Instant Pot Pork Adobo

Name: Instant Pot Pork Adobo
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 1 h
Total time: 1 h 25 min
Cuisine: Filipino
Ingredients: 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, cut into 2-inch chunks; 1 tablespoon sunflower oil or canola oil; 1 small bunch scallions (6 to 8 scallions); 6 garlic cloves, peeled and smashed (press down on the clove with your palm to smash it); ½ cup REDUCED SODIUM soy sauce; ¼ cup apple cider vinegar or white vinegar; 2 teaspoons brown sugar; ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper or 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns; 1 bay leaf; 2 tablespoons cornstarch; 2 tablespoons cool water

Jump to Recipe

Instant Pot pork adobo is cooked in a salty, sweet & tangy sauce until the meat is fall-apart tender. This recipe is the easiest possible way to make pork adobo. Just combine the ingredients in your pressure cooker and dinner cooks itself!

This Instant Pot pork adobo recipe has the same irresistible flavors that make Instant Pot chicken adobo so good. Vinegar, soy sauce and brown sugar flavor the meat and then turn into a sauce that's salty, sweet and tangy.

Instant Pot pork adobo is often served with rice, to soak up the flavorful sauce. You can also serve it over polenta, egg noodles or barley. I've also been known to shred the pork into corn tortillas for tacos!

Why You Should Make This Recipe

Simple list of easy-to-find ingredients
Hands-off cooking method
Very little prep - just combine the ingredients in your Instant Pot
Perfect balance of salty, sweet and sour flavors
Delicious leftovers!

Ingredients

Pork shoulder: Ask the butcher to cut the pork shoulder roast into 2-inch pieces, so you don't have to do it at home, or look for pre-cut pork stew meat. Just like cider-braised pork, you can use pork butt instead of pork shoulder.

Both the pork butt and pork shoulder come from the same part of the pig (the upper and lower shoulder). Both are tough and fatty and are best cooked at a low temperature for a long time, or in a pressure cooker. Pressure cookers do an amazing job of tenderizing meat.

For this recipe, don't include too much of the hard, white fat that often covers a large piece of pork shoulder or butt. It will just make the dish too oily. (But don't throw that fat away! You can render pork fat and use it for cooking)

Soy sauce:Traditional Filipino adobo uses Filipino soy sauce. For this recipe, I use the reduced sodium soy sauce that can be bought in any grocery store. Reduced sodium soy sauce is essential so that the meat isn't too salty.

Vinegar: Traditional Filipino adobo often uses Filipino cane sugar vinegar. For this recipe, you can use apple cider vinegar or white vinegar.

Brown sugar: Sometimes adobo recipes add sugar, sometimes they don't. I like adding just 2 teaspoons of brown sugar to balance the salty and vinegary flavors. You could use white sugar instead, if necessary.

Black pepper, scallions, garlic and bay leaf: Yes, yes, yes and yes!

Step-by-Step Instructions

1. Saute the green onion and smashed garlic cloves for a minute or two.
2. Add reduced sodium soy sauce, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, black pepper and a bay leaf.

chopped green onion and whole garlic cloves in a pressure cooker

green onion, garlic, soy sauce and other ingredients in a pressure cooker

3. Add 2-inch pieces of pork shoulder or pork butt. Mix well to coat the pork.
4. Cook on high pressure for 30 minutes, with a natural release

raw pork pieces in a pressure cooker with filipino adobo sauce

cooked pork in a pressure cooker in adobo sauce

5. Remove the pork. Skim the fat off the sauce before serving.

*see recipe card below for exact ingredient amounts

What is Adobo?

"Adobo" comes from the Spanish word adobar, which means "marinade" or "sauce" or "seasoning." Because the word means many things, "adobo" can mean different things in different cuisines.

This recipe is adapted from traditional Filipino adobo. While the cooking method and ingredients for Filipino adobo is indigenous to the Philippines, the dish wasn't called adobo until the Spanish empire colonized the Philippines in the 16th and 17th centuries.

Most often, you'll find recipes for Filipino pork adobo or chicken adobo. Adobo recipes can vary greatly from cook to cook. But most marinate meat in vinegar, soy sauce, garlic, bay leaves and black pepper. I also add a pinch of brown sugar to balance the salty and sour flavors with a hint of sweetness.

This recipe also takes advantage of a pressure cooker to make an adobo recipe that is easy, fairly fast and guarantees tender meat.

More Filipino Recipes

There's so much to explore! A good place to start is with Chef Roline Casper's cookbook, The Easy Filipino Cookbook. It's filled with simple, authentic recipes. I Am a Filipino: And This is How We Cook is an award-winning cookbook by Chef Nicole Ponseca that's one of my favorites.

FAQ About Instant Pot Pork Adobo

Can I use pork butt instead of pork shoulder?

Yes, you can use either pork cuts: pork shoulder or pork butt. Sometimes pork belly is used to make adobo, but I find that it's too fatty.

What type of vinegar should I use?

Authentic pork adobo calls for cane vinegar. For this quick and easy Instant Pot version, I use apple cider vinegar. You can also use white vinegar.

Can I marinate the meat overnight?

You can, but it's not necessary.

Can I saute and brown the pork?

If you have time, sure! Brown the pork using the Instant Pot saute setting. If necessary, you can drain off excess oil that accumulates in the pot before adding the rest of the ingredients and proceeding with the recipe.

Do I really have to saute the green onion and garlic?

If you're in a hurry, skip this step and just throw all the ingredients in at once. I promise, it will still be delicious!

Can I use a quick manual release instead of a natural release?

I find that the meat is more tender when a natural release is used.

More Instant Pot Recipes

Does this recipe make you hungry?
SUBSCRIBE
to the Kitchen Skip newsletter
for helpful tips and easy recipes