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Home / Latest Posts / Recipes / Ingredients / Pork / Kalua Pork

Kalua Pork

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By: Leigh Anne WilkesPosted: 9/07/18Updated: 5/17/22

This post may contain affiliate links. Please see disclosure policy here.

Kalua Pork

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.

Kalua Pork Rice Bowl

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.

Kalua Pork bowl

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 with the use of your handy slow cooker.

Ingredients Needed

  • 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
shredded Kalua Pork in a bowl

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.
pouring BBQ sauce over Kalua Pork

Can I Make Kalua Pork in the Instant Pot?

  1. Place pork roast into the Instant Pot. Sprinkle with salt.
  2. Mix together brown sugar, soy sauce and water.
  3. Pour mixture to the side of the pork, don’t rinse off the salt.
  4. Cover and seal, and set valve to sealing position.
  5. Set to manual mode and set to 90 minutes.
  6. Once time is up let pressure release naturally.
  7. Remove pork and shred.
Kalua Pork Rice Bowl

How to Serve Kalua Pork

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.

One of my favorite ways to serve it is as a rice bowl. It’s the perfect way to clean out the refrigerator.

Serve As a Rice Bowl:

  • Rice
  • Kalua Pork
  • Carrots
  • Broccoli Slaw
  • Red Cabbage
  • Zucchini
  • Green Onion
  • Sesame Seeds
  • Teriyaki or BBQ sauce
Kalua Pork

Some of my other favorite slow cooker recipes:

  • BBQ Pork Sandwiches
  • Crock Pot Pork Roast
  • Crockpot Cranberry Pork
  • Maple Glazed Instant Pot Pork Roast
  • Crock Pot Brown Sugar Pork Tenderloin

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4.63 from 8 votes
Kalua Pork

Slow Cooker Kalua Pork

Recipe From: Leigh Anne Wilkes
All of the flavor of your favorite Kalua pork, with the simplicity of your crock pot.
serves: 10 people
Prep:5 minutes
Cook:7 hours
Total:7 hours 5 minutes
Rate 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 near the BBQ sauce
  • 2 Tbsp brown sugar
  • 2 Tbsp soy sauce
  • 1 C water do not need if using a crockpot

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.
  • If cooking in the oven cover tightly with heavy duty aluminum foil.
  • In the oven at 350, cook for about 5-6 hours.
  • In a crock pot on high cook for about 6-7 hours and in a crockpot on low cook for 10-12 hours. Shred with a fork when tender and falling apart. Serve over rice.

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 359kcal (18%) Protein: 50g (100%) Fat: 15g (23%) Saturated Fat: 5g (31%) Cholesterol: 163mg (54%) Sodium: 646mg (28%) Potassium: 922mg (26%) Calcium: 38mg (4%) Iron: 3.3mg (18%)
* Disclaimer: All nutrition information are estimates only. Read full disclosure here.
Course:Main Course, slow cooker main dish
Cuisine:American, Slow Cooker
Kalua Pork
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Originally posted April 7, 2011

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  1. Natalie says

    Posted on 1/6 at 8:01 pm

    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.

    Reply
    • Leigh Anne Wilkes says

      Posted on 1/6 at 8:21 pm

      Love hearing that you loved it too!

      Reply
  2. Claudia Major says

    Posted on 9/9 at 4:22 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Leigh Anne says

      Posted on 10/1 at 10:34 am

      I updated the recipe so it should be good now – thanks!

      Reply
  3. Carie Blount says

    Posted on 9/8 at 11:49 am

    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.

    Reply
    • Leigh Anne says

      Posted on 9/8 at 7:21 pm

      Sorry about that, recipe is fixed!
      Enjoy!

      Reply
  4. Trisa Swenson says

    Posted on 3/20 at 7:31 pm

    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.

    Reply
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