Instant Pot Tacos al Pastor are super tender, full of fresh pineapple and spicy chipotle, and are a simple Instant Pot pork recipe. Serve these Instant Pot tacos al Pastor for a quick and easy weeknight dinner in gluten-free corn tortillas or over cauliflower rice for a Paleo alternative.
If you have ever visited Texas you probably already know that tacos are all the rage. (Especially Tacos al Pastor!)
Every corner you turn there is another food truck, taqueria, or fancy taco shop.
Texas tacos range from being slightly too-fancy-and-fussy-for-my-taste to that-taco-is-drowning-in-so-much-grease-I-can-barely-pick-it-up.
So when you find that hidden gem of a taco spot, that happens to make incredible al Pastor tacos, you definitely take note.
This past weekend we were out celebrating a buddy’s 30th birthday party.
We happened to be in the center of downtown Austin, where the food is oftentimes over-priced and not-so-good.
We ordered a few tacos, including their tacos al Pastor, and waited at a table with our friends.
Suffice it to say, my expectations were anything but high. I was hungry, and there were tacos. That’s all I was there for.
However, when we received our variety of tacos (Cohl can consume A LOT of tacos!!) I was beyond surprised.
Of the four different tacos we ordered, the tacos al Pastor were the best… by far!!
They blew my mind so much that I could not stop thinking about them for DAYS. (Hence, the inspiration for the Instant Pot Tacos al Pastor!)
What Kind of Instant Pot is Best?
After a bit of research, I found that the 6-quart Instant Pot is the way to go. It has enough room for large batches of soup, but it is still a great size to fit into your cabinets with ease.
I have the Instant Pot Duo Plus 6-quart, 9-in-1, and it works for just about any and every use you can imagine!
However, if you think you will be making A LOT of bone broth, or enormous batches of soup, you might want to look into the Instant Pot Duo Plus 8-quart.
A Few Things To Note about these Instant Pot Tacos Al Pastor:
While you can adapt this Instant Pot al Pastor recipe to your preference, there are a few points I want to make sure you don’t forget!
- Fresh pineapple is KEY here. If you get the canned variety they will taste WAY too sugary.
- Don’t forget the chipotle peppers in adobo sauce. These bad boys give the tacos al Pastor their signature taste.
- Please marinate for AT LEAST 1 hour. The longer the better. I marinated mine overnight and they were perfect!
How Can You Evolve this al Pastor Recipe?
There are a few changes you can make to these Instant Pot tacos al Pastor to make them a bit healthier:
- If you would like to make this recipe whole30 compliant, simply substitute the maple syrup for date paste or syrup.
- Feel free to use a leaner cut of pork. Pork shoulder is traditional and definitely tastes the best, but you can always try other cuts.
- If you prefer your al Pastor a little spicier, add a bit of cayenne pepper to the recipe.
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Instant Pot Tacos Al Pastor
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Ingredients
- 2 cups pineapple fresh, roughly chopped
- ¾ cup red onion finely chopped
- 2 cloves garlic crushed
- ⅓ cup maple syrup
- 2 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar or white wine vinegar
- 2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce
- 2 Tbsp. lime juice
- 1 Tbsp. chili powder
- 1 tsp. cumin
- ½ tsp. paprika
- 1 ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
- 2 pounds pork shoulder trimmed of excess fat and cut into 2-inch cubes
- 8-16 corn tortillas*
- ½ cup pineapple fresh, finely diced
- ¼ cup red onion finely chopped, optional
- Cilantro optional
- Avocado optional
Instructions
- In a high speed blender or food processor combine pineapple, onion, garlic, maple syrup, vinegar, chipotle peppers, lime juice, chili powder, cumin, paprika, salt, and pepper.
- Blend for 1-2 minutes or until marinade is completely smooth.
- Place trimmed and cubed pork shoulder in a gallon-sized zip-top bag along with the marinade. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 8 hours.
- Once ready to cook, add pork and marinade into the Instant Pot.
- Cover, make sure pressure release valve is sealed, and cook on high pressure for 45 minutes.
- Once the timer goes off, let the pork sit in the Instant Pot for 10 minutes for a 10 minute natural pressure release (NPR).
- After 10 minutes, release the pressure valve and let it ventilate until you are able to open the Instant Pot.
- Shred the pork and let it sit for 10 minutes before serving.
- Serve shredded pork on corn tortillas with diced pineapple, red onions, cilantro, and avocado. Enjoy!
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Notes
- If your pork shoulder was very fatty you may have a bit too much liquid. If so, double up the corn tortillas to make sure your tacos do not fall apart!
- Nutritional information is calculated for 1 taco with 1 corn tortilla.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Want more recipes like these Instant Pot al Pastor Tacos?
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These tacos are divine. This recipe has become a staple in our house. We lived in San Diego for awhile and then moved to Michigan, we missed all the amazing tacos we had out there and these fixed that!
Yay! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment and rating!
BEST TacoTuesday night meat I have EVER made! Incredible recipe. Everyone devoured it. I doubled the meat and recipe (except kept cooking time the same) and it was still amazing!
I added a slaw mix with cabbage slaw and chopped up pineapple and some lime juice and a bit of oil to top it off.
Yay! So happy to hear you enjoyed the recipe, Michelle! Sounds like a perfect Taco Night. Thanks so much for taking the time to leave a comment!
It’s not clear to me in step 2 if you are supposed to add the marinade to the ziplock bag with pork. Can you please clarify?
Thanks for the question, Noah! Yes, you add the marinade in with the pork. I’ll update the instructions to reflect this – sorry for any confusion!
Do I place the marinade on the cubes meat while in the refrigerator or is the meat placed in the bag without the marinade ?
You definitely want to coat the meat in the marinade before refrigerating it. This helps to tenderize the meat and give it a ton of flavor! Hope you enjoy the recipe 🙂
This recipe was SO good! My boyfriend (who is a big cooking aficionado) and I were both so impressed! I’m definitely keeping this handy for anytime we want to do a taco night!
Yay! So happy you and your boyfriend enjoyed the recipe, Clara. Thanks for your comment and rating!
I’ve tried sooo many al pastor instant pot recipes and this is by far my fav. I doubled the chipotles and poured the adobo sauce in with the marinade, and was admittedly heavy handed with the cayenne but def the best flavor I ever got. Marinaded for about 4 hours, flavor for days. Thank YOU!! My search for al pastor awesome is over
Yay! So happy to hear you enjoyed the al pastor recipe so much, Kira! And adding cayenne pepper is a great idea 🙂 Thanks for your comment and rating!
This pork turned out AMAZING. We took the leftover marinade/cooking liquid and reduced it on the stove, then added a bit of cornstarch to thicken and it made a baller taco sauce on top of the meat. Will definitely make these again.
Oh that sauce sounds like it was to DIE for, Jenny! I’ll have to try that out the next time I make these. Thanks for your comment and rating!
Help! i just finished blending the marinade. the flavor is great but a tad spicy, maybe my peppers are extra spicy. any suggestions to mellow it out before i put it on the meat?
The peppers can definitely vary in heat, Kelly! You can add more pineapple to the marinade to dilute the pepper’s heat. Also, the marinade will disperse throughout the meat and the heat will decrease slightly after cooking. Hope this helps!
I don’t even have these on the table yet and I’m a little worried I never will….people in my family keep pulling pieces of the cooling pork out of the pot and just eating it – one is literally drinking a cup of the broth….Very exciting.
LOL. So happy to hear your family enjoyed the recipe so much. And thanks so much for your comment and feedback! 🙂
yeah – we ended up making DELICIOUS tacos with it – my oldest son: “omg mom – this is AMAZING.” They have been making burritos with the leftovers and are pretty much set on this being our taco meat from now on! Thank you for the delicious and EASY recipe
You’re so very welcome, Teresa! The burritos sounds like a GREAT idea! Will have to try that out next time. Thanks so much for your comment and rating 🙂
Hi London – I’m having a get together and plan to make this. I’ll be using 4 pounds of meat. I saw that you don’t double the time. Should I double the marinade but only put 1/2 of it in the IP? (I read the article on doubling you suggested and it stated that liquid doubling in some recipes like this can be tricky.) Thoughts? Thanks so much! Meg
Hi Megan! It wouldn’t hurt to add just a touch more time to the recipe, but probably isn’t absolutely necessary. As long as you cut the pieces of pork into similar sized chunks you should be good! And yes, doubling the liquid can get a bit challenging since it can create too much pressure if the IP is too full. However, I think you’ll be good with this recipe! If you start to pour in the sauce and it fills up past the max fill line, you can always cook the remaining down in a skillet and combine it all when it’s done cooking! Please do let me know how it turns out for you and I hope you have a wonderful get together!