Crock Pot Pulled Pork
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With only 5 ingredients, this Crock Pot Pulled Pork recipe a great weeknight meal (that will leave you with leftovers) or an easy meal for a large group. It just takes minutes to throw in the slow cooker and then hours later yields a flavorful, fall-apart-tender shredded pork.
You may want to try our Instant Pot Pulled Pork or Smoked Pork Shoulder instead.
This post is created in partnership with Hy-Vee Columbia.
“Super easy and delicious recipe! It is a crowd pleaser. The homemade bbq sauce is amazing, simple and makes the pulled pork that much better.” ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – Kat
Reasons You’ll Love This Recipe
- It’s EASY! Simply season the pork and cook it in the crock pot with Homemade BBQ Sauce (or whatever your favorite store-bought brand is).
- It’s freezer-friendly. A great recipe to double and freeze before cooking. You can also fully cook it and freeze it in small portions.
- It feeds a lot of people. When served on buns, this recipe can easily feed 10+ people. Check out more Easy Meals for a Large Group for ideas.
- It’s a dump-and-go recipe. Practically hands-free except for shredding the pork at the end.
- This recipe can also be made as Instant Pot Pulled Pork or Smoked Pulled Pork Shoulder!
Ingredients Needed
You’ll find all 5 main ingredients at your local Hy-Vee (Columbia). Their helpful butcher counter team can help you select the right cut of pork. They also have a wide selection of BBQ sauces, including some local brands.
Ingredient Notes:
- Pork shoulder – Also known as Boston butt. You can use bone-in or boneless.
- BBQ sauce – Whip up our delicious, easy Homemade BBQ Sauce or use one of the store. I like Stubb’s BBQ Sauce–great flavor and pretty clean ingredients.
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How to Make Crock Pot Pulled Pork
- In a small bowl, combine the onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Pat the pork shoulder dry with paper towels and rub it with the seasoning mix to coat all sides.
- Place the seasoned pork in the slow cooker and top with 1 cup of the BBQ sauce.
- Cover and cook on Low for 7 to 9 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours, or until the meat easily shreds.
- Transfer the pork to a cutting board and shred the meat. Return the meat to the slow cooker and stir it into the sauce.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat to the toasted buns and top with the remaining BBQ sauce as desired. I personally like to top mine with 5-Ingredient Coleslaw too.
Pro Tip: How to Know When Crock Pot Pork Is Done
Oftentimes, people take the pork shoulder out too early because it appears to be tough and dry.
However, the pork needs lots of time to break down the fibers holding the meat together. When cooked correctly, pork shoulder in the slow cooker should be tender and juicy.
Side Dish Ideas
Wondering what to serve with pulled pork? Try one of these winner side dishes.
Can I Freeze Pulled Pork?
YES! Like so many of our freezer meal recipes, BBQ Pulled Pork works great as a make-ahead freezer meal. To make this recipe into a freezer meal, follow these instructions:
Freeze for later: Follow steps 1 and 2. Place the seasoned pork and 1 cup of the BBQ sauce in a gallon-size freezer bag or round container. Seal and freeze. Place the remaining 1/2 cup BBQ sauce in a small freezer bag or container and the buns in a separate freezer bag. Seal and freeze them alongside the pork.
Prepare From Frozen: Thaw. Place the pork in the slow cooker. Follow steps 4 through 6.
Recipe FAQs
After testing hundreds of recipes for our slow cooker cookbook, From Freezer to Cooker, we found that cooking a 3-4 pound pork shoulder should take 7-9 hours depending on your slow cooker.
Yes, a bone-in pork shoulder or pork butt will work fine.
Yep! Just slow cooker until it shreds easily.
Any BBQ sauce will work! That is the beauty of this recipe. You can customize it to your liking.
If it’s already cooked, divide it up into small portions and freeze in an airtight container. It’s easy to reheat in the microwave on the defrost setting. Add a little extra BBQ sauce and/or maybe a little water when you reheat to add some moisture if you want.
We recommend safely thawing the pork completely before cooking it in a slow cooker. Cooking frozen meat in a slow cooker can lead to uneven cooking and may result in food safety concerns according to the USDA.
The pulled pork is done when it easily shreds apart with a fork. The meat should be tender and moist. You can also use a meat thermometer to check the internal temperature, which should reach around 195-205°F (90-96°C) for pulled pork.
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Crock Pot Pulled Pork
This 5-ingredient pulled pork recipe is a cinch to make when you whip it up in the slow cooker. Add some BBQ sauce and your dinner is done!
Ingredients
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 (3- to 4-pound) boneless pork shoulder* (also known as Boston butt), trimmed
- 1 1/2 cups BBQ sauce, homemade or your favorite all-natural store-bought BBQ sauce
- 8–10 whole wheat hamburger buns, toasted on the insides under the broiler
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Instructions
Make It Now:
- In a small bowl, combine the onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Pat the pork shoulder dry with paper towels and rub it with the seasoning mix to coat all sides. (Freezing instructions begin here.)
- Place the seasoned pork in the slow cooker and top with 1 cup of the BBQ sauce.
- Cover and cook on Low for 7 to 9 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours, until the meat easily shreds.
- Transfer the pork to a cutting board and shred the meat. Return the meat to the slow cooker and stir it into the sauce.
- Use a slotted spoon to transfer the meat to the toasted buns and top with the remaining BBQ sauce as desired. Serve.
Freeze For Later:
Follow steps 1 and 2. Place the seasoned pork and 1 cup of the BBQ sauce in a gallon-size freezer bag or container. Seal and freeze. Place the remaining 1/2 cup BBQ sauce in a small freezer bag or container and the buns in a separate freezer bag. Seal and freeze them alongside the pork.
Prepare From Frozen:
Thaw. Place the pork in the slow cooker. Follow steps 4 through 6.
Notes/Tips
- Bone-in pork shoulder will work fine, too.
- Oftentimes, people take the pork out too early because it appears to be tough and dry. However, the pork needs lots of time to break down the fibers holding the meat together. When cooked correctly, pork in the slow cooker should be tender and juicy.
- Storage Tip: A great way to store this freezer meal or leftovers is in our favorite reusable freezer bags.
- Where We Get Our Pork: We get our meat from ButcherBox. We highly recommend this service to source healthy meat–like pork, uncured bacon, organic chicken, wild salmon, and grass-fed beef–and have used it for years ourselves.
I want to make this for the coming 4TH of July. I bought a 6lb boneless pork loin roast. What size of cooker would you recommend I have a 6 and a 7? Also can you recommend cook on low for est. amount of time?
Hi Janet. We haven’t tested this recipe with a pork loin but we do have a Maple Glaze Pork Loin Recipe: https://thrivinghomeblog.com/slow-cooker-pork-loin-with-maple-glaze/
I would guess that a 7-quart slow cooker would be big enough, but if it isn’t you could use our tip in our slow cooker ham recipe where you cover the slow cooker in multiple layers of foil (if the lid won’t fit): https://thrivinghomeblog.com/crockpot-ham/
If you do make pulled pork with the pork loin, let us know how it turns out!
I took chance and made this recipe x3 for a birthday event. Got raving reviews from everyone. Love this and would definitely make again. It’s so easy and super yummy.
Awesome! So glad it was a hit. Thanks for leaving a review Chani.
Made the recipe exactly as listed and it came out delicious . I cooked it on high ( in a slow cooker) for 6 hours. Used extra sauce on slider buns and everyone loved it! A keeper!
Yay! Always fun to find a keeper! Thanks for leaving a review Linda, we’re so glad everyone enjoyed it.
This was delicious! My whole family enjoyed it!
Glad you found a homerun for your family Jennifer! Thank you for leaving a review.