Pulled pork is one of those meals that you can throw together quickly and toss into your instant pot or slow cooker for an easy weeknight meal. I usually make more than we need and freeze the extras for weekend lunches. I’m sharing two ways to cook this pulled pork recipe, slow cooking and using an Instant Pot (pressure cooker).
How to make Pulled Pork in a Slow Cooker
Ok, understanding pork cuts can be confusing. I prefer to use a Boston butt or pork shoulder, both do really well for pulled pork but if I can find the Boston Butt I try to use that for perfectly shredded pulled pork.
Trust me and grab yourself some Reynolds Slower Cooker Liners
, these are a huge time saver and make clean up a breeze. I don’t know where they have been my whole life!
Ok, now you are ready to start!
Pulled Pork Recipe for Crock-Pot or Instant Pot
Ingredients:
- 1 Pork Shoulder (about 4 lbs)
Pork Rub:
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp onion powder
- 1 Tbsp chili powder
- 1 Tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp salt
- 1 Tbsp ground pepper
- 1 Tbsp paprika
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
Sauce Mixture:
- 1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 cups Barbecue Sauce
- 1 1/2 cups Water or Beef/Chicken Broth
How to Cook Pulled Pork in your slow cooker:
Line or spray your slow cooker. Mix all of the dry rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Rub your Pork Shoulder with the rub mix. Next place the pork roast in your Slow Cooker. Pour your Barbecue sauce mixture over the pork. 
Cook on low for 8 hours. The longer your pork cooks the more tender it will get so I recommend doing the entire 8 hours.
Top with extra BBQ sauce if you’d like. Serve on rolls with coleslaw.
How to Cook Pulled Pork in your Oven:
Line or spray your slow cooker. Mix all of the dry rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Rub your Pork Shoulder with the rub mix. Place your roast in a roasting pan and add 1-2 cups of water. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake at 300 degrees for about 4 hours. It helps to turn over your roast a few times while roasting to ensure a moist pulled pork. You can estimate 1 hour of baking per pound of pork.
How to Cook Pulled Pork in your Instant Pot:
Line or spray your slow cooker. Mix all of the dry rub ingredients together in a small bowl. Rub your Pork Shoulder with the rub mix. Place pork roast in your Instant Pot liner. Pour sauce over the top. Set to MANUAL for 60 minutes. When the timer goes off use the natural release method for 15 minutes.
After Cooking your Pulled Pork
When your pulled pork has finished cooking you can let the meat rest for 5-10 minutes before shredding the meat with 2 forks. I usually shred the pork into the sauce or remove meat and shred if you want a more dry pulled pork.
Top with extra BBQ sauce if you’d like. Serve on rolls with coleslaw.
Scroll down for the printable recipe.
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Pulled Pork Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ea Pork Shoulder about 4 lbs
Pork Rub:
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
- 1 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp ground pepper
- 1 tbsp paprika
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
BBQ Sauce Mixture:
- 2 cups Barbecue Sauce Sweet Baby Ray’s is our fav!
- 1 1/2 cups Water
Instructions
- Mix the Pork Rub:
- Mix all of the dry rub ingredients together in a small bowl.
Rub your Pork Shoulder with the Rub mix. - Mix the Barbecue sauce and water. Set aside.
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Line or spray your slow cooker. Next place the pork roast in your Slow Cooker. Pour your Barbecue sauce mixture over the pork. Cook on low for 8 hours. The longer your pork cooks the more tender it will get so I recommend doing the entire 8 hours.
Oven Cooking Instructions
- Spray your roasting pan. Place your roast in a roasting pan and add 1-2 cups of water. Cover tightly with aluminum foil. Bake at 300 degrees for about 4 hours. It helps to turn over your roast a few times while roasting to insure a moist pulled pork. You can estimate 1 hour of baking per pound of pork.
Instant Pot Instructions
- Spray your Instant Pot. Place pork roast in the Instant Pot liner. Pour sauce over the pork. Set to MANUAL for 60 minutes. When finished cooking use the natural release and let rest 15 minutes.
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