A delicious and flavorful recipe for homemade shawarma, this Instant Pot Pork Shawarma is a super simple 15-minute meal with less than 5 minutes of effort!

Instant Pot Pork Shawarma Recipe

There are easily 50 Shawarma shops or restaurants serving shawarma somewhere on the menu in my city. It’s about as ubiquitous as a burger and fries.

Being spoilt for choice, I’ve become super opinionated about what makes a great shawarma.

You want a mix of fresh and pickled toppings (even if you never eat pickled anything), fresh doughy pitas, and a strong garlic sauce – although creamy Greek tzatziki makes a great replacement if you’d prefer and might be a bit more kid-friendly if you don’t have a garlic fiend like I do. (Some people top their shawarma with hummus or amba – a pickled mango chutney – but I’m partial to the garlic sauce.)

Think of it like a taco: you need flavorful, well-seasoned meat, but half the fun is in the toppings!

This shawarma recipe relies on that homemade seasoning to really deliver on the flavor. It’s not spicy – there’s only one teaspoon of chili powder and you can adjust that slightly, if desired.

My homemade shawarma seasoning recipe makes about 6 Tablespoons of shawarma, so enough for 3 meals as the recipe only needs 2 Tablespoons. I just find it easier to make a big batch all at once and then have it ready to go the next time I crave shawarma. Making the spice blend is actually the most time-consuming step of this recipe – after that, you just need to chop the shawarma, add the seasoning, sear it and then let your Instant Pot do it’s thing.

Traditionally, shawarma is served with tabbouleh (a parsley-tomato salad) but other than the flavor profile – this shawarma is anything but traditional, since we’ve skipped the traditional rotisserie and kept a thicker cut on the meat. We’re also using pork, which is offered on many menus in my city but is a deviation from the norm of using chicken, lamb or beef. (We also have a recipe for Instant Pot Chicken Shawarma here if you’d prefer.)

If you want to slice the meat thinner, I would suggest cooking the pork whole and then slicing thinly – though the flavor won’t be as great as it is in this recipe (since the seasoning touches less surface area if the pork is cooked whole).

Also, while this recipe is melt-in-your-mouth if you use a good tender cut of pork, the flavor and IP cooking in a bit of broth also makes it perfect for tougher cuts.

Looking for more Instant Pot Recipes? Check out our full collection here!

Ingredients for Instant Pot Shawarma

• 1 1/2 lb pork, sliced
• 2 Tablespoons shawarma seasoning
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 1/2 cup broth or water
• Pitas, for serving
• Parsley, optional garnish

Homemade Shawarma Seasoning:

• 1 Tablespoon black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon all spice
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 Tablespoon ground cloves
• 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 Tablespoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 Tablespoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt

(OR you can purchase pre-made shawarma seasoning)

Tip: you will not want to use all of this seasoning in one meal – it makes enough for 3 batches of shawarma.

Kitchen Tools You May Find Helpful

• Instant Pot (make sure you grab some vinegar to clean your IP)
• Measuring cups and spoons
• Sharp kitchen knife
• Tongs
• Mixing bowl

How to Make Instant Pot Shawarma

Pat pork dry and cut into 1/2 thick strips. Place all cut pork in a bowl

Place oil in Instant Pot and select sautee setting.

Combine all shawarma seasonings together and add 2 Tablespoons to the cut up pork and toss to completely coat pork in seasoning. Store additional seasoning in a mason jar for your next shawarma night.

Place pork in Instant Pot to sear, about 2 minutes.

Turn off sautee setting and add your broth or water.

Select meat setting for 10 minutes.

Natural or quick release.

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Instant Pot Pork Shawarma

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lb pork, sliced
• 2 Tablespoons shawarma seasoning
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 1/2 cup broth or water
• Pitas, for serving
• Parsley, optional garnish

Homemade Shawarma Seasoning:

• 1 Tablespoon black pepper
• 1 Tablespoon all spice
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 1/2 Tablespoon ground cloves
• 1/2 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 1/2 Tablespoon ground nutmeg
• 1/2 Tablespoon ground cardamom
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 1 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

1. Pat pork dry and cut into 1/2 thick strips. Place all cut pork in a bowl
2. Place oil in Instant Pot and select sautee setting.
3. Combine all shawarma seasonings together and add 2 Tablespoons to the cut up pork and toss to completely coat pork in seasoning.
4. Place pork in Instant Pot to sear, about 2 minutes.
5. Turn off sautee setting and add your broth or water.
6. Select meat setting for 10 minutes.
7. Natural or quick release.

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This Instant Pot Pork Shawarma is a flavorful pork recipe perfect for busy weeknights and for getting the best results from tougher cuts of pork.

For more delicious Instant Pot recipes, check out our Instant Pot Taco Pasta recipe or our Instant Pot Hawaiian Pot Roast recipe.