I can’t lie. My small family of four ate an entire pork loin this evening and the blame lays entirely on the Instant Pot. I have made pulled pork more times than I can count but have always used my slow cooker. Don’t get me wrong, the slow cooker did do a nice job but this dinner was just amazing and the best part is it took the meat only 45 minutes of cooking with 10 minutes of steam release. This meat was a pork loin, not a pork butt which I usually use and has way more fat, and it came out tender and with so much flavor. I did sear it first which you can do in the Instant Pot but I still prefer my stainless pan over flame for that job. And the glaze? Don’t get me started. It’s savory, a bit sweet and the perfect amount of hot. Please don’t mind the photos as I find it difficult to make any pulled meat look pretty as well as I had both of my kids running a muck and can only do so many things at once. I’m sure you’ve all been there.
Rub for Pork:
- 2 teaspoons rubbed sage
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar (I love organic cane sugar, it’s a little thicker and has a slight molasses flavor)
- 1/2 heaping teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/2 heaping teaspoon garlic powder
Combine the rub ingredients and rub your pork loin and let rest for a few minutes while you work on your potatoes (see below). Preheat a stainless pan over medium high heat and sear all sides of your pork loin. Pour 1 cup beer, I used Glutenberg pale ale, into your Instant Pot. Place your seared pork loin on top of the beer, close lid, hit the manual button and select 45 minutes. The Instant Pot will do the difficult work. Once it has finished cooking allowing the steam to release on its own for 10 minutes before releasing the remainder. Remove the pork from the pot and pull apart with forks. Toss with glaze or in my case, I tossed only mine and my husband’s in the glaze and used BBQ sauce for the kiddos.
Roasted Baby Potatoes:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss baby potatoes with a little light olive oil, four thickly sliced cloves of garlic, a nice pinch of kosher salt, a little fresh or dried rosemary and thyme to taste and some freshly cracked black pepper. Place on a baking sheet or baking pan and toss in the oven for about a half hour. Check for doneness with a fork, they should be tender but not mush.
Chipotle Balsamic Glaze:
Grate half a yellow onion and cook in a small sauce pot until caramelized. In a Vitamix, or blender of choice, pour in 2/3 cup balsamic vinegar, 1 chipotle pepper in adobo (add more if you love heat) 2 tablespoons honey. Blend on high until smooth. Add the mixture to the pot with the onion and reduce over a low flame for about 10 minutes. Return the mixture to the blender and blend until smooth. Set aside for use when meat is all done.
That’s it! Great dinner and pretty quick and easy. Enjoy!!!
SWEET CAFFEINE 