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
Hi Natasha! Could I use pork shoulder rib? That’s all they had available at my local store.
Thank you!
Hi Kelly, I haven’t tried that but I think it would work.
Could you use a boston butt instead?
Hi Kimberly, boston butt is great for pulled pork. It works with both cuts of meat, and here is some information on the difference between pork butt and pork shoulder cuts.
I tried your slow cook pulled pork recipe love it I look for
ward to your recipes thank you so much for sharing
You’re welcome, Theresa! I’m so happy you enjoyed that.
We made this yesterday for Father’s Day dinner along with your coleslaw & it turned out great! Everyone really like it. Thank you for this great recipe.
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Debbie!
I add pineapple to my coleslaw will that be good with your pulled pork recipe.
I bet that gives it a nice crunch! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
I used smoked paprika instead and skipped the Liquid Smoke. The whole house loved it. Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for your great feedback and review! Glad you loved it.
Hi, will this recipe work on a 10lb boneless pork loin sirloin? If so what adjustments would I need to make?
As usual, YUM! Such an easy, tasty recipe. And it made my house smell amazing!
Love it! Thanks for your great review, Taisa.
I want to make this ahead for a group of 25 youth and adults. How many servings does this recipe make? Thank you! 🙂
Hello Gina, Servings: 8 people for pulled pork sandwiches it is also on the recipe card. If you click on the serving size in the recipe card, you can slide it up or down to scale the recipe ingredient lists. I hope that helps!
Hi Natasha,
I just wanted to say, I love reading your recipes and have not made one bad meal yet. I always receive compliments and I always give the credit to you.😊. I would like to try this recipe however I had to buy two little pork roasts as I could not find one large. My question is would I sprinkle the dry rub measurements you have listed for each roast or would that be too overpowering? Thank you again for your help!
Marisa
Hi Marisal, I would use the seasoning in proportion to how much meat you have.
Hi Natasha
Can you freeze pulled pork, I did too much
Yes, this will freeze well.
For a slow cooker pulled pork recipe, liquid smoke is mandatory, not optional.
I don’t have a crockpot – can this be done in an oven?
Hi Ivanka, It would probably work well in a dutch oven, using a cooking method like this (Martha Stewart’s). I would prepare everything the same as for the slow cooker except put it in the dutch oven at the end instead of the slow cooker.
Please change recipe to reflect 1 TB smoke instead of 2. Too late for my butt! Making this now. Didn’t read comments till now. :/
Thanks for letting me know! I had changed it in the print-friendly version a long time ago and forgot to update the youtube video list. Fixed!
Hey Natasha,
My husband and I are huge fans of all your recipes we have made so far! Giving this one a try tomorrow, but all I could find at store was bone-in pork shoulder. Hopefully that will be ok? Thank you in advance!
Hi Kristina, I haven’t tested this recipe with bone-in, but I would probably let it go 8-10 hours or until very tender.
Made this recipe today and it rocked, as do your other recipes. Only feedback is that the marinade is too much and next time I will cut it in half. This is my go to pulled pork from now on.
Hi Jon, thanks for your comments and feedback. Yes, you may adjust the marinade if you feel like it is too much.
Looking forward to making this but just realized I only have a red onion. Will that completely change the flavor? Or will it be ok to use?
Hi Kristin, that will work fine too. It wouldn’t change the flavor that much.
Can I do this recipe with a beef brisket??
Hi Elizabeth, I haven’t tested that to say it will work but it may! If you happen to try it I’d love your feedback.
Yes and no. The point is to cook the meat so that it is so tender that it falls apart. Different rules for pork & beef. For brisket, 6-8 hrs in the oven or stove top simmered covered. 8-10 hrs in crock pot, 90 minutes in a pressure cooker (60 min under pressure, followed by a half hour simmering with spices.
Although the Natasha’s Kitchen recipe doesn’t recognize it, there are 2 schools of pulled pork sauce. One uses tomato, per Natasha’s Kitchen. The other, which I prefer, has no tomato and is vinegar based. For beef, you want to go with a tomato based sauce. I would simplify it by using a Hickory or Mesquite smoked commercial BBQ sauce and add some thyme & Worcestershire Sauce. Maybe some smoked paprika,
Do you have a good coleslaw recipe
Hi Lucy, yes, you can find our coleslaw recipes HERE. I hope you enjoy this recipe.
Hi Natasha! I’m planning on making this recipe this week, but as I have a small family: just me, my hubby, and a 2 year old, I don’t need 6lbs. If I cut the meat in half, do I also cut all the other ingredients in half? And do I adjust the amount of time it cooks? Thanks!!
Hi Kali, yes, halving this recipe will work great. I recommend clicking “Jump to recipe” at the top of the post, it will take you to our printable recipe where you’ll have the option to change the number of servings. Hover over the number of servings highlighted in red and slide it to how many servings you would like to make. I hope that helps!
Nice
Hi Natasha, Is the 8 servings above to be used in a regular sized bun? If using dinner rolls, how many servings is this recipe for? Thanks!
Hi Kristine, it’s for the regular-sized bun. I haven’t measured it that way yet but definitely just close to this number too.
This is hands down my go to pulled pork crockpot recipe! So easy and so delicious!
Thank you so much, Shannon! I’m glad you loved it.