A delicious Instapot Pork Carnitas Recipe, packed with flavor and a ton of garlic. Enjoy in tacos, tamales, taco boards, or other Mexican favorites!

Friends, happy Monday! Today on the blog we’re sharing an Instapot Pork Carnitas Recipe and a goodbye to Haggis Barley McStitch III.

Instapot Pork Carnitas Recipe

Thanks to the Instapot, this recipe is packed with flavor (I mean look at all of that fresh garlic!), but doesn’t require hours of roasting and basting in the oven! You could serve this on an Easy Taco Recipe Dinner Board! Tomorrow I’l show you how to put it all together for tacos on a GAME DAY BOARD!

It’s perfect for tacos, tamales, taco boards, or other Mexican favorites!

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I’m happy it’s a new week; last week was rough! And it’s very hard to believe that it’s also the last week of January! Does that mean spring is coming? My heart and body are crying out for those little signs that spring is on its way.

I went for a five mile walk this weekend, because the snow is melting around here. I didn’t have to wear my Yaktrax, but used normal walking shoes. It was glorious, with still a lot of snow on the shoulders of the paths, cold as could be … but I did hear birds chirping.

Of course I was thinking about all the walks with Haggis Barley McStitch, our cutie Cairn Terrier who we had to put down last week.

Our house was very empty this past weekend, even with Alder here.

We just hunkered down and kept the stories going … it’s hard to say goodbye to our little 4-legged pals.

Our daughter made this Instapot Pork Carnitas Recipe, and caramelized it for tacos.

Because tacos always make a person feel better, right?

How to make Instapot pork roast

  1. Marinade the pork roast overnight for 6 hours.
  2. Place stock inside the Instapot, then add the pork shoulder with the remaining marinade. Lock the lid on and let it do its thing!
  3. When the time is up, allow the pressure to release naturally, giving the pork more time to marinate—this will take a bit longer than doing the manual release, but give it time.
  4. When the pressure cooker has naturally released, remove the pork from the pot and move to a rimmed baking sheet. Set broiler to 550 degrees F. Place the rack two levels under the broiler. Place the pork in the oven and allow to brown and caramelize for 2-3 minutes per side.

Ingredients for marinade

  • Meyer lemons, sherry vinegar, and dark brown sugar
  • Kosher salt and ground black pepper
  • Olive oil, dried oregano, ground cumin & cinnamon
  • Ground coriander
  • 20 cloves garlic! [TONS OF GARLIC!]

Tribute to Haggis Barley McStitch III

I love this tribute my husband wrote to Haggis, and I hope you don’t mind that I share it with a recipe post.

Haggis Barley McStitch III passed away this Thursday, just after noon, in a simple and sterile room with peach-colored walls. Our hands, and tears, were upon him, from his tiny snout to his tiny tail. He would have been 16 years old.
It was an outpouring of affection I’m pretty sure he hated.
It was time, probably past time. We went back and forth for months. Veiled pain, growing confusion, and increasing blindness. Took him minutes to lie down. His legs splayed more and more, a position he couldn’t get out of unless someone lifted him up like a helicopter. Or he stood for what seemed like hours, staring at nothing, frozen in neutral, as if he had just watched every minute of the impeachment trials. Or like me when I go into the garage and can’t remember why I went there. (Yet I can remember the lyrics from nearly every ‘80s song.)
For more than a decade, I showed his image and shared stories about his protective nature to younger school children throughout the world. He inspired hundreds, if not thousands, of kids to stand up for their classmates, regardless of their differences. He was the most influential anti-bullying dog in the world.
We remember and admire how he never complained, that tough old badger. He was so tough that if he were hit by a car, dying, he would write with his own blood in the dirt, “Don’t Pet The Dog.”
He was our anti-therapy dog, compared to Alder, who is as sensitive as a poet in puppy love. What an odd couple. If Haggis could talk, he would tell people in crisis that most of their problems stem from them, not the universe nor their mother. “So buck up. Get up. Make your bed and pull your shoulders back, Champ! You have what it takes!”
We debate whether he’s in Doggy Heaven. He was never much for peace, love and understanding. Or affection. He was a disruptive force of action, his own Doppler Radar storm front, a stout rod of plutonium in a dog bowl of heavy water, born to react and take the battle to the enemy. He was small, but had the spirit of “blood-n-guts” Patton.
But maybe Mr. Old-Fashioned-Values is there. Maybe Heaven is not the never-ending, droning church service with lollipops and cotton candy we’ve been told it is since we learned how to wipe our nose. Maybe there are battles to be fought on the Other Side, and where those battles demand the brave and courageous, and reject the unadventurous and mild, a mildness disguised as various virtues. Cowardice, after all, is a sin, perhaps the worst of all sins, second only to pride.
The courageous die once. Cowards die a thousand times. Irrepressible Haggis Barley McStitch III suffered just once, after a life of restless and bristling energy that protected us from harm both real and imagined. And with joyous sirens blaring.
Friends ghost in and out of our lives. Funny how the dead stay with us.
You changed the world, little buddy.
You’ll always be missed, loved and admired, little stinker.
Thank you for giving us such large paw prints.

-Paul Coughlin

We dug in last week, and quietly ate our comfort tacos!

Enjoy in tacos, tamales, or other Mexican favorites!

4.34 stars (3 reviews)
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Instapot Pork Carnitas Recipe

Thanks to the Instapot, this recipe is packed with flavor (I mean, look at all of that fresh garlic!), but doesn’t require hours of roasting and basting in the oven.
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 35 minutes
marinate: 6 hours
Total Time: 7 hours 35 minutes
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients
 

For Marinade:

Additional:

  • 1 4.5-5lb. bone-in, pork shoulder
  • 2 1/2 cups chicken or pork stock

Instructions
 

  • Combine all marinade ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Cut 1’’ wide, 1’’ deep slits into the top of the pork shoulder. Place shoulder in a large bag (I used an oven roasting bag) and pour in the marinade. Carefully try to push all of the air out and cover the shoulder completely in the marinade before sealing or tying the top of the bag. Allow pork to marinate overnight (or 6 hours.)
  • Set your Instapot to manual, high pressure, and set the timer for 90 minutes. Place the chicken or pork stock inside, then place in the pork shoulder with the remaining marinade. Lock the lid on and let it do its thing! When the time is up, allow the pressure to release naturally, giving the pork more time to marinate—this will take a bit longer than doing the manual release, but give it time. Reserve 1-2 cups of the remaining juice from the pork for later.
  • When the pressure cooker has naturally released, remove the pork from the pot and move to a rimmed baking sheet. Set broiler to 550 degrees F. Place the rack 2 levels under the broiler. Place the pork in the oven and allow to brown and caramelize for 2-3 minutes per side.
  • To serve, remove pork and shred with a fork in a large baking dish. Add as much cooking liquid as you desire. I did about 1 1/2 cups.
  • Enjoy in tacos, tamales, or other Mexican favorites!
Cuisine: Mexican
Course: Main Course
Author: Sandy / Reluctant Entertainer
Did you make this recipe?Tag @reluctantentertainer on Instagram and hashtag it #reluctantentertainer!