Dr. Pepper Crock Pot Pulled Pork is the perfect way to feed a crowd. This slow cooker pulled pork is easy, tender, delicious and everyone always loves it!
With just 5 minutes of prep, this pulled pork crockpot recipe is ready to go before heading off to work. You’ll come home to a slow cooker full of tender juicy pulled pork perfect for sandwiches or topping Baked Potatoes or Mac and Cheese.
Crock Pot Pulled Pork is Easy to Make
This easy Crock Pot Pulled Pork is an easy family favorite! Let the Slow Cooker do all of the work, and then pile this pulled pork on crusty buns and top with some fresh homemade coleslaw for a dish everyone raves over! This slow cooker pulled pork is perfect for Sunday supper, nachos, tailgating or even for parties (on slider buns) or piled on top of baked sweet potatoes!
The best part about this dish is that it cooks in the slow cooker and is ready when you are, which means it’s easy to make.
Pulled Pork Bar: If you are serving a crowd, you can easily turn your slow cooker pulled pork on low to keep it warm until guests are ready to eat. We just set out a basket of rolls and a bowl of slaw and our guests can create their own sandwiches!
What Kind of Pork for Pulled Pork?
While some people use a tenderloin for pulled pork, it’s so lean that it easily becomes dry and tough (it’s more suited to roasting to medium). Like most slow cooker recipes, a pork roast with lots of nice fat marbled throughout becomes very tender in the Crock Pot!
The best cut of pork for pulled pork is pork shoulder. It can go by different names (and names can vary by location). When looking for pork, I choose boneless (bone in still works just fine, may need a little bit extra time but not much). Any of the following will be great:
- shoulder butt roast
- shoulder roast
- blade roast
- pork butt
- boston butt
- picnic roast
- pork steaks (which is slices of pork butt)
Any of the cuts above benefit from cooking low and slow to break down the tissues and make it buttery and tender. Pulled pork crock pot recipes are ideal because of the cooking temperature.
How to Make Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot
- Line the bottom of the Crock Pot with sliced onion.
- Rub the pork roast with seasoning and add to the slow cooker (per recipe below).
- Pour Dr. Pepper (or Rootbeer) on top and let the Crock Pot work its magic.
- Once cooked, shred with 2 forks and stir back into the juices. Add additional BBQ sauce if needed and serve on crusty rolls!
How Long to Cook Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot
The following is for a 4lb boneless pork roast. If you are short on time, cut the pork into 3-inch cubes.
- Cook on High for 4-5 hours
- Cook on Low for 7-8 hours
Slow cooker pulled pork needs just a few simple ingredients to create a dish that is so juicy and delicious.
To tell if the pork is done, use a fork and pull off a small piece. It should be easy to remove and melt in your mouth tender. If the pork isn’t fall-apart tender, it’s not quite done yet so cook it a bit longer!
What to Serve with Crock Pot Pulled Pork
- Classic Coleslaw Recipe – Fast!
- Dill Pickle Coleslaw
- Creamy Cucumber Salad
- Crock Pot Corn on the Cob
- Baked Beans
- Fresh Corn Salad
Did your family enjoy this Pulled Pork Recipe? Be sure to leave a rating and a comment below!
Equipment
Ingredients
- 4-5 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast or pork butt
- salt
- black pepper
- garlic powder
- 1 onion sliced, optional
- 12 ounces Dr. Pepper 1 can
- ¾ cup barbecue sauce or to taste
- Rolls for serving
- prepared coleslaw for serving
Instructions
- Place the onion in the bottom of the slow cooker. Rub the outside of the roast with salt, pepper and garlic powder.
- Pour the Dr. Pepper over the pork and cook on high 4-5 hours or on low 7-8 hours.
- The meat will be very tender. Using 2 forks, shred the pork and place back in the juices.
- Add barbecue sauce to taste. Allow to cook an additional 30-60 minutes if desired.
- Serve on crusty rolls with coleslaw.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Main Course
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I’m guessing that one would not want to use any diet sodas as the bit of sugar in the Dr Pepper, Root Beer etc would be an important addition? I’m sure everybody but me knows this but I couldn’t find any boneless pork butt at my best market so was going to go elsewhere when the butcher asked if he could help. He took the bone out and weigh the pork afterwards. I was impressed It just didn’t occur to me to ask!
That is such a great top about asking them to remove the bone!! Thank you for sharing Kathleen!
Tried this and it was sooo good! I used the onions in the bottom to give it some flavor. Then I made homemade onion rings to add to my pulled pork sandwich to give it a little extra crunch. I also buttered and toasted the bun. It was a huge hit everyone loved the onion ring addition!
That would be a delicious addition for sure!
What’s the lbs of the pork you used?
Mine is usually close to 4lbs for this recipe.
I love this! We do Root Beer pulled pork all the time. I bet the Dr Pepper gives such a good flavor too!
I’ve heard that root beer is great in this recipe too, I haven’t tried it yet but it’s definitely on my list for next time!!
I am attempting to make this for the first time, I will be using around 7-8lbs of pork shoulder. Should I use enough dr. Pepper to almost cover the pork or stick to the 1 can recipe?
If your pork is 7-8lbs you might like to use 1½ cans. The pork won’t be covered but it will still be wonderful!
OK, I am totally trusting all you guys! Making this for the first time tonight for my friends and a new guy I am seeing… **biting my nails** Hope it’s as great as everyone says! I am using 2 pork tenderloins instead of a pork roast. Wish me luck!!
Pork tenderloin is much leaner than a butt/shoulder roast. You may need to adjust cooking time so it doesn’t dry out! Let us know how it works out for you! :)
I had the tenderloins in my crockpot on high for 3 1/2 hrs turning them once half way through. It was amazingly tender when I shredded it. Put the shredded meat back into the crock pot with the BBQ sauce and had it on low for an additional 1 1/2 hrs. It was perfect! Exactly how I had hoped for it to turn out! Thanks so much for such a simple and great recipe. My guests LOVED it!
I’m so glad they loved it!! :)
When you say place the onion in the bottom of the cooker, do I dice the onion at all or literally just put the whole onion in… sorry if that’s a dumb question!
The onion is sliced, I just lay the slices in the bottom of the slow cooker.
My daughter turned me on to this recipe. I don’t drink Dr Pepper but my kids and grandkids do so I always have it on hand. This was a super good recipe. YUM I did skim off the fat when I took the pork out and removed all the fat I could before shredding. As I said this is a keeper.
Used this recipe for a luncheon and the pulled pork was a hit. I didn’t add the BBQ sauce but place some in a bowl to spoon on; also included coleslaw as an add on. Will definitely use this recipe again. Thanks for sharing.
So glad you enjoyed it Pam!
This works great with root beer also, as well as Vernor’s ginger ale
I’ve heard of root beer but the ginger ale is new to me! I bet it would be great!
Can you use diet Dr Pepper?
You could try it!
I did and it tastes awesome! Since it’s diet soda I cooked it on low so the sweetener does not get acidic.
I have an 8 pound pork butt…. should I use 2 cans of Dr . Pepper? Also how much longer about? (High or low?
I would cook it 8-10 hours on low or until fork tender. You could use a little bit extra Dr. Pepper but I don’t think you’d need 2 full cans.
Do you pour in enough dr.pepper to submerge the roast? I’m making a 8 lb. Roast with the turkey and I have one of those long oval crocks, to put the roast in. And you mentioned about 8-10 hours on low.
No, the roast is not submerged. The liquid usually just comes up about 1-2″ depending on the size of your slow cooker.
Did a 9 lb and used 1 and half cans of Dr Pepper. Cooked for 10 hours on low. Probably only needed the 1 can as there was a lot of juice left over to the point I removed a least a cup before adding the shredded meat back in.
Big hit over the holidays so thanks for the recipe. This one will be made many more times in the future.
SO glad you enjoyed it Greg!
The only thing that I don’t like about this recipe is that there are no amounts for the salt, pepper and garlic powder. Especially for spices that are fairly potent and flavorful, amounts are important.
So i am planning on making this for dinner tomorrow since I’ve had it pinned forever & am trying new stuff. My question is probably a duh, but does it matter if I defrost the meat first or can I throw it in frozen. Just thinking frozen will make it too juicy instead of that thick sauce for pulled pork.
I would suggest defrosting it first.
About how many servings would this feed? Thanks!
It depends on the size of your pork roast. You can expect to get about 2-3 portions per pound.
I am making this now and just added the shredded pork back into the juices and added barbecue sauce but it seems runny. Will the liquid thicken on cooking and additional hour
Just wondering if the liquid got thicker or what you did to make it thicker?
I love Dr Pepper but some people in my family do not. Does it taste like Dr. Pepper?? Thanks
It doesn’t have a strong Dr. Pepper flavor but you can substitute root beer or cola if you prefer.
The carbonation is where the magic is, choose what you like
Delicious, Love that you used dr pepper instead of beer, thanks for sharing with Hearth and Soul blog hop. Pinning it.
I have used Root Beer, but it was too sweet for my taste.
This looks so good. I have heard of Dr. Pepper recipes before but have never been inspired to try one…until now!
With a 6 pound roast how long do you think it would take to cook on high?
I would think a 6 lb pork roast would take 5-6 hours on high.
The Cola Ketchup Chicken is so easy= KetchACola Chicken
put 4 or 5 chicken breast in a 5 quart pot. Add 2 cups of ketchup, 2 liters of Coke (not diet) stir and bring to a boil. Simmer down until it becomes thickened like a bbq sauce consistency, a couple of hours. That simple!
Of course I complicate it by adding 1 tsp each garlic powder and onion powder. Then I take it out and shred it.
I hope you try it and like it!
Yummy! I have a very similar recipe but I haven’t shredded the chicken with it before but I love that idea! I’m definitely going to try shredding it!
Thank you for sharing!