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This is some of the best pulled pork I've had in a long time (I've been working on perfecting this recipe for months!), and it also doesn't include any highly processed ingredients such as refined brown sugar, corn syrup, or ketchup.
My husband says it is so good that no BBQ sauce is necessary. Now, you know it’s good pulled pork when you don't reach for your favorite BBQ sauce. He would like me to pass on that he does like to dip it into a little hot sauce, although I for sure prefer mine with nothing added.
Try it both ways and decide for yourself. Either way, this is a great dish for serving (and pleasing!) a crowd. Try this Dutch Oven Pulled Pork or this Instant Pot Pork Roast too!
What type of meat is best for slow cooked pulled pork?
Pork shoulder is the most common cut used when making pulled pork. The shoulder includes the front leg and shoulder, and will likely come with a bone and plenty of marbling. The marbling is key because the fat is what will prevent the meat from drying out during the cooking process.
A full pork shoulder is a large cut of meat, so I recommend asking your grocery store's butcher to cut the shoulder down into two portions (3-5 lbs each). There are different names for the various parts of the pork shoulder that may be used—whether you use a pork butt, pork shoulder, Boston butt or picnic roast, they will all work just fine.
How long should you cook pulled pork in a Crock Pot?
The Crock Pot is great for pulled pork because you need to cook it low and slow for several hours. I usually cook 4 lbs of pork shoulder for 7 hours on low. Be aware though, pulled pork will dry out if overcooked.
Can you slow cook pulled pork on high?
I don’t recommend it. Pork is the most tender when cooked on low. Trust me, it’s worth the wait! For a quicker option, try this Instant Pot Pulled Pork.
What to put on a pulled pork sandwich
Pulled pork sandwiches are a super easy dinner idea or way to serve a crowd. If you use real food ingredients for your rolls and toppings, it’s also a healthier alternative to all that junk food you get at Superbowl parties or BBQ gatherings.
Whole wheat bread or bun
Start with any whole wheat slider bun, either homemade or store bought. Whole grain brioche is another delicious option or serve pulled pork sandwich style with homemade sandwich bread.
Vegetable toppings
Traditionally, pulled pork is served with coleslaw. You can also top your pulled pork sandwiches with lettuce, julienned carrots, onions, or arugula—almost any sandwich or burger fixings taste great on pulled pork!
Personally, I like to add veggies that give the sandwiches a bit of crunch. If you’re entertaining, offer toppings buffet style so people can pick their own.
Sauce
My husband says this recipe is great without BBQ sauce, and we avoid it because it’s usually full of sugar. An easy alternative is to drizzle a bit of the leftover juices onto your sandwich. Just don’t go overboard or your bun will get soggy!
Some other great sauce ideas are: hot sauce, tzatziki, and salsa.
Cheese
Not everyone agrees when it comes to cheese on pulled pork, but some popular choices are cheddar, mozzarella, and Havarti. Or, if you’re feeling adventurous, try Gruyère, Cotija cheese, or pepper jack. Try these pulled pork nachos too!
How to make this pulled pork recipe in an Instant Pot
Crockpots and Instant Pots cook things differently, but this is one recipe that does adapt well to pressure cooking. Here’s how to make this pulled pork recipe in an Instant Pot:
- Note: You’ll need an additional 1 cup of liquid for this recipe. Water will work, but chicken stock will be more flavorful.
- Prep the seasoning mixture.
- Heat a small amount of olive oil in the Instant Pot on the sauté setting.
- Meanwhile, cut your pork shoulder into quarters.
- Cover each pork piece with the seasoning mixture, then drop into the Instant Pot. Don’t overcrowd; you may have to work in batches.
- Brown the pork on all sides and remove.
- Turn off the Instant Pot, then toss in half a cup of water or stock and use wooden spoon to deglaze the pan.
- Place the pork back into the Instant Pot and add the remaining ingredients including the other ½ cup of water or stock. Note: Instant Pots heat from the bottom. Add the onion last and keep it mostly on top of the pork.
- Cook on high pressure for 60 minutes. Once it’s done, natural release for at least 15 minutes.
What to serve with pulled pork
I have some great side choice options here on the blog that perfectly accompany this slow cooker pulled pork.
- Collard Greens
- Simple Corn Salad
- Kale and Bacon Stuffed Potatoes
- Southern Potato Salad (without mayo!)
- Whole Grain Cornbread
- Charred Corn Salad with Tomatoes and Avocados
Pulled Pork in a Crock Pot
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons paprika
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon thyme (dried)
- ½ cup honey
- ¼ cup red wine vinegar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 onion (peeled and cut in half)
- 3-5 pounds pork shoulder (cut in half)
Instructions
- In a medium size mixing bowl, mix together the first six ingredients (all of the spices) with a fork.
- Pour in the honey, vinegar, and olive oil and stir to form a paste.
- Place the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Top it with the 2 pieces of pork and then pour the honey paste over all sides of the pork pieces. It’s okay if some of it (or a lot of it) just drips down to the bottom.
- Turn the slow cooker on to low and cook for 7 to 8 hours or until the meat is tender enough to be easily shredded with a fork.
- Serve the shredded pork warm with fixings like homemade coleslaw and cornbread. My husband also likes his dipped in a little hot sauce. Refrigerate or freeze the leftovers.
Brittiny says
Way too spicy - even with only using half the cayenne pepper. Seriously... it was inedible.
Erik says
You've got to be kidding Brittiny... 1 tsp of Cayene!
Griff says
Brittiny, is that actually how you spell your name? Anyways, a tsp of Cayenne is barely going to cause a mouse to sweat. You should not have attempted this recipe if you were going to be afraid of the spice. The spice must flow
Measure Twice says
Did you mix tsp with tbsp maybe? Look out for that B
Olya says
I loved the recipe but there was so much sauce left. What would you recommend doing with it?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Olya. I have put it in the freezer and pulled it out later to use on leftover roasted pork. :)
Kaya says
Do i need the onion in the bottom? and why do i only cut it in half?
Angela says
Kaya, I did not use the onion at all. I don't know if there is a technical reason for cutting it in half; my piece of meat would not fit in my crock if I didn't cut it. Also, I put the halves in side by side instead of one on top of the other. I wanted to make sure each half would cook the same. Anyway, I was very pleased with this recipe and how it came out :)
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Kaya. The onion is for flavor, moisture, and to it keep the meat from sitting on the bottom of the pot. Cutting it in half helps it cook more evenly and efficiently. :) ~Amy
Angela says
I made this recipe today! Very pleased with the results! I made a BBQ sauce to go with it (1/3 cup ketchup. 2 TBSPS brown sugar, 1TBSP prepared mustard, 1 TBSP Worchestire and a pinch of dried red peppers. Let everyone dress up the meat with their desired amount of BBQ. Absolutely delicious!!
Shawna Miller says
Excellent! I made this with 2 2lb pork tenderloins and my family raved about it!
Tori says
Love this recipe and am making it again today. The only change I do is to replace some of the cayenne with chipotle chili powder to add some smokiness to the dish.
I start it on high for an hour or two and than reduce to low for about 5 hours. Works perfectly for about a 3 pound piece of meat.
Ashleigh says
I'm on my second round with this and my only change to the seasonings is to reduce the cayenne since I'm feeding littles. I also use a 2 lb pork loin roast, only for budget since shoulders can be pricey. Turns out fine though. This is a great recipe!
deb says
Making this now. Do i really not need to add liquid?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
You really don't . :)
Brian says
I also agree with Kim's comment - I wouldn't add any extra liquid. Ours came out very watery and needed to be drained and we didn't add any liquid. You don't need to add any - it will cook just fine. We used the 10 hour low setting on our crock pot. Cooked up beautifully.
Kimberly says
Consistency was perfect-fell apart perfectly. Biggest complaints: the "paste" was not thick but very liquidy. When done it was very liquidy as well. I had to drain most of the liquid off before serving. Also this is quite spicy. I halved the cayenne and black pepper and it still had some warmth. UUnfortunately other than the heat it had very little flavor. We added our fafavorite bbq sauce and it was great after that. Next time I will try the rootbeer slow cooker pulled pork I have heard so much about.
Abby says
I made this recipe for my dish to bring for a luncheon...went over pretty well!!! The cayenne does give a little kick, so if you have anyone in your group that is sensitive to spice, then tone it down a little :) I love spicy food, and did not think the dish was spicy, but I had some people in the group that think a drop of tobasco in a bowel of soup is spicy, so they were sweating a little, but still liked it :)
I did not have red wine vinegar, so I used apple vinegar... It was ok, but I bet the red wine vinegar would give the dish the little extra flavor to the finish that it needed :) makes great leftovers too!! I sautéed some in a pan, and served with eggs and toast for breakfast... So good!!
Thanks for the recipe!! I never make pork because I am not sure how to cook it, and this will now be my go to for pulled pork :) so easy!! Ordering your book through Amazon right now so I can get more good ideas :)
Terell says
I don't know what type of meat Janelle used but ever since I used this recipe my kids want this once a week. You might want to check your slow cooker to see if it has a circuit short or something but mine came out perfecto. This get 100 Stars!!!
Helene says
I would like to try to make this, but 6 pounds. What is the rule for doubling the sauce? Do I just double all the ingredients ? Thanks :)
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Helen. I would go with 1 1/2 on spices rather than doubling them. It is hard to "fix" a recipe that is too salty or too spicey. ~Amy
Brian says
Amy I would volunteer that doubling the spice ingredients for doubling the size of the pork this one might be ok - we made the mistake of doing the opposite (by accident) and used a 6 lb cut with the seasoning amounts above and it was very, very bland. Four tablespoons of salt for example for 6 lbs of meat is really not heavy handed at all and I really don't recommend reducing some of those key seasonings. I think we got a half taste if you will of the potential for this recipe by using only half the seasoning amounts for the size roast we had. While over seasoning is not good using, less seasoning is also a sure way to underwhelm the taste of this recipe. We are living proof that under seasoning this dish is probably a bigger risk than underseasoning it. Not a criticism of the recipe at all - we will try it again with the right seasoning amounts - that was our goof. I'm just saying be careful about underseasoning it. Maybe go 1 1/2 amounts with the salt (maybe) but I would go full doubling on everything. To each his or her own when it comes to seasoning though. Just be aware you CAN make this recipe too bland if you are not careful.
Brian says
I meant "over seasoning" in that one sentence above.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Thank you, Brian! :)
Kara says
After 15 years of marriage my husband said this is the best dinner I have ever made! Outstanding - thanks for a great recipe. I served ours with corn tortillas, pinapple and cojita cheese
Janelle says
I have a brand new crock pot that I use often and this came out awful! I used a 4 lb piece of meat and increased all of the ingredients in the recipe... After only 5 hours on LOW, I checked on the meat and it was like a rock. I'm so disappointed, I was really looking forward to this dish!! I don't know what could have possibly gone wrong, because so many reviews state that this recipe was amazing :(
Robin says
Janelle, my husband bought me a new crock pot a couple of Christmases ago and I absolutely hate it. It doesn't cook consistently and if you're not right there when it automatically shuts off to check your food, it may undercook. It was a waste of money. It was one of those fancy ones that has an electronic control pad. I'm sticking to my very old and beat up crock pot that we got as a wedding gift 22 years ago.
Amber says
A 4 lb piece of pork will need at MINIMUM 8 hours. You need to leave the meat in there until it shreds with a fork. I made this mistake once. 4 lbs of pork, 3 hours on high then 3 on low. It was a rock. I changed dinner plans last minute, left the pork in there on low for another 3 hours, and it was PERFECTiON. Threw it back in the crock pot to heat up the next day, and it was a great lunch!!! I have not tried this particular recipe, but I believe I will use my in-laws as guinea pigs this weekend. :)
Manijay says
I have a brand new Cuisinart Cook Central Multi-cooker, the fancy type that can brown the meat in the same pot. After 8 hours on low the meat was tough. After 10 hours, the part that was submerged was finally cooked enough to break apart with a fork. Then I broke up what I could with a fork and kicked it up to high.
I'm thinking you might need to heat it on high if you have a newer cooker like mine.
mona says
I had a 2 pork sirloin roasts and apple cider vinegar, so I had to substitute I'm saying a prayer this works as well for me as everyone else. I'm looking forward to it!
Steve says
I am a newbie chef and have been trying to prepare meals that are out of my wife's repertoire. This was the one I tried this weekend.
In my opinion, the instructions could use more detail. I was unsure how to arrange the meat and onions in the crock pot. I opted for slicing the onion fairly large to form a bed for the pork and placed the fattier side of the pork down. The portion that sat full in the juices was fall apart tender, but the portion above the liquid line was a little harder to shred. Would it help to turn the pork half way through cooking?
Keep up the good work! I've bookmarked your page as I know there are a number of recipes I will be trying.
Greg says
It would make sense to have the fat on the top if you do this again. This is because as the meat cooks, the fat will melt and keep the meat moist.
Krishell says
Finally tried this and OMG! We all LOVED it. It's true, it's so good it doesn't need BBQ sauce. It's juicy and tender and bursting with flavor. My husband said he's never ordering a pulled pork sandwich when we're out ever again because it won't be as good as what he can get at home! In fact, I can't wait till the end of the month when we have family coming to visit so we can make it for them. Thank you for this amazing recipe Lisa! Your blog has helped me so much over the last few years. I couldn't have made the switch to clean eating with out you.
Reece says
I don't have a pork shoulder ok hand but so have chicken as well as all of the other ingredients. Would this recipe work the same to make pulled chicken?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Reece. Other readers have used chicken. ~Amy
M says
Not sure what happened but followed this exactly and it's terrible. It's tough!!! Cooked on low for 8hrs while I was at work and there is NO chance you can tear this up with a fork... Trash. And yes, it's pork shoulder.
DT says
Get a new cooker. I made this in a pressure cooker that has a slow cooker setting at 10 hours. Amazing
kendra says
My oven broke and I've been decided to use my slow cooker to make hot meals for dinner until my landlord sends someone over to fix it. I came across this recipe and had to try it. I used pork lion instead of shoulder and chili flakes instead of cayenne. It came out fantastic. No bbq sauce needed and only one pot. I will definitely be making it again.
Franchesca says
I always use pork loin for this and it turns out great. And it is much lower in fat than pork shoulder.
Jaclyn says
Amazing!
Celina says
Just finished this delicious dish. The honey is a nice touch. I threw in a few fresh hatch green chile's to add to the spice.
alyssa says
I made mine with apple cider vinegar & its about half the recipe. Can I cook this on high?
I'm really looking forward to it!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Alyssa. Other readers have but we prefer it slow cooked. ~Amy
Danielle says
This is amazing! You do not need any barbeque sauce, as the juice from the meat mixes with the spice rub for a delicious sauce. You can also freeze the cooked shredded meat and reheat (might want to add a little sauce and water as you reheat). This recipe is a winner.
Warrior Princess says
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe! I've made it so many times and recommend it all the time. Thanks for sharing! Also, recently, we did a sugar cleanse and made it without the honey and it was really good. It had more of a mexican flavor to it. Anyhow, I'd say this is right up there with Kansas City Barbeque (as a Kansas Girl I get to say that)!
Jonah says
Question, am I supposed to pull the meet out and pull apart or just leave it in the crockpot with the juices and mix it all up.
Warrior Princess says
I usually pull the meat 30-60 minutes before we eat it. The meat will be super tender and soak in more of the flavor that way. Just be sure to stir it all up after you pull it.
Allyson K says
Absolutely Delicious!!! 5 stars!
Judy W. says
I'd like to know if that is cole slaw in the photo with the pulled pork and, if so, do you have a recipe for that?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
HI Judy. Lisa has a recipe for Asian Cole Slaw: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/08/02/recipe-asian-coleslaw-radish-ministicks/. ~Amy
Kim says
I have a question: Do you use a boneless pork shoulder in your recipe? I'd like to make this to serve about 8-10 people and want to make sure I have enough. I have a 4.11 pound pork shoulder which is not boneless. By the way, your recipe sounds so yummy!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Kim. Lisa uses a boneless cut. :)
Alana says
I just wanted to tell you that I have made this recipe twice now I am about to make it a third. My family loves it! No BBQ sauce needed and just the right spice. I love it because I can put it in and go to work and my family still gets to eat a wonderful meal when we all get home!
Amy Murphy says
This was an unusual but not unpleasant flavor for me. I used a 4.5lb roast and it cooked with the same timing. I think I made a mistake in using the smoked paprika rather than sweet because it was a little overwhelming and not as sweet/bbq-like as I expected.
Jescelle says
Ma king this now! The store I went to didn't have any smaller pork shoulder in the size the recipe calls for, the smallest they had was 9 lbs! So I just tripled the ingredients lol. I also added a little apple cider, some mushrooms and a sliced granny apple. Hubby is gonna be surprised when he comes home, I've never made pulled pork before so I'm excited. The 8 hour wait is making me impatient lol
kayla says
Can i use a boneless pork loin roast for this?!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Kayla. The best cut of pork for this is one that is higher in fat that a loin. ~Amy
gerta says
Loved it! My family did as well. But for Jewish holiday can't use pork. What if I use filet mignon, or other beef cut?
Monica says
I use a whole chicken for this recipe when I don't have pork and it always turns out great!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Gerta. Maybe a chuck roast? ~Amy
Lloyd says
Followed recipe exactly and the pork was fantastic. My question is that the spice liquid mixture did not form a paste but was quite thin. It still worked. I was endearing if I used to much liquid (1/2 cup honey, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, and 3 table spoons if olive oil).
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hi Lloyd. You got the liquid measurements right. It is not thick and is perfectly normal if most of it drips down. :)
SANDY says
Do you have the Slaw recipe on your site?
Assistant to 100 Days (Amy) says
Hello Sandy. Lisa has an Asian slaw recipe: https://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2013/08/02/recipe-asian-coleslaw-radish-ministicks/.
Susan says
As a southerner I was skeptical, but this was so easy and so good! I cut the salt in half as suggested and followed the rest of the recipe as posted.
Cole says
Found this recipe by accident. I've tried many different pork recipes in my slow cooker, and this is, hands down, the best one. So easy and the results are amazing! Thanks so much!
Karen says
Made today. OMG! Very good. Big hit with all.
Kate says
This really is the best pulled pork! So so good. I did cut the salt back by half but otherwise followed the recipe exactly. I topped it with a little Sweet Baby Ray's last night for dinner, but it was even better with Famous Dave's Southside BBQ sauce for lunch today. I just wish I had made more!