This easy pulled pork recipe has that rich flavor you crave! It features perfectly tender, fall-apart shredded meat from cooking low and slow that's savory and a touch sweet.
Prep Time15 minutesmins
Cook Time3 hourshrs30 minutesmins
Total Time3 hourshrs45 minutesmins
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: American
Keyword: How to make pulled pork, Pulled Pork, pulled pork sandwich recipe
Preheat your oven to 300F. See notes below for slow cooker method.
Cut the pork shoulder into 4 smaller pieces. If there's any string around the roast, take it off. I don't remove any of the fat.
In a small bowl, stir together the brown sugar, chili powder, garlic powder, smoked paprika, salt, cumin, and pepper. Coat the pork pieces in the spice mixture, and add them to a Dutch oven. If desired, you can do this step the night before and keep it in the fridge, covered.
In a small bowl, stir together the chicken broth, Worcestershire sauce, and liquid smoke. Pour it around the pork.
Cover and cook for 2 hours, then uncover and cook for another 1.5 hours or until it's fall-apart tender.
Take the meat out of the Dutch oven and place it on a baking sheet. Shred it with two forks. Ladle some of the leftover cooking liquid over top to moisten it a bit, and toss to coat.
Serve in toasted buns with BBQ sauce and coleslaw. To toast the insides of the buns, heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat, then add the buns and watch them closely until the insides have browned nicely (do this in batches).
Notes
If you're not using sea salt or kosher salt, start with 1 teaspoon and add more salt after tasting it if needed.
If you don't have a Dutch oven, use a large, deep roasting pan that has a lid.
Follow the recipe as indicated, but use a slow cooker instead of a Dutch oven. Cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high for 4-5 hours. The meat should be fall-apart tender and shred easily with two forks. Nutrition info is just for the pork (1/10 of the recipe).