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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:
Angie says
I am making this for dinner tomorrow night and can’t wait! The salsa looks wonderful as well. Have you posted a salsa recipe before? We LOVE all your recipes at our house. Thanks!!
Leigh Anne says
The salsa recipe and tortilla recipe are coming next week, just in time for Cinco de Mayo!!
Laie Boy says
The kalua and cabbage is not called kalua. That’s just pork and cabbage. Leigh is right, kalua is served at luau’s and served with either poi or rice.
Leigh Anne says
When I cooked a smaller amount I did it in my oven and cooked it for about 3 hours instead of 5 or 6. If you are doing it on low in your crockpot it would probably be about half I am guessing but I’d check it as it cooked so it doesn’t dry out.
Heather says
I’m making this tomorrow and could only find a 3.5 lb cut of pork shoulder. I was planning on doing the slow low cook in the crock pot. How many hours do you think it would cut down to? 8 or 12?
Jeni Margetts says
I’m trying this today. I only have about 2 1/2 lbs of pork, but while 4 of us live here, it’s not often that more than 2 are home at a time. And leftovers don’t always do well. (if the natives like this, I can make more next time…) I had a bit of bacon grease left from earlier, so I added about a tablespoon of that for flavor in addition to the liquid smoke. I also added some granulated garlic. At our house, if its not dessert, its got garlic in it! Can’t wait!
Leigh Anne says
Jeni, When I used a smaller cut of meat my cooking time was significantly shorter so be sure and watch it.