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Hawaiian Kalua Pork - tender and juicy pressure cooker Hawaiian Kalua pork recipe. 10 mins active time and dinner is done!
My family friend V recently bought an Instant Pot and she has been raving to me about the ease of use and that everything gets cooked in a very short time. More importantly, the foods actually taste very good.
I bought myself an Instant Pot, and I love it, especially on those busy weeknights when I have to make dinner for the entire family!
This Hawaiian Kalua Pork is the first recipe I attempted with the pressure cooker and it was fast, delicious and everyone loved it, including picky eater little G.
He enjoyed the Kalua pork so much that he made sure I packed it for his school lunch, now this doesn’t happen that often.
I love the simplicity of the recipe as it calls for very few ingredients. I did jazz up the original recipe a bit to make it more flavorful.
The pork is tender, juicy, perfectly cooked and bursting with flavors and I had only one pot to clean after dinner.
I am excited to use my Instant Pot again, and I would love to share more pressure cooker recipes with you all.
Please leave me a comment and tell me that if you have an Instant Pot and if you wish to see more recipes from me.
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe is only 358 calories per serving.
What To Serve With Hawaiian Kalua Pork
For a wholesome meal and easy weeknight dinner, I recommend the following recipes.
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Hawaiian Kalua Pork (Instant Pot)
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 2 lbs (1kg) pork roast
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 tablespoons Wright’s Hickory Liquid Smoke
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1/2 tablespoon kosher salt
Instructions
- Select the Browning setting and add oil to the cooking pot. When it's hot, brown the pork on both sides, about 3 minutes per side. Remove to a platter once browned.
- Turn off the pressure cooker and add the water, liquid smoke, soy sauce, and brown sugar to the cooking pot. Return the pork and its juices to the pot. Sprinkle the salt over the top of the pork.
- Select High Pressure and set the timer for 60 minutes. When it beeps, allow the pressure to release naturally for about 20 minutes. Once the valve drops, carefully remove the lid.
- Remove the meat from the pressure cooker and shred it with two forks. Serve immediately with steamed rice.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Looking forward to trying this. If I double the amount of pork, I assume I will double the other ingredients but what about cook time?
Cook time should be the same.
Hi! Making this for Easter. Will a 2.81 lb boneless pork shoulder work for this recipe? And can you please help with cook time and liquid for an 8qt insta pot and for the size of pork? Thank you!
Yes, it will work just fine. You can add 5 minutes more to cook time and 1 cup water. Reduce the liquid using Saute mode.
I’m not going to rate this recipe because I haven’t done it. My husband and I were born and raised in Hawai’i and you really don’t need all that stuff to make really good Kalua pork. All you need it liquid smoke and a lot of Hawaiian salt. That’s it! The sugar, soy sauce and water are all not needed. We like making ours in a slow cooker instead which makes it absolutely amazing and worth the wait. I’m sure this one is yummy as well but the way my husband and I make ours reminds us of home without all that extra stuff. :)
Hi Stacey, thanks for your comment. Good to know about this dish from a local Hawaiian. :)
My husband was born and raised in Hawaii. He makes a version of Kahlua pig in the crockpot also. While it may be true that you don’t need the extra ingredients it was very good. My husband approved…as did everyone else. I will be making this again.
Andrea: If you triple the size of roast, you have to increase cooking time. Can’t expect a 6 lb. roast to cook in same time as a 2 lb. roast, regardless of cooking method! Cook it 1 1/2 to 2 hrs. in IP and it will “just melt.” I have made large roasts in my PC and they come out perfect!
I am only rating 4 stars because authentic Kalua pork doesn’t have soy sauce and brown sugar, and should have Hawaiian red salt or other coarse sea salt.
I recently made this (minus soy and sugar, using pink Himalayan sea salt) with 10 lbs.pork that was labeled “Carnitas Cut”, (unsure what cut it actually was, and it was in many small pieces, about 8-10 oz. each), 9 lbs. pork butt in 3 pieces, and with a 8 lb. fresh ham (it’s raw, uncured, unsmoked). Cooked the ham, 2 pieces of butt, and part of carnitas in electric roaster on 200° for 14 hrs., and rest in my 10 qt. Power Pressure Cooker XL for 40 min. All came out delicious and tender. This was made for our church luau, and I had lots of leftovers. I canned the leftovers and it is just as good as when fresh cooked! Now we have 9 pints of Kalua pork to enjoy any time on wonderful sandwiches!
I assume we are cooking the pork on the little metal tray so it’s not sitting in the water, correct?
Would I need to add more water to the recipe for an 8 quart pot? Thanks!
Yeah, you may add 1/2 cup more water and reduce it with saute mode after pressure cooking.
Loved this recipe, used pork shoulder cut into smaller pieces, cooked for 60 minutes, NPR count was 1 hr 15 min (because I was at an appt & just kept it warm) and it was wonderful! This is definitely a keeper! Thanks for sharing!
Forgot to add that I went a little shy of doubling the liquid Smoke ?
Lol, I love that stuff, it makes the Hawaiian Kalua Pork so much better. :)
This was Amazeballs! Since it was Cinco De Mayo, I had Hubby pickup fresh Corn Tortillas, Chips, and Salsa from our neighborhood Mexican Market. He picked up a 4.3lb. Picnic cut Pork. I microwaved 6 slices of butcher cut Bacon. I added the drippings to the pot along with the called for oil & browned the roast on all sides. I upped the ingredients due to the size of the meat. I added 1 3/4 cup of water (since the larger the meat, means more juices), 4 Tbsp Hawaiian Soy Sauce, and 4 Tbsp Brown Sugar to pot. Added meat back to pot sprinkled 3/4 tsp if Salt per pound ( 1 Tbsp ), and draped Bacon over the top. I decided to cook for 1 1/2 hrs. Since I recently made French Dip sandwiches from Julieseatsandtreats.com with life changing results. The extra cook time makes sure the connective tissue of the meat melts. This recipe deliver fallapart tender shreds of meat without any mushiness. This was wonderful on fresh tortillas with a little onion and grated Cotija cheese. Served with Mexican rice, Chips, and Salsa. Plan to use this recipe again this week to serve at my son’s High School Lacrosse Playoffs. Thank you for sharing another Beautiful recipe!
Thanks Tiff for trying this recipe! :)
Mexican carnitas and kalua pork are both made from the shoulder roasts in a similar manner, and end up pulled, but have different seasonings. Better to serve Carnitas with the above accompaniments. :)
Thanks for your tips!
*2nd time using this delicious recipe*
Hi Andrea, I just made a 6lbs roast too but here is something I learned about adapting an IP recipe to a larger amount of meat. Cut the roast into smaller chunks (I cut mine down to 6). It makes a huge difference in how tender the meat comes out for a recipe like this one.
And because the recipe as given is for “2 lbs” I also increased water to 3/4 cup doubled the soy sauce, brown sugar and kosher salt, but kept liquid smoke to 2Tbs as listed. Cooked for 60 minutes on high pressure, followed by 30 minute natural release and it turned out great.
I was cooking for 6 and wanted leftovers too – thank you for the excellent recipe!
Thanks for the tips Jules. Thanks for trying my recipe.