Instant Pot Spicy Pineapple Pork over Cauliflower Rice

A Nom Nom Paleo recipe, so you know it's a good one! My friend made this one last week and loved it, so I had to give it a try. I ended up using Pork Tenderloin instead of shoulder roast, and my friend used a beef roast, but both ways turned out tasting DELICIOUS! The only other ingredient I changed was I omitted the serrano peppers and just threw in some red pepper flakes instead. If you really like spicy though, go for the serrano peppers and let me know how it turned out! I have gotten better with eating spicy foods, but I decided to just play it safe. For the cauliflower rice I went super easy (as always) and just bought a few bags of Green Giant Riced Cauliflower and heated that up on the stove top. I threw in some extra chopped scallions, salt, and a little bit of juice from a lime and that was it. There was plenty of leftover sauce in the Instant Pot to throw back over everything, so really no need to make any fancy cauliflower rice with this meal. Also, there are slow cooker directions in the notes below if you do not have a pressure cooker. There is no excuse not to give this one a try! It was so easy to make and seriously turned out amazing! 

​Instant Pot (Pressure Cooker) Spicy Pineapple Pork 
Ingredients:

• 3 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast (or beef chuck roast if you don't eat pork)
• 2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal brand kosher salt or Magic Mushroom Powder
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil, ghee, or your preferred high temperature cooking fat
• 1 (14-ounce) can pineapple chunks in 100% juice (make sure no added sugar or syrup)
• 2 serrano peppers, diced (if you don’t like spicy, removed ribs, pith, and seeds and/or use less peppers)
• 1 tablespoon dried basil  
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons lime juice
• 2 scallions, thinly sliced (optional)

Directions:

1. Trim and discard the extra fat from the pork roast and cut it into 2-inch cubes. (If all the available roasts are extra fatty at the butcher counter, buy a slightly larger one so you’ll end up with 3 pounds of meat.)
2. Measure out the Diamond Crystal kosher salt or Magic Mushroom Powder and toss well to coat all the pork pieces. (Yes, Magic Mushroom Powder can be used as a 1:1 substitute for Diamond Crystal kosher salt in most of my savory recipes!)
3. Turn on the Sauté function on your Instant Pot and add the coconut oil once the insert is hot. Toss in the seasoned pork cubes and cook, stirring, until the meat gets a bit of sear on the sides. If you’re pressed for time, don’t worry about searing the meat carefully. I’ve tested this recipe both ways (diligently searing in batches and not), and the final result tastes great either way.
4. Drain the pineapple juice and set the pineapple chunks aside (or keep them in the fridge until you’re ready to serve and eat the pork stew). You’ll be adding ½ cup pineapple juice to the recipe.
5. Turn off the Sauté function on the Instant Pot. Add the diced serrano peppers, basil, cumin, and black pepper to the pork. Give everything a good stir to distribute the seasoning.
6. Pour in ½ cup pineapple juice and the lime juice. Give everything a good stir. (Make sure the liquid reaches the bottom of the insert. Otherwise, you might get a “BURN” or “OVHT” error message on your Instant Pot display as the stew reaches high pressure.)
7. Lock the lid on top and make sure the top valve is pointed to the sealed position. (If you’re using the Instant Pot Ultra, you won’t need to adjust the valve.)
8. Program the Instant Pot to cook under high pressure for 35 minutes, and let the pressure drop naturally. If you’re feeling impatient and hangry, you can manually release the pressure after 20 minutes.
9. Open the lid and check that the pork is fork tender. If the pork is still tough, cook for 5-10 more minutes under high pressure.
10. Stir in the pineapple chunks until warmed through. Taste and adjust for seasoning with additional salt, Magic Mushroom Powder, or lime juice. 
11. Ladle up the pork and pineapples and garnish with scallions. Spicy Pineapple Pork tastes great served over cauliflower rice!

Notes

• If you’re doing a Whole30, make sure your canned pineapple doesn’t contain syrup or added sugar! This brand is the one I use.
• If you don’t love spicy food, make sure you remove the ribs, pith, and seeds from the serrano peppers—or just leave ’em out entirely. Conversely, you can crank up the heat even more by adding cayenne pepper to the dried spices or increasing the amount of serrano peppers.
• The leftovers taste great simply reheated (I plop ’em in my Instant Pot and cook for 2 minutes under high pressure) or fried crispy in a skillet.
• No Instant Pot? Don’t freak out: You can make it in a slow cooker—just cook the pork on low for 8-10 hours before adding the pineapple chunks at the end.

Original recipe found here