Incredible juicy and tender Hawaiian-style Slow Cooker Kalua Pork with the most amazing flavor! Only requires 3 ingredients and can be served alone or in salads, tacos, and more!
This pork. OHMYWORD. The end.
No but really…. I don’t even know how to describe it’s perfection. I’m searching for the most descriptive phrases I can come up with and they just don’t seem like enough. Can we invent a new word? Yeah let’s do that. Fantasti-good? Tasty-licious? Super-yumm-ified?
It’s ALAKA-ZAM-AZING.
Yep that’s the one.
And I’m not just building this pork up because it’s basically the easiest dish you will ever prepare in your entire life. Even though, it really is. Only 3 ingredients and about 57 seconds of preparation. Then all you have to do is let your slow cooker do it’s magic for a good 8-10 hours. Come back and BAM. The most alaka-zam-azing pork you’ve ever smelled/seen/tasted in your whole existence.
Honest to goodness the flavor of this pork is out of this world delicious. Smoky and salty and gahhhhhhhh, it’s just so good. Hard to believe only three ingredients can deliver this kind of happiness in your mouth but it’s true. And you can use this pork for any number of things. I dare you to resist eating it straight out of your crockpot with a fork, but if you can control yourself long enough to prepare yourself a taco or a salad, it’ll blow your mind. My tip: use a really big roast and keep this shredded Kalua pork covered in the fridge for quick-fixes all week long!!
What people are saying about this Slow Cooker Kalua Pork
“This was AMAZING. Followed recipe as written except that I seared beforehand and added pepper. I’m not a big pork fan at all but I would make this again and again. Could not be any simpler. Thanks for sharing a great recipe. I’m giving it 5 STARS!” – Anne
Slow Cooker Kalua Pork
Ingredients
- 1 4-pound pork shoulder roast - (or similar roast, size can vary a bit too)
- 1 tablespoon liquid smoke - (you can find this in almost any grocery store)
- 1 tablespoon Himalayan pink salt - (sold in most grocery stores)
Instructions
- Lightly grease your slow cooker with nonstick spray. Pierce the roast all over with a fork. Place in slow cooker.
- Pour liquid smoke evenly over the roast, then sprinkle with the salt.
- Cover and cook on low for 8-12 hours. (For a larger roast you'll need closer to the 12 hours)
- Uncover, pull pork apart with 2 forks. Serve alone or you can serve it over rice, in tacos, salads, and more!
Oh yummy!! This would be so good!
Similar to what I make, except…I also add a bit of fresh ground black pepper to the roast, and lay spinach or similar greens, in the bottom of the slow cooker to simulate the bananna leaves this is normally cooked in. I also sear my roast in a skillet first, just to get a crust on the outside. Either way, it is fantastic! It could be cooked on high, but low is the best…especially if you are using the greens. When it’s done, the greens will also be suitable as a side dish if you drain the grease before hand. Either way…it’s awesome…and cheap! Since the price of beef has skyrocketed, I’ve turned a lot more toward pork as a substitute! I’ve made this many times, and there are always leftovers. As you stated, that leaves many possibilities for BBQ sandwiches, tacos, quesadillas, etc. I’ve done it in the slow cooker and also in a cast iron dutch oven. Both turned out basically the same, but the dutch oven allowed less mess and clean-up, since you can pre-sear the roast in the same pot! Thanks for posting this! I encourage everyone to try this. You can use either a bone-in or a boneless roast, but I prefer the bone-in. More flavorful, but a bit more waste and a bit more “refinement” at the end. The bone(s) will pull away easily, but you have to clean the pork a bit more of “connective tissue”, etc.. when “pulling” it. Either way, you will certainly enjoy it! Oh…BTW…the pork freezes well also!
What is the difference between Himalayan pink salt and regular salt? Could you get away with regular salt?
Hi Alexa, you could probably sub regular table salt but definitely decrease the amount a bit because the granules are much smaller!
Are you supposed to add water? Or is it dry in the slow cooker? Looks delicious, can’t wait to try it out!
Hi Marielle! No water needed, just cover and cook, you’ll find that when you go to shred it later there will be liquid in the pot from the meat and it will soak back into the meat – it’s perfect! 🙂
Would you remove the thick layer of fat/skin and nettinG Around the pork? I found the flavour didnt Penetrate Well fIrst time oveR. I Pierced all over And poured liQuid smoke/salt over the side without the fat.
This was AMAZING. Followed recipe as written except that I seared beforehand and added pepper. I’m not a big pork fan at all but I would make this again and again. Could not be any simpler.
Thanks for sharing a great recipe. I’m giving it *****