This Porchetta-Spiced Pulled Pork is wonderfully flavoured with herbs and spices and is so tender as an Instant Pot recipe or Slow Cooker cooking method.
One of our favourite pulled pork recipes is this Porchetta-Spiced version. What is porchetta-spiced? Porchetta is usually a very slow cooked pork with the skin on that is flavoured primarily with fennel seed, garlic, and other herbs.
Here I’ve made the recipe easier and more accessible by using a skinless pork shoulder cut and the Instant Pot or the slow cooker for complete hands off cooking that results in mouthwatering tender meat.
Once I’ve got the pulled pork all cooked up, we use this easy protein for a number of different dishes throughout the week. Our favourites are added into tomato sauce to top pasta or gnocchi, in a sandwich with sundried tomato mayo (chop sundried tomatoes and mix with mayo and some minced garlic), or in a simple potato hash where the herb and garlic flavours of the pulled pork enhances the flavours of the potatoes.
All the flavours used to season the meat transfer to each and every dish, making this kind of meal prep dish a dream to reuse for a few days.
Having a larger piece of meat, like pork shoulder, it’s easy to stretch the protein and recreate what to do with it for more than one meal. One way that I often use BBQ pulled pork is in a quick and easy quesadilla. This porchetta-spiced pulled pork instant pot recipe could definitely make a grilled sandwich over the top yum.
You don’t need a ton of accessories for this Instant Pot recipe. All that is need is the steam rack insert that comes with the Instant Pot. I used the rack so that the pork shoulder is easy to remove from the Instant Pot.
The slow cooker has zero accessories and none are used in this recipe. It’s a simple dump and go recipe that will have the entire house smelling amazing by the time dinner arrives.
We’ve had this recipe many times, but primarily during weeks where we have so much going on that I can’t make a new protein every night. This pulled pork is reinvented and reused daily for a wholesome and delicious meal my entire family loves.
This Porchetta-Spiced Pulled Pork is wonderfully flavoured with herbs and spices and is so tender from an Instant Pot recipe or Slow Cooker cooking method.
- 3-4 lbs trimmed pork shoulder (aka pork butt)
- 2 tbsp dried fennel seed
- 1 tbsp dried sage
- 1 tbsp dried rosemary
- 1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 cup water or chicken broth
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
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Grind fennel, sage, rosemary, and crushed red pepper together (either with a mortar or spice grinder). Add garlic, salt, pepper, lemon zest, and olive oil. Mix with a spoon.
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Make 8-10 small 1" slits all over the pork shoulder. Rub herb mixture all over pork shoulder and into the small slits.
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Place broth at the bottom of the Instant Pot or Slow cooker. Add steaming rack to Instant Pot and place pork on top or place directly into slow cooker.
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IP: Cook pork at high pressure for 60 minutes with the steam valve closed, then use the quick release to release the steam.
Slow cooker: cook pork on high for 3-4 hours or on low for 6- 8 hours. -
Remove pork from cooking vessel and shred with two forks. Toss with 1/2 cup of cooking juice and lemon juice.
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Serve on buns, in a tomato sauced pasta, in a lasagna, or made crispy in a potato hash.
Enjoy! xo
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