and we live in the San Francisco Bay Area.

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Seriously though! Let’s have a stinky convo, h Seriously though!  Let’s have a stinky convo, huh?  As soon as I started cleaning up my food perspective, cleaner personal care products came into my world as well.  I didn’t even really think twice about it before but those worlds tend to collide. So here I am today not only mindful of what I put INTO my body (food) but the stuff I’m putting ONTO my body (products).  Deodorant was the first thing I swapped as the ingredients and effects of traditional anti-perspirants were most alarming to me.  But I was suuuuuuuper hesitant. I was not a person who rarely sweated. I was! In workouts or just through the day. I even carries a travel anti-perspirant in my purse during the day.  And yeah, that end of day weird smell of anti-perspirant “powder fresh” scent mixed with whatever was goin on in my body was... not good. You KNOW what I’m talking about!  So I was reeeeeeally hesitant about switching to cleaner products.  But it really was the best thing ever. It took a some time, I’m not going to lie. It took time to fond the right ones that didn’t irritant my skin and ones that... actually worked!  Today I use Beautycounter’s newly released refillable deodorants as well as Stank Stop from @fatco. I use both and honestly it pretty much comes down to which scent I’m favoring that day, that dictates my choice.  They both work fab for me and don’t leave stains on my clothing, smell nice and don’t irritate my skin.  And here’s what else, I do not sweat NEARLY as much as I used to. I was worried I would be a sweaty pig to put it lightly. But after time, my body adjusted and it’s really not even a problem. And no smell. It works!  And here’s the thing... WE ARE SUPPOSED TO SWEAT PEOPLE! So when we wear anti-perspirant I can imagine that throws off our natural balance.  So if you’ve been hesitant, give it a try!  I linked to the Beautycounter deo in my bio and you can visit @fatco to try theirs out.  Ask any questions in the comments and I’ll get to them for you.  God bless the day I am talk about my body odor (or now lack thereof!) in a public forum. 🙄🥴  https://www.beautycounter.com/michellesmith3?goto=/clean-deo
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BRAND NEW RECIPE Pickle Brined Crispy Chicken Y BRAND NEW RECIPE  Pickle Brined Crispy Chicken  Yep. That crispy skin, that pickle-briney goodness, who *doesn’t* love a juicy thigh right up in their face?  That may be a bit intense of a description for chicken... But damn, are these some good chicken thighs.  Recipe at the link in my bio. Save that pickle brine friends!  www.thewholesmiths.com
Bay Areaaaaaa! 🙌🏼 I’m putting together a Bay Areaaaaaa! 🙌🏼  I’m putting together a local, virtual event to support local businesses here in town and I’d love you to attend!  I wanted to put together an event that didn’t *feel* virtual and had some other common components we could enjoy together.  So not only will your ticket include a SIGNED copy of my new book, Real Food Every Day, but you’ll also receive a bottle of wine from @mcgrailvineyards and an awesome cheese / charcuterie box from @charmingfigcatering to enjoy during the demo. Pick up will be at McGrail the day of the event.  All books will be supplied by local indie bookstore, @townecenterbks .  Join us for a fun evening, tag your friends, share this post and let’s join together as community to support our community. 💛  Tickets available at the link in my profile!  https://www.eventbrite.com/e/real-food-everyday-virtual-event-tickets-134461001475  Thank you to our friends at @lovelivermore for their support of this event!  Additional pickup details and Zoom link will be emailed in the days leading up to the event.  @livermoredowntown @cityoflivermore @livermores_latest @livermorevalleywinecountry  #livermore #downtownlivermore @livermorechamber
As I continue on my Comfort Food 2021 Tour... toni As I continue on my Comfort Food 2021 Tour... tonight’s dinner will be these Tomato Basil Baked Eggs smothered on top of a GF Belgian waffle from @josiesbestgf .  And that is how I am choosing to end my week.  How ‘bout you? What’s for dinner? 👇🏼  Are you on the comfort food train too? Also, just a reminder.. comfort food doesn’t need to mean it’s “bad” for you! There’s plenty of wholesome, real food based comfort foods out there. And there’s always Cheetos.  Baked Egg recipe at the link in my bio.  https://www.thewholesmiths.com/tomato-basil-baked-eggs/
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