This slow cooker pulled pork is a favorite in my house! The slow cooker is the perfect tool for cooking pork shoulder, which is what we’ll use to make this recipe. Cooking the pork low and slow makes it incredibly tender. If you’d prefer to make this in the oven, see our oven pulled pork recipe.
Key Ingredients
Pork: Use boneless or bone-in pork shoulder for this recipe (sometimes called Boston butt or pork butt). It’s a tough cut and does well when cooked over an extended period. It’s also well marbled with fat, which prevents the pork from drying out while cooking. As the pork cooks, the fat melts and sort of self-bastes during cooking. Onion and garlic: Are the base of our simple sauce. Tomato paste: Adds some color, richness, and umami to the cooking liquid. Chili powder and cumin: Add a little spice. I don’t use a lot, just enough to make the pork extra delicious. Apple cider vinegar: Adds a little tanginess and helps to tenderize the pork. Without it, the pork tastes flat. Adding the vinegar wakes everything up. Fish sauce or Worcestershire: Seasons our cooking liquid and adds a nice burts of umami, which makes the pulled pork even more delicious.
How to Make Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Seasoning your pork is essential, especially when using a slow cooker. Once you hit start, you don’t want to lift the lid, so it’s a good idea to think about flavors and seasoning up front. We’re pretty heavy-handed with salt and pepper initially and like to rub the pork with them, getting the salt into all the nooks of the meat. We also season the pork about 20 minutes before we turn the slow cooker on. After seasoning the pork, we combine cooked onions, garlic, tomato paste, and spices. We then pour the mixture over the pork, and we’re ready to cook. When I said the slow cooker shines in this recipe, I meant it. It’s pretty tricky to overcook pork shoulder, so we cook the pork on LOW for many hours. In our pulled pork recipe, we call for at least 8 hours in the slow cooker, but you really can go beyond that. The pork should be so tender that a spoon can cut through it. Doing all of this in a slow cooker makes it easy. You can do it overnight and wake up to perfect pulled pork! When the pork is finished, you have juicy and tender pulled pork as well as a rich and flavorful broth. It’s pure gold. Remove the cooking liquid from the slow cooker and skim as much fat as possible. Discard the excess fat (which will float to the top) and then stir the liquid back into the pork to keep it extra moist and flavorful. After skimming the cooking liquid, place the pork back into the slow cooker. Then, shred the pork. I use two forks to pull the pork apart. Since it’s so tender, it literally will fall apart on you. When shredded, stir the pork back into the liquid in the slow cooker.
What to Serve with Pulled Pork
Slow cooker pulled pork is such a delicious main dish, and there are so many options for goes well with it. I love making pulled pork sandwiches with a spoonful of creamy coleslaw on top. Other cold salads like potato salad, pasta salad, and bean salad are great, too. For something warm, try homemade mashed potatoes, creamy mac and cheese, or roasted potatoes. And to soak up all the delicious sauce, consider a side of homemade cornbread or this easy beer bread! If you want to serve your pulled pork with barbecue sauce, try our homemade BBQ sauce or for a different spin, serve with some homemade hoisin sauce (trust me, it’s delicious). 2 teaspoons salt, plus more as needed 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper 2 tablespoons neutral flavored oil 1 medium onion, peeled and chopped small 4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced 2 tablespoons tomato paste 1 tablespoon ancho or mild chili powder, try homemade chili powder 2 teaspoons ground cumin 1 cup water 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar 1 tablespoon fish sauce or 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce 2Heat oil in a wide skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and garlic, then cook, occasionally stirring, until they are sweet and browned around the edges. 3Stir in the tomato paste, chili powder, and cumin. Cook, stirring, until the tomato paste turns from bright red to orange, about 3 minutes. 4Add the water, apple cider vinegar, and fish sauce and cook for about 1 minute, scraping up the browned bits on the bottom of the pan. 5Pour the onion and spice mixture over the pork, then move the pork around the bottom of the slow cooker so that some of the onion and spice mixture slides underneath. 6Seal the slow cooker with its lid and cook until very tender, LOW for 6 to 8 hours or HIGH for 4 to 6 hours. 7Turn off the slow cooker and transfer the pork to a cutting board. If the pork has a bone in it, remove and discard it. Use two forks to shred the meat, discarding any connective tissue and large clumps of fat. 8Remove the cooking liquid and skim most of the fat from its surface. Discard the fat, and then set aside the cooking liquid. 9If using barbecue sauce, add it to the slow cooker and stir in the shredded pork. For even more flavor, add back some of the reserved cooking liquid. If you’re not using barbecue sauce, add the shredded pork and the cooking liquid to the slow cooker. Then, taste and season with salt, vinegar, or hot sauce.
