Pork Shoulder Recipes
The pork shoulder recipes cooks save most on Pepper — slow-cooker carnitas, cider-braised roasts, smoked pulled pork, and Boston butt built for weekend cooks and Sunday dinners.
★ Dinner
DinnerSlow Cooker Spiced Pork Shoulder
A flavorful and tender pork shoulder cooked slowly with aromatic spices, onion, garlic, jalapeno, and orange juice.
Damion CorideoIngredients
- 4 pounds boneless pork shoulder or butt
- 1 tablespoon dried oregano
- 1 tablespoon ground cumin
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 jalapeno pepper, deseeded and finely diced
- 1 orange, juiced
Instructions
- 1Mix the seasoning. In a small bowl, stir together the oregano, cumin, black pepper, salt, and chili powder.
- 2Season the pork. Trim any excess fat from the pork shoulder, then rub the spice mixture generously around the entire pork shoulder and place in the slow cooker.
- 3Add ingredients. Add the onion, minced garlic, jalapeno pepper, and orange juice to the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours, or high for 5 to 6 hours, until the meat falls apart.
- 4Shred the pork. Remove the pork from the slow cooker to a large cutting board and use two forks to shred the meat. If the meat doesn't shred easily, place it back in the slow cooker for another 30 minutes, or until it does shred easily. Keep the cooking liquid for later use.
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Open in Pepper →Why Pork Shoulder Rewards Patience
Every top-saved pork shoulder recipe on Pepper works with the same fact — this cut is marbled and tough, and it needs low heat and time to render into something tender.
Home cooks who love pork shoulder pick a lane and commit: 8-10 hours in the slow cooker, 6-8 hours on the smoker, or 3 hours in a covered Dutch oven at 325°F.
The reward is a cut that shreds under a fork, feeds a crowd, and turns cheap grocery-store pork into tacos, sandwiches, bowls, and leftovers for the week.
Quick Tips
- 1
Read the whole recipe first
Every top-saved recipe here has one step that trips people up. Reading ahead prevents the scramble.
- 2
Season early and taste often
A pinch of salt at each stage builds real flavor — waiting until the end almost never fixes an under-seasoned dish.
- 3
Rest before serving
Meat improves with a 5-10 minute rest after cooking — juices redistribute and the plate holds together better.
- 4
Trust your instrument, not the clock
Instant-read thermometers are cheap and end most of the "is it done?" arguments — 145°F for pork, 160°F for turkey, 195-205°F for shreddable cuts.
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