Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

This Slow Cooker Pulled Pork is our family favorite pulled pork recipe! This pulled pork recipe uses a dry rub, no sauce, and is so tender and juicy!

We use this pulled pork to make so many different recipes like our Honey Mustard Pulled Pork Taquitos or add some cheese and BBQ sauce to make Cheesy BBQ Pulled Pork!

Crock Pot Pulled Pork recipe

This Slow Cooker Pulled Pork recipes is really tough to beat. It will please the saucy, lots of BBQ sauce please people and the ones that don’t like their pulled pork swimming in sauce.

You can have it both ways.

This pulled pork recipe is flavored using a dry rub and the juices from the meat, not with barbecue sauce. Of course you can add sauce to the pulled pork after it’s cooked, we do that all the time. But try this pulled pork without the sauce first, the flavors are so intense and so rich you might be converted to a no sauce guy.

Crock pot recipes are just so easy…most recipes just have a few steps to them and then you turn on your slow cooker and come home to an amazing smelling house and a delicious meal.

But besides being an easy kitchen tool to use, a crock pot also helps to evenly regulate temperatures while it’s cooking. There’s no better tool for that magic low and slow cooking! Using a slow cooker makes your dinner comes out tender and juicy instead of dried up and tough.

What Is The Best Cut Of Meat For Making Pulled Pork?

The best cut of meat for making pulled pork is a pork shoulder, either bone in or boneless. The bone in pork shoulder will take a little less time to cook than the boneless and also will be a little juicier than a boneless pork shoulder.

Or you can use what the butcher department calls a Boston Butt, a pork butt. A Boston Butt is half of a pork shoulder, the other half is called a Picnic Shoulder.

There are also a lot of recipes for pulled pork that use pork tenderloins but those aren’t my favorite. You’re definitely not going to get the flavor from a pork tenderloin that you will from a pork shoulder or pork butt.

I like using red onions in this pulled pork recipe but if you only have yellow onions it’s totally fine. Not an onion fan? No worries…the onions almost melt away into the pork once it’s done cooking and the flavor they add can’t be beat.

At the end, we add the onions back into the shredded pulled pork along with the juices but if you really aren’t an onion fan just leave them out. But definitely add them in while you’re cooking the pork butt.

Finally, we’re going to get in there and start shredding up that juicy pork.

This is why we think this is the best pulled pork recipe ever – you’ve got your delicious base pulled pork that can be used in SO many different recipes.

Pork recipes like this are so adaptable to using in different ways because pork, for one, doesn’t have a strong flavor to begin with. Also we’re not adding barbecue sauce to this pulled pork recipe so it can be flavored further in a lot of different ways.

What Other Ways Can I Use This Slow Cooker Pulled Pork?

Since we’ve already mentioned taquitos and our cheesy bbq pulled pork, here’s some more ideas!

• Pile on baked potatoes
• Use in quesadillas
• Add to nachos
• BBQ pulled pork pizza
• Add to grilled cheese sandwiches
• Make a burrito bowl
• Eat as is for a low carb dinner!

Looking For More Pork Recipes?

• Slow Cooker Cheesy Pulled Pork
• Slow Cooker Nutty Asian Pork
• Crock Pot Applessauce Pulled Pork
• Thai Coconut Pork Kabobs
• Pork Egg Roll Soup

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

★★★★★

5 from 12 reviews

• Author: Dan
• Prep Time: 5 minutes
• Cook Time: 8 hours
• Total Time: 8 hours 5 minutes
• Yield: 10 servings 1x

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This pulled pork recipe is our family favorite! Add your favorite BBQ sauce or enjoy as is!

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Ingredients

• 5 pounds pork butt, bone in (If using boneless you might need to increase the cooking time)
• 1/2 cup apple juice
• 2 medium red onions, peeled and sliced
• 5 cloves of garlic

For the Dry Rub:

• 1 1/2 tablespoons paprika
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 2 teaspoons – 1 tablespoon cumin (depending on your taste, we use 1 tablespoon)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar

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Instructions

1. Add the ingredients for the dry rub into a small bowl and mix together.
2. Use all of the rub to coat the pork, it will seem like a lot but the dry rub flavors the pork as well as the juice when the pork is done.
3. Add the pork to your slow cooker along with the apple juice, onions and garlic.
4. Set the slow cooker on low for 8 hours. Since slow cookers cook at different temperatures, check the pork after 6 hours to see if it shreds easily with a fork, if not let it go for another hour or two.
5. Remove the pork from the slow cooker to a board to cool slightly. Drain the juices from the slow cooker into a bowl, discarding the garlic cloves.
6. Shred the pork with two forks or meat claws and add back to the slow cooker. Add the onions (if using) and up to a cup of the reserved juices. You don’t want the pulled pork to have too much liquid so add the juices a little at a time and stir until you have the right consistency.

Recipe Notes

You can also use a boneless pork shoulder, the cooking time might be closer to 8 hours.

Keep this pulled pork on the warm setting until you are ready to serve and also to keep warm during your party if needed.

• Category: Dinner
• Method: slow cooker
• Cuisine: American

Keywords: mantitlement, slow cooker recipes, crock pot recipes, slow cooker pulled pork, crock pot pulled pork, pork recipes, party food, easy pulled pork