Slow Cooker Pulled Pork is our favorite way to make shredded pork because the meat is so juicy and tender. The sweet and smoky barbecue flavor makes it perfect for pulled pork sandwiches.
This is an easy, crowd-pleasing crockpot recipe everyone will love. Watch the video tutorial and it will make your mouth water! P.S. You can even freeze leftover pork for another busy weeknight.
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Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Recipe:
My sister Svetlana is a natural cook; someone who throws lots of ingredients together and it turns out amazing. This is her recipe and as the story goes, she had planned to make a pot roast and purchased the wrong kind of meat! This crockpot bbq pork turned out to be the best kind of mistake and is now a family and reader favorite.
This pork is easy to prepare; just toss everything into the slow cooker and it does all of the work. You can use all of that free time for making some delicious sides to go along with your meal. We love serving this with our favorite coleslaw (pictured above). This would also be delicious with a side of our smashed potatoes or crispy baked potato wedges.
Ingredients for Pulled Pork:
Here are the things you will need to make pulled pork in a slow cooker: a large onion, 6-7 lbs of boneless Pork Shoulder Chuck Roast, and a simple homemade pork rub with salt, black pepper, and paprika.
For the marinade, you’ll need chicken broth, BBQ Sauce (use homemade Barbecue Sauce or Stubb’s Sticky Sweet storebought), liquid smoke, Worcestershire sauce, fresh garlic, and brown sugar. The liquid smoke is optional but does add great smoked pulled pork flavor.
How to Make Pulled Pork:
Shredded Pork in the crockpot doesn’t get any easier. There is no pre-cooking or searing required. Watch the video tutorial below.
1. Add diced onion to the bottom of the slow cooker.
2. To make the Pulled Pork Rub, combine 1 Tbsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and 1 tsp paprika. Sprinkle seasonings over the meat and massage to rub the seasoning into the meat. Place meat in the slow cooker.
3. For the marinade, combine: 1 cup chicken broth, 1 cup BBQ sauce, 1 Tbsp liquid smoke, 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 Tbsp brown sugar and 3 pressed garlic cloves then stir to combine. Pour the marinade over the pork.
4. Cover and set the crockpot on low for 8 hours if using 2 smaller roasts or 8-10 hours for 1 large roast. Remove the meat to a large bowl and remove any fat. Shred with two forks. Pour some of the remaining sauce in the slow cooker over the pork, adding it to taste. Brush the shredded pork with more BBQ Sauce.
How to Serve Pulled Pork:
The great thing about crockpot cooking is it’s easy to take along and serve other places outside your home while still keeping things hot and fresh. Here are a few ideas of other ways to use this great crockpot recipe. Pulled pork leftovers are the best kind of leftovers!
- BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches on a soft potato bun is our favorite way to serve shredded pork.
- Pulled Pork Tacos are a fun twist to Taco Tuesday!
- Shredded Pork Nachos served with tortilla chips, cheese, and all the fixings are great for parties.
- Pork Wraps are delicious with some corn and black beans.
- Pork Salad is a smart and lighter meal option, adding pork for protein.
- Pulled Pork Sliders are so good in homemade dinner rolls.
More Easy Slow Cooker Recipes:
For those busy days, try some of our other crock-pot meals:
- BBQ Chicken – Great with coconut coleslaw.
- Bolognese Sauce – Prepped in the morning, ready when you come home.
- Crockpot Lasagna – Just as good as the classic recipe, but easier.
- Slow Cooker Chicken Chili – A tasty twist on a traditional favorite.
- Shredded Chicken Tacos – A quick, fun dinner party idea.
- Shredded Beef Sandwiches – great for meal prep!
Watch How to Make Pulled Pork:
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Pulled Pork Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 large onion
- 6 lbs boneless Pork Shoulder Chuck Roast, (or 2 smaller roasts totalling 6-7 lbs)
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 cup your favorite BBQ Sauce
- 1 Tbsp liquid smoke, optional but nice
- 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- 3 large garlic cloves, pressed
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
Instructions
- Chop 1 large onion and place it into the bottom of the slow cooker.
- Combine 1 Tbsp salt, 1 tsp pepper, and 1 tsp paprika and generously sprinkle the pork roast. Massage the roast to rub the seasoning into the meat. Place meat over the onions.
- For the marinade, combine: 1 cup chicken broth, 1 cup BBQ sauce, 1 Tbsp liquid smoke, 2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce, 2 Tbsp brown sugar, and 3 pressed garlic cloves. Stir to combine. Pour the marinade over the pork.
- Cover and set on low for 8 hours for 2 smaller roasts or 8-10 hours for a single large roast. It's ready when easily pulled apart with forks. Remove the meat to a large bowl and remove any fat. Shred with forks. Pour any drippings from the crockpot over the meat to taste then brush meat with warm barbecue sauce to serve.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Can you use a smaller pork shoulder with the same amount of other ingredients? Or would you half all ingredients?
Hi Lori, I would cut the sauce in half if using half the amount of meat and if it is still the same size of slow cooker, you might consider cutting the meat in half so it is sitting closer to the sauce and does not get dry.
Hi, Natasha,
How many coconut coleslaw sandwiches does this pulled pork recipe make?
When you make the coconut coleslaw sandwiches, do you find that you have a 1:1 ratio of coleslaw to pulled pork? Or does one or the other run out first?
Do you use this pulled pork recipe to make anything else?
I’m asking because I usually only make food to serve two people (me and my husband). Often times, we find ourselves eating the same leftovers for over a week…which can get a bit sickening.
Hi Victoria, that is a tough question since I didn’t measure exact quantitites. If you are planning to serve all of the meat as sandwiches and are planning to do 1:1 amounts, I would probably do 1 1/2 times to double the coconut coleslaw recipe that we have posted. We usually just refrigerate the leftovers and enjoy them later but we do always have alot of people around to eat them :). I haven’t tried freezing this but I bet it would be a good candidate for freezing leftovers.
This is an amazing recipe, I adventured off the reservation a bit replacing brown sugar with chili honey and instead of chicken broth sub with beef broth.
I’m glad you love it! Thanks for sharing your great review with other readers!
Natasha,
Could you cook it in the slow cooker on high for 4-6 hours to shorten cooking time?
Hi Megan, haven’t tried cooking this on high, but if I did, I’d put it on high for 4 hours then turn to low for 2 more hours or until it pulls apart easily to be sure it’s done.
I have a 5 pound Pork Loin. Do you think I will have good results using this recipe with this cut of meat?
Hi Allison, I haven’t tried it with a pork loin, so I can’t say for sure, but one of my readers wrote in with the following review: “I made this today, and we all loved it! Thank you so much for the great recipe! By the way, I used a 3.5 pound pork loin.” You might want to cut the pork loin in half if it is a 5 lb pork loin.
Is your pork roast bone-in or boneless?
Hi Christina, it was boneless. Sorry I missed that in the recipe – I will updated to clarify. Thanks!
Can I put it on high to get it done faster?
Hi Lori, I haven’t tried cooking this on high, but if I did, I’d put it on high for 4 hours then turn to low for 2 more hours or until it pulls apart easily to be sure it’s done.
I just did this recipe but at the end there was a lot of liquid and it came out SUPER salty… like extremely salty!!! I wonder why???? I was really looking forward to having this for dinner but I cant have it as it is. I did the recipe step by step with the exact ingredients! 🙁 I did half the recipe as I had half the pork….
Hi Sofia, I haven’t had anyone say it was too salty yet so I’m thinking maybe you forgot to cut the salt in half? For a 3 1/2 pounds piece of meat, I would add 1/2 Tbsp of salt and also be sure you cut everything in half or the recipe will be salty since some of the other ingredients also have salt in them. I sure hope that helps!
I am just wondering how long to cook it if I halved the recipe! Should I still cook it for the full 8 hours?
Hi Natasha, is that cole slaw on top of the pulled pork?
Hi Marisa, yes, it is our coconut coleslaw recipe 🙂
Love this dish. My kids say it’s a Killer.😍
LOL, I’m happy to hear that Diana! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
Do you happen to know if a 6 qt crock pot would hold this large of a piece of meat? I bought 15 lbs (the butcher said it was two pieces), and was planning to use two crock pots but they are both 6 qt. Thank you for this recipe…first timer here and this recipe seemed the easiest and best!
Hi Melissa, If you are doubling the recipe, you will need 2 separate crockpots. I put 6 to 7 pounds of meat into my 6 quart slow cooker and it was pretty full. You will need two slow cookers for 15 pounds if they are 6 qt each.
Looking at your pulled pork recipe. Sounds and looks great. My question is about the liquid smoke. 2 T seems like a LOT. I seldom use it because it is so strong.
I also should have asked if you feel this would work as well in a “Instant Pot” type cooker. The Infomercials on TV have me wondering about its merits.
Hi Bill, I don’t have an insta pot so I can’t really advise on that. Maybe someone else has tried in an instant pot? Thanks in advance 🙂
Hi Bill, you could decrease it or omit it and still have great results 🙂
Hi Natasha, I’d like to try this recipe for pulled pork but I don’t have a slow cooker. I am wondering what the oven temperature should be and how long should I cook it? Thanks for your help.
Nancy
Hi Nancy, you might try following the baking temp and time in this recipe. I haven’t tried this in the oven so I had to do some googling but that is what I would try 🙂
I have made this several times over the past year and it’s the best! Family and friends always love it (: Thank you for such a fantastic recipe!!
You’re welcome Marlene! I’m happy to hear that everyone loves this recipe! Thanks for sharing your fantastic review!
Do you shred up the onions with the meat when it’s done?
Hi Sunny, the onion shrinks and pretty much dissapears into the meat. It’s hardly noticeable unless you are looking for it 🙂
Made this a while ago and it turned out great! It was a bit over salty for us but we will definitely be making this again. Thank you for a great recipe
My pleasure Angelina! Thank you for sharing your review 🙂
Hi! Can this be cooked on high?
Hi Irene, I haven’t tested it that way but I think it would be best cooked on low to get it to be fall-apart tender without drying it out.
Ok thank you!
I am planning to make this a day in advance. Do you think I should reheat in the slow cooker? Also, do you think this will turn out the same with a boston butt?
Hi Drose, yes I think that would work fine to reheat and to use the Boston butt cut.
Hi, do you know if can I make this in an instapot, and how long to cook it
Hi Dina, I don’t have an instapot so I have no idea. Sorry I’m no help with that – I’ve searched the comments on this post and no one mentioned trying an instapot…
This looks so yummy! Juts put it on for our dinner tonight, excited x
Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome Jessica! Please let me know what you think of the recipe! 🙂