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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.
Hannah says
Unfortunately, this recipe was way, way too spicy for us. My husband was so excited to have some good pulled pork. It's been a while since his college days in Georgia, and he misses the southern pulled pork he enjoyed. I had hoped I found a good, organic recipe, but this one is very hot and not sweet like he hoped. :( I'll keep searching! (The site won't let me rate the recipe, but I would give it 2 stars. If you like spicy, it's a good recipe)
Melissa says
We didn't add the cayenne pepper when making it for my kids and it still tasted delicious!
Tristin says
Melissa,
Did you add 3 Tablespoons of paprika still? I'm wondering if that will make it spicy too.
Kenny says
Made it during baseball playoffs and it was a Hit just only add half of the cayenne pepper. Some people were here to watch game and eat this pulled pork and about two weeks later they called for recipe, now we are making again. GREAT RECIPE LOVE IT
Nick says
Thank you for this recipe and for the cornbread one. I tried them today and they were fantastic. I used Pork Scotch and it pulled beautifully. The flavour was subtle but complex. My wife lived in America until the age of 6 and she was very emotional to try cornbread again; she said it was the best she could remember.
Debbie says
I make this recipe a lot and my family loves it. I always season the meat with salt, pepper and thyme first and sear on high before putting it in the slow cooker where it cooks for between 9 and 10 hours (while I am at work). I also adjust the measurements (no additional salt other than what is used to season prior to searing the meat) and have never found it to be too spicy. I cut back on the honey and add a bayleaf and onion powder as well.
Katie B says
Very easy, but waaay too hot for our family! Spicy pork, not pulled pork.
Caroline says
I make this time and time again for the whole family and find it wonderful. I agree that it's the best recipe for me!
Caroline says
Ps I only added a couple of teaspoons of sea salt to mine
dd says
I had no problems with this recipe although I use my own measurements with the salt and cayenne pepper I found it very very good. Thanks for sharing.
Nicky says
Has anyone tried cooking the slow cooker pulled pork on high for 3-4 hours instead of low for 7-88 hours? I am anxious. to cook at lower heat for all that time.
Of course I need (lol) to know now cuz I am cooking it now .
Thanks
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Nicky. How did it turn out? :)
Kim says
My family of picky eaters loved it. I didn't add the cayenne (my kids don't like spicy). It was moist and flavorful without BBQ sauce. Next day added BBQ sauce and made sandwiches. Yummy!
Jennifer says
My husband made this and he cut back the salt to 1 tbsp, but it was still so salty. Has anyone else had this problem?
Andy says
I have to second the negative comments. This has turned overly (spicy) hot, and lost any sweetness you might have hoped for too, plus it wasn't even particularly moist and tender in the end. Not the first time I've done pulled pork, and I'm a pretty decent cook, so I can't rate this one highly. Certainly I think called it the "best" recipe is a bit misleading - there are many better! I do appreciate the recipe resource though, maybe this one needs some work?
joyce says
This was not a good recipe. All you can taste is paprika and the heat of cayenne. I only used 1tsp! I have had pulled pork in 5 different states and this was not like any of them. Not to mention the only rating this website will accept is 5 stars. Which is why so few reviews have any. Do not bother.
lisa says
We felt the same way when I made this. We are from the Midwest were bbw and pulled meats are plentiful. This was actually the worst recipe we've ever made and I was so sad to waste a nice organic pork shoulder on it.
Sorry, 100 Days, this was not a winner.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Ladies. Sorry that you did not enjoy it but I will say that this is one of the most popular and most revisited recipes on this site. You can rate it with 1-5 stars. Everyone has different tastes. :)
MCM says
I christened my new crock pot with this recipe and it's off to a great start. The seasonings are flavorful without being overly salty. I served the pork on potato buns and a side of pre-shredded broccoli slaw from Trader Joe's and it was all we needed for a well-balanced and satisfy fall meal. Thanks for sharing!
DHF says
This pulled pork was a huge hit with my family. I loved it not only for its deliciousness, but because it was super easy to make with organic ingredients that I pretty much always have on hand. I love knowing that I am feeding my family real food with this. Thanks...this recipe is a keeper!
Barb says
This was so good, will definitely be a regular in our house! The only thing I changed was I didn't have cayneen pepper so I added crushed chillies, but only 1\4 tsp - was just the right amount of heat. Can't wait to have it again tomorrow for lunch!!!
Mia says
Am I the only one having a difficult time locating the actual recipe?
Melinda says
I'm trying to get the recipe too!!
Courtney says
I can't find it either, I would really like to try it for a tailgate we are having this weekend! Can anyone help?
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Sorry, brief technical difficulty.
Nicole Reynolds says
Another 100 days of food winner! My whole family loved this. Thanks for all of the great recipes!
Deborah says
this IS the best pulled pork in a crock pot. Thank you!!!!!!
Topher says
I wish I could give this recipe a million more stars! This is the most incredible pulled pork I have ever had. I didn't have any honey, so I substituted maple syrup. I also didn't have any red wine vinegar, so I used ACV, and it came out perfect.
mary says
I don't have those kinds of vinegar do you think I could use regular white vinegar?
Lexi says
Plain white vinegar would be fine. I interchange them in recipes all the time.
Tom P. says
I have never tried making pulled pork. I saw this recipe and decided to try it since it was simple, easy and didn't have barbecue sauce in it. I followed the recipe exactly and loved how quick it was to prepare. I let it cook for 8 hours. I served it to my wife and 2 young boys who can be picky eaters. They loved it and so did I. When I asked my boys what they wanted for lunch Sunday after having this for dinner Friday and lunch Saturday, they asked if there was any pulled pork left. You can't get a better recommendation then that. Also my wife has celiac disease and has to have everything gluten free. She had this on a gluten free bun and tried it on corn tortillas. She loved it. This is definitely a keeper.
Tad says
We made this with a 7 LB Boston Butt Roast and cooked it about 10 hours....In a 30 year old crock pot. It came out SUPER and we took it to a tail gate party and it was a big hit. We started it at about 2pm, turned it off late at night (it was already quite soft) and let it cool till Saturday morning. Then got up and cleaned off the bones, fat and shredded the meat, and strained the juices, and put it all back in the pot and started it up again on low 2 hours before the game and it worked out great. For sure a keeper and very easy.
P.S. We live in NC (eastern Vinegar based BBQ part) so this fit that bill but offered more flavor than either the western or eastern style NC BBQ. THANK YOU!
Jules says
Really good! Kids liked it and had seconds.
Steve Hill says
Thanks for a great recipe! I made this last weekend. My technique was to marinate the pork shoulder in the paste overnight, and then cooking the pork the next day. There was a fair amount of liquid in the bottom of the slow cooker when it was done, so I reduced it in another pan while I shredded the pork.
I then added some of the mixture to the portion of pulled pork. It was amazing.
I'll definitely be making this again. Foolproof!
Tom says
I love this recipe. It was the first one I used trying out my slow cooker. I have it saved and I've just put it on now again.
Thanks for sharing :)
Tammi L. Coles says
Just here to report another success with this tecipe! I followed it to the letter, and served it to German friends who didn't have my vast (oh too vast!) experience with pulled pork sandwiches. A couple tried it on the American-style buns I'd found but for the others I also made sure to have boiled potatoes available. Delicious either way! Served up with a chunky Napa cabbage slaw recipe.
This is a keeper recipe. Thank you so much!
Lily says
Hi there! Decided to cook this delicious sounding recipe! Only question is, can I put it on high? If I leave it on low for 8 hours it won't be finished until very late
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Lily. Sorry, we can rarely answer recipe questions in real time. Other readers have cooked it on high. The results might not be as tender and juicy. ~Amy
Nicky says
Lily, I made this yesterday on slow cooker, high for 5 hours. It came out perfectly. We shredded/pulled meat and will have it tonite with corn tortillas. Froze 2/3 of cooked meat for family next weekend :).
I switched amt of all spices. 1.5 T paprika, less than 1 tsp salt. 1/2 t cayanne, 1/4 t garlic powder.
Taste is fantastic and pretty easy,
Amy says
Wow!! Now this pulled pork recipe has got some KICK! Lots of spicy flavor and really good! Now, I didn't have all the ingredients, so I had to substitute Thyme for Basil and the red wine vinegar for Apple cider vinegar and I ran out of onions.... So I just put my pork loin directly on the bottom of the crock pot and poured the sauce over top and turned it on low for 5-6 hours. Turned out AWESOME! However, my kids thought it was too spicy, but, my hubby and I loved it!
Debra Perry says
I just made this and served it with Apple coleslaw ( no mayo), served on flatbread. It was A-mazing, and leftovers were even better!
Chris H says
Hi! This sounds amazing! I was just wondering if you think I could make this in a pressure cooker with the same ingredients.
Thanks!
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Chris. I would say yes though we've not tried. You could use other recipes as a cooking reference but stick to Lisa's ingredients: http://www.pressurecookingtoday.com/2013/01/easy-pressure-cooker-pulled-pork/. :)
Zette V. says
I found a great deal on pork roast and decided to try my hand at pulled pork. I had an old cut out recipe and when I found it, I was less than thrilled by it's processed simpleness (aka bland and boring). So I started hunting online and found your recipe after about four others that didn't impress me. Asked my hubby (the REAL BBQ expert in our house) what he thought and was pleasantly surprised when he said "I think you found a winner!" I didn't start it in time to enjoy it for dinner tonight, but instead started to have done before bedtime so we could munch all Football Sunday long. OHMYGOSH!!! This may not make it to noon, as I expect everyone to pick at it for breakfast. LOL! We like spicy so I went a little heavy on the cayenne pepper and honey, and like others, I was afraid my pork would dry up. HA! The pork released a lot of juices to mix in and it made the dish that much more moist and tender. This is a KEEPER recipe for sure. I think the kids may add sweet bbq sauce to quiet the spicy, but it certainly doesn't need it! Thank you!
douglas dutrizac says
gonna try this my self but was told to use pork butts since you can never find shoulders butt is more tender too i was tld but the meat market butcher
Lindsey S says
I made this last night for a pulled pork fundraiser lunch at my husbands work today. I must say, it turned out absolutely delicious. The first thing my husband said when I told him to try it this morning, with a look of childlike wonderment and awe, was "it doesn't even need bbq sauce!" This recipe was easy to make, cuts out the processed foods and refined sugar, and I had all of the ingredients in my pantry which is an added bonus. The only modification I made on the recipe was I added just less than a tablespoon of salt based on some of the reviews saying it came out too salty. I figure its always easy to add more, but too much can ruin a dish. I also was a little heavy handed with the honey because I was finishing off the jar. I started the crock pot at 9pm and let it cook until 7am on the low setting (10 hours total) and it pulled apart nicely with two forks. I was concerned that there wouldn't be enough liquid and that it would dry up and burn to my crock pot over night but that definitely was not the case. There was plenty of fluid (or juice, as I like to call it) left this morning, and the meat was tender and juicy. I took the meat out of the crock pot to pull it, then removed a good portion of the juice before adding the pulled pork back in. I left in enough juice to keep it moist but not soupy. The flavor seemed to be in the juice, the piece I tried when I was pulling it was well cooked but had cooked above the juice level as it sat in the crock pot and it was kind of bland, but it was all delicious when added back to the juice! I think you could easily make a much larger portion of meat, easily double the poundage with out doubling the recipe. There's enough juice left that was removed from the dish to easily flavor a lot more meat. Bottom line, it was yum yum and I'll be making this again very soon for my family to enjoy.
Jessica says
Very disappointed. I turned on our slow cooker at 1pm, it is now 8:30pm and the meat is still hard as a rock. We were really excited about eating this tonight too :(
Jessica says
I am planning on making this recipe tonight and we are very excited! I was looking through our local grocery store's ad and they have the bone in pork boston butt on sale. Would this work for this recipe?
Lindsey S says
Jessica, based on my experience, I think that should work fine for you, however the bone might extend your cooking time a little. When the meat is ready it should just fall right off the bone. Just be careful to remove all of the bone pieces from the pulled pork and the broth. Or you could remove the bone ahead of time if you are concerned you might not get it all after its cooked. Also, keep in mind that the total weight for the same amount of meat will be much more with the bone in so you may want to go for more pounds when buying. It's pretty hard to mess up pork in the crock pot, and I don't think the particular cut matters a whole lot when making this dish. Pulled pork was a recipe to use the less desirable cuts of meat so nothing was wasted, but it all cooks up pretty much the same in the crock pot. I think the most important thing is giving yourself enough time to slow cook it so it can be tender. Good luck!
Vicki says
I was happy with the moistness of the pork but really disappointed with how salty it was. Wish i had used 1 tablespoon of salt. It was just not smokey tasting like i wanted.
Lauri says
How much heat will the cayenne add? I have kids that love pulled pork, but not spicy food.
Amy Taylor (comment moderator) says
Hi Lauri. If you are concerned, I would just omit the cayenne. :)
Christina Matys says
Just made the pulled pork, So as absolutely wonderful.I have never made pulled pork before and my husband loved it. Glas I cane across the 100 days of real food site.
Sam says
I made this pulled pork recipe today with beef because I couldn't find the right cut of pork at the store. I am pretty clueless about various cuts of meat but saw beef shoulder so figured I'd see if that would work.
It turned out really well! My husband absolutely loved it, and he's particular about flavors. I used all of the same ingredients in the recipe above and made a few modifications per our taste preferences: 1 TB salt, very little pepper, 1/2 tsp cayenne, 1/2 onion, and I cooked it for 5 hrs on the 6hr option and 1.5 hrs on the 8hr option (started it a bit late and was working around naptimes). Next time I will cook it for slightly less time and will add a little bit more honey. Adding this to our meal rotation. Thanks!
douglas dutrizac says
try pork butts
Nancy says
I love cooking in my crockpot and am so making this this weekend. Am pleased as punch to have found a recipe without BBQ sauce!
Carly says
I made this and absolutely loved it. It really doesn't NEED sauce, but I love homemade BBQ sauce. I will never use a bottled BBQ sauce again. Next time I may use a tad less paprika or a bigger roast, but the flavor was phenomenal. Can't wait to make it again!