Oven Pulled Pork
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This oven pulled pork recipe delivers pit-worthy flavor—no smoker required. Slow-cooked until fall-off-the-bone tender, it has a crusty bark and tangy-sweet sauce that rivals your favorite barbecue spot.
This easy oven pulled pork recipe yields plenty of juicy, fall-apart meat with smoky BBQ flavor. It’s simple to make: just rub the pork with barbecue spices, pop it in the oven, and let it cook low and slow. As the irresistible barbecue aroma fills your kitchen, the hardest part is waiting—and then trying not to eat all the pork as you shred it!
I roast the pork uncovered, which allows the spice rub to develop a dark, flavorful bark. But what really sets this recipe apart is the barbecue sauce: after roasting, I deglaze the pan to capture all those flavorful browned bits and juices, then stir them into a tangy-sweet sauce. Tossed with the shredded pork, it makes every bite extra flavorful.
Serve the pork piled onto buns with coleslaw for an easy, crowd-pleasing meal. It keeps and freezes well, making it great for meal prep or easy meals down the road.
“Followed the recipe exactly and it turned out perfectly. Great flavor, beautiful bark, delicious sauce. The whole family enjoyed it!”
What You’ll Need To Make Pulled Pork
- Pork Butt: Despite the name, pork butt comes from the upper shoulder of the pig. It may also be labeled Boston butt. Its generous marbling and connective tissue make it ideal for pulled pork—the fat keeps the meat moist during the long cooking time, while the connective tissue breaks down until the pork is fall-apart tender.
- Spice Rub: A combination of brown sugar, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, dry mustard, salt, and pepper seasons the pork and forms a flavorful bark as it roasts. The brown sugar also helps the exterior caramelize.
- Ketchup: Forms the tomato-rich base of the barbecue sauce.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Gives the sauce its tang and cuts through the richness of the pork.
- Brown Sugar: Adds sweetness to the sauce and balances the acidity of the vinegar.
- Worcestershire Sauce: Adds savory depth and a subtle umami note to the barbecue sauce.
- Mustard: Adds a little sharpness and helps round out the sweet and tangy flavors in the sauce.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
How To Make Oven Pulled Pork
Season the pork: Pat the pork dry with paper towels. This helps the spice rub stick better and ensures a nice crust as it roasts. Combine the spices for the rub, then coat the pork generously on all sides. Don’t be shy with the seasoning—the pork is a large cut of meat, and the rub will eventually become the flavorful bark on the outside.
Slow cook the pork: Cook the pork uncovered until the exterior is deeply browned and crusty and the meat is tender enough to pull apart easily with a fork. Cooking it uncovered is key: it allows the spice rub to develop into a flavorful bark rather than softening in trapped steam. For truly tender pulled pork, don’t go by time alone—the internal temperature should reach about 195°F, when the connective tissue has broken down and the meat is ready to shred.
Make the BBQ sauce: While the pork roasts, make the barbecue sauce. It should have a tangy-sweet flavor with enough acidity to balance the richness of the pork. Keep in mind that the sauce isn’t quite finished yet—the flavorful juices from the roasting pan will be added later.
Deglaze the pan: Once the pork is done, transfer it to a cutting board to rest and pour off the excess fat. Deglaze the roasting pan, scraping up all the deeply browned bits stuck to the bottom—there’s a tremendous amount of concentrated flavor there. Reduce the liquid until it intensifies, then stir it into the barbecue sauce.
Shred and sauce the pork: When the pork is cool enough to handle, pull it into bite-size pieces, discarding any large pieces of fat. Toss the meat with enough barbecue sauce to coat it generously without overwhelming it. The pork should stay juicy and flavorful, with bits of the dark bark mixed throughout. Serve with extra sauce on the side.
What to Serve with Pulled Pork
For a classic pulled pork dinner, serve the pork piled onto buns with coleslaw, along with sides like cornbread, baked beans, potato salad, or mac and cheese. For something lighter, pair it with a simple green salad or corn on the cob.
My starting point for this recipe was Tyler Florence’s pulled pork barbecue recipe. I used my own spice rub and barbecue sauce, but the cooking method is identical to the original recipe.
Video Tutorial
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Oven Pulled Pork
Ingredients
For the Pork
- 1 (5 to 6-lb) bone-in pork butt (sometimes called Boston butt; see note)
- 4 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon dry mustard
- 1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
For the Tangy Barbecue Sauce
- 1 cup + 2 tablespoons ketchup
- ¾ cup cider vinegar
- ¾ cup (packed) dark brown sugar
- ¼ cup + 2 tablespoons spicy brown mustard
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- ¾ cup water, for deglazing the roasting pan
For Serving
- 12 hamburger buns, lightly toasted and buttered, if desired
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 300°F and set an oven rack in the lower-middle position.
- Pat the pork dry with paper towels.
- Mix the salt, paprika, cumin, garlic powder, dry mustard, brown sugar, and pepper in a small bowl. Place the pork in a roasting pan. Rub the spice blend all over the pork, turning to coat evenly (don't leave any of the spice blend in the bottom of the pan; keep turning the meat until it all adheres).
- Roast, uncovered, for 6 to 6½ hours, or until the meat is fork-tender and a thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the pork registers 195°F (95°C).
- While the pork roasts, make the barbecue sauce. Combine the ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, mustard, garlic, and cayenne pepper in a saucepan over medium heat. Simmer gently, stirring frequently, until slightly thickened, about ten minutes. Remove from the heat and let sit until the pork is done.
- When the pork is done, take it out of the oven and set it on a cutting board or platter; tent with aluminum foil and let rest for about 10 minutes.
- Pour off and discard the fat from the roasting pan (remember the handles are hot). Add ¾ cup (180 ml) water to the roasting pan and set it over a single burner on medium heat; scrape with a wooden spoon to release all the brown bits. Cook for a few minutes, stirring frequently, until the liquid is reduced by about half. (The liquid will be very dark; that's okay.) Pour into the saucepan with the barbecue sauce and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.
- While the pork is still warm, use two forks to pull the meat away from the bone into large shreds. Remove and discard any large pieces of fat or sinew. Put the shredded pork in a large bowl or dish and pour about two-thirds of the barbecue sauce over it. Toss so that the pork is evenly coated with the sauce. Taste and add more sauce, little by little, if desired.
- To serve, spoon the pulled pork onto the bottom half of each bun. Pass the remaining barbecue sauce on the side.
Notes
- Pork butt (which is also sometimes called Boston butt) is misleadingly named; it does not come from the rear end of the pig. Rather, it comes from the thicker, well-marbled upper shoulder. It is not to be confused with a picnic roast, which comes from the lower end of the shoulder and is a bit leaner. The bone adds extra moisture and flavor, but if you can only find boneless, no worries—just use a 4 to 5-pound roast and expect a slightly shorter cook time.
- Make-Ahead/Freezing Instructions: The pork can be made entirely ahead of time and stored in a covered container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat just a few servings of pulled pork, toss the pork in a microwave-safe bowl. Add a bit more sauce if the pork seems dry, and cover the dish with a plate or lid. Microwave the pork for one to two minutes, or until hot. To reheat a larger quantity, place the pork in a baking dish and add a bit more sauce if the pork seems dry. Cover the dish with aluminum foil and place in a 250°F (120°C) oven for about 30 minutes, or until hot. To freeze, place the pulled pork in a zip-top freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight before serving.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Getting ready to try this today. Do you put the fat side up or down?
Thank you
Hi Denise, I’d put it fat side up. Hope you enjoy!
Jenn, we don’t eat pork in my house, would love to see a pulled chicken version! Is it possible to adjust this recipe for that or should I just wait til you post one?! TIA.
Hi Elizabeth, unfortunately, there’s no way to adjust this for chicken – sorry! I will add a pulled chicken recipe to my list of ones to potentially develop. 😊
Are there any substitutions for the mustard in the BBQ sauce? I’m ok with the dry mustard in the rub but the mustard in the sauce won’t work. Could I make your homemade BBQ sauce instead? Thanks for the help.
Sure, Kate, you can use my other BBQ sauce recipe instead. 😊
Jen,
I made this today for the first time and the pork was so tender and delicious! I used a Boston Butt just over 8lbs and roasted for 7hrs 40min. I cooked it in a Bosch Double Oven with a built in probe and although the oven probe reached 195 degrees in just 6 hours, it was the first time I had used the probe so I wasn’t 100% sure it was reliable. I did not have another thermometer but I will be ordering one this week for future use! If you have any recommendations on which type thermometer to purchase, I would love to hear your recommendations!
Also – I had read one comment that someone wondered how much the Boston Butt should yield? We ended up with just over 3.3 lbs. after taste testing a number of shreds, LOL. I did not make the BBQ sauce only because we’re not big fans of tangy BBQ so we just wanted to stick with our “Go To” BBQ sauce. I’m sure your BBQ Sauce is good, we just were already in our happy place! We will definitely have this on our meal rotation list! THANKS!
So glad you enjoyed this! This is the remote thermometer I have and really like it. 😊
Hi! Do you trim the fat off first or leave it all on?
Thanks!
Deb
Hi Deb, no need to trim it first. Enjoy!
This recipe is great. I did 10 lbs of bone in Boston butt and just doubled everything. Very flavorful even without the bbq sauce. The sauce seemed very vinegary at first but then sweetened and mellowed when I added the water from the deglazed pan. 18 month old loved it too and I froze a ton of it in 1 lb increments for future meals. I prefer this to the Jaymie Oliver recipe because the rub gives it more flavor. I did rub two tablespoons of olive oil and one tablespoon red wine vinegar on before I added the spice rub. Don’t know if it did anything but just what I’m used to doing.
Hi Jenn,
I bought two boneless pork butts 3 pounds each. Both came tied with a twine. When I took out the twine meat looked very flat and like long. Nothing like the meat in your pictures. So I tied the twine back. I seasoned the both pieces of meat and put in the oven. Now I am wondering if pork meat is too thick because it is folded in layers. How long should I cook? Do you think I should/ shouldn’t have removed the twine? Otherwise I followed your recipe to the T.
Hi Hazel, I’m obviously wing too late to help – I’m sorry! I don’t think I’ve ever seen a pork butt tied with twine; are you sure it wasn’t a different cut? How did the pork come out?
It was shoulder pork butt. Is that wrong cut? Pork was delicious but I little overcooked it. 6 hour was more than enough. I will make it again. Thanks for the great recipe!
It sounds like you used the right cut. Glad that ultimately, it came out well enough that you’d like to make it again.
Hello. I’m enjoying your recipes. Very user friendly! Can this recipe be made in a slow cooker instead of the oven? And for how long? Thanks.
So glad you’re enjoying the recipes! Unfortunately, this one doesn’t translate well to a slow cooker.
I have made this recipe several times and is delicious. The BBQ sauce is great. I would like to have a BBQ sauce available when not making the pulled pork, so was wondering if the sauce recipe would work without the pan drippings?
Hi Diane, so glad you like this! This barbecue sauce won’t work without the pan drippings but I have this one that you may like.
Hi Jenn, can this be prepared as per your recipe and then kept warm in a slow cooker, on the keep warm setting? Thanks!
Sure!
What type of roasting pan did you use?
Hi Sharon, I use an 11 x 14-inch All-Clad roasting pan. (The pictures in the post were taken by a food photographer and she used a different brand.)
Did you roast on the rack in your All Clad roaster or without the rack?
Without the rack. 😊