Someone asked me on my Facebook page to post more slow cooker recipes which was quite coincidental because yesterday, as I was reading that particular post, I was unpacking a giant pork roast that I intended to make into pulled pork. This is about the easiest meal a person could make and so versatile. This morning we ate the pulled pork with eggs and tonight I’ll make some Purple Cabbage Slaw to eat along with the pork and I’ll maybe even make a salad out of it for lunch tomorrow; if there is any left (which I doubt there will be….)
Beyond Easy Pulled Pork
4-5 lb pork butt roast
2 yellow onions, sliced
Dry Rub
3 tbsps chili powder
1 tsp coriander
2 tsps cumin
2 tsps onion powder
1 tablespoon dried parsley
¼ teaspoon chipotle powder
2 tsps sea salt
Mix all dry rub ingredients together. Rub the entire roast with the dry rub (you should use it all.) Place a layer of onions on the bottom of your slow cooker. Place the roast on top. Put the rest of the sliced onions on top of the slow cooker. NO LIQUID NECESSARY! Cook the roast on high for 5-6 hours and then turn down to low for another 3-4 hours or until the roast is literally falling apart and easy to shred.
Enjoy!
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Yay! I’ve been searching for a “working/full time student single mom” pulled pork recipe… aka something which wouldn’t require seventeen steps and my hovering in the kitchen for hours! Thank you for posting! =)
You are very welcome and I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Can I use pork right out of the freezer?
Found your recipes by searching “freezer to crockpot” cooking, but there’s no mention if it works with the pork right out of the freezer?
Hoping to try this for tonight. Thanks!
I have not yet tried this without first thawing the pork so I don’t want to recommend something I’m not sure about. I’m sorry!
I pulled it out of the freezer the night before but it wasnt thawed. It cooked just fine. its the best pulled pork I’ve ever had.
Sarah, can I use a different cut of pork for this recipe? I have a pork roast in the fridge, but it’s not butt.
Pork loin works just fine too. I tried this recipe with that and it’s just as fantastic. Make sure one side of the loin has a nice layer of fat on one side. Place the fat-side up so as it slow cooks the fat can “melt” down over the meat as it cooks.
Yes, the roast should work just fine!
This recipe for Pulled Pork is wonderful, but I used a pressure cooker and it only took 55 minutes for a 3 pound roast, and a very little liquid. Delicious…..
PS. I forgot to add that I used 2 Tablespoons of Liquid Smoke…
I do “pulled” meat of all kinds in my toaster oven–I put some water in the bottom of the little broiler pan, then add my doctored-up meat, then cover it all with foil, and cook for 3 hours. No hovering, no crock-pot, and no oven burning away.
Yes, you can “pull” just about any kind of meat–two days ago, we ate pulled brisket, and tonight it’s pulled chicken breasts (in the toaster oven again).
For those of you interested in crocking, there’s an entire website devoted to Paleo crock-pot cooking: http://paleopot.com/
I do a pork roast in the crock pot about every 2-3 weeks, my kids love it and it always lasts for at least 3 meals (couple of dinners and a lunch usually). We also do approximately the same recipe you listed above, but with chicken breasts (that might be from your cookbook) and my 2yo twins love it.
Yup, it’s also delicious with chicken for sure!!
Looks great! Is it a pastured pig? I think I just might make this tonight! Think it matters if the roast is frozen and smaller?
It won’t matter if the roast is smaller but it will for sure make a difference with cooking time if you start with a frozen roast, just make sure you cook it long enough that it falls apart easily.
Oh and no, unfortunately this time it was not from a pastured pig.
Mmmmmmmmmmm porky goodness… Perfect for meal for busy students on a budget, thank you. x
Would this recipe work with a pork loin?
Pork loin works just fine too. I tried this recipe with that and it’s just as fantastic. Make sure one side of the loin has a nice layer of fat on one side. Place the fat-side up so as it slow cooks the fat can “melt” down over the meat as it cooks.
Man, these pork and bacon recipes really make me wish my hubby wasn’t jewish 🙁
Stephanie-
I did mine with a beef round roast and it turned out great 🙂
I logged on today to look for a recipe for pulled pork, and your website greeted me with an amazing picture of exactly what I wanted. Thanks for providing another awesome recipe, and for reading my mind and stomach.
You are very welcome and I hope you enjoy!
Hi! I just made my pork last night in the slow cooker. Have you ever tried it with a chile verde sauce on it? I just make a chile verde salsa – but i water it down a bit with a little chicken stock, then I pour it over the pork butt and slow cook it same way. Delicious! Super impressed my friends who thought it wasn’t going to be as good as it was. 🙂 THanks for this rub recipe…I’m going to share it and impress more people and hopefully get them to buy your recipe book! I love it…
Yes I sure have! I have my own chili verde recipe found here on the blog and I also have just dumped the salsa verde from Trader Joes onto pork loin and let it cook in the crock pot and it’s delicious.
This may be a dumb question, do u still do the pulled pork rub when using the salsa verde? Coincidentally, i have a jar of TJ salsa verde in my cupboard from our 1st paleo shopping trip ( we’re in week 3). It seemed like it would work on something, chicken or pork, but I didn’t know what to do with it for sure.
I can’t wait to make the pulled pork tomorrow!
Thanks
“Put the rest of the sliced onions on top of the slow cooker”
Now why would I put the rest of the onions on top of the slow cooker? 😉
LOL! Thanks for catching that. That’s hilarious…
Hey Sarah! Love this, thanks. We make pork butt a lot in this household and I wanted to tell you that we use something i know you love on ours! After we shred it, sometimes we throw in a jar of Trader Joe’s Salsa Verde! It’s SO GOOD! It is perfect for on lettuce tacos, or just served with avocado and a side of shredded cabbage like you sometimes do with dinners. 🙂 It reminds me of the pulled pork at Qdoba. I am guessing you’ve probably already tried it with the Salsa Verde, but I had to share in case you haven’t! Take care!
-Geneva
We do the same thing with the TJ’s salsa verde! So good!
How many servings does that make? I’m a single gal so I don’t have any mouths to feed besides my own. Can I freeze the leftovers?
Also – thanks for your website Sarah! I just started Paleo this past Thursday and listened to a few of your podcasts for advice. I liked the birth control discussion =)
This serves a very hungry family of 5 and yes, you can freeze leftovers!
You can make a great (lettuce) taco filling using leftover pulled pork like this. Heat a cast iron pan on medium heat with a little oil wiped over the surface, and add 2-3 cups of pulled porked, and then press the pork down into the pan with a spatula. Cook about 5 minutes, and then scrap the pan, turn the pork over (in one layer, if you can) and cook another 5 minutes. It will brown and crisp up, and take on some additional flavor. Great with salsa verde.
Great idea, thank you!!
Was making pork roast tonight, also! But that recipe was too high maintenance so Im opting for yours instead! Thanks again, Sarah
You are very welcome, hope it turned out yummy for you and the family!
I just made a similar recipe on Sunday. Like the previous response by Geneva, we ate our pulled pork like a taco using bib lettuce as a shell and topped it with home-made guacamole. YUM! I love passive dinners.
Great set-and-forget recipe, thanks! I’m so glad my pork allergy disappeared when I went full Paleo 🙂
Wow, glad your allergy went away also!
Pork + slow cooker is a very popular equation in my kitchen. Looks delicious, and leftovers-friendly!
Any plans for recipes using organ meats? One of my goals this year is to incorporate more organ meats (liver, heart…ok, that’s about as brave as I’m gonna get for now).
I gave your book as a Christmas present to my 5th graders teacher and she loves it (no shocker there, I knew she would!).
Thanks again for all the great posts!
I also need to get more adventurous with the organ meats. I’ll see what I can come up with! : )
Suggestion to get started: why not grind them up and add them to your meat loaf mix? By grinding, you can add them to anything you make with ground meats, such as meat loaf, tacos/burritos, spring rolls (made with tapioca flour wrappers), stuffed peppers, etc.
If you first grind the organs, then add your regular ground meat to it, grinding together, it’s all mixed up, and the flavor is less noticeable. Spices do help here.
Time-saving tip: when you get home from the store with your refrigerated meat, plan on running the organs and muscle meat together in a food processor or grinder to mix them, then subdivide the whole thing into appropriate portion sizes in zippy bags, then freeze. CW info says 4 oz. raw (makes 3 oz. cooked) is one person’s portion, so get out your 1/2 cup measuring cup (per-person measure–if that’s enough protein for your family), and use it to fill your zippy bags with the ground-up meat mix. If you regularly use the same spices for pretty much all your ground meat dishes, you can add them to the meat while grinding, and this will pre-season as well as pre-portion your mixed meat for the freezer–then all you do is defrost. This may not sound like a time-saver NOW, but when you come home tired and sore one day, your thawed pre-mixed, pre-seasoned meat pack will pay off (when you need it). It will also make your meat go further because it’s pre-portioned by you, not the farmer, not the butcher, or grocery store minions.
Sarah,
I am on day 8 of the Whole 30 and I could not have gotten this far without your cookbook. I have two children, my boy is 10 and my girl is 12. I have been “playing” with the paleo diet for 2 years, I finally decided to dial in my diet and today was the first day I feel absolutely fantastic and my workout was great too!
Last night I made the roast pork in the slow cooker…..OMG…so good! I am sitting here eating my Red Curry Beef stew….another homerun, as a matter of fact my husband just yelled to me “it’s good Honey”!
Again thank you so much, with all this great food, I hope to stay this way beyond the 30 days.
Thanks so much for your kind comment and I bet that after you are done with the 30 days there will be no looking back!!
I just made the Red Curry Beef stew from the cookbook and it’s fantastic!!
I was wondering if a pork shoulder would work with this recipe?
Absolutely! It’s basically the same cut of meat anyway.
Awesome I know what’s for dinner tonight!
Yeah, I have a couple of pork shoulders in the freezer, so I am looking forward to making this next week. I have loved every recipe of yours that I have made, and that has been at least 10 different things.
Awesome Theresa, thank you so much!
My husband would LOVE this! Just may put this on our menu for next week!
One of the trainers at my gym mentioned your blog when he was talking about nutrition so I thought I’d take a look and try to figure out what’s going on with this paleo thing. I tried this pulled pork tonight and it is FANTABULOUS! And, so easy even my husband could do it (which he did actually because I cut my finger and couldn’t rub in the spices or cut up the onion). Anyhow, 3 helpings later, it’s a total hit with him and I’m sure we’ll be making this every few weeks 🙂 This just seriously rocks. Thank you for posting it!
You are very welcome and I’m so glad you found my site, thank you!
I put this in the slow cooker this morning. My house smells FANTASTIC. I can’t wait for dinner.
Thanks for the great recipes.
You are very welcome and I hope you enjoy the pulled pork.
I just started paleo and had a pork roast thawing in the fridge. I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with it, but am going right now to plug in the slow-cooker. Thanks!
You are very welcome, and I hope you enjoy!
I don’t have a slow cooker or pressure cooker; will this recipe work in the oven if I use a dutch oven with a lid?
Yes, absolutely! I would cook at around 275 for 6-7 hours in the oven or until the pork is easy to shred. : )
This was AWESOME!! I used it in some lettuce tacos topped with cilantro, red onion and homemade guacamole! I also paired it with the purple cabbage slaw, which was delicious as well! I’m on Day 4 of eating Paleo and I’m really enjoying it. Your cook book and website are helping me a TON!!
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Kylah and thank you so much for your kind comment! : )
What a great recipe! We tried this yesterday for dinner. Prep was easy, cleanup was easy, and even my four-year-old daughter who barely eats anything had THIRDS. Super success, thanks Sarah!
Hurray! So glad it was a success!
Just put pur roast in the crock pot. Reallt excited to try thos recipe up. It wasn’t even that expensive. Will update in 8 hours. Thanks!!!
Another great recipe, Sarah! I live for stuff like this when I need to cook in bulk for a full week’s worth of meals. I made it yesterday and portioned out 5 – 1 cup servings for my lunches during the week but there was SO much left after that so I’ll be enjoying it for dinner too.
I decided to do a review of the recipe for my From the Kitchen blog post on 1/17/12. I’ve put up plenty of links to send my readers to your site since it’s where I go for a lot of recipe ideas! Keep them coming! ~Pasquale
Hi Sarah,
I tried this recipe and it turned out great. My local grocery store didn’t have Pork Butt out so I did it with a pork shoulder instead. Do you have a good paleo BBQ sauce recipe?
Tim
I made this last night and we loved it! I also made the purple cabbage slaw which was yummy as well. Thanks for sharing these recipes!
I made this yesterday and it was fantastic! I used 3 pieces of pork loin and it was perfection. My family ate it mexican-style in wraps (they aren’t paleo), and I had it in lettuce leaves topped with guacamole. A drizzle of fresh lime juice over the meat kicked it up a delicious notch. Thanks for the easy recipe – a new favourite in our house!
Oh my goodness. I made this tonight for dinner and it was amazing! I had a little pork tenderloin in the fridge and wanted to put it in the crock pot b/c I have 3 kids under 5 and my husband is out of town and by the time dinner comes along I am exhausted! I added a little apple cider vinegar after I shredded it b/c it was a little dry. I think I cooked it on high a little to long. The vinegar made it taste even better, if that is possible. I made a purple cabbage slaw, kinda, I had a bag of broccoli slaw in the fridge so I just added the olive oil, balsamic vinegar and pepper and it turned out fantastic. My kids liked it too. The 14 month old espeacially!!! Thank you for the great ideas. Glad I found your blog.
Making this for dinner tomorrow with a pastured pork shoulder! I’ll report back!
My whole family loved your pulled pork recipe. I tried making my own chili powder recipe. All the commercial chili powders seem to have cocoa in them (my wife is allergic to cocoa). Do you have a “recipe” for making my own chili powder without the cocoa?
Thank you for the awesome recipes!
Hi Steve, Penzeys makes a chili powder without cocoa http://www.penzeys.com/cgi-bin/penzeys/p-penzeyschili3000.html as well as the Simply Organic brand! http://www.simplyorganic.com/products.php?ct=sospicesaz&cn=Chili+Powder Hope that helps!
Yes it does, I will look for those here in Corvallis. Thank you!
Well that was pretty awesome! And spicy! Thanks for this recipe!
Great recipe and so easy! I think this might become one of my paleo staples!
I made this tonight and it was incredible. I didn’t have parsley or chipotle powder, so I tossed in 1 TBLS of poultry seasoning and I served this with home made paleo mayo, guacamole, and salsa. Amazing!
Also, there was a lot of liquid left that I would normally throw out, but tonight I’ve decided to make a soup! I added water until my crock pot was almost full, and I’ve thrown in yellow and green onions, some leftover kale, a handful of cilantro, half a pack of sliced mushrooms and some sea salt. Oh yeah, a crap ton of garlic, because I love it. I’m thinking of adding some bacon, and if I had had them, I would have added pork hawks. It’s all good though, there were a enough bones in the roast that it should still flavour the stalk nicely.
The pulled pork was definitely something I’ll be making a lot more of, I thought you could only make that with BBQ sauce. I’m glad there’s a recipe that doesn’t require a shit-ton of sugar!
Thank you so much!!!
Love from Canada,
Nathalie
I made this today for our superbowl party – DELISH!!! I’d never used a dry rub before, it was so tasty! I was pleasantly surprised at how much moisture there was in the pot. I will DEFINITELY be making this again!
I made this last night … thawed my 4lb roast in the microwave for 30 min. before slow-cooking it to shreds. I was surprised how juicy this turned out, given that the recipe didn’t call for any liquid! So good–def making it again!
Wow, thank you for this recipe!! The house smells amazing, my mouth is watering. Can’t wait to have it tonight.
Do you think it would work to do this for 12-13 hours on low? I work literally all day, and want something so easy, and tasty after work.
Thanks.
BTW, Sarah, I’ve made the slow cooked spice rubbed chicken twice… In two weeks!!
I ended up just trying it, and it totally worked, my husband and I both loved this!! 11-2 hours on low, easily shreds meat. Though I think our pork was only half the weight but I used all the spice rub, but we loved it.. so if I do more I will use more spices still…. maybe my spices aren’t as potent…. We had this with a slaw as well.. can’t wait to make it again next time pork shoulder is on sale..
Thanks for the great recipe
So glad it turned out Laura!
This recipe is awesome!! I made it exactly as written the first time (shortly after it was posted) and it turned out perfectly! I’m not a big roast maker (although I should be, but cooking large cuts of meat has always seemed a little intimidating) and didn’t realize you could make a roast that literally falls apart without using liquid. So yummy! I wanted to make it again this weekend, but I couldn’t find a pork butt/shoulder roast at Costco. All I could find there was a 4-pack of pork sirloin tip roasts, which are 98% fat free and super lean. I wasn’t sure this would work, but didn’t want to stop at another store so I thought I’d try it. I dumped about 4 tablespoons of coconut oil into the crockpot hoping that would make up for the lack of fat (I had 2 of the 2.5 pound roasts in the crock pot). I also thought it could use just a tad bit of something sweet so I added 4 oz. of 100% apple juice to the bottom of the crock pot — don’t slap me for this Sarah! =-) It was heaven!!!
Thank you for all of the amazing recipes! Any chance a second cookbook is in the works???
P.S. This recipe also ended up being super cheap with the pork sirloin tip roasts. $2.29/lb at costco. Since I have everything else on hand, it’s about $12.50 per 5lb batch of scrumptious pulled pork!! Can’t really beat that!
I think the apple juice is actually a great idea – no slaps this time! LOL! And yes, my next cookbook, The Everyday Paleo Family Cookbook will be released in July and is available now on Amazon. : ) http://www.amazon.com/Everyday-Paleo-Family-Cookbook-No/dp/1936608634
Yay!! I just pre-ordered your new book!
Thank you!!!
So, will I burn down my house if I leave it on low overnight? I had a 2.5 lb pork shoulder roast I needed to cook, so I started this at 7:30 pm. I had it on high from 7:30-9:30 and just switched to low. I’m up at 6 am for crossfit. That’s 10.5 hours for a 2.5 lb roast….probably way too long huh? I probably shouldn’t have started this at 7:30 pm…
You won’t burn your house down, it will just be REALLY done. How’d it go?
Radness. I’m not a good cook by any means, but I can follow a recipe. This turned out amazing. Thanks for another awesome recipe!
I was just wondering, I cooked this overnight and this morning I woke up to a lovely smell but when I get home to pull it apart I was wondering if I leave all the liquid in there? or do I try to extract the roast from the pool? It seems like it would be really fatty liquid, but I’m not sure if that is the point 🙂
go ahead and pull the roast out from the liquid and shred it apart and you can use some of the liquid to pour over the roast if you like and with the rest, I suggest saving it to make soup!
I’m sorry I’m not much of a cook so this probably sounds stupid but what is dry rub?
Dry rub just means to rub the dry spices onto the meat with your hands :0)
I’m making this today, except I will be adding (paleo) BBQ sauce– I love my pulled pork saucy :-)!!
Holy moly, was this easy and mega tasty. The caramelized onions on the bottom of the pot at the end really make it.
Just finished eating this and it turned out perfect! I was concerned it might be a little dry but it was moist, tender, and delicious. Thank you so much for posting this. We will definitely be making this again.
Made this last week and it was OUTSTANDING! I’m a huge pulled-pork fan and this was one of the best recipes I’ve tried. Thanks so much for sharing it! It’s going in the crockpot again tonight 🙂
LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this recipe! Mixing together my dry rub and thinking about how fabulous this will taste tomorrow! Thanks for another big winner. Your recipes are always a hit at my house. Thank you! 🙂
I’m making this tomorrow with a pork picnic roast (4-5 lbs)….can I just leave it on low all day rather than change the temp? I’m just nervous as I will be out of the house for the prescribed cooking times….and I don’t want to ruin something that looks so insanely good!
I just made this yesterday and left it on low the whole day (I put it on before work at 6 a.m. and took it out at 5 p.m.). It was amazing!
Holy crap was this good. I made it last night and my husband and I just about keeled over from the goodness.
Instead of yellow onions, I used sweet ones from a local farmers market.
The pork was sooo good, I made pulled pork scrambled eggs this morning.
Thank you for such tasty goodness!
Laura
I’m thinking about making this for a Paleo recipe swap at my gym and need to figure out how many servings it makes. I’m guessing around 10-11 – accurate or no?
It would be 10-11 small servings! : )
This is in my slow cooker as we speak. The smell is unbelievable. I can’t wait!
What a great recipe. I am a few weeks into Paleo and this will certainly be staple moving forward. You can add citrus or apple for an interesting variation.
Just had this for dinner over spaghetti squash with mango chutney–OFF THE HOOK!!
How long will I need to cook this recipe in a pressure cooker? Will it turn out just as good as the slow cooker? Super excited to try this recipe out.
Honestly, I haven’t tried it in a pressure cooker so I’m not sure. It may not achieve the desired tenderness if cooked too quickly. You could always try it and just “keep an eye on it.” Good luck! Hope it turns out delicious for you!
Made this last night. My only edits were that I added many cloves of garlic and fresh parsley (1/4 cup ish) I also used 4 or 5 yellow onions but they were a tad on the small size. Anyway, I woke up at 2 to change this to low after 5 hours on high. This truly did not need any liquid. AMAZINGLY YUMMY
I made this fabulous recipe today for New Years Day. It was excellent. We have been on a grain free diet for years the result of my husband’s diabetes and my gluten allergy as well as our desire to maintain a healthy weight. I have tried numerous pulled pork recipes and this one is the easiest and best. Will also try some of your almond meal recipes. Thanks so much your blog!
Thank you Sandy! Glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Thank you for sharing this recipe. We tried it this weekend — it was easy like you said and very tasty!
I have everything on hand except the chipotle powder. I do, however, have chipotle hot sauce. Would that work? Or maybe cayenne? Trying to avoid going to the store for a seasoning (I’m way out in the country).
Oh Shoot, I’m sure I’m WAY to late with my answer and I apologize but you could sub a pinch or two of cayenne and that would work just fine, it would bring a different flavor profile but provide a nice kick! Hope that whatever you did it worked out well!
Made this and the Purple Cabbage Slaw today and even the non Paleo people in the household loved it! Everything was so super easy to make! your recipes have made the last two weeks of the 30 day challenge a limitless easier 🙂
^ a little easier.
Is this recipe spicy at all??? I hate spice and was wondering if it is spicy if there’s anything I can replace it with to make it not spicy?
It’s not super spicy, just a small kick!
Question 🙂
I tried this recipe a week ago and my biggest problem was that all the onions burned. I am not sure if I just didn’t put enough onions on the bottom or something? I didn’t even leave it on high for more than 5 hours since I noticed the onions burnt. What do you think went wrong? It tasted great but I don’t think my boyfriend appreciated the burnt pork / onions… he still ate it though… 🙂 Any ideas would be wonderful!
I’m so surprised that happened! Did you use a pork butt roast or a pork shoulder roast or a pork loin? If you used the loin, you wouldn’t have had enough fat to create all those yummy juices at the bottom of your slow cooker to caramelize the onions rather than burn them, and the roast. Also, it could be that your slow cooker cooks super HOT even on low? Next time make sure you use a fattier roast and/or try putting like 1/2 a cup of liquid in the bottom if it’s that your slow cooker just cooks extra hot. So sorry about that!!!
thanks for the suggestions 🙂
no need to be sorry! I am always someone who makes the easiest recipe into something harder. I can’t remember what we used but it could have been loin… I will have to check with the hubby. I will make sure to have more fat and if not add some liquid…!
Either way, it was delicious, even when burnt!
I haven’t had a ton of luck in the past with pork in the crockpot. It’s usually really dry and tough. I was a little skeptical especially with there bring no liquid in the crockpot. Oooohhhh…..myyyy….goodness! This was SO tender, moist and just fell apart. DELICIOUS! Thank You!
So glad you liked it Missy!!
Aloha Sarah,
I just tried my first pressure cooker recipe with your Salsa Dancing Chicken and my entire family LOVED it! I would like to try this pulled pork recipe too, but I was wondering if you would please explain how to convert this crockpot version into a pressure cooker one….or do you just prefer this recipe in a crockpot. Thanks so much!
With Aloha,
Gail
Hi Gail, I definitely prefer this recipe in the crockpot vs. the pressure cooker. It will be much more tender in the slow cooker!!
This is definitely my favorite pulled meat recipe I’ve found so far! So easy and delicious! And there’s SO much of it. I seriously still have leftovers 5 days later (I made the whole thing just for myself). I’ve been eating a little bit with almost every meal. Pulled pork & eggs, pulled pork & cabbage slaw, you name it… it’s so good. Thank you!
I just finally put it in the crockpot…it is 12 pm. Any chance it will be done before 6:30? It’s 5.75 lbs. Can I just leave it on high for 6 hours?
Can’t wait to try it!
Yes, if you leave it on high it should be done!
Can’t wait to try this. I picked up a beautiful pork butt today (and on sale even!). Your ingredient list didn’t mention if it should be boneless or not. Should I cut the meat off the bone before I cook it? I’m thinking the meat will fall right off the bone even if I don’t.
We made this for dinner last night and we LOVED it! Will definitely make it again!
So glad you enjoyed it!! Thank you!
I’ve made this before, and it was delicious. Timing is an issue for me today, but I did read some comments above that leaving it longer on low won’t hurt it too much. It’ll be 8.5 hours on low for me. I’ll post later to let you know how it turns out. We’re also using a 2.88lb bone in roast…
I will be making this for the first time and not a very brave cook. Can you tell me how much bbq sauce to add if I was looking for BBQ pulled pork and if I should put it all over the meat or when to add it in? Help!
I would still cook this as recommended and then if you want to add some sauce, wait until the last hour or two of cook time and then add about 1 cup over the top. shred and mix well before you pull it from the crockpot.
Thank you for sharing this recipe, my family loves it. My son said its better than a restaurant!
I couldn’t wait to try this recipe and, perfect timing, the grocery store had Boston Butt roast on sale for $1.79/lb! I had never paid much attention to which side the fat was on in the crockpot before, but your recommendation for fat side up was fantastic. Our 5lb roast was done in 6 1/2 hours (5 on high, 1 1/2 on low). I got the thumbs up from the family, so thank you for sharing this!
I am prepping meals for when my baby arrives in 3 weeks and was wondering if I could could this and freeze as is or would you recommend mixing it with BBQ sauce? Wasn’t sure what the best path would be. Thanks!
**If I could cook this and freeze. Obviously I have a bout of pregnancy brain!
You can freeze it as is! Totally understand the pregnancy brain. Now I just blame mommy brain! : )
I made this last night! OMG — my boyfriend (not paleo!) said
he loved it 10 times more that the pulled pork I made for him
last month from a non-paleo recipe! AND I GET TO INDULGE
ALSO!! DOUBLE-BONUS!! Thanks!
My family devoured this pulled pork. I did not have the chipotle spice and did in oven @ 350 for 5 hours because my crockpot is cracked 🙁 This is awesome. I will be doing this again.
I made this today- it was the best pulled pork I have made and beyond easy! I do not have a slow cooker and I just did it in a dutch oven in the oven. I had the oven at 275 and cooked a 3.5 lb roast for 5 hrs. I really was amazed at how moist this was and it literally fell apart with tongs. I loved the flavor but look forward to making up different mixtures of dry rub to try as well.
Wow, sadly I seem to be the exception… I used a 6 pound pork shoulder. My husband was home to turn it on & he called me after 6 hours on high to say it seemed very dry so I had him put 1/2 cup of water in at that time. After 6 hours on high & 2.5 hours on low, it still seemed very tough unlike when I made pulled pork with other recipes. I worried that it wasn’t cooking through so at that point I cut the meat off the bone & returned it to the crock pot. After another hour, most of the meat was still tough so we had something else for dinner. I’m about to go check it again, this is now 6 hours on high & 6 hours on low. My crock pot is a decent model & my meat thermometer said the meat was 194 degrees when it was on high… Maybe I just got a bad cut of meat? It smells great… 🙁
I wish I knew what happened! Did you use the onions? They do for sure add some moisture; however I can’t imagine what went wrong! I usually use pork butt roast (the two cuts come from the same part, the butt is just the cut higher up from the shoulder) instead of shoulder which is typically fattier and without the bone (or nearly boneless) so that might have made a difference too? I’m so sorry that it didn’t turn out for you! 🙁
Yes, I used one sweet onion & one yellow onion. I put it back on high after I cut the meat off the bone, then did another hour on low. I think the total time was 7 hours on high & 7 hours on low. It switched automatically to warm after the last hour on low & I didn’t have a chance to get back to it until it had been 2 hours on warm. By that point, finally, it was perfect! The meat shredded beautifully although there was a bunch of fat I had to remove. It had a decent amount of broth that was so tasty I’d have it as a soup! I put all the shredded meat & broth in a Tupperware & we had it for dinner tonight. No idea what happened, but it was amazing!
Next time maybe I’ll bring the roast to room temperature first (in case the bone being cold from the refrigerator slowed down the cooking somehow) and I’ll try flipping the roast over once or twice as well. I’ll have my husband start it earlier too. In spite of these issues, this is the tastiest pulled pork I ever made!
I’m SO glad it finally turned out! Wow, longest process to get tasty pulled pork ever but at least not a total fail! lol. Thanks for reporting back to me, I was worried. : )
This was excellent!
This is the BEST pulled pork I have ever made…even my husband says so lol. My pork was not completely thawed but it came out amazing — cooked it on low for 9 hrs plus one hour on high with fresh roasted peppers from the garden – simply divine!! I just had leftovers for breakfast with some sauteed mushrooms, hot pepper (again from the garden), red bell pepper, leftover asparagus and a scrambled egg – oh MY!!! Delish!!! Love that we will be eating the leftovers for days 🙂
Thanks for an amazing and easy recipe!
So glad you enjoyed it! You’re making me hungry reading about your breakfast! LOL 🙂
I have added one bottle of a dark beer to add flavor. It was FANTASTIC. It is much wetter, but the flavor was fantastic.
Trying this tonight with carrot and parsnip mash!
I have a question. I did this recipe with a 4.2 pound pork sirloin roast from US Wellness Meats. The roast was in several pieces after I cut it out of the net-like sack it arrived in. I cooked it for the same duration as you instructed and it came out overdone and dry. Do you think I should leave it in the sack next time or try cooking it for a shorter duration? Or maybe add some broth due to the lean cut of roast?
I think the dryness has more to do with the leaness than anything else so yes, if you use the same cut next time, I would add some sort of fat to the crockpot (leaf lard, bacon grease, etc.) and cut down on the cooking time as well. 🙂
I’ve been making pulled pork in my crock pot for years-sooooo good! I’ve found that adding about 1/4 cup fruity wine (or whatever you have on hand) diluted with 1/4 cup water to the bottom of the pot before the butt goes in makes it incredibly tender and tasty!
Oh, wow, what a great idea! I’ll try that myself next time! Thank you Jennifer. 🙂
Do you leave the strings on or take them off when cooking the roast? Thanks.
Take them off. 🙂
Thanks!! It is smelling wonderful so far! I can’t wait to try a sugar-free pulled pork!! 🙂
Do you have to use liquid smoke? If so, is it part of the rub or do you put in the bottom of the crockpot,? Also does the tsps stand for teaspoon?
I’ve been making your recipe for a while now. The family loves it. My wife usually requests it before I go on business trips.
I leave my house at 7am and i dont return until 5pm at the earliest. Could i just put the roast on low for that length of time? (Newbie chef) 🙂
Yes, that should be totally fine!!
OMG —- I made this today and it will become a staple. We used a boneless pork loin (with fat side up). Even though the roast was only about 2.5 lbs we used all of the rub, but only one onion. I was worried it would be to much spice, but it was just right. I served it with roasted brussel sprouts and roasted cauliflower. We were licking out plates. I will certainly make this again. Thank you.
So glad you enjoyed it Steph, thank you!!
I made this yesterday with a different cut of pork that I now think was too lean. The flavour is still there (I’ve made this before, as RXed – turned out perfectly) but it’s very dry. Is there any way I can rescue this? For example, with a Paleo sauce that I can use to add some moisture?
thanks! made the recipe tastes great
My wife is not a big fan of smoky flavors. How does this rank on the smoky scale? If I left out the chipotle powder, would that help?
I wouldn’t call it a smoky flavor, more of a balanced yummy little bit spicy delicious flavor. 🙂
My first visit to your blog and my first pork butt! This was easy and tasted great! I had a 6 lb roast that I cooked 6 hrs on high and 4 hrs on low. I subbed a little ground red pepper for the chipotle and sweet onions for yellow but otherwise stayed true to your recipe. Thanks! I see this being a new staple in my home!
Hi
Can I just put it in low for 8 hours over night for the same thing.
Pat
Yes, absolutely!
Looks great. Could I add some paleo bbq sauce at the start of cooking or would that not work?
Thanks!
Mariah
Delicious! I’m starting Day 3 on the Whole 30 and I dragged myself to the grocery store around 10 pm last night after I got off of work to get the ingredients to make this. I did make a few substitutions – I had a bag of chopped tri-colored bell pepper and onions in my freezer that I used instead of the yellow onions and this also helped to give it more of a spicy flavor since I didn’t have the chipotle seasoning. I also added some cayenne pepper to it. Over all, super tasty and mixing in the peppers/onions after makes it very moist!
Loved this recipe! I can’t program my slow cooker to change speeds, so I cooked it completely on Low and it worked perfectly (about 14 hours).
I seem to have lost the lid to my crockpot — any recommendations on how to cook this in a dutch oven?
Made this tonight with pork tenderloin but cooked on low for 8hrs (day was too busy to remember to change the setting :)) it was delicious! Served it over these (http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Cheesy-Sweet-Potato-Crisps-241136) with the cream sauce… Such a good alternative to bread and can pack in some extra nutrients with the sweet potato. Freezing the leftovers for pork carnitas :). Thanks for the great recipe!!
This recipe is ridiculously easy and so delicious. I make it all the time.
Thank you, Sarah!
Fantastic recipe, my husband loves it so much that he asked if he can have it every week! As newbies your website had really helped thank you!
This.is.it! The recipe I have been looking for! Only question I have is about the adobe seasoning. Problem is, I don’t have any! BUT…I do have some adobes that were in the can (I froze the leftovers) How much of them do you think I will need to use? Otherwise…I’m doing this for the night before Thanksgiving meal. As the family starts pouring in, I will have a big pot of pulled pork waiting for them! Thank you so much!
I’m guessing you mean you don’t have the chipotle powder? I would just omit it if you don’t have it, it will be great either way!! Enjoy and happy Thanksgiving!!
This was so delicious! I made it for dinner tonight with roast potato and mexican style salad. Both my boyfriend and my buddy said it was the best pork they’d ever eaten and i heartily agreed! I will be making this with alarming regularity. Thanks for a wobderful recipe and blog. I am 6 days into my whole30 and my kitchen repertoire has just grown exponentially. Very excited. 🙂
Thanks so much Zoe!! So glad you enjoyed the pork – it’s one of our favorites too! 🙂
I was concerned about dryness because I used a pork tenderloin, but it wasn’t dry at all; in fact, it was swimming in liquid, maybe due to the fat, or the onions, or something. DELICIOUS: thanks for the recipe, Sarah!
Awesome Samantha! So glad you enjoyed the recipe – this continues to be a staple for us!
Hi.. I am new to this whole30 and paleo eating. Struggling to get my protein in as I have always had cheese and yogurt and milk based protein drinks… I made this last night with about 1/4 cup of beef broth and it was DELICIOUS…. I wish I had learned to make the paleo tortillas before hand…. Day 10 of my WHOLE30 🙂
Awesome Carrie!! Thanks so much for the comment! 🙂
Without a doubt, this is one of our family’s favorite go-to meals. Thanks so much for the recipe!!
You are very welcome!!
Made this for a potluck at work, and everyone was asking for the recipe!
Awesome Brianna! We love this recipe too – it’s a staple in our house!