Slow Cooker & Instant Pot
Classic Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
★★★★½ (4.8)
Just rub, dump, and walk away: your slow cooker turns a cheap cut of pork into fall-apart, saucy pulled pork with almost no work from you. This is the recipe to make if you have never used a slow cooker before and want a guaranteed win.
- Only 15 minutes of hands-on prep, then the slow cooker does all the work
- Nearly impossible to mess up, forgiving of extra time on warm
- Makes a big batch that freezes well for easy weeknight meals later
- Uses an inexpensive cut of meat that turns luxuriously tender
- Pat the pork shoulder dry with paper towels; this helps the spice rub stick.
- In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, paprika, salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Rub the spice mixture all over the pork on every side, pressing it in with your hands.
- Scatter the sliced onion in the bottom of the slow cooker insert so the meat is not sitting directly on the hot metal.
- Place the seasoned pork shoulder on top of the onions, fattiest side facing up.
- Pour the chicken broth and apple cider vinegar around the pork, not over the rub, so you do not wash off the seasoning.
- Put the lid on and cook on LOW for 8 hours, or on HIGH for 5 hours, until the meat is so tender it falls apart when you nudge it with a fork; do not lift the lid to peek, since each peek adds about 20 minutes of lost heat.
- Check that the pork has reached at least 195 to 205 degrees F internally with a meat thermometer for the best shredding texture; this is well above the 145 degree F food-safety minimum for pork, which is intentional here for tenderness.
- Using two forks or tongs, lift the pork onto a large cutting board or bowl; it should shred easily with almost no resistance.
- Shred the meat into bite-size pieces, discarding any large pieces of pure fat.
- Skim excess fat off the top of the cooking liquid in the slow cooker, then discard the onions if you like, or leave them in for extra flavor.
- Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker and stir in the barbecue sauce until evenly coated; let it sit on the warm setting for 10 minutes to soak up flavor.
- Pile the warm pulled pork onto buns and serve with extra barbecue sauce on the side.
Resist opening the lid during cooking; every peek lets out heat and can add 20 to 30 minutes to the total cook time.
If your pork shoulder still has a fat cap, leave a thin layer on since it bastes the meat as it cooks and can be skimmed off later.
Nutrition (per serving)
420Calories
32gProtein
18gFat
30gCarbs
1gFiber
780mgSodium
Nutrition information is estimated and provided for convenience only.
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