Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

Low and slow. It truly is the secret to the best pulled pork. This slow cooker pulled pork recipe requires a little planning, but the results are so worth it!

Pulled pork fans, you’re going to love this recipe! It uses a pork shoulder roast and plenty of flavor boosting ingredients like onion, garlic, tomato paste, and brown sugar for a taste that can’t be beat. With the help of the slow cooker, you end up with amazingly tender pulled pork. If you want to cook pork shoulder as a whole roast with crispy skin, try my Roasted Pork Shoulder recipe.

Scroll down to read more about how it all comes together or click here to jump straight down to the recipe.

Jump To:

1. What Cut Of Pork To Use
2. Methods For Pulled Pork
3. More Pork Roast Recipes
4. Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Recipe

What Cut Of Pork To Use

The best cut of meat for pulled pork is a boneless pork shoulder roast. The pork shoulder is a cut from the shoulder of the pig that is typically broken down into two smaller cuts, ones that you’d typically see at the store—the pork butt, or Boston butt, and the picnic shoulder.

Because of a Boston butt’s well-dispersed fat, it’s ideal for tender pulled pork. It often has nice marbled fat, but if there’s too much excess fat on the outside, you want to trim it away. It can typically be found bone-in and boneless but because we will be shredding the meat for this recipe, boneless is much easier. You can use a picnic shoulder if you prefer, but again, look for a boneless and skinless roast.

Did you know you can even use pork loin? Try my BBQ Pulled Pork Loin recipe to learn more about how to slow cook pork loin for pulled pork.

Methods For Pulled Pork

I feel like we’re working our way through all of the cooking implements in the kitchen with pulled pork. In the past couple of months, we have explored an oven braised pulled pork and an Instant Pot pulled pork. The slow cooker just seems like the next cooking implement to showcase this tasty dish.

The secret to the amazing flavor in this pulled pork recipe is dry brining. We’re using a very simple mixture of salt and pepper just like we did for the Perfect Roast Beef recipe to dry brine the pork shoulder. You can learn more about dry-brining and how it affects meat over here.

After the pork shoulder has been dry brined, it’s braised in the slow cooker in a tangy broth that has been flavored with vinegar, spices, garlic, and onion. As the meat steeps in the cooking liquid, all of those flavors are infused into the meat.

Once your pork is cooked up, it’s time to serve. My favorite way to eat it is in a pulled pork sandwich with this Coleslaw For Pulled Pork Recipe. Or toss the pork with some BBQ sauce to turn it into amazing BBQ Pork Tacos which are also tasty with that coleslaw.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Recipe

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• Author: Christine Pittman
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Refrigerate: 8 hours
• Cook Time: 10 hours
• Total Time: 18 hours 10 minutes
• Yield: 8 servings 1x
• Category: Entrée
• Method: Slow Cooker
• Cuisine: American

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Low and slow. It truly is the secret to the best pulled pork. This slow cooker pulled pork recipe requires a little planning, but the results are so worth it!

Serving Suggestions: buns, coleslaw, tortillas, salsa

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Ingredients

Units USM Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 (4-lb.) boneless pork shoulder roast, trimmed of excess fat
• 2 Tbsp. Kosher salt
• 2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
• 3/4 cup water (or chicken broth)
• 3 Tbsp. tomato paste
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
• 1 Tbsp. apple cider vinegar
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. onion powder
• 1 tsp. ground mustard
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 4 cloves garlic, peeled and smashed
• 1 medium onion, peeled and cut into 1-inch wedges

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Instructions

1. In a small bowl combine the salt and pepper. Sprinkle the mixture on all sides of the pork, and pat into the meat. Wrap tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.
2. When ready to cook, add the water, tomato paste, brown sugar, vinegar, paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, mustard, and cumin to a 6-quart slow cooker. Stir to combine.
3. Remove the pork from the refrigerator, unwrap and place the pork, along with any juices that may have accumulated during the dry brining, in the slow cooker. Scatter the garlic and onions around the pork.
4. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours. The meat should be tender and pull apart easily with a fork.
5. Transfer the pork to a large bowl and shred with 2 forks.
6. Remove and discard the solids with a slotted spoon.
7. Pour 2 cups of the cooking liquid over the pork. You can save any remaining liquid to add the leftovers to keep them moist.
8. Serve on grilled buns with barbecue sauce and coleslaw or on warm tortillas with cilantro and salsa.

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This post originally appeared in March 2019 and was revised and republished in May 2024.