Slow Cooker Asian Shredded Pork
Gosh, I love this Asian Shredded Pork recipe. Tender pulled pork soaked in crazy flavorful Asian-inspired spices. 10-minute prep and the slow cooker does all the work. Lots of leftovers, a.k.a. no cooking for a few days.
Whether you throw it over a bed of rice, or make a yummy Asian-inspired taco out of it, this is a super easy, highly flavorful meal that is a gem for any busy person trying to make a home cook meal!
What meat to use for Slow Cooker Asian Shredded Pork?
The beauty of this Asian Pulled Pork meal is that we let the slow cooker do ALL the hard work.
And when I say ALL the hard work, I mean it.
The awesome thing about slow cookers is that they can handle a pretty tough slice of meat, which also typically means, a fairly cheap slice of meat.
Use pork shoulders or pork butt, and the slow cooker will break down the fibers of the meat during the long and slow cooking process.
The end result is a piece of meat that is tender, melt-in-your-mouth, and easily-broken-apart.
Other Ingredients
Flavor is huge for me in my foods and cooking, and while the slow cooker is breaking apart the fibers of the meat, we will go ahead and let some yummy sauces and spices combine and permeate into the meat for many, many hours.
Because WHY NOT.
This recipe calls for fairly common Asian spices, and they can be found in the Asian aisle in your local grocery store. If not, see the affiliated links attached.
The sauces and spices used to make this delicious Asian Shredded Pork recipe are:
- soy sauce
- honey
- brown sugar
- sesame oil
- rice wine
- hoisin sauce
- few cloves of fresh garlic – avoid using garlic powder!
How to make Asian Pulled Pork
This is a dump everything into a slow cooker kinda meal…and I love it!
To make Asian Pulled Pork, add the piece(s) of meat, along with all the sauces and spices, into the crock pot.
Let it cook on high for 4-5 hours.
After the 4-5 hours of cook time. Shred the meat, and let it cook for another 30 minutes so that the pulled pork is well soaked with the sauce.
And truly that is it.
You got yourself some (or a lot of!) flavorful, tender, delicious Asian Shredded Pork.
Slow cooker meals are total life savers. There is something lovely about coming home after a long day and having dinner ready to be consumed.
How to serve Slow Cooker Asian Shredded Pork
Slow Cooker Asian Shredded Pork can be served in so many ways!
- On a bed of white or brown rice, or check out my Easy Mixed Vegetable Rice recipe
- Wrapped inside a tortilla
- Over noodles
- A side for instant ramen noodles
- Between two slices of bread or bun
- The possibilities are endless!
However you serve it, don’t forget to add garnishes.
Garnishes are fun, and no-cooking is required. They can add lots of textures and flavors, and turn a simple dish into a more complex one, without having to do much work!
Garnish with all or some of the below (all are no cook and super easy!):
- Sliced green onions
- Shredded cabbage
- Shredded carrots
- Chopped cilantro
- Sliced pineapple
- Cucumber
- Lettuce
- Again…the possibilities are endless!
ENJOY!!
Another yummy Asian-Inspired meals!
- Asian Salmon Salad with Ginger Soy Dressing
- Garlic Soy Chicken and Veggie Rice Bowl
- Steak Fried Rice
- Shrimp Stir Fried Noodles
- Vietnamese Noodle Bowl with Grilled Pork
- Simple Thai Noodle Bowl
- Ramen Noodle Stir Fry
- Chinese Style Curry with Juicy Meatballs (by Kitchen Sanctuary!)
Other Slow Cooker Recipes
- Slow Cooker Chicken Burrito Bowl
- Slow Cooker Chicken in Tomato and Herb Sauce
- Slow Cooker Chicken Taco Soup
- Slow Cooker Asian Ribs
- Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken Thighs
If you make this recipe PLEASE let me know how it goes in the comment box below, and share pictures of your creations on instagram by tagging #joyousapron! And while you are there, don’t forget to follow me!
Slow Cooker Asian Shredded Pork
Ingredients
- 2 – 2.5lbs lbs pork shoulder or pork butt
- 1/3 cup soy sauce
- 1/4 cup honey
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp sesame oil
- 1 tbsp rice wine
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 4-5 cloves garlic
Instructions
- Optional: Remove fat from the pork shoulders or pork butt. Bring meat to slow cooker.
- In a small ramekin, combine soy sauce, honey, brown sugar, sesame oil, rice wine, and hoisin sauce. Pour into slow cooker. Add garlic cloves.
- Toss meat around to coat all its surfaces with the sauce, but it does not have to be completely submerged in the sauce.
- Cook on high for 4-5 hours. Discard garlic cloves. Then use a fork to shred the pork (it should come apart easily) and then cook on high for another 30 minutes.
- Serve with rice, noodles or taco. And don’t forget to add garnishes! Enjoy!
This looks and sounds AMAZING – I can’t wait to try it!
Thank you Liz! Please let me know how it goes! 🙂
I am going to try thiis now. If it’s good, I will serve this tomorrow night to guests.
Planning on stir frying bok choy or broccoli or green beans to serve with meat.
Haven’t decided on rice or noodles. If you get this message, give me your opinion.
Thanks.
Nan
Hey Nan! I JUST saw your message. I typically prefer rice but it’ll be great with noodles too! All the veggies you suggested sound yummy! Let me know how it went and what you think!
Delicious! I ended up using a 3lb shoulder and doubling the sauce recipe. My kids are super picky eaters (7 & 8) and they BOTH loved it! Each of them helped shred and asked if I can teach them how to make it because they want to make it when they grow up. Thank You. 🙂
Aw I love it! Thank you so much for letting me know how it went! Makes me so happy to know that you all enjoyed it! 🙂
Hello, I have a fairly large pork shoulder, 3.2kg, should I allow extra cooking time? Thanks :=)
Yes! Cook for 2-3 extra hours on low or 1-2 extra hours on high. Check to see if it falls apart easily. If it is not cook for a little longer! Let me know how it goes! 🙂
Made this yesterday. Absolutely delicious- flavorful, moist. Wouldn’t change a thing.
That’s great! So glad you enjoyed it!
Can this be converted to use in an instant pot? If so how long and on what setting?
Yes! Try it on high pressure for 60 minutes. Release pressure naturally when it is done.
I found this recipe but I have a pork tenderloin. Can I use that and maybe on cook for 3-4 hours on high?
That should work! Pork tenderloin is a less tough piece of meat so you may not need to cook it for as long.
I really liked this. I bought a slightly larger picnic roast than the recipe asks for so I multiplied the sauce recipe by 1.5. I made a banh mi of sorts in a French loaf, with some cabbage, carrot, green onion and cilantro.
A bit of hot sauce in the sauce may be what I’ll try next time.
Really easy to do, and all made with ingredients I had on hand. Give it a try, I think you’ll like it!
That’s wonderful! I am so glad to hear that! Thank you for sharing your variation!
I cooked this pulled pork today and it was DELICIOUS! So simple but so full of flavour. The pork was extremely tender it shredded so easily and soaked up the fragrant sauce wonderfully. I served my pulled pork in homemade bao buns topped with carrot and sesame seeds and it went down a treat! Will definitely be making again.
Yum! I love that you serve it with bao buns! Thank you for sharing and leaving a review! 🙂
Five Stars!! Make this for the first time yesterday. Simple to prepare and the meat was fall apart succulent! Even my DH who doesn’t like sesame oil thought it was delicious. Putting this on my Pinterest Keepers Board. Thank you for posting!
That’s awesome!! Happy to hear that you enjoyed it!
I made this again last week for a group of friends using chicken thighs. They liked it so much they made it the next day for their meal prep for the week. There’s a lot of liquid that comes from the meat. So, we precook the meat most of the way first and drain the liquid from the meat. Then we add the wonderful sauce and cook it through. We also mince the garlic and leave it in the sauce. Fabulous recipe – thanks again!
That’s so great to hear! Thank you for sharing your feedback!
I made this for the first time a couple of weeks ago and our whole family (three and four year olds included) loved it! We had it on tacos with cabbage, carrots, cilantro, and cucumber. I’m making it again tomorrow, doubling it so I can take some to a friend with a new baby. The only hard part is waiting until it’s done because it smells SO good while it’s cooking!
Yes!! Waiting is the hardest part!! haha! Thanks so much for sharing! 🙂
Simply delicious! Will make again!
YES! So glad! 🙂
Will you please clarify if it is Rice WINE or Rice Wine VINEGAR that is used in this recipe?
Rice wine, not rice wine vinegar.
Is the rice wine essential?
It does bring a significantly amount of flavor to the dish so if you can I would try to incorporate it!
What rice wine did you use in your recipe? Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine), mirin (sweet Japanese rice wine), or sake (dry Japanese rice wine)?
I used Shaoxing Chinese wine. But the others would work as well!
What oil can I sub for sesame oil? My son is allergic to sesame.
I would just omit it!
Really easy and good flavours. I feel like the liquid could have been more stickier.
Hi there! For a thicker liquid, try stirring some corn starch or flour into the liquid about an hour before pork is done. Hope that helps! 🙂
Husbands words, that’s really something special! Thanks for the recipe.
I’m so glad to hear that!
Very easy and extremely tasty. Served mine as a taco with cucumber, spring onion and kewpie mayo. Had plenty left over which I portioned and put in freezer. Gonna be even quicker next time !!!!!
Yum!! Thanks for sharing and I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Hello! Can this be cooked on low so I can leave it while I’m at work? Do you think 8 hours would be okay? Thanks!
8 hours low is perfect. I hope you love it! Let me know how it goes! 🙂