Looking for a simple yet flavorful way to cook pork? This slow cooker pulled pork combines a homemade rub with a cheap cut of pork, a pork butt, and cooks it slowly in the Crock-pot for the best pulled pork recipe you ever tasted.
Versatile and freezer-friendly, the pulled pork is delicious on its own, in BBQ sandwiches, or in tacos and burritos. It’s the perfect home cooked meal for busy nights or to deliver as a postpartum meal for friends.
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When you sit down to meal plan, do you crave fun food that is easy to make and prime for the season? Fun food is what we want when we go out to eat or invite folks over, right?
I’ve got you covered for fun as well as delicious frugality with the Best Pulled Pork Recipe you’ve ever made. Trust me!
Why Make This
It’s very make ahead. This slow cooker pork butt recipe can be made in advance so you can go play at the beach, park, or lake — or go to work on a regular day — and not worry about what’s for dinner. Come home to supper all ready to go.
It’s easy. Between being a fantastic filling for tacos or sandwiches and good for eating as a main dish, this pulled pork proves to be a perfect busy night or company dinner. Since the slow cooker does the cooking, you can take it easy either way!
It’s easy on the budget. It’s simple to make a very large batch of this pulled pork, depending on what size roast you buy. Pork butt or shoulder roasts are extremely affordable, so don’t hesitate to stock up when you see a sale.
It’s versatile. The custom spice blend is versatile so that it complements Mexican food (think tacos, burritos, enchiladas) just as well as it does classic barbecue sandwiches. It’s out of this world on Everything Hamburger Buns with this homemade BBQ sauce.
Leftovers can take a new identity the next day without tasting like they’re out of place. Bonus: This pork fits a variety of diets so all your meat eaters can enjoy it.
Ingredients
You don’t need much for this recipe except a pork butt roast and a handful of spices.
Using a blend of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, onion flakes, chile powder, ground cumin, cayenne, and cloves will give your pulled pork great flavor without a lot of work.
All the ingredients are gluten-free, making this a great addition to a Whole 30 meal plan, paleo, and other gf diets. Just be sure to check your chile powder package. Sometimes they add funky stuff to chile powder.
The roasts I buy are huge, making for two meals for our family of 8. I love cooking once and feeding my family multiple times. However, if your roast is significantly less than 8 pounds, use less of the spice mix. Store it in an airtight container in the pantry until you’re ready to make this again.
Trust me, you will want to!
Step-by-Step Instructions
This recipe is super simple.
- Measure out the spices and mix them together.
- Place the roast in the slow cooker and coat it generously with the spice mixture. Cover and cook for 6 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low.
- When the meat is cooked, it will easily shred. You can shred the cooked pork in the slow cooker or remove it to a dish. Simply pull the meat apart with a fork or tongs. Moisten the meat with some of the drippings if you like.
- Serve chunks of meat as a main protein or in sandwiches or tacos.
Make-ahead instructions
This pulled pork will keep well in an airtight container in the fridge for about 4 days. Reheat in the microwave, oven, or stovetop before serving.
Freezing Instructions
For longer storage, stash this in the freezer for up to 6 weeks. Just be sure to chill the meat completely before placing in the freezer compartment. This helps it freeze quickly and prevents freezer burn.
I purposely developed the spice mix to go with BBQ as well as Mexican flavors, so the possibilities of how to serve the final product are truly endless. Make a big batch and divided it into meal-size packages to stash in the freezer.
Be sure to watch our video to see how easy it is to make this slow cooker pulled pork.
Serving Suggestions
Use the savory pulled pork in tacos, burritos, taquitos, chimichangas, lettuce wraps, salads, and sandwiches.
We love serving this piled high on a kaiser roll and you can drizzle on some of your favorite barbeque sauce. You can even add a scoop of this Simple Coleslaw Recipe. Or maybe some Homemade Dill Pickles!
Then don’t forget the sides! Macaroni Salad, Easy Mac &Cheese in the Instant Pot, or this Easy Homemade Deli Potato Salad would all make excellent side dishes.
FAQs
By nature, pulled pork needs to be made from a cut of pork that will become tender and basically fall apart after cooking. Pork butt and pork shoulder roasts fit the bill perfectly. These might also be labeled Boston butt or picnic shoulder.
Pork butt and pork shoulder roasts are perfect all year-round. Roasts cook up super well in the slow-cooker which is an ideal tool to use in the summer time as well as in the busy winter months. Not only do they save you from heating up the oven, but they can also sit for awhile cooking dinner while you finish your daily business.
Both cuts are from the shoulder of the pig, but pork butt is just higher up on the foreleg. Generally these are tough, fatty cuts which means they are cheaper in price.
They benefit from a slow cooking method like this recipe that utilizes your crockpot! The slow cooker will help to break down this tough, fatty meat into a juicy pulled pork you will want to pile high on a bun with barbecue sauce.
It is possible to overcook the pork on the high setting. If you are worried about overcooking the pork then I recommend using the low setting.
I don’t bother with browning the meat before putting it in the slow cooker. The long, slow cooking process will break down the meat and create a juicy, shredded pork.
However, that being said, you can by all means brown the meat on all sides before adding it to the slow cooker. Doing so, will just add a bit more flavor.
Surprisingly, no. You don’t need to add water to the roast and spices in the slow cooker. This cut of pork is naturally juicy, and yes, fatty. In just a few minutes it will juice up in the pot. At the end of the cooking time, you should have a decent ½ to 1 cup of drippings. You can use these to moisten the meat, make soup or chili, or discard.
Recipe Costs
Knowing how much it costs you to prepare a recipe can help you decide if it’s the type of recipe to make regularly or one you might want to save for special occasions. Let’s crunch some numbers and see how this recipe pencils out.
- pork butt roast $1.99/lb x 8 pounds = $16
- spices $0.50
When you make an 8-pound pork butt, you should have enough for 24 servings of pulled pork for tacos or sandwich filling. At $16.50/batch, this works out to 69 cents a serving!
Save even more.
Pulled pork is already a very affordable dish, thanks to the fact that pork roast is a cheap cut of meat. However, there are a few other things you can do to lower your costs even more:
- Stock up on ingredients when they are on sale. When you see a good price on pork roasts, buy a few extra to stash in the freezer for later. You know you’ll use them — especially when you make this pulled pork. Stocking up can save you money.
- Buy spices in bulk. I regularly buy larger containers of spices I use frequently, like pepper, sea salt, garlic powder, and chile powder. I store excess dried herbs and ground spices in the freezer if I know it will be awhile before I go through the large container.
More Great Pork Recipes
Tell us what you think!
We love to hear your experiences with Good Cheap Eats. Click the STARS on the recipe card or leave a STARRED comment to let us know what you think of the recipe.
Best Ever Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Equipment
- 7-qt slow cooker
- cooking tongs
- ziptop freezer bags
- redi-tainers
Ingredients
- 8 lb bone-in pork butt or shoulder roast
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon onion powder
- 1 tablespoon dry onion flakes
- 1 tablespoon chile powder or ground chile
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground cloves
- ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper or more to taste
Instructions
- Remove the roast from the packaging and place in the bottom of a large slow cooker.8 lb bone-in pork butt or shoulder roast
- In a small bowl combine the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, onion flakes, chile powder, black pepper, cumin, cloves, and cayenne pepper. Spread this all over the roast, turning the meat to coat all sides.1 tablespoon salt, 1 tablespoon garlic powder, 1 tablespoon onion powder, 1 tablespoon dry onion flakes, 1 tablespoon chile powder or ground chile, 1 teaspoon black pepper, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon ground cloves, ¼ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
- Cook in the slow cooker for 6 hours on high or 8 to 10 hours on low. The meat will be so tender that it will easily shred with tongs or two forks. Remove the bones and fat, and shred the meat.
- Serve the meat as a filling for tacos, sandwiches, lettuce wraps, burritos, salads, or taquitos.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
This post was originally published on May 26, 2015. It has been updated for content and clarity.
Sharlene
Should I trim some of the fat before putting into crockpot?
Jessica Fisher
You can if you want. It’s up to personal preference.
Susan L Salomone
in the crock pot as we speak! Cant wait to try it!
Debbie
I used your recipe and it was fabulous! I took it to work and everyone raved over it, asking for the recipe needless to say there wasn’t any left to take home. I’m making another now, I cooked the first one on low for 12 hours. GREAT!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad you rocked it! Nicely done!
Jessica Fisher
When you have a minute, can you come back and give it a starred review? Thanks!
André Bélanger
The time preparing and cooking may take time but the taste is so delicious that one forgets time.
Brett C. Williams
I’ve been using your recipe for years now. I use the specific spices and amounts listed and this comes out AWESOME every time. When I make it in the summer, I have to stop people from automatically putting on BBQ sauce. Then they try it and the WOW factor hits them! This is a proven winner.
I also make it on New Year’s Day. I put sliced up kielbasa on the bottom then layer one bag of sauerkraut (w\ juice) and one bag drained. I then put in ~ cup of brown sugar before putting the roast on top. Delish!
Jessica Fisher
Thanks so much for the great feedback, Brett! I’m so glad to hear that it’s been so successful for you! #kitchenwinner 😉
Kim
This is now my go-to recipe for pulled pork. Love it, love it, love it! I make it without the cloves – that’s just my personal preference. The flavor is delicious and marries well with my favorite barbecue sauce.
Jessica Fisher
Thanks so much for your feedback!
Meredith
Love Love Love!!! I’m so happy I found this recipe. I first made it for a multi-family beach vacation and to say it was a hit would be an understatement! Everyone of all ages and even the pickiest of eaters couldn’t stop saying how it was the best pulled pork they’ve ever had. Now my husband requests it all the time. I put the rub on the roast the night before mostly because it saves me time in the morning, but it also gives it time for all the flavors to really get infused. Thank you for sharing such an amazing recipe!
Jessica Fisher
So glad to hear that it is a keeper at your house! Great strategy for “marinating” it in the rub!
Jessie Stanek
This recipe is Excellent! Moist with great flavor. Definitely will be making this again
Jessica Fisher
Yay! So glad you liked it!
Heather B
I have made pulled pork dozens of times, but I recently made this recipe for a family gathering and it received 10:10 scores from everyone- even my picky eater who doesn’t like to eat meat. He even had seconds! Can be used for bbq or for tacos- just add sauce or salsa. Fabulous!!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! I’m always so thrilled to hear this. Thanks for sharing your feedback!
Paula
This was delicious–and so easy! We had family over for this meal, and my teenaged niece (who usually never eats pork) and nephew devoured there pulled pork sandwiches. My nephew loved how the meat didn’t have that sweet slick flavour/texture that some recipes have. I love healthy food and have type-one diabetes, so I loved that I didn’t have to add sugar or syrup. My sister-in-law asked for the recipe. :o) Note that I did put Paul Newman’s Bourbon BBQ sauce on the table to drizzle over if desired.
Jessica Fisher
I love these stories! Thank you for sharing your success!
ire
Please try again- first try to fry the meat from all sides to seal the juices , then put the spices and some water.I buy the biggest shoulder I can fit in my IP ,bone in and do a 99 min.Afterwards , shred it,take the bone out and put it again for a short time so the meat can soak up the juice just as the other comments said .
Jessica Fisher
Thanks for the suggestions!
Lauren
Is it best to do this with a thawed roast or can it be frozen ??
Jessica Fisher
I prefer to cook thawed meat. It seems to have better texture.
Terry calkins
I do this recipe in the pressure cooker using a cup of water. The resulting broth is used to cook rice. If it is very oily I will cool the broth first and use the congealed fat to fry potatoes or start a roast. The shredded meat is packaged into 2. To 4 cup packages and used for BBQ pork sandwiches, burritos, tacos or chopped to add to shephards pie.
Jessica Fisher
I did this with pork strips the other night, per your encouragement. The meat did not get as tender as it does in the slow cooker. I’m a newb when it comes to pressure cooking. Any suggestions? (I did 35 minutes with 10 min pressure release)
Ashlee
Hey there!!
I don’t have any cloves…do you think pooping a cinnamon stick in there would be a decent substitute for a little pop of that layer of flavor?
Jessica Fisher
Sure. Let me know how it goes!
Carol
I made it tonight, and everyone loved it! I cut the cloves and cayenne (we are wimps) in half. Perfect seasoning. Boys chose for me to add a little BBQ sauce after it was done and make pulled pork sandwiches. Our pickiest eater declared it the best ever. Thanks!!
Jessica Fisher
Yay! That’s a true success when picky eaters like it!
Hilary F
When I read “Best Ever Slow Cooker Pulled Pork,” I’ll admit that I took that as a challenge. But, I always love your recipes so I gave it a try. Wow, that was no overstatement. It is simply amazing!!! I love the spice rub. Many slow cooker roast recipes use seasonings that only make it suitable for one type of cuisisne (Italian, Mexican, BBQ, etc….). But, this us so versatile, I can imagine using it for countless recipes. Thanks again for yet another hit!!!
Jessica Fisher
I am so glad you think so. Every time I make it I impress myself. LOL!
Regan
Has anyone tried this recipe with a pork loin? I have one on hand that I am not really sure what to do with & this sounded delicious!!
Jessica Fisher
Pork loin can be tricky in the slow cooker. I’ve found it does better in a roasting pan in the oven. The same seasoning, however, would be delicious.
Sandi
Months later, here’s my opinion: I almost always cook the pork loin in the slow cooker on low temp. It does create a lot of juice (not really fatty or greasy as that meat is usually pretty lean) so after you shred it, you need to let the meat sit in that juice and soak it back up again. If you drain the juice, the meat will end up really dry, especially when you reheat leftovers.
Jessica Fisher
And here’s my revised opinion, months later. 🙂 Having recipe tested with this: https://goodcheapeats.com/2017/11/slow-cooker-pork-loin/ my current position is not to let pork loin go too long in the slow cooker. Then it does indeed get too dry. 6 hour mark on low seemed to be perfect. Too far after made it go dry.
Janet
Have you tried using liquid smoke in this recipe? Does is fare well in the slow cooker? If so, any suggestions on how much to use?
Thanks!
Jessica Fisher
I have never used liquid smoke. Sorry I can’t be of more help.
Chickiewickie
I’m about to make this. And I read through all the comments. The one question I don’t see is, fat side up or down? In a regular oven I would do fat side up. Is that the same for crockpot? My normal go-to pulled pork recipe I slow cook in oven, sometimes up to 24hrs!
Jessica Fisher
Personally, I don’t think it matters in a slow cooker. In the oven we do fat side up to keep everything moist and to flavor the meat with the drippings. The crockpot doesn’t usually run the risk of things drying out. It’s a personal preference, I think.
Trischa
Can I shred it in the pot for the last hour or will all the grease make it to greasy
Jessica Fisher
I often do that, but the drippings go great in soup. Either way is delicious.