One of our favorite meals that we have made recently is this Kalua Pork Recipe. This recipe is so easy to make and tastes so dang good. We serve it on Hawaiian rolls, cover it with katsu sauce, and have mac salad and pineapple rice on the side. I am going to share all of the recipes we used below as well as a step-by-step to make your Kalua Pork so tender and flavorful in your slow cooker.
The first thing you will want to do is get a pork butt roast. Next, you will need some liquid smoke and some pink salt. Then I recommend a box of vegetable or beef stock to add to the cooker to keep it from burning. This is because it cooks for about 20 hours to make it so tender.
Kalua Pork Recipe
INGREDIENTS
- 5-6 lb. pork butt roast
- 1 tbsp. liquid smoke
- 2 tbsp. of Hawaiian sea salt (or I use Himalayan pink salt)
- 1 32 oz. box of vegetable broth
DIRECTIONS
I ideally start this before I go to bed the night before we want to eat this delicious Kalua pork. I will show a picture below of what the meat should look like when it is done. I hope your family loves this as much as mine. This is great to make for big family gatherings!
- Turn the slow cooker on low heat (and if a timer set to the maximum amount – 18-24 hours)
- Pour the box of broth into the slow cooker
- Add the liquid smoke and mix to evenly distribute the flavoring
- Add the pork butt roast
- Sprinkle 1 tbsp. of the salt on the top of the roast
- Cover and cook overnight
- First thing in the morning you will check the liquid (which should be fine) and flip the roast over
- Sprinkle the rest of the salt on this side and cover
- Check every couple of hours to make sure the liquid levels are ok so it doesn’t burn on the edges (add more broth or water if needed)
- As the roast cooks, you will break it apart until it is shredded (don’t force it or cut it, it will fall apart on its own when it’s done). I like to do this and then let it cook a little longer in the liquid to soak up all the delicious flavor. This can take up to 18 hours.
- About 4 hours before you are ready (or in the morning) to eat you will prepare the mac salad and katsu sauce. These will refrigerate beforehand for the best flavors.
- About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat start preparing your pineapple rice in the rice cooker. (times may vary depending on how long your rice takes to cook, just plan accordingly).
- Serve with Hawaiian rolls and a fun Hawaiian mocktail. You can get the Hawaiian rolls at Costco or Sam’s Club for a great price. We also like the Sam’s Choice ones from Walmart.
Hawaiian Mac Salad
I got the recipe for the Hawaiian Mac Salad from https://www.favfamilyrecipes.com/authentic-hawaiian-macaroni-salad. It is delicious. We didn’t use any special kind of mayo, probably just the Walmart generic lol and it still turned out great.
Pineapple Rice
We just used white rice (not quick cooking) as well as a can of pineapple tidbits (but you could used crushed pineapple). I put all of the juice into the rice cooker with the rice (along with the water) and half of the pineapple.
- 2 cups of water
- 1 1/2 cups of white or basmati rice
- Juice from can of pineapple
- 1/2 can of pineapple (tidbits or crushed)
- 1/2 tsp of salt
- 2 tsp of sugar
Mix together in a rice cooker and cook until done. You can add the other half of the pineapple to the rice and the serve hot. You can also top with chopped fresh cilantro.
Katsu Sauce Recipe from The Polynesian Kitchen
- 1/3 cup of ketchup
- 1/4 cup of soy sauce
- 1/4 cup white sugar
- 2 tsp of Worchestershire sauce
- 1/4 tsp of ground red pepper
I hope your family enjoys this Kalua pork recipe as much as we do! Look for more great family meal ideas? Look at all of the delicious recipes we have shared: https://www.lovebugsandpostcards.com/category/recipes-in-the-kitchen/
That looks delicious!