This incredibly easy Crock Pot Pulled Pork recipe is made with pork butt (a.k.a. Boston butt). My method uses no liquid or searing—just a pork butt and a simple BBQ dry rub—add some liquid smoke if you want. A few minutes of prep time, then cook low and slow in your slow cooker for wonderfully moist and tender pulled pork.
🐖Ingredients
Pork butt—raka Boston butt
Liquid smoke—optional but suggested
BBQ dry rub—your own OR mine: brown sugar, kosher salt, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper
Jump To (scroll for more)
- 🐖Ingredients
- 👨🍳How to Cook Crock Pot Pulled Pork from Pork Butt (aka Boston Butt)—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
- 👍Make it right every time
- 📋Related recipes you will love
- 🍽️Serving Pulled Pork
- ❓What BBQ sauce is best for pulled pork?
- ❄️How to store pulled pork.
- ♨️How to reheat pulled pork
- ❓FAQs
- 🐖What are Boston butt, pork butt, and pork shoulder
- 📖 Recipe
- Crock Pot Pulled Pork
Featured Comment by LK:⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"This is the best recipe I have ever used for pork in the crock-pot and I have tried many through the years adding liquids of all sorts. Using dry rub seasoning and the aluminum foil balls cooked the pork perfectly."
The best-pulled pork is made from a pork butt cooked low and slow to melt all the delicious connective tissue for a moist and tender result. Use it for BBQ sandwiches, sliders, or great Mexican tacos, burritos, and nachos.
I like to cook pork butt in dryer heat like grills, ovens, or smokers. Not braised in cola, broth, or other liquids. It is not cooked in the drained liquid fat, so my foil balls will elevate the pork roast.
Perfect for game-day parties and family gatherings. Or cook a smaller pork butt and freeze some for later.
👨🍳How to Cook Crock Pot Pulled Pork from Pork Butt (aka Boston Butt)—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Prepare a large crock pot with six aluminum foil balls to keep the pork from draining.
2. Use the dry rub of your choice or make the suggested rub.
3. Pat dry the pork butt and then coat it with about 2 tablespoons of good-quality liquid smoke.
4. Generously apply the BBQ dry rub.
5. Place on the foil balls and cook covered on low undisturbed for 8-10 hours.
6. Cook until internal temp of 195° minimum—but 200°-205° is preferred—usually 8 to 10 hours.
7. Wrap tight with aluminum foil, then wrap with several towels. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes, but 2-3 hours is fine if wrapped well. Shred with forks. It will fall apart.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
👍Make it right every time
Use a 3-4 pound pork butt, with or without bone. Bone-in may take a bit longer to cook.
Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours until you reach 195°+ (200°-205° preferred). 190° is the absolute minimum, but it will not be as good. You can also cook on high, decreasing the cooking time.
Elevate to pork butt out of the drainage with a small rack or crumpled aluminum foil. The fat pad may go up or down; it does not matter.
You will get 3-4 servings per pound. Large butts will take longer to cook, but it will work if it fits without touching the sides.
Optionally, wet the pork with liquid smoke or mustard and then apply a pork rub of your choice—a suggested rub is in the recipe card if you don't have one.
Wrap tightly in heavy foil for 15 minutes or more before shredding. The pork will stay hot for 2 to 3 hours if well-wrapped, which will help in timing.
📋Related recipes you will love
Oven Baked Pulled Pork Butt
Oven Pulled Pork from pork butt is cooked in the oven low and slow. Our best-pulled pork recipe is tender and moist with delicious bark. Super easy, with almost no work—you rub, bake at 250° for 8 to 9 hours, shred, and eat.
Smoked Pulled Pork on a Gas Grill
Cooking smoked pulled pork butt low and slow on your backyard gas grill is easier than you think. With just a pork butt roast (AKA Boston butt), a dry rub, and wood chips, you can make juicy BBQ pulled pork with fantastic crusty bark and smoky flavor.
Check out other pork butt recipes, like Oven Baked Pork Carnitas and Crock Pot Carnitas. Also, check out my other dry rubs like Chipotle BBQ Dry Rub, Memphis Dry Rub Recipe, and BBQ Dry Rub for Ribs, Pork, Beef, and More.
See the Pulled Pork Recipe Roundup for recipes using pork tenderloin and loin for shredded pulled pork.
🍽️Serving Pulled Pork
The most common serving method is pulled pork sandwiches with buns or slices of bread but a pile of pork with some sauce on a plate if you want to skip the bread. Other options are casseroles, pork tacos, or pork enchiladas. But serve your pulled pork any way you want.
Side dishes: The usual coleslaw, potato chips, and potato salad are the standards. Hot sides like potato casseroles, convection oven French fries, stovetop mac & cheese, and baked beans are favorites.
❓What BBQ sauce is best for pulled pork?
Barbecue sauce is a lot about personal taste. A sweeter BBQ sauce like Kansas City or Memphis sauce is excellent. There are also Carolina vinegar-based sauces and many Texas and other BBQ sauces. Use your favorite.
Try my homemade Memphis Barbecue Sauce. This sauce always disappears first at parties, and others are left untouched. I commonly use Gate's Kansas City sauce and Cooks Illustrated like Bull's-eye Original or Sweet Baby Ray's Barbecue Sauce.
One quick reminder: do not reheat pork butt in BBQ sauce. The acid in it will destroy the texture of the pulled pork. Always add any sauce at the time of serving.
❄️How to store pulled pork.
Pulled pork is good refrigerated for 3-4 days, but two days is preferred since the texture suffers.
Leftovers can be sealed airtight in the freezer and frozen for 4 months. Many people freeze the pork in reheatable sealed bags and then reheat those in boiling water.
♨️How to reheat pulled pork
Reheat pulled pork on a sheet pan in an oven. Sprinkle with water, apple juice, or chicken broth (don’t overdo it). Cover tightly with foil and put it into the oven at 250° to 300° until hot. The time varies by how you shredded it and the amount on the tray—usually about 45 minutes in the oven.
You can then turn the oven down (keep it covered) or transfer it to a crock pot on low to keep warm. I know that is not very exact, but you get the idea.
Never reheat pulled pork in or with sauce applied—the acid in the sauce will destroy the texture.
❓FAQs
No, but good-quality liquid smoke enhances the results. You could also coat it with mustard if you want. Or use the dry rub alone.
If you use liquid smoke, please only use one with water and smoke listed as ingredients and nothing else. Cheap liquid will ruin this. I use Wright's.
No liquid is needed to cook pulled pork in the slow cooker. Liquid will change the texture of the "bark" you get with the dry rub.
There must be some time for the fluid and melted connective tissue to reabsorb into the meat cells.
Wrap with foil and a couple of towels, then let the fluid absorb for at least 15 minutes, but 1 to 2 hours is better.
To help timing, you can delay shedding time by up to 3 hours by wrapping the foil-sealed butt in multiple towels and a small cooler.
It's not a good idea—it will not shred well. It is better to shred correctly while hot.
Some crock pots won't do it. Do not try to shred pork butt that did not reach at least 190° because the connective tissue is not fully melted and will not be good. Get to 195°, but 200° to 205° is better.
You can move the pork butt to a 250°-300° oven on a tray and finish cooking uncovered in the oven if your crock pot can not get to the suggested internal temperature.
🐖What are Boston butt, pork butt, and pork shoulder
Pork butt and Boston butt are the same thing and are the best cut of pork to make great pulled pork due to the fat, marbling, and connective tissue content. The clear plate (a thin muscle above the butt) is occasionally included with the pork butt and is prized for its moisture and tenderness.
Boston butt and pork shoulder are not the same things, although many people use the terms interchangeably. To add to the confusion, the name "pork shoulder" also refers to a primal cut with two major subprimal parts, the Boston butt and the picnic shoulder (AKA pork shoulder.)
The pork butt is above the picnic shoulder in the pork shoulder primal cut. While the whole primal cut is well-marbled and tough meat, the butt area has more connective tissue to melt and is the cut of choice for pulled pork and carnitas.
📖 Recipe
Crock Pot Pulled Pork
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Ingredients
- 3-4 pounds Pork Butt, aka Boston Butt - boneless or bone-in
- 2 tablespoons liquid smoke - good quality
- 1 cup BBQ dry rub
My BBQ dry rub if you don't have one
- ½ cup dark brown sugar - light will do
- 3 tablespoons kosher salt - I tend to decrease this some
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Start with a 3-4 pounds boneless or bone-in pork butt.
- Prep a large crock pot with six balls of aluminum foil. Make about 2-inch balls of foil, then squish to 1 inch high and arrange in the bottom of the crock pot.
- You can use the dry rub of your choice or make the suggested rub: ½ cup dark brown sugar, 3 tablespoons kosher salt, 1 tablespoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon onion powder, and 1 teaspoon black pepper. Stir together in a small bowl.
- Optional but recommended—pat dry the pork butt and then coat with about 2 tablespoons of good-quality liquid smoke.
- Generously apply the rub. At this point, you could wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it overnight or cook it right away.
- Place on the foil balls and cook on low undisturbed for 8-10 hours.
- Bake until the internal temperature is 195° (190 ° at a minimum)—about 8-10 hours, but this will vary slightly with the thickness of the meat and the crock pot. If you can reach 200°-205°, the results will be better. Remove the meat from the crock pot onto a large sheet of heavy-duty foil.
- Wrap tight with aluminum foil, then wrap with several towels. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes, but 2-3 hours is fine if wrapped well. Shred with forks. It will fall apart.
- Serve as pulled pork sandwiches or any way you wish, like tacos or nachos.
Recipe Notes
Pro Notes:
- This is an all-day recipe.
- This is for about a 3-4 pound pork butt, but if it fits in the crock pot without touching the sides, it will work. But the time will be much longer.
- Bone-in or boneless does not matter. And fat pad up or down does not matter.
- I suggest a good-quality liquid smoke, but you can skip it if you prefer. You can also use mustard.
- Use a rub of your choice. I provided a suggested rub. You may decrease the salt if you want.
- Done is really 200°-205°, but some crock pots just can't reach that temperature. Don't settle for under 190°; try for at least 195°, but higher is better.
- If your crock pot does not reach the correct temperature, move it to a 250° oven on a tray with sides to finish.
- Do not shred immediately. Wrap with foil and let the fluid absorb for at least 15 minutes, but 1-2 hours is better.
- You can delay shedding time by 2-3 hours by wrapping the foil-sealed butt in multiple towels and a small cooler if you have one.
- It would be good if refrigerated for up to 4 days, but I would prefer 2 days since the texture seems to suffer. It will freeze well for 4 months.
- Reheating instructions are in the recipe post above.
- Never reheat with sauce applied; the acid will destroy the texture.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published April 9, 2016. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Denise says
We are on a very low sodium diet....I want to try this and eliminate the salt. What are your thoughts???
Rosie Y. says
Hello!
First of all, LOVED this recipe, and I found a new love of liquid smoke in my cooking because of it.
I plan on making this for a birthday dinner in two months, and I had a question on if anyone has attempted this in an oven quite yet. My crock pot unfortunately died, which, we were expecting, considering it was from the eighties.
I worry about burning the edges of it if it's too high, cooking it too long so it's rubbery, or, whether or not I would still have it sit on the foil balls. Any thoughts?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Rosie,
Welcome to the blog.
This is just a modification of my oven recipe (the one I use most of the time) Which was a modification of my grill recipe. I should have linked them in the test but didn't. I just fixed that.
https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/oven-pulled-pork-from-pork-butt/
You should be almost happy your old crock pot died. The old ones were basically uncontrollable temperature due to poor thermostats. You will love a new one.
Thansk for the note.
Dan
Will says
Crack pot pulled pork from butt sounds like a crime report. Still I’making this tonight but with big a 6 lbs. butt, twice your’s size. I will let you know if it cooks
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Will,
Welcome to the blog.
I already turned myself in to the pork butt cops. I swore I would never do this but I kept being ask how and all the suggestions were just so wrong (as in "a crime" wrong).
You will feel better if you think of the crock pot as a small oven, then you can sleep again.
Thanks for the note and it will be fine.
Dan
James E Files says
We just put a 8 lb pork butt in the crock pot and plan to let it cook over night. We doubled the rub ingredients (minus 1 T. salt) and did not have liquid smoke. My wife said, "Hey let's use some smokey paprika to give it the smoke flavor." So we used 1 T. chili powder and 1 T. smokey paprika in the rub mix. I will be testing the final product because she doesn't eat pork. We'll let you know how it turns out.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi James,
Welcome to the blog.
That is a lot of pork for one. Hope it came out well. How long did it take to get to temperature?
Dan
Sanjit says
Making this right now - it’s been 6 hours 🤤🤤
Debra says
I have only prepared this in my crockpot
on low and I cooked a 7# bone in butt for 12 - 14 hours after coating and wrapping overnight using your recipe and it has always been perfect! I’ve cooked this three times and won’t change a thing AND yes I made the foil balls!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Debra,
Welcome to the blog.
Thanks so much for the time estimate on a bigger butt. I'm sure it will help somebody
Also, thanks for the rating.
Dan
Jasmine says
I tried your recipe and my family and I loved it. While I omitted the liquid smoke out of personal preference, my pulled pork still had a wonderful flavor. My kids chose to use Sweet Baby Ray's bbq sauce on their sandwiches, but I loved it without. WE will make this again and I loved the fact that this was a healthier recipe than others I have used. If you have not tried this recipe, please do. You will not be disappointed.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Jasmine,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad you and your family enjoy the recipe. I do love pulled pork and elevating it out of the muck helps.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
Mary Thomasma says
I just put my pork butt in the crock pot at 11 am. It won't be done until 8 or 9 pm. Could I possibly cook it on high?
DrDan says
Hi Mary,
Welcome to the blog.
You caught me online... I have never done that but I think you might knock a few hours off the time. Some of the older (more than 10 yrs) crockpots will crank up the heat a lot. Probably not what you want. But the newer ones just get to about 210-215 faster on high than low due to thermostats. That is fine.
Use a meat thermometer to determine the end point of cooking. Try to get to at least 185-190 but you really want 200+ if you can.
Good luck and please report back. I would love to hear what happens on high.
Dan
Mary Thomasma says
Hi Dan,
I ended up cooking on high from 11am-2:30pm. Then I turned it to low. At 5:30 I pulled the pork out to rest in foil for about 1/2 hour. It turned out GREAT, so it can be done. Thanks for the recipe. I used your rub, and my husband said it had great flavor. This is saying a lot because he's a huge critic.
Mary
DrDan says
Excellent, thanks for the update.
Dan
Anna says
This is EXACTLY what I’ve been looking for for an hour! Thank you for attempting this and then actually posting your results! I did the exact same thing and was beginning to plan an alternate meal for this evening. Thank you thank you thank you!
Also OP, this rub is lovely, I’ve always wanted to use liquid smoke in the slow cooker for pork but wasn’t sure how.
Laura says
Hey Dr. Dan,
I was just looking over your nutrition facts label & I don’t see a serving size. This is the 2nd time I’m making this & just would like to know how many ounces you’d say a serving size should be.
DrDan says
Hi Laura,
The pork loses about 20% of weight during cooking. So I get 10-12 "servings" out of a 4 pounder. That is about 1/3 pound per serving after cooking. That is more than I can get to stay in a bun. That is how I count servings. If I did it differently, I would only get to eat cold food.
Dan
Heather D says
OMG! I have never commented on a recipe before. Nor have I ever cooked pork butt before. This turned out delicious. I was so happy. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks for this great recipe. I will be making it often.
DrDan says
Hi Heather,
Welcome to the blog.
I love easy cooking like this. Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Donna says
This was my 1st attempt at making pork butt. OMG!! Your recipe will forever be used in this house. Just melts in your mouth! We already can’t wait to have it again. The only thing I didn’t use was liquid smoke as it tends to trigger a migraine, but I don’t think it took away from the flavor.
Laura says
Hey Dan,
I have never left a comment on a recipe I have done before, but... OH. MY. LANTA!!!! This was sooooo amazing. I had never really done anything “special” to my butts, lol, but it was SEC Championship playoffs & I wanted to do something special. I have never used liquid smoke before so when my husband went to buy it, the cashier told him, “a little goes along way so don’t over do it”. I followed your recipe to the T, paprika & all, & it was AUH-MAZING!!!! I will never make another butt any other way. I give it ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ all day long!!! On a funny note, I always thought paprika was just used for garnish on deviled eggs. I am starting to do my own seasonings instead of packaged & I’m finding it everywhere. The smoked paprika also does something to a recipe I would’ve never have imagined. Thanks again!!!!
Thomas says
I made this BBQ today using this recipe and it was fantastic!
DrDan says
Hi Thomas,
Welcome to the blog.
Glad you enjoyed the recipe.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Cheryl K Frank says
Hiya! Can I add BBQ sauce? If yes, when?
DrDan says
Hi Cheryl,
Welcome to the blog.
BBQ sauce??? I assume you mean to replace the rub. I don't see it as a good idea. That long of a dry cooking of a tomato based product probably will not be good.
I do always use sauce but at the end with serving.
Dan
Zach says
I spread the pork out on a baking sheet after cooking and pulling, add some sauce and throw it in the oven for a few min.
DrDan says
Hi Zack,
Welcome to the blog.
That sounds like great reheat method.
Thanks for the note.
Dan
Jan says
Making this as followed before bed at 11pm. Did a quick search and this recipe was the first one. I’m expecting a winning piece of pork in the morning.
DrDan says
Hi Jan,
Welcome to the blog.
The house must have smelled wonderful in the morning.
Hope it worked well for you.
Dan
Sandy says
Due to West Tennessee weather I was searching for a way to have BB smoked taste but not have to deal with forecast to cook outdoors. I found it with this recipe. The taste and tenderness will give our outdoor BB a run for the money. Delicious,juicy,tender and easy is what I got. Going to cook again this weekend due to cold temps and possible snow. Yummy yummy. Would give 10 stars if I could. I will change chili powder to paprika like I seen in comments.
DrDan says
Hi Sandy,
Welcome to the blog.
Did you ever think you would do a pork butt in a crock pot. I never did.
Either chili powder or paprika is a personal choice.
I do love west Tennessee and trained at St. Judes years ago. Give me some Marlow BBQ any day.
Thanks for the not and very happy it worked well for you.
Dan