Instant Pot Pork Adobo

Up close plateful of pork adobo and white rice with some garlic cloves and fork.

5 from 11 votes

Instant Pot Pork Adobo makes the most tender, fall apart pork seasoned with some pantry staples like soy sauce and vinegar. This pork adobo just may become your new favorite Asian pork dish!

Prep Time10

Cook Time15

Up/Down Pressure Time25

Total Time50

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: Asian

Servings:

Calories: 273kcal

Author: Tristin - Home Cooked Harvest

Equipment

Pressure Cooker

Ingredients

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
2 pounds pork shoulder cut into 2 inch chunks
10-12 garlic cloves minced
1 medium onion halved and sliced
2 teaspoons brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
4 bay leaves whole
1/3 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup white vinegar
1/8 cup water
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch optional, to thicken sauce

Instructions

Press the sauté button to use the sauté mode on the instant pot. Once it is hot, add in the oil. Add in the pork and cook until all of the sides are browned. You are just browning the pork make sure not to fully cook it. Pull the pork pieces out of the pressure cooker and put into a bowl or on a plate.
Add the onions into the instant pot and sauté for 3-5 minutes. Add the minced garlic cloves, brown sugar, whole black peppercorns, pepper, and dried bay leaves. Sauté just for about a minute. Scrape any browned bits that may have cooked to the bottom of the pot. Add the pork back in.
Pour in vinegar, soy sauce, and water. Scrape any browned bits that may have cooked to the bottom of the pot. Add the pork back in, giving it a quick stir and making sure that the pork is all partially submerged in the liquid.
Put the lid on the pressure cooker, turn the venting knob to the sealing position. Pressure cook for 15 minutes at high pressure. Allow it to natural release for 10 minutes. After that release pressure with a quick release by turning the venting knob to the venting position. Carefully open lid.
If you would like to thicken the sauce, pull the pork meat out with a slotted spoon into a serving bowl. Turn on the sauté function again and bring the adobo sauce up to a simmer. Mix 2 1/2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 3 tablespoons of water in a small bowl. Mix that into the hearty stew liquid. Taste the sauce, season with more soy sauce or salt if needed. Add the pork chunks back in.
Pull out the bay leaves and peppercorns if you like. Serve with white rice.

Notes

Add some spiciness. If you would like to add a little heat, add one red dried chili pepper along.
Add in ginger. Ginger goes hand in hand with many Asian recipes. It will work here, also, if you would like to add a bit of a different flavor profile.
A bit sweeter. If you would like it sweeter just add more brown sugar.
Make it tangier. Add some more vinegar for a little more tang.

* Please note that all nutrition information are just estimates. Values will vary among brands, so we encourage you to calculate these on your own for most accurate results.

Nutrition