Instant Pot Pork Belly BBQ

Instant Pot Pork Belly BBQ

Pork belly is much more than just unsmoked bacon. It has juicy fat layers wrapped around the meat and when cooked properly has a similar texture to pork loin. But is luscious because of that fat. That may not sound like your thing, but that just means more for ME!

The first time I cooked pork belly, I did it low and slow in my Dutch oven. Tonight, I made it in the Instant Pot. If you like BBQ, you will love this. Instant Pot BBQ Pork Belly tastes like you simmered it forever. In reality dinner was ready in took less than an hour, with only 10 minutes top of prep. And it was so, so, so, so very good.

You can use any of the sweeteners but NOT all three. I used soy sauce to give the meat a more appealing color and a little jolt. You could substitute Worcestershire sauce, but I would use less as it can be overpowering. Finally, you can use 1½ cups chicken broth rather than water and Better Than Bouillon, but BTB is magic and I would definitely try it if you haven’t.

Servings: 6 sandwiches

Hardware: A cutting board and knives, measuring spoons and cups, an Instant Pot®, a strainer, silicone oven mitt and a wooden spoon

Cooking time: Active time: 10 minutes; Cook: 40 minutes; Sandwiches in an hour

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds pork belly, sliced into chunks
• Cooking spray
• 1 large red onion (8 ounces)
• Sweetener (1 tablespoon honey OR 1 tablespoon honey OR ½ tablespoon molasses)
• 1 tablespoon Better Than Bouillon Chicken
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 1½ cups water
• 1½ cups of your favorite BBQ sauce-you can use more or less-depends on how sloppy you like your BBQ (We like Sweet Baby Ray’s Original)  
• Rolls, pickles, pickled jalapeños, mustard other sandwich toppings

 

Browning first adds depth

1. Quarter the onion and slice the pork belly into chunks.
2. Spray the inner pot with cooking spray and set on sauté. Add the pork belly and brown for 4-5 minutes. Add the onion, sweetener, Better Than Bouillon, soy sauce and water. Stir and bring to a boil. Turn off.
3. Place the lid on the IP, making sure the valve is set to ‘sealing.’ Turn on the pressure cook setting and set for 25 minutes. When time is up, allow to naturally release for about 15 minutes and using the silicone oven mitt move the valve to ‘release.’
4. Strain everything from the pot and discard the liquid. Return the meat and the BBQ sauce to the IP and heat through.
5. Serve immediately on your favorite sandwich bun. Offer your guests pickles, pickled jalapeños, mustard and any other sandwich topper that you think they might like.