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Get all of the delicious flavor of your favorite Hawaiian pork with this Kalua Pork Recipe. It only needs 5 ingredients and can be made in the oven, slow cooker or Instant Pot.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe!
Everyone needs a repertoire of quick and easy meals to fix on busy nights. And slow cooker recipes are my favorite way to get a delicious meal on the table with minimal effort. This kalua pork recipe is the whole package – quick, easy and delicious and you can use it so many different ways.
What is Kalua Pork?
Kalua Pork is a traditional dish from Hawaii and is a whole pig, wrapped in banana leaves that is cooked in an underground oven and often served at a luau. This recipe gives you that delicious Hawaiian pork flavor, but prepared in your oven, slow cooker, or Instant Pot.
Ingredients
- Pork Roast. You can use a pork shoulders, pork butt, Boston butt or picnic roast. Just use a boneless roast. Trim off any large pieces of fat.
- Kosher salt or Hawaiian Sea Salt
- Liquid Smoke. You can find this on the aisle with the BBQ sauce.
- Brown sugar
- Soy sauce
How to Make Kalua Pork
Slow Cooker Kalua Pork
- Place meat in crockpot and sprinkle with salt, patting it into the meat.
- Combine liquid smoke, brown sugar, soy sauce and water and pour around pork, don’t wash off the salt.
- Cook on high for 6-7 hours or on low for 10-12 hours.
- Shred with a fork when tender and falling apart.
Kalua Pork in the oven
- Place pork in a large dutch oven and sprinkle with salt, patting it into the meat.
- Combine liquid smoke, brown sugar, soy sauce and water and pour over pork. Don’t wash off the salt.
- Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil or lid.
- Bake in oven at 350 degrees F for 5-6 hours or until fall apart tender.
Instant Pot Kalua Pork
- Place pork roast into the Instant Pot. Sprinkle with salt.
- Mix together brown sugar, soy sauce and water.
- Pour mixture to the side of the pork, don’t rinse off the salt.
- Cover and seal, and set valve to sealing position.
- Set to manual mode and set to 90 minutes.
- Once time is up let pressure release naturally.
- Remove pork and shred.
After your pork is cooked you just shred it up with a fork and serve it over rice. I also use either some teriyaki sauce or BBQ sauce on top for a little extra flavor but the pork is totally flavorful enough all on its own.
Serve As a Rice Bowl:
- Rice
- Kalua Pork
- Carrots
- Broccoli Slaw
- Red Cabbage
- Zucchini
- Green Onion
- Sesame Seeds
- Teriyaki or BBQ sauce
Check out more of my favorite pork recipes:
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Kalua Pork Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 lbs. pork carnitas shoulder or butt roast (you want a cut of meat that has fat on it)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp kosher salt or Hawaiian Sea Salt
- 1 Tbsp. Liquid Smoke
- 2 Tbsp brown sugar
- 2 Tbsp soy sauce
- 1 C water
Instructions
Slow Cooker Instructions
- Place meat in crockpot or pan and sprinkle with salt, patting it into the meat.Combine liquid smoke, brown sugar, soy sauce and water and pour around pork, don't wash off the salt.
- Cook on high cook for about 6-7 hours or on low for 10-12 hours. Shred with a fork when tender and falling apart.
Oven Instructions
- Place pork in a large dutch oven and sprinkle with salt, patting it into the meat.Combine liquid smoke, brown sugar, soy sauce and water and pour over pork, being careful not to remove the salt.
- Cover pan tightly with aluminum foil or lid and bake in oven at 350 degrees F for 5-6 hours or until fall apart tender.
Instant Pot Intructions
- Place pork roast into the Instant Pot and sprinkle with salt. Mix together brown sugar, soy sauce, liquid smoke and water and pour mixture to the side of the pork, be careful not to rinse off the salt.
- Cover and seal, and set valve to sealing position. Set to manual mode and set timer to 90 minutes.
- Once time is up, let pressure release naturally. Then remove pork and shred.
Nutrition Facts:
Natalie says
Made this recipe today for the family. It was so delicious, easy, and clean! If you are short on time and need to get a great meal on the dinner table this is a must try.
Leigh Anne Wilkes says
Love hearing that you loved it too!
Claudia Major says
Where does the brown sugar and soy sauce in the recipe go? I can’t find any instructions for those ingred. in the recipe directions.
Leigh Anne says
I updated the recipe so it should be good now – thanks!
Carie Blount says
In the description it says, “The meat goes in the crock pot with some salt, water, a little soy sauce, brown sugar and liquid smoke. ” In the recipe, the soy sauce and brown sugar aren’t mentioned. I want to make this, but want to check to see if I’m missing something? Thanks.
Leigh Anne says
Sorry about that, recipe is fixed!
Enjoy!
Trisa Swenson says
We make this all the time. It is yummy! The leftovers also work well as barbecue pulled pork sandwiches. We made these for our son’s volleyball team when they were in the playoffs last season. They loved them and we didn’t have any leftovers from 2 big crockpots.