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If you need a crowd pleasing meal, look no further than this Sous Vide Pulled Pork! It’s tender, juicy and flavorful, and tastes amazing piled on hamburger buns with homemade barbecue sauce and pickled onions! So good!
In our house, we love pork in pretty much any form. From pan fried pork chops or sous vide pork shoulder, to Thai BBQ pork spare ribs, I’m always testing new pork recipes.
While I love my Instant Pot and slow cooker for preparing pork, the sous vide is a game changer for pulled pork! By controlling the temperature of the sous vide water bath, the pork shoulder turns out tender and juicy, and most importantly, pulls apart easily!
We're also loving the sous vide for things like this sous vide carnitas - it makes a ultra tender and juicy carnitas and ultra tender sous vide ribs, and even sous vide pastrami!
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Why this recipe works
- It’s the perfect recipe for entertaining. The pork shoulder is large, so it feeds a crowd. (It makes about 8-12 sandwiches). And it cooks for 24 hours in the water bath, which frees up your time to prepare side dishes like this spicy mac and cheese!
- It’s easily made ahead, so this pulled pork can be meal prepped on the weekends for quick meals during the week. It’s great for sliders and tacos, or as a topping for salads and pizza!
- You get the same great flavor of smoked pulled pork without having to keep an eye on a smoker all day. The pork shoulder cooks in the water bath for 24 hours, and then it’s smoked on a gas grill for an hour with the shortcut of using a wood chip foil pack!
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What is Sous Vide?
Sous vide is basically a method of cooking using what is called an immersion circulator (i.e. the sous vide machine). This immersion circulator circulates water in a temperature controlled water bath at a certain temperature to perfectly cook your food every time.
Because the temperature doesn't change, and it keeps your meat (or dessert, veggies, etc.) at the same temperature, your risk of overcooking becomes very minimal.
To learn even more about sous vide cooking, head over and read "what is sous vide cooking and the benefits of sous vide cooking."
What is the Water Displacement Method?
The displacement method is where you slowly submerge a ziplock bag in water pushing the air out of the top of the bag (the bag should be slightly open at the top to allow air to escape).
Use a clip (I use sous vide magnets) to clip the bag to the side to keep it from floating and getting air and/or water inside.
Tools Used
You will also want to check out these posts on the best sous vide containers and the best sous vide bags for more information!
Other sous vide recipes
- Crispy Sous Vide Fried Chicken
- Sous Vide Pork Butt
- Sous Vide Pork Tenderloin
- Sous Vide Green Beans
- Sous Vide London Broil
- Sous Vide Lemon Curd
Ingredients
You’ll need a 3-5 pound pork shoulder (butt) for this recipe. This is an inexpensive cut of pork that’s usually tough and fatty (with lots of marbling). This makes it perfect for slow cooking methods, which results in tender, pull-apart pork.
This recipe calls for a homemade pork rub. The full list of ingredients is in the recipe card below, but it’s a mix of savory, spicy and sweet ingredients that’s perfect for pulled pork. You can also use store-bought pork rub, but I highly recommend going homemade here!
To serve the pulled pork, you’ll need 8-12 hamburger buns, BBQ sauce and pickled onions.
Any BBQ sauce can be used, but I personally love my homemade barbecue sauce the best.
We’re also making our own pickled red onions! It’s super easy. You just need red onion, water, rice wine vinegar, honey, salt and crushed red pepper.
Step by step instructions
Heat a skillet over medium heat and toast the whole spices until they start to become fragrant, tossing often so they don't burn (about 3 minutes).
Transfer to a dish to cool and then grind the spices.
Heat a sous vide water bath to 165F degrees.
Mix all the rub ingredients together.
Rub the rub all over the pork shoulder. There will likely be some left over (use it on these instant pot pork ribs)!
Place the pork shoulder in a vacuum seal bag and use a vacuum sealer to remove all the air. You can also use a ziplock bag and the water displacement method (see above).
Cook for 24 hours. If the bag starts to float, weigh it down with a wet towel or use this sous vide sinker weight.
Remove from the water bath and place immediately in an ice bath for 10-15 minutes to cool it.
While it's cooling, wrap a handful of wood chips in tin foil, poking holes at the top so the smoke can escape. If you have a smoker, you can use that instead of a gas grill.
Place the wood chip packet right next to the heat source. Heat the grill to about 275-300F degrees.
Remove the pork shoulder from the bag carefully (the meat will be soft) and reserve the juices if desired (you can use the juice instead of BBQ sauce if you'd like).
Place the pork on a foil lined baking sheet and smoke in the grill for 1 hour. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.
When it’s done, it should have a layer of bark on the outside.
Use 2 forks (or your hands) to pull the pork apart on the baking sheet.
Serve on the buns with BBQ sauce and pickled onions. Drizzle a touch of the cooking liquid over the top, if desired.
How to make pickled onions
Mix the pickling liquid ingredients together. *Tip: heat the honey slightly to help it dissolve easier.
Place the onions in a bowl and cover with the liquid. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (They will last in the fridge for about a week).
Expert tips
- Removing the air from the bag is an important step that should not be skipped to avoid bacteria entering the bag.
- If the pork shoulder floats in the water bath and you're using a ziplock bag, open the corner to let the excess air out, then reseal it. If using a vacuum seal bag, you can cut open the bag and reseal it.
- To prevent floating, you can weigh the bag down with something heavy like a wet towel or this sous vide sinker weight.
- Since the pork is cooking for 24 hours, it’s important to make sure the water level stays high enough so the pork stays submerged in water. You can cover the top of the sous vide container to help prevent the water from evaporating.
- While this recipe uses a gas grill and a foil pack of wood chips to smoke the pork after it's cooked in the water bath, you can use a smoker if you have one.
Common questions
Yes! This is an important step to create a smoky flavor and a layer of bark on the outside of the pork. It’s easy to do on a gas grill with a foil pack of wood chips, or you can use a smoker if you have one.
For a tender pork shoulder that pulls apart easily, you’ll want to set the temperature of your water bath to 165F degrees.
At 165F degrees, the pork shoulder will take 24 hours to cook. It will be soft and tender at this point. You’ll then smoke it for an hour on the grill.
Yes, you can sous vide frozen pork shoulder for this recipe. Since we’re already cooking low and slow for 24 hours, there’s no need to add additional cooking time. Just note that the pork rub will not stick to the frozen pork shoulder as well as it does to fresh pork.
Make ahead and freezing instructions
You can cook the pork in advance and store it in the fridge or freezer for future meals.
Just follow the recipe up to the ice bath. Once the pork is cooled completely in the ice bath, store the sealed bag of pork in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
To reheat, place the bag of pork in a 165F degree water bath for about 10-15 minutes. Then, follow the rest of the recipe to smoke the pork and make the pulled pork sandwiches.
Serving options
- Use the pork in this pulled pork enchiladas recipe, or serve it up on tacos.
- This pork would be amazing on top of nachos or pizza. We love it on this easy caramelized onion flatbread.
- Pulled pork on top of this strawberry spinach salad would be delicious.
- Make it a meal and serve the pulled pork sandwiches with these air fryer jalapeno poppers, this spicy Mexican pasta salad and grilled corn with miso butter.
If you love this recipe, leave a comment below and let us know your favorite thing about it. We'd also love to connect on Instagram! Follow us at @went_here_8_this for awesome recipes and all sorts of fun food stuff 🙂
Recipe
Sous Vide Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- 3-5 pound pork shoulder butt
- BBQ sauce
- 8-12 hamburger buns
- pickled onions see below
Rub:
- 2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 3 tablespoons salt
- 3 tablespoons brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cumin seeds toasted and ground
- 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon coriander seeds toasted and ground
- 1 ½ teaspoons yellow mustard seeds toasted and ground
Pickled Onions:
- 1 red onion thinly sliced
- ½ cup water
- ½ cup rice wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons honey
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper more if you want more heat
Instructions
- Heat a skillet over medium heat and toast the whole spices until they start to become fragrant, tossing often so they don't burn (about 3 minutes). Transfer to a dish to cool and then grind the spices.
- Heat a sous vide water bath to 165F degrees.
- Mix all the rub ingredients together.
- Rub the rub all over the pork shoulder. (There will likely be some left over so you can save it for another recipe).
- Place the pork shoulder in a vacuum seal bag and use a vacuum sealer to remove all the air. You can also use a ziplock bag and the water displacement method (see above).
- Cook for 24 hours. If the bag starts to float, weigh it down with a wet towel or use a sous vide sinker weight.
- Remove from the water bath and place immediately in an ice bath for 10-15 minutes to cool it.
- While it's cooling, wrap a handful of wood chips in tin foil, poking holes at the top so the smoke can escape. If you have a smoker, you can use that instead of a gas grill.
- Place the wood chip packet right next to the heat source. Heat the grill to about 275-300F degrees.
- Remove the pork shoulder from the bag carefully (the meat will be soft) and reserve the juices if desired (you can use the juice instead of BBQ sauce if you'd like).
- Place the pork on a foil lined baking sheet and smoke in the grill for 1 hour. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.
- When done, it should have a layer of bark on the outside.
- Use 2 forks (or your hands) to pull the pork apart on the baking sheet.
- Serve on the buns with BBQ sauce and pickled onions. Drizzle a touch of the cooking liquid over the top if desired.
Pickled Onions:
- Mix the pickling liquid ingredients together. (Heat the honey slightly to help it dissolve easier).
- Place the onions in a bowl and cover with the liquid. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours. (They will last for about a week in the fridge).
Expert Tips:
- Removing the air from the bag is an important step that should not be skipped to avoid bacteria entering the bag.
- If the pork shoulder floats in the water bath and you're using a ziplock bag, open the corner to let the excess air out, then reseal it. If using a vacuum seal bag, you can cut open the bag and reseal it.
- To prevent floating, you can weigh the bag down with something heavy like a wet towel or this sous vide sinker weight.
- Since the pork is cooking for 24 hours, it’s important to make sure the water level stays high enough so the pork stays submerged in water. You can cover the top of the sous vide container to help prevent the water from evaporating.
- While this recipe uses a gas grill and a foil pack of wood chips to smoke the pork after it's cooked in the water bath, you can use a smoker if you have one.
Nutrition
heather
I am just so in love with this pork! Usually pulled pork comes out dry, but this was tender and juicy and perfect for a sandwich. I'll definitely be making it again!
Danielle
I'm so glad you liked it!