‘The Pioneer Woman’: Ree Drummond’s Instant Pot Pork Carnitas Recipe Is ‘Done in No Time at All’

Ree Drummond‘s easy pork carnitas recipe comes together quickly with one of her favorite kitchen appliances — the Instant Pot multi-cooker. The Pioneer Woman star shares the steps for the shortcut cooking technique and how to make easy queso.

Ree Drummond uses an Instant pot for her pork carnitas recipe

Drummond made her pork carnitas recipe on an episode of The Pioneer Woman, noting that “the multicooker shortcuts the cooking time” for this “awesome make-ahead dinner for the family.”

The Food Network host explained, “Dinner is fast approaching so I’m going to pull it together using my new favorite piece of cooking equipment — a multi-cooker. I’m making pork carnitas — something that would usually take over three hours to make is going to be done in no time at all.”

Drummond sauteed cubes of pork shoulder in the multi-cooker and removed the meat, then added sliced onions and poblano chilis and sauteed them for 3 minutes.

“A multi-cooker is a magical thing,” she said. “It’s something that you can sauté with, it’s also a pressure cooker, or you can use it as a slow cooker.”

Drummond added, “Pressure cooking is something that scares a lot of people but the magic of it is it cooks something like carnitas in 30 to 45 minutes.”

The Food Network host added an easy step to make the carnitas crispy

Drummond added ancho chili powder, cumin, minced garlic, Mexican oregano, lemon-lime soda, orange juice, and orange zest then returned the meat to the pot.

“You actually don’t have to sauté the pork first,” she said. “I usually like to just because it deepens the flavor and the color of the pork.”

She stirred everything well, placed the lid on the pot, and put it on the “sealing” setting for 25 minutes. After allowing the multi-cooker to naturally vent for 10 minutes, Drummond manually released the pressure.

Drummond removed the pork from the Instant Pot and shredded it on a sheet pan. She had an extra step to add a crispy finish to the meat — she placed it under the broiler for 2 to 3 minutes.

“What makes carnitas so wonderful is that you crisp the meat under the broiler before you serve it,” she explained. “So the meat is still really tender and flavorful but you get these nice charred pieces, which just ups the flavor even more.”

‘The Pioneer Woman’ made an easy queso

Drummond served the pork carnitas with a super simple queso. She combined cubed processed cheese, hot diced tomatoes and chilis, and diced pimentos with their juice and stirred until the cheese melted.

To serve the carnitas, Drummond first wrapped tortillas in a dishcloth and microwaved them for 15 seconds.

Drummond removed the meat from the oven and ladled some of the cooking juice over it. “You can use as little or as much of this as you want,” she explained.

The Food Network host placed a tortilla on a plate, topped it with pork carnitas, a spoonful of queso, a sprinkle of cilantro, and peach salsa.

The full recipe is available on the Food Network website.