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August 19, 2016 ·

Succulent Slow Cooker Kalua Pork

Recipes

My sister recently returned from a Hawaii and her photos make me long to escape to that beautiful tropical paradise! I was a teenager last time I toured the islands. Besides the jaw dropping vistas, the amazing food we had is what made such an impression on me. Capturing a taste of the islands is easy! Let me show you how simple it is to make sweet and spicy 3-Ingredient Succulent Slow Cooker Kalua Pork!

3-Ingredient Succulent Slow Cooker Kaula Pork

When I told my kids I was making Kalua Pork, they looked at me wide eyed and said, “Eww! You mean that coffee stuff you have on the top shelf?”. Ha! Kalua is not to be confused with Kahlua… there is no coffee liquor in the recipe, though to be honest, I might need to try that sometime. 😉 Kalua Pig is what is traditionally served at luaus. It is a pig that is seasoned, wrapped in banana leaves, buried in a pit in the ground called an imu, covered with hot coals and cooked for hours until tender.  We aren’t tackling a whole pig, but only a pork shoulder today.

We have grown banana trees in our yard for the past 8 years. They are so easy to grow and we live in Virginia! Click here to read about how we grow bananas. The smaller leaves are nice to use for decorating but I haven’t tried using banana leaves in cooking, which is silly because most of the world has used banana leaves in cooking for centuries. One medium sized banana leaf worked great for the slow cooker Kalua pork.

NOTE: YOU DO NOT NEED BANANA LEAVES FOR THIS RECIPE! They simply add a slightly sweet and more authentic Hawaiian flavor to the pork. Banana leaves can be found at Asian markets.

Banana Trees

 

Slow Cooker Kalua Pork

Let’s get cooking! This slow cooker recipe calls for only a few ingredients and will feed a crowd! The first thing to do is rinse and pat dry a pork shoulder. I usually buy a 7-8 pound pork shoulder for our large family. We always have plenty of leftovers.

Pork Shoulder - Kalua Pork

Turn the pork over so that the fat side is facing up. Trim the fat if it is excessive. I find that cooking the pork with the fat side up keeps the pork jucier and it is easier to remove before serving. Pierce the pork all over with a knife. (Feel free to take our any pent up anger on the pork). 😉

Sprinkle Hawaiian Salt all over the pork and rub in. Hawaiian Salt can be found at most specialty grocery stores. Sea Salt or any other pink salt can be substituted. Next pour several tablespoons of liquid smoke over the pork. This will give the Kalua Pork a wonderful smokey fire pit flavor.
Preparing Kalua Pork

After you have seasoned the pork with the salt and the liquid smoke then you can wrap the pork shoulder in a banana leaf. Wrap it just as you would a present. Secure it with baking twine if you find necessary.

Cooking with Banana Leaves - Kalua Pork

Place the pork in a slow cooker and sprinkle with red pepper flakes. Put the lid on and cook for 10 hours on LOW. You can reduce the time to 8.5 hours if your pork shoulder is much smaller.

3 ingredient slow cooker kalua pork

This is how it will look after the cooking time is done. Gently pull out the banana leaf. I remove the top fat layer and the shoulder bone and then carefully scoop out the meat and shred it into chunks.

Kalua pork - slow cooker recipe

The pork comes out sweet and slighty spicy and oh so succulently tender! Serve Slow Cooker Kalua Pork with a side of rice and beans, or on buns with crisp coleslaw, or in tacos. The pork is quite versatile for a variety of dishes.

Succulent Slow Cooker Kalua Pork

Print
Succulent Slow Cooker Kalua Pork
Author: Kim Wilson - c4a.bc9.myftpupload.com
Recipe type: Main
Prep time:  5 mins
Cook time:  10 hours
Total time:  10 hours 5 mins
Serves: 10-12
 
This recipe feeds a crowd! Only 3 ingredients and you'll have succulent sweet and spicy pork that you can use in a variety of dishes. It does NOT require using banana leaves. They just give the pork a more authentic Hawaiian taste.
Ingredients
  • 7-8 pound pork shoulder
  • 1 teaspoon Hawaiian Salt (or sea salt)
  • 3 tablespoons liquid smoke
  • 1 large banana leaf (either fresh from your banana tree or can be found in Asian markets)
  • 1.5 teaspoons red pepper flakes
Instructions
  1. Rinse and pat dry the pork shoulder.
  2. Pierce the pork shoulder all over with a knife.
  3. Sprinkle with salt.
  4. Pour liquid smoke over the pork.
  5. Wrap tightly in a large banana leaf (think wrapping a present).
  6. Sprinkle with red pepper flakes.
  7. Place in slowcooker and cook for 10 hours on LOW.
  8. Remove banana leaf, drain juices, debone and shred the pork.
  9. Serve on buns or in tacos or a variety of other dishes.
3.5.3208

I hope you give it a try!

Want to try it? PIN IT! 

3-Ingredient Succulent Slow Cooker Kalua Pork. This pork is sweet, tender, slightly spicy and feeds a crowd! PS- the banana leaf is totally OPTIONAL so no worries.

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Comments

  1. Beth says

    August 19, 2016 at 4:08 pm

    Looks delicious and fun! I’ll have to borrow a banana leaf from you sometime. 🙂

  2. Sheila @ Making the Most of Every Day says

    August 20, 2016 at 5:40 am

    This looks amazing! I didn’t realize you live in VA!! I thought it was CA! Ha! We have banana trees here in FL so I’m totally going to make this!
    ~Sheila
    Making the Most of Every Day

  3. Pamela says

    August 22, 2016 at 6:46 pm

    This sounds scrumptious! I will have to find my slow cooker and try it out.

    • Kim @ Sand & Sisal says

      August 23, 2016 at 4:21 pm

      Thank you Pamela!

  4. Jeri tucker says

    April 23, 2017 at 3:09 pm

    I’m running a little late can I crock on high for 2 hours then on low for 7?

    • Kim @ Sand & Sisal says

      April 24, 2017 at 2:22 pm

      Hi Jeri! I’m so sorry I’m just now seeing your comment. Yes you can. The pork should turn out tender.(I’ve cheated that way before too!) Let me know if it did!

  5. Jeri says

    April 25, 2017 at 4:27 pm

    Omgosh! This was great! Will be making this a lot in the future. Thank you! N yes I did 2 hours on high and 7 on low! A 8 pounder! Was such a hit for the family :).

    • Kim @ Sand & Sisal says

      May 1, 2017 at 1:18 pm

      Yay! Great to hear! I just picked up a pork shoulder this week. It’ll be on the menu again for the weekend. 😉 Thanks for trying out the recipe Jeri! Have a beautiful week! ~KIM

  6. Elise says

    June 14, 2018 at 11:29 am

    Does it need to be a bone in pork butt? Or would boneless work? I’m guessing bone in is more tender. How big is your slow cooker? I’m worried a 6-8 lb bone in pork butt roast and banana leaf may not fit in my slow cooker.

    • Kim @ Sand & Sisal says

      June 18, 2018 at 2:06 pm

      Hi Elise! You can use either a bone-in or boneless. I have a large slow cooker but in the past when I didn’t have this large one, I have cut the roast in half and cooked it in 2 smaller slow cookers. It all depends on how many people you need to feed. Hope that helps! ~ KIM

  7. Joy says

    January 25, 2019 at 12:06 pm

    I plan on trying this next week. Pork was on sale for 88 cents a pound last week, and I have some extra banana leaves in my freezer left over from when I made tamales at Christmas. Thank you

    • Kim @ Sand & Sisal says

      January 26, 2019 at 1:05 pm

      Thanks Joy! I hope you like it! I just made it again this past week but I did it in the pressure cooker and I cut the pork into 4 pieces before cooking. It was so fast and good! Have a wonderful meal! ~KIM

Trackbacks

  1. Inspire Me Monday Link Party - Sand and Sisal says:
    August 22, 2016 at 4:59 pm

    […] DIY Accessory Holder/Charging Station […]

  2. Inspire Me Monday #126 - Domestically Speaking says:
    August 22, 2016 at 5:00 pm

    […] Slow Cooker Kalua Pork […]

  3. Long Lasting, Easy Decorating with Greenery - Sand and Sisal says:
    August 7, 2017 at 7:42 pm

    […] over 35 banana trees growing in my backyard over the years. They are FABULOUS for decorating or for cooking and grilling with. This little baby branch was wintering over in our garage but he brought a bit of summer warmth to […]

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Kim WilsonWelcome to Sand & Sisal: where love of home and sea meet! I share tutorials in DIY, decorating, crafts, gardening, & recipes.  [READ MORE]

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