Name: Cochinita Pibil (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot)
Prep time: PT-465362H28M52S
Cook time: 4 h
Total time: PT-465362H28M52S
Cuisine: Mexican
Ingredients: 3-4 pounds of pork shoulder; 4 oz of achiote paste; 6 oranges, freshly squeezed or 1 cup of orange juice; 5 limes, squeezed; 1/2 red onion, sliced; 1/2 cup water; 1/2 cup white vinegar; 1 teaspoon of coriander or cumin; 2 bay leaves; Chopped cilantro; Lime wedges; Pickled onion

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This Cochinita Pibil (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot) dish is made with pork shoulder, achiote paste, oranges, limes, pickled onion, cilantro and served on gorditas.

This Cochinita Pibil (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot) is made with pork shoulder, achiote paste, oranges, limes, pickled onion, and cilantro.

This is very traditional Mexican Food from the Yucatán area. Making the pickled onion for this pork dish is completely optional, but it is traditional to garnish Cochinita Pibil with them. You can serve the meat on a tortilla, but I decided to make it on a gordita. This is completely your choice how you want to serve it!

If you love this recipe, feel free to try my Cream Cheese Poblano Peppers or my Stuffed Anaheim Peppers.

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Ingredients
Instructions
Substitutions
Variations
Equipment
Storage
Top tip
Cochinita Pibil (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot)
Food safety

Ingredients

You'll only need a few simple ingredients to make this. The exact measurements are listed in the recipe card below. Here's an overview of what you'll need:

Pork shoulder
Achiote paste
Oranges
Limes
Red onion
White vinegar
Cumin
Bay leaves
Cilantro
Pickled onion

See recipe card for Cochinita Pibil (Slow Cooker or Instant Pot) quantities.

Instructions

Place the achiote paste, orange juice and lime juice in a blender and blend until smooth. Add the sauce into the bowl with the pork. Marinate overnight for best results. You can also marinate for at least one hour if you are limited in time.

Cut the pork shoulder into 2 inch squares. Do not trim the fat as it gives it a TON of its flavor! You can always pick it off after. Place the cut pork in a large bowl. Add the pork and sauce in the instant pot and pressure cook on high for 1 hour.

With a slotted spoon, place the pork into a bowl or baking dish. Shred the pork with 2 forks. It should be extremely soft at this point. Pour the sauce back into it.

Pickle the onions. Add onion, water, vinegar, coriander and bay leaves into a small pot and bring to a simmer for 2-3 minutes on medium heat. Then remove from heat and let it cool. Add into a bowl and refrigerate for 1 hour. Garnish with chopped cilantro, lime wedges and/or pickled onions.

Substitutions

Achiote Paste: There are many versions of achiote, or annatto seeds, that come in powder or liquid. You will need the achiote paste for this recipe.

Pork: For the meat, you will need pork shoulder or pork loin.

Orange: I would use juice from freshly squeezed orange instead of orange juice for best flavor.

Limes: I would use juice from fresh limes instead of lime juice for best flavor. If you don't have limes, ¼ cup white vinegar works as well.

Variations

Cooking is a chance to be creative! Have fun with it and feel free to make your own variation.

Spicy - add chili pepper flakes in with the achiote paste.
Deluxe - Serve with gorditas or freshly made tortillas.
Kid friendly - add crushed tortilla chips.

Check out these Pork Birria Tacos.

Equipment

Equipment can have a big impact on how a recipe turns out. Stone bakeware takes longer to heat up than metal pans, and also retain heat for longer, which could make the recipe more watery, or burnt on the outsides.

I love using my Caraway pots, pans and baking sheets for best quality. Get yourself a discount by clicking here!

Storage

This will be good in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.

These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.

Top tip

Make sure to cut the pork shoulder into cubes to be able to fully cook the pork shoulder.