Instant Pot Root Beer Pulled Pork - Dump and Go Dinner
Pressure cooked in a sweet and tangy root beer marinade, this Instant Pot Root Beer Pulled Pork makes a saucy sandwich for sharing in any potluck spread or around the patio table. Add a handful of your favorite chips or creamy coleslaw for an easy, relaxing dinner.
Ingredients
- 2 pounds quarter Pork Roast
- ½ teaspoons Garlic Salt
- ½ teaspoons Black Pepper
- 1 ¼ cups slice Onion
- ¾ cups Root Beer
- ¼ cups Ketchup
- 2 tablespoons Tomato Paste
- ½ tablespoons Lemon Juice
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon Honey
- 1 tablespoon Flour, All-Purpose
Containers
Supplies
Cooking Instructions
Freeze For Later Cooking Day Directions
These directions help you cook or prepare this meal PRIOR to being frozen for serving later (see Serving Day Directions when you are ready to prepare it to eat).
Why would I want to freeze this?
- Divide all ingredients into indicated number of round containers. Label and freeze.
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Make From Frozen Serving Day Directions
These directions help you cook or reheat this meal AFTER it's been frozen for when you are ready to eat it.
- Prep from frozen
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Make It Now Cooking Directions
These directions are for cooking this recipe to serve immediately and NOT to freeze for later.
- **Due to the nature of pressure cooking there is always room for inconsistency. The times given here are based on 4 servings fresh. If you are using more servings you may need to increase your cooking time.**
- Sprinkle roast with garlic salt and pepper.
- Place in inner pot.
- Mix all other ingredients together and pour over roast.
- Lock cover into place and seal steam nozzle.
- Cook on high pressure for 35 minutes.
- Naturally release pressure for 5 minutes then quick release remaining pressure.
- Remove roast and onions.
- Shred pork and discard onions.
- Add roast back to sauce in pot and stir to combine.
Nutrition Facts
- Servings Per Recipe
- 4 Servings
- Serving Size
- about 8 ounces Amount Per Serving
- Calories
- 449
- Total Fat
- 19g
- Saturated Fat
- 4g
- Trans Fat
- 0g
- Cholesterol
- 145mg
- Sodium
- 529mg
- Total Carbohydrates
- 18g
- Fiber
- 1g
- Sugar
- 14g
- Protein
- 49g
- WW Freestyle
- 11
57 Comments
Join the discussionI made this and tasted the sauce before putting into the IP and it tasted AWESOME, but when it was done cooking, it tasted bland and diluted….Should some of the sauce be kept out to add to the meat later? Did I do something wrong?
We’re sorry to hear it didn’t turn out as anticipated. We didn’t receive any negative feedback from our test cooks. However, keeping sauce out to add flavor is definitely an option. We also recommend taking the meat our, turning on saute, and letting the sauce cook for about 5 mins to thicken. Hope this helps!
i’m wondering if Tammy possibly used sugar free root beer. I know that artificial sweeteners (at least some) lose their sweetness when cooked…that could have been a reason why the sauce tasted good before cooking but not after. Just a guess.
Interesting thought!
Seriously??? Cook another 35 minutes on serving day? You seem to have been caught by the copy-and-paste gremlin. “Serving Day” steps 2-7 are IDENTICAL to “Prep Day” steps 4-9. OOPS Any chance for a correction/update?
You don’t cook roast before freezing. It is frozen raw. Hope that helps.
Great observation. The recipe does not need updated, it is correct. The first set of “Directions” are to cook to serve. The “Freezing Directions” are to freeze this recipe so you can cook from frozen. The serving day directions are where you actually cook the pork (from frozen). Hope this helps! Enjoy!
How are you supposed to “discard onions” a second time? I’m with 54 observer: these directions do not work as written.
The onions don’t get discarded a second time. Above there are THREE sets of directions based on how you are preparing this recipe:Set 1 – Directions = cooking it to serve for dinner WITHOUT freezing that night, fresh!
Set 2 – Freezing Directions = directions for freezing the recipe WITHOUT cooking.
Set 3 – Serving Directions = directions for COOKING the FROZEN product you created in Set 2.Set 1 is to serve tonight for dinner. Set 3 is if you did set 2 and froze.I hope that makes sense now. Honestly, the onions could also stay in and be very tasty.
Thanks, I get it now.
I’m new to the Instant Pot, so I just want to make sure I understand. It takes 35 minutes in the pot to cook a raw roast, and the same 35 minutes (plus 5 minutes on saute) to cook a frozen roast?
No, the first set of “Directions” are to cook to serve. The “Freezing Directions” are to freeze this recipe so you can cook from frozen. The serving day directions are where you actually cook the pork (from frozen). Hope this helps! Enjoy!
RE: pbj November 29, 2016 at 5:11 pm: “I’m new to the Instant Pot, so I just want to make sure I understand. It takes 35 minutes in the pot to cook a raw roast, and the same 35 minutes (plus 5 minutes on saute) to cook a frozen roast?”
You didn’t answer her correctly. I have the same question she does:
1. in EAT IT TODAY directions, you say to cook it 35 minutes. this means you are cooking a REFRIGERATED roast for 35 minutes.
2. in EAT IT LATER directions, you say to SAUTE it 5 minutes and then cook it 35 minutes. this means that you are cooking a FROZEN roast for 5 minutes on saute and 35 minutes cook time.
this means it only takes 5 additional minutes on saute to cook a frozen roast vs. a refrigerated one. this makes no sense. based on nikki’s comment above, i think the cooking times for a frozen roast are way off. please reply. thx.
I think since it says to freeze in a gallon bag you will have to thaw this one to put in the Instant Pot to cook.
The instant pot will not start the cooking timer until enough pressure has built in the pot. It will take longer for the pressure to build in the pot on frozen items. Once the pressure has built to the right level, the time will begin, so the cooking time on the recipe is likely correct. But you are also correct that the total time preparing this meal from Frozen will take longer. ☺️
I’m new to IP cooking. Do I add water to this if cooking from frozen? Or should I just assume I always add 1 cup of water to bring to pressure?
Amy,
There are THREE sets of directions based on how you are preparing this recipe:
Set 1 – Directions = cooking it to serve for dinner WITHOUT freezing that night, fresh! (need to add liquid/water to bring to pressure)
Set 2 – Freezing Directions = directions for freezing the recipe WITHOUT cooking.
Bet 3 – Serving Directions = directions for COOKING the FROZEN product you created in Set 2. (this is why we have you saute first – to create enough liquid in the pot)
To Recap: Set 1 is to serve tonight for dinner. Set 3 is if you did set 2 and froze.
I hope this helps! Happy cooking!
I followed this recipe for freezing first (skipping set 1) for a 2lb pork roast. However, after sautéing for 5+ min and cooking on high for 35 minutes in my Instant pot the roast was very much raw. I cooked for 15 min more and it still wasn’t done. I ended up cooking it for a total of 35 min longer than recipe stated (double stated time).
This is my first experience cooking from a frozen state like this, but I love the concept. I did notice there was not much liquid yet after the sauté time. Should there have been a noticeable amount by that point? Any ideas on what I might have done incorrectly??
You did the right thing by just cooking longer – that’s truly the best thing you can do – we do include the disclaimer on all our IP recipes that due to the nature of pressure cooking there is always room for inconsistency. A little more water may or may not have helped. In the meantime, we’re working behind the scenes to find ways to help cook from frozen more evenly and efficiently in the Instant Pot.
ugh. i typed a long comment, and it disappeared. look at your instructions for serve it today vs. serving it later. you are saying that a FROZEN roast cooks only 5 minutes longer (on saute) than a REFRIGERATED roast. this cannot be right.
serve it today–cook 35 minutes
serve it later–freeze it, when you are ready to serve it, saute 5 minutes, cook 35 minutes
this can’t be right.
Thanks for your question Julie. Actually when it comes to the Instant Pot, this is right! The recipe may take a few more minutes to come to pressure as the recipe has to thaw and then heat. So this will add a little time. But you don’t actually have to add any cooking time when you are cooking from frozen. We have tested all of these recipes to make sure!
I think what some are missing here is in recipe number three, you have already cooked the roast, then froze it. So really you are just thawing a frozen cooked roast in set number three. That is the way I read it.
The roast is NOT cooked before you freeze it. Every site I have been to says the cooking times for frozen are almost the same as cooking from thawed.
I used a different sauce recipe (Mccormick spice pack) and cooked the frozen pork for an HOUR after sauting for 5 minutes. Internal temperatures ranged from 34 degrees to 100 degrees. Make sure you use a good thermometer and have a back-up plan. Ours is currently cut into chunks boiling on the stove. Glad I haven’t bought an instant pot yet and just experimented in someone else’s- 35 minutes would not have worked.
Nikki, experimenting with someone else’s pot is a great idea!! We’re sorry to hear you had some trouble with this recipe but we thank you so much for sharing your experience with us. There are a ton of variables when it comes to pressure cooking – we have put together a helpful post on troubleshooting Instant Pot recipes. We hope you’ll try another (recipe) as we’re curious to hear if you decide to buy an IP or not! We’re obviously big fans! ?
When the directions say to “quarter” I assume that is so the meat cooks faster in the smaller chunks?
That is correct, “quarter” = cut the meat into four pieces. We’d love to hear how yours turns out! Enjoy!
Meat was super tender and a big hit. Kind of made a mess when I did the pressure release, a lot of liquid came out. Any tips on how to thicken the sauce, or maybe use less?
Glad to hear it was a hit! A little cornstarch + water mixture would likely help to thicken.
What do you mean “number bags/containers” for freezing?
You’ll see this listed on the left-hand side under “Freezer Containers” this number can change for members since they have the ability to customize their serving size. If you have more questions we’re happy to chat with you in the bottom right-hand corner of the website!
Discard onions? Blasphemy! 🙂
Thanks – this and so many others on your site look wonderful. 🙂
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What kind of pork roast? Loin or shoulder?
A shoulder would be best for this recipe.
The good news is that I get the instructions! But I am having issues with the ingredients! What’s “quarter” pork roast? My butcher thinks this is an error because he doesn’t have a clue either.
You’ll just want to cut your roast into quarters to help it cook in the IP. Happy cooking!
I really wish the recipe had stated “quartered” or even “cut into chunks”. I assumed “quarter pork roast” was simply a different name for the cut of meat. Only after taking the pork out the IP and seeing it was still tough and NOT shredding at all brought me to the comments to see if I had done something wrong. I had put the roast in whole so no wonder it’s not fully cooked yet.
Would be a simple clarification to save people the headache especially since I’m not the only one who encountered this issue. I put it back in the IP for another 15 but I suspect it may have to go even longer. Hopefully it’ll still turn out.
Hi Matt, we’re sorry for the confusion. Since you’ve seen the comments now – you know that this is how our system words things as well as the purpose in quartering it. The prep sheet also gives instructions on doing this the night before a big cooking day. That obviously is no help to you now – we’ll take your suggestions into consideration and speak with our product team about it. Thanks for your feedback!
It should say pork roast, quartered.
I agree “Pork roast, quartered” makes more sense. I totally missed this and my IP kept showing “burn” error until I finally pulled it out and quartered it. My two hungry kids are now waiting impatiently for a dinner that “smells delicious”.
Can you sub anything else for the root beer? I forgot it and really don’t feel like going back out!
Cream Soda, Sarsaparilla, Sassafras, Dr Pepper.. let us know what you decide. We’d love to hear how it turns out!
Can all the ingredients be mixed together and then frozen in freezer bag? Should some ingredients be separated prior to freezing??
Yes, you can do that!
I love this recipe and most on this site. I find it really funny that so many people have problems reading your recipes. I am assuming they are new to this site and don’t understand the concept of having the different directions depending on what you’re doing. I will agree that the part about the ingredients could be a little clearer. For example if meat were listed like this: 2 lbs. pork roast, quartered. Instead of the current way listed. It is really easy to miss the “quartered” part and then your food takes longer in the pot.
Hi Liz. Thank you so much for the feedback! We’re so glad you enjoy our site and the recipes! We totally understand your feedback about the listing of the ingredients. Unfortunately, they are written that way in our database which is why they are displayed that way on the recipes. Cooking math is complicated ?It’s definitely something we are aware of though. Thanks again Liz!
What’s the best root beer to use?
Hi Adalie! I really say it’s based on personal preference. The root beer does really come through in the flavor, so you should choose what you would like. If you don’t like it as sweet, you may want to go with a sarsaparilla. The one in my freezer uses A&W root beer and you definitely get the sweetness coming through with the root beer.
This had great flavor. I made one one cooking day and have frozen the other for later. My only issue is that a lot of these recipes aren’t for full “meals”, just main dish. One of my biggest struggles besides just main dish planning is side dishes that don’t require a lot of though for what goes well with this or require much prep. Any suggestions for this particulr meal?
Hi Kristi! Thanks for your feedback on this recipe!
Additionally, if you weren’t aware, we do have side dishes! Some members chose to add a few to a menu, while others like to do a separate ‘sides only’ cook day. You can see those here: https://onceamonthmeals.com/recipes/?meal_type=side_dish
We hope this helps!
Ooh – I will look up the side dish recipes. I just joined and am still making my way through the website. Thanks for the info!
Glad you are patient!! I wasn’t reading all the comments.
Great recipe!
Is it really too hard to change your database to say “quartered” instead of “quarter”? Or to add a step to beginning of recipe; “Quarter roast.”?
Hi Marlene! Our developers are working on several upgrades to our system as well as new features! We are always improving. 🙂 Thanks for checking in!
Am I missing something? Several people refer to “35 min. plus the 5 min. on saute” for cooking from frozen. What 5 min. on saute? I do not see that anywhere in directions.
Originally we had a 5 min saute as the first step on our IP recipes to help the pot to come to temperature quicker and break up some of the frozen block. However, through much testing we removed it on some of our recipes. You might have noticed those were older comments – this is updated not to include that now. Hope that helps!