Sandwiches and I have become great friends over the years. Typically, I make some type of shredded chicken for my sandwiches, and I even have a pulled chicken recipe that brings in similar barbeque flavors to today’s recipe. So even though I love to cook with chicken, today I’m sharing the most scrumptious pulled pork! Not only are these sandwiches fantastic, but they are also a super easy slow cooker meal.
I have worked on this recipe for a while now, and it always tastes delicious. I make this pulled pork for large family gatherings (which is why this recipe yields so many servings) and I make this regularly for my immediate family (I always half the recipe if it’s just for the four of us). I am always so impressed with the tenderness and flavor of this pulled pork every single time!
The most important part of this recipe is to make sure you have a good cut of pork for cooking all day at a low temperature – I prefer the bone-in pork shoulder, pork butt, or pork picnic roast. In my experience, having bone-in pork ends up with more tender, juicy meat. This makes it much easier to shred and work with. Without the bone, I have found that the roast is often held together with a string net (which is honestly the most annoying thing to get off cooked meat!) and the meat also seems much tougher and it doesn’t want to shred.
The best part of this recipe is how easy it is! The meat cooks all day in the slow cooker with spices, diced onion, and liquid smoke. The liquid smoke is a key ingredient for giving this pulled pork the most amazing flavor! It tastes just like the pork was cooked in a real smoker instead of a slow cooker.
I like to serve the shredded pork on buns with barbeque sauce (I love Sweet Baby Ray’s brand!), pickles, and any other toppings you’d like. Leftovers are amazing on nachos, baked potatoes, and so much more! I hope your family enjoys this recipe as much as mine!
Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- 7 to 8 lb pork shoulder, pork butt, or pork roast
- 3 tbsp Cajun seasoning
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 tbsp minced dried garlic
- ½ cup water
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 tbsp liquid smoke
- 2 tbsp butter
- Buns, BBQ sauce, pickles, etc. if serving on sandwiches.
Instructions
- Spray the slow cooker with nonstick spray. You may want to consider using a liner.
- Add the pork to the slow cooker.
- Add the remaining ingredients to the slow cooker, evenly layering over the pork.
- Cover and cook on low for 8 to 9 hours on low.
- Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred it.
- Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker and stir so the pork is coated in the cooking juices.
- Serve on sliced buns with your favorite bbq sauce (Sweet Baby Ray’s works great) and any other sandwich toppings (such as pickles).
Notes
- Pork with the bone in will typically result in more tender meat.
- Half of this recipe also works great! Simply use half of each ingredient, but keep the cooking time the same. This recipe works well scaled up or down to make more or less pulled pork.
