This post may contain affiliate links. Please see disclosure policy here.
Get all of the delicious flavor of your favorite Hawaiian pork with this Slow Cooker Kalua Pork 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.
Kalua Pork is a traditional Hawaiian dish that is usually cooked underground and often served at a luau. This recipe gives you that delicious Hawaiian pork flavor with the use of your handy slow cooker.
I start by buying the most inexpensive cut of pork I can find. Pork Carnitas, Pork Shoulder, and Pork Butt are all the same cut, just by a different name. It is a fattier piece of pork, inexpensive, and prefect for this recipe.
The meat goes in the crock pot with some salt, water, a little soy sauce, brown sugar and liquid smoke. Then you let it cook for hours!
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.
Slow Cooker Kalua Pork
Kalua Pork can be cooked in the oven at 350 for about 5-6 hours, but it is much easier to toss it in your crock pot on high for 6-7 hours or low for 8-10 hours. Slow cooker kalua pork has all the same flavor, without the inconvenience of using your oven for 6 hours. When the meat is tender just easily shred with a fork and it is ready.
If I’m feeling a little fancy and I need to clean out the refrigerator, I love to serve the kalua pork as a rice bowl. In addition to rice and pork I add in a bunch of veggies, usually what I have in my refrigerator. My favorites are carrots, broccoli slaw, red cabbage and zucchini. A sprinkle of green onion, sesame seeds and a little teriyaki or BBQ sauce and the family is going to go crazy. It is so good and so pretty!!
Some of my other favorite slow cooker recipes:
Crock Pot Southwestern Pot Roast
Slow Cooker Salsa Verde Carnitas
Some of my favorite kitchen tools I use to make Kalua Pork:
SLOW COOKER – My favorite one is the classic, the Rival CrockPot.  In fact, I love it so much I own three of them. Two 6 qt and one 4 qt.
CROCK POT LINER BAGS – These liner bags are a life saver and make clean up so much easier and faster!  Stock up on them
Did you know I wrote a cookbook? Â Check out the Holiday Slow Cooker Cookbook for 100 delicious recipes
Kalua Pork Recipe
Slow Cooker Kalua Pork
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:
Need some help figuring out what’s for dinner tonight?
Come join our Facebook Group! Join hundreds of others who love sharing dinner time ideas. You don’t want to miss out on the fun!
You’ll find lots of ideas for dinner from all our awesome members and you can share your ideas too! Join the Family Dinner Table today.
Originally posted April 7, 2011
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.