So I mentioned last week that my family recently came home from Hawaii. Yes…my family. Before we went, pretty much the first question everyone asked was, “Are you bringing your kids?!” And when I told them that we were, their reactions ranged from horror to befuddlement to speechlessness to asking us why or telling us they were sorry.
It’s okay. We probably were crazy, and true, it wasn’t a the Hawaiian fantasy of lying on the beach sipping tropical drinks. We went to Target a lot…
(turns out the groceries there were a lot cheaper than the tourist trap we got sucked into our first night there) and had an amazing time at the beach.
Will ate his fair share of sand (yes, the sand is black, one of the many magical things about the Big Island).
On the west side of the island, we took an obscene number of these:
And then there was the time in Volcano National Park when we thought we were going for a little stroll (literally…with a stroller) and realized we were hiking down into the crater of a dormant volcano. Stupid stupid stupid.
Good thing it was awesome. Good thing my husband and I were still speaking when he hauled the stroller a couple of miles back up the inside of the crater and I hauled our 23 pound baby back up.
It’s kind of impossible to convey how enormous that thing was–even if I told you those little dots in there were people (which they are), it’s hard to get an idea of how tiny we felt inside. My kids, who live in a bayou and have never hiked before, were total naturals and rocked it (I love my kids a lot, but for me to call them naturals at physical activity is a big deal…their talents are more, um, cerebral in nature) and never complained once, which is way more than I can say about myself and my childhood hiking experiences.
On the east side of the island, we chatted with a lot of hippies, saw a lot of these…
and these…
and ate some of the most delicious food I’ve ever eaten in my whole life.
Kalua pork, like shave ice, is just kind of something that happens in Hawaii wherever you go, but it can vary drastically in quality, which can range from cafeteria-style mystery meat to shreds of smoky, tender-crispy deliciousness. Kalua pork is traditionally the meat from a whole pig that’s been roasted in the ground, but since most of us don’t have access to whole pigs or pig-sized roasting pits, we resort to other methods of cooking.
I’ve been making this recipe since I was a newlywed, but I hadn’t made it in years when Sara called me in a state of wonder saying that she’d had Kalua pork cooked in a crockpot and it tasted like the real thing and I kind of kicked myself for going so long without this amazingly easy meat candy. So today’s the day. And in case you’re wondering what you can do with it, don’t worry, I’ve got about 733 things I ate in Hawaii that involve Kalua pork that I’m trying to replicate at home.
Ingredient Notes
- Pork Roast – You’re going to need a boneless pork shoulder (boneless pork butt roast). You could even scale it down for a small family and use a smaller picnic roast. Try to choose one with a decent amount of fat on it, as this will produce a nice, tender final product. You’ll want to plan on 6-8 ounces of pre-cooked meat per person–pork shoulder is quite fatty, so the weight will really cook down and this is one thing you definitely don’t want to run out of.
- Hawaiian Sea Salt – If you live in an area with a significant Polynesian population (like many places in Utah), you may be able to find Hawaiian sea salt in a regular grocery store. I also believe World Market carries it, so if you live close to one, head over there. You can always order it online from Amazon as well. If pink sea salt just isn’t in the cards, regular sea salt from a regular grocery store will do, pig. It’ll do.
- Liquid Smoke – Hickory-flavored liquid smoke provides a good kick of smoky flavor. You can find liquid smoke near the barbecue sauces on the condiment aisle, usually in a small bottle on the top shelf.
Instructions
- Rinse the pork roast and pat it dry. Pierce the entire roast with a fork.
- Sprinkle with the sea salt (start with about a little less than a tablespoon and see how far it gets you–you can add a little more to make sure your roast is salted enough, and you can always add more after it cooks).
- Sprinkle generously with the liquid smoke (about 1 tablespoon, more if you have a very large roast). Rub the salt and the liquid smoke into the roast.
- Place the roast in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the meat is brown shreds easily with a fork.
- Remove the roast from the pan and place it in a serving dish or on a serving platter. Reserve the cooking liquid.
- Shred the roast, discarding any large pieces of fat. Drizzle enough of the cooking liquid over the pork to re-moisten it and keep it from drying out (I actually preferred the dark, non-fatty liquid on bottom to the liquid fat on top–it’s way more flavorful).
Serving Suggestions
Kalua pork is fantastic served in any of the following ways:
- With sides like Hawaiian Macaroni Salad or Lime-Cilantro Rice with Pineapple.
- Topped with Mint-Pineapple Pico de Gallo or Mango Pico de Gallo in a warm tortilla and sprinkled with cotija cheese.
- Treated like smoked pork, drizzled in Kansas City Barbecue Sauce with a side of Memphis-Style Coleslaw.
- Leftovers are great to use in this Kalua Pork Sliders with Pineapple-Mango Slaw, Kalua Pork Pizza, or Kalua Pork Wontons.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Can I make this ahead of time? Feel free to cook this pork up one day and use it for meals throughout the week! It reheats really well. See the serving suggestions above for some delicious options!
Did You Make This?
I’d love to hear from you! Snap a picture and tag me on Instagram, then come back and give this recipe a rating!
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Slow-Cooker Kalua Pork
- Total Time: 10 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 6
Description
This no-fuss smoky pulled pork is quick and easy. Serve with any combination of sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, rice, macaroni salad, and/or fresh fruits and vegetables (or a green salad).
Ingredients
- 1 2.5-3.5 boneless pork shoulder (butt) roast
- Sea salt
- Hickory-flavored liquid smoke
Instructions
Rinse the pork roast and pat it dry. Pierce the entire roast with a fork. Sprinkle generously with the liquid smoke (about 1 tablespoon, more if you have a very large roast) and sprinkle with the sea salt (start with about a little less than tablespoon and see how far it gets you; you can always add more after it cooks). If using traditional kosher salt, decrease salt to 1-2 teaspoons. Rub the salt into the roast. Place the roast in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the meat shreds easily with a fork.
Remove the roast from the pan and place it in a serving dish or on a serving platter. Shred it, discarding any large pieces of fat. Drizzle enough of the cooking liquid over the pork to re-moisten it and keep it from drying out. Serve with any combination of sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, rice, macaroni salad, and/or fresh fruits and vegetables (or a green salad). Plan on 6-8 ounces of pre-cooked meat per person–pork shoulder is quite fatty, so the weight will really cook down.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 hours
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 6
Questions & Reviews
Try to wrap pork in ti leaves then place in slow cooker for real kalua flavor.
How can i incorporate cabbage in this dish?
I would serve it with a side of coleslaw. 🙂
I absolutely love pulled pork sandwiches, served with steak fries and coleslaw.
Don’t anyone tell my hubby, but I use a bottle of his beer to cook my pork in.
I either cook in my slow cooker for several hours or in a low temperature oven over night
how long do you think this will keep in the fridge for? I made mine on Tuesday and am wanting to make your pork wontons tomorrow(Saturday) but am wondering if 4 days is a little long in the fridge.
So, how is the Hawaiian sea salt different than regular sea salt?
I simplify it these ways: I use 3 lbs of the cheapest pork roast (about $3 per lb), use just 1 teaspoon or less of regular salt, and about 4 to 5 pieces of bacon (no liquid smoke). I did this because I didn’t want to buy things i’d end up with 10 years later like half a bottle of liquid smoke, etc. Also, I cooked it tonight for 5 hours on High in my Crock Pot. Grrreat!!! Shredded it with 2 forks in its own juice, it soaked up all of it. I lived on Oahu for 18 years, and of course cooking in the ground in an IMU is the authentic way, but my po’ boy way turns out ONO Lishious !!!!!!!!!!! much ALOHA to ALL !!!!!
We made this yesterday and served it with plain white sticky rice – it was delicious and I just had some leftovers for lunch! YUM!
Love this recipe! I use smoked pacific sea salt that I get at a spice shop that makes this incredible!
However.. you say you live in a bayou? It’s pretty obvious from some of your posts that you don’t love LA. That’s cool, I live in Lafayette and I happen to love it. I’m sure you live north of I-10 and that is pretty depressing, you get none of the things that makes Louisiana “Louisiana”. The food isn’t good and the people are…. But anyhow. Cajun Country, South Louisiana or Acadiana or whatever you want to call it (below I-10) is a great place with excellent food, (even Mexican!!) and super nice people, but NO ONE lives IN a bayou. Maybe bayou-side, or down the bayou but never IN it.
If you don’t want to use the liquid smoke because it’s too salty, or you want to make your un-smoked sea-salt “smoked”, there is something called, “smoke powder”, I’ve used both mesquite and hickory. You can either use it directly on the meat or mix-up a batch of it with the salt. It’s available at larger spice shops or online/mail order.
Nice pictures by the way.
Mahalo
Question. If I wanted to make 2 of these at one time to feed a crowd… can I put them both in one crockpot? I have the same large oval silver and black crockpot that you have and I think they would fit side by side in there. IF I can, would the cooking time be longer? By how much? Thinking of making this for a Fall Family Festival next weekend while we all carve pumpkins they can be cooking. YUM!
Yep- as long as they fit in there without stacking on top of each other or something, you should be good! You might want to increase the cooking time by a little bit, but it probably won’t take that much longer.
I made 2 in the same crockpot side-by-side. Cooked on low for 12 hours and they came out perfect! Everyone loved it! I will never eat pork any other way! 🙂
Huh, good to know a simpler recipe for pulled pork! I might try this substituting normal salt for the Hawaiian salt and maybe smoky paprika for the liquid smoke… it would be about ten fewer steps than my usual recipe. 🙂 I do prefer the bone-in shoulder though, I don’t know why but it always seems more flavorful.
I just got back from Maui and I had to go out and get some pork shoulder too, haha. I had kalua pork omelets pretty much every day for breakfast while we were there, and I’m totally continuing the trend at home.
I’m sure it’s obnoxious to ask but… Do you think this would work with a pork loin? They’re always in sale around here, which means I usually have one in the freezer.
Also, thank you for all of your amazing recipes!
I wouldn’t use pork loin–it’s so lean that you won’t get the same flavor or texture. That said, I really like pork loins as pork roasts or to slice up and use as pork chops (I HATE fatty pork chops so much!) I always keep a couple in my freezer for that very purpose. 🙂
This is by far the best pork I have ever eaten. I burned my mouth twice eating it straight from the crockpot! I cannot wait to make it again and it is definitely going in my regular rotation!
I made this today and it was sooo delicious. I love that it’s so simple. I’d love to go to Hawaii some day. Thanks for the recipe.
Ladies in Utah where have you found this pink Hawaiian Sea Salt? Anywhere other than World Market? While I’ve been shopping out shopping I’ve checked my normal gorcery stores Winco, Sprouts, Harmons and 2 different Smiths but the closest thing I could find is pink Himalayan Sea Salt. Would that be the next best thing or should I just use regular sea salt? I don’t have a problem buying the right seasonings I’ve noticed it often makes a difference but the Himalayan salt is $11 for 6 oz and if it’s no closer than the sea salt in my cupboard I’d prefer to save the moolah 🙂
In regards to Hawaiian salt, if you live in Provo – you can find it at the Asian market on 500 west near center street AND believe it or not, I saw it at Costco the other day with all their other spices!
This looks amazing! I was just on the Big Island last November and can’t wait to make this. Did you have Hawaiian sweet rolls while you were there? We were at this little bakery in Punaluu and brought back the most amazing breads!
LOL I am so glad I am not the only one who does the whole stand in front of the fridge and eat the delicious left overs! And let me just say, I love your posts, they always make me laugh. I love that there are people out there that have the same kind of quirks as me. 😉
I couldn’t find a boneless shoulder/butt roast. Would a picnic roast (shoulder) work or should I get the bone in shoulder/butt roast? I’m trying this today so thanks for your help!
Picnic roast is perfect! 🙂
Thank you!!!
What about pork loin? How would that cook differently than the butt? Add water?
Would this recipe go well with chicken breasts?
I wouldn’t do chicken breasts because they’d dry out, but you could try it with a combination of chicken breasts and thighs or just straight up thighs.
I have pinned so many pulled pork recipes that I had just about given up on finding one that was moist. But I am going to delete all of them now that I have this recipe. The best pulled pork I have ever tasted. Thanks for restoring my faith in this awesome dish.
Oh, Patty, I’m so glad to hear that! Hooray and thank you! 🙂
I live on Oahu and tried to find the smoked pink sea salt yesterday with no luck. It wasn’t any problem finding Hawaiian pink sea salt, but not the smoked stuff. Can you tell me where you got yours?
When I was in Hawaii, I often found it in little gift shops and other touristy locations. Whole lot of help I am, right?! 🙂
Kalua Pork is a favorite in our house! Love all the ideas on how to serve it!
I found this recipe a couple years ago (on another blog) and have been in heaven since! Kalua pork is one of the things I miss about my time at BYU-Hawaii. We like to eat it Hawaiian Haystack style with your coconut rice and lots of fun toppings 🙂
I’m glad you took the kids. When I was in 8th grade, my parents took our big family of 8 to Hawaii. That trip was one of my very best memories. 🙂
We take our kids to Hawaii once a year, and yes, we get bizarre reactions, too. I have to laugh at your trip down the crater trail because we did the same thing (minus the stroller, but with two young children) and 3 out of the 4 of us were crying by the end. (My husband wasn’t one of them.) Still, it’s a favorite memory. I heart the Big Island so much!
So quick point of clarification – if I use the smoked Hawaiian sea salt I do not need the liquid smoke?
It’s up to you and how smokey you want things to be. One thing you could do is use the smoked sea salt and then if you want a little more smokiness, add some liquid smoke after it’s cooked. Hope that helps!
We just might have to have our own little luau soon! Kalua pig also good roasted at 300 degrees for 5 to 6 hours in a tightly covered roasting pan. Personally, I like the salt and use 1 to 2 TBSP for a 3 to 5 lb pork butt roast.
I’m a Kaua’i girl currently living with my lil family in Elko,NV – I use alaē salt which is a Hawaiian red salt from salt beds on my island. The recipe I use calls for 2-3 Tablespoons of the salt but it also calls for 2 cups of water so it’s not very salty and stays nice and moist – the Hawaiian salt is so strong (along with the liquid smoke I add) that the flavor is very balanced. It makes for great stuffed Kalua cabbage or Kalua pig nachos!! Glad you brought your kids!!!
This is a favorite at our house. Leftovers make really good fajita nachos!
Love your pictures of Hawaii~ sounds like fun, hiking mishaps and all.
I make this all the time but since I dislike liquid smoke I put a layer of bacon on the bottom of the crock pot, rub the roast with the Hawaiian salt, then put one or two whole bananas on top. After it’s cooked I discard the bananas and the bacon and shred the meat. Yum!