Instant Pot Pork Carnitas

You're going to love these Instant Pot Pork Carnitas, served with a sweet potato mash and Pico de Gallo. It's Whole 30/Paleo friendly and can be made in a pressure cooker! 

That name is a mouthful, but Carnitas Over Sweet Potato Mash is a name that matches the amount of flavor in this dish. Trust me - this is absolutely loaded with so many flavor profiles. And it's a great option if you're doing a Paleo/Whole30-style diet too - I *think* all of the ingredients in this one are compliant with both! (Somebody correct me if I'm wrong.)

This recipe originally appeared in my Cleaner, Healthier Boot Camp and has been popular ever since. It was definitely the runaway hit of that boot camp, with good reason - it's such a flavorful meal that doesn't feel like you're eating "health" food. The sweet potatoes pick up just a tiny amount of spice from the pork and the pico that tops the whole dish gives it a fresh element...definitely don't skip that part, it make the whole dish!

I can see this dish being popular during summer or winter - it's slightly spicy and perfect for summer, but also has a comfort food element to it that would be great for winter too. We'll call this an evergreen dish. 😉

Let's get to the details!

As a reminder: I’ll be sharing a recipe for each week of the summer (10 weeks total). On the 11th week, I’ll have a full pack of printables, recipes, and prep instructions to make all of these recipes at once for your freezer, just like my other Freezer Meal Boot Camps! (UPDATE: The full freezer meal boot camp is now available here!) You can check out the other recipes in this series below:

• Part 1 – Smokey Penne
• Part 2 – Carrot & Butternut Squash Soup
• Part 3 – Mississippi Roast
• Part 4 – Firefighter Chili
• Part 5 – Italian Beef Sandwiches
• Part 6 – Beef Ragu
• Part 7 - Turkey & Sweet Potato Chili
• Part 8 - Zuppa Toscana
• Part 9 - Carnitas Over Sweet Potato Mash (you're here!)
• Part 10 - Taco Soup

In each of these posts, I’ll share how to make the recipe from either fresh or frozen. (And a note: if you’ve done my boot camps before, these recipes might vary slightly from the original version to make overall prep easier.)

Ingredient List 1: If freezing, put the following in your freezer container:

Container 1:
3lb pork butt
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder

Container 2:
7 sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon chili powder

(Don’t forget to label your meal – here’s a free printable for that!)

Ingredients Needed For Serve Day:

6 roma tomatoes
1 cup cilantro
¼ large red onion
juice of 2 limes
1 tablespoon salt

(If Prepping From Frozen) On Serve Day…

1. Thaw your meal enough to pop out of the freezer containers.
2. Add contents of container 1 & 1 cup water to IP.
3. Set IP for high, 90 minutes. Once cook cycle is up, allow pressure to naturally release for 10-15 minutes before releasing remaining pressure.
4. Once pressure is released, remove meat and shred; mix in about ½ cup of the cooking juices (reserving rest in the pot). Spread meat on a cookie sheet and broil for 6-8 minutes, until ends get crispy.
5. Add container 2’s contents into cooking juices in pot. Cook sweet potatoes for 15 minutes and quick release the pressure once cook cycle is up.
6. While container 2 cooks, chop tomatoes, cilantro, and onion and combine. Garnish with lime juice and salt and stir well.
7. Once cook cycle is up, mash sweet poatoes. Serve topped with carnitas and garnished with pico.

(If Prepping From Fresh) On Serve Day…

1. Add ingredients for container 1 & 1 cup water to IP.
3. Set IP for high, 90 minutes. Once cook cycle is up, allow pressure to naturally release for 10-15 minutes before releasing remaining pressure.
4. Once pressure is released, remove meat and shred; mix in about ½ cup of the cooking juices (reserving rest in the pot). Spread meat on a cookie sheet and broil for 6-8 minutes, until ends get crispy.
5. Add container 2’s contents into cooking juices in pot. Cook sweet potatoes for 15 minutes and quick release the pressure once cook cycle is up.
6. While container 2 cooks, chop tomatoes, cilantro, and onion and combine. Garnish with lime juice and salt and stir well.
7. Once cook cycle is up, mash sweet poatoes. Serve topped with carnitas and garnished with pico.

You can also download a recipe card for this meal here.

Enjoy guys!

(UPDATED: You can now find the full Best of Freezer Meal Boot Camp, including full prep instructions and labels, here!)