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Garlic Pulled Pork with Tangy Sauce served in a styled dish.

Garlic Pulled Pork with Tangy Sauce

Yield
10 servings

Pork shoulder cooks with garlic until it can be pulled apart, then meets a tomato and vinegar sauce.

Ingredients
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Ingredients

Servings
Units
Batches and reset

10 servings · US measures · 1 batch

Batching

Roast one shoulder per pan. For 20 servings, roast a second shoulder in a second pan and make a second batch of sauce. Times depend on the size of the cut and do not double with the amount.

Original recipe: 10 servings.

Extra salt, vinegar, brown sugar and hot sauce added to taste are left out of the base nutrition scenario. Nutrition is incomplete because the pork fat and juices left in the pan and discarded during shredding, and the pan water, are not established.

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Before you start

  • Read through the recipe before you start. Gather the roasting pan and foil, paring knife, cutting board, two forks, small saucepan, instant-read thermometer and the measured ingredients. If your kosher salt is the dense, fine-grained kind, use about half as much.

Directions

An unwrapped raw pork shoulder rests in a roasting pan beside measured garlic and sauce ingredients.
1

Read and gather

For the whole recipe

Read through the recipe and gather the equipment. Use the ingredient lines to prepare and measure everything. Plan for about four hours from start to serving. Everything is measured and the pork is unwrapped and patted dry.

The empty oven has a center rack and a temperature display reading 450°F, ready for roasting.
2

Heat the oven

For each shoulder and batch of sauce

Heat the oven to 450°F (230°C) with a rack in the center. The oven is fully heated.

A hand tucks garlic into seasoned raw pork shoulder, positioned fat side up in a roasting pan.
3

Cut pockets for the garlic and season the pork

For each shoulder and batch of sauce

Cut a small, deep slit in the pork for each garlic clove with the paring knife and push a clove into each slit. Season the pork all over with 1 tbsp flaky kosher salt and 2 tsp black pepper, then set it fat side up in the roasting pan. Wash your hands and the board after handling the raw pork. The garlic is tucked in and the pork is evenly seasoned.

The whole pork shoulder has a deep brown crust, with browned fond around the roasting pan.
4

Roast the pork hot until browned

For each shoulder and batch of sauce

Roast at 450°F on the center rack until the outside is deep brown, about 30 minutes.

A hand seals foil over the roasting pan, enclosing browned pork and shallow deglazing liquid.
5

Take out the pan, add the water and cover

For each shoulder and batch of sauce

Take the pan out of the oven and lower the oven to 325°F (165°C). Pour about 3/4 cup water into the pan and scrape up the browned bits from the bottom. Cover the pan tightly with foil or the lid. The pan is deglazed and tightly covered.

A fork pulls moist pork fibers easily from the browned roast in its juice-filled pan.
6

Roast the pork low until tender

For each shoulder and batch of sauce

Roast at 325°F on the center rack until the meat pulls apart easily with a fork, well past the 145°F (63°C) safe minimum for pork, about 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours.

Two forks shred tender pork on a metal tray, with large discarded fat pieces in a separate bowl.
7

Let the pork stand, then shred it

For each shoulder and batch of sauce

Let the pork stand, covered, until it is cool enough to handle, about 20 minutes. Shred it with two forks, discarding large pieces of fat.

Glossy red sauce bubbles gently in a saucepan and coats the raised wooden spoon.
8

Stir the tangy sauce together and simmer it

For each shoulder and batch of sauce

Stir about 1 cup ketchup, the tomato sauce, 2 tbsp distilled white vinegar, 1 tbsp cider vinegar, 1 tbsp brown sugar, 2 tsp granulated sugar, 3/4 tsp flaky kosher salt, 1/2 tsp black pepper and 2 tsp hot sauce together in a small saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook, stirring often, until the sauce thickens slightly and coats a spoon, about 10 to 15 minutes.

A tasting spoon holds glossy red sauce above the saucepan, removed from heat onto a trivet.
9

Take the sauce off the heat, taste and adjust

For each shoulder and batch of sauce

Take the saucepan off the heat and taste the sauce. Aim for tangy and sweet with a gentle kick of heat. If it tastes flat, stir in flaky kosher salt to taste. Balance it with distilled white vinegar to taste, brown sugar to taste and hot sauce to taste. The sauce tastes balanced.

Ten bowls hold portions of shredded pork topped with glossy red sauce, ready to serve.
10

Divide and serve

For the whole recipe

Divide the shredded pork into 10 servings and serve with the sauce. Refrigerate leftovers within two hours and reheat them to 165°F (74°C). The pork is portioned with its sauce.

About this recipe

Why it works

A hot start browns the outside, then a long, covered braise at a lower heat melts the shoulder's connective tissue until it pulls apart. The thin vinegar-and-tomato sauce cuts the richness.

Associated with

Southern US barbecue, adapted to the home oven

Pulled pork is traditionally slow-smoked over wood for many hours; home cooks use the oven, a slow cooker or a pressure cooker to get the same tender shreds.

Taste

  • Sweet
  • Sour
  • Salty
  • Bitter
  • Savory
  • Heat

Garlicky, peppery pork with crisp browned edges and a tangy, sweet tomato-vinegar sauce with a little heat. · tender shredded pork with crisp browned edges; thin tangy tomato sauce · hot

Skill level

Easy

Mostly oven time; the steps are simple, and the main judgment is fork-tenderness.

You'll practice: Stud a roast with garlic, Brown at high heat, then braise covered, Rest and shred with two forks, Simmer and balance a sauce

Allergens

Contains: see each line below; the ketchup, tomato sauce, vinegars and hot sauce need a label check.

Ketchup, tomato sauce, vinegars and hot sauce are packaged products: check each label for celery, sulfites and other allergens.

Diets

Vegetarian: Doesn't fit as writtenVegan: Doesn't fit as writtenPescatarian: Doesn't fit as writtenDairy: See the allergen linesEgg: See the allergen linesGluten: See the allergen lines

Occasions

  • Independence Day (US) · often served on this day

    US barbecue is often served on the Fourth of July; this is an oven version.

    Fixed: 4 July.

    Next: July 4, 2027 (announced)

Course: main-dish · Technique: roast, braise, simmer · Time: 2-to-4-hours, long-unattended-wait, make-ahead, freezer-friendly

Serving and keeping

Best served: Once shredded Serve the pork with the warm sauce.

Make ahead: Reheat the pork with a splash of its juices.

Storage: Refrigerate within 2 hours. For longer keeping, freeze; cooked meat dishes keep best quality for 2 to 3 months frozen.

Leftovers: Refrigerate within 2 hours, use within 3 to 4 days and reheat to 165°F.

Food safety

  • Wash your hands, the knife and the board after handling the raw pork, and keep its juices away from ready-to-eat foods.
  • Roast until fork-tender, well past the 145°F safe minimum for pork.
  • Refrigerate leftovers within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F, and reheat them to 165°F.

We make no cross-contact statement for home kitchens. Check packaged ingredient labels.

Nutrition notes

Protein and fat come from the pork shoulder.

Most of the sodium comes from the salt rub, the ketchup and the tomato sauce.

The brown and granulated sugar in the sauce are added sugars, and ketchup carries sugar too.

Swap notes

  • boneless pork shoulder · halal.general

    Works with changes

    Use: halal-certified boneless beef chuck roast

    What changes: Beefier taste and slightly drier strands.; Allow up to an hour longer to become tender.; Check the sauces for halal-compatible flavorings.

    Not a swap: Any pork cut.

  • boneless pork shoulder · kosher.mainstream

    Works with changes

    Use: kosher boneless beef chuck roast

    What changes: Beefier taste and slightly drier strands.; Use certified ketchup, tomato sauce, vinegars and hot sauce.

    Not a swap: Any pork cut.

  • garlic

    Works with changes

    Use: garlic-infused oil

    What changes: Rub the roast with garlic-infused oil instead of studding it, and use ketchup and tomato puree made without onion, garlic or high-fructose corn syrup.; Less garlicky.

    Not a swap: Garlic powder.

  • boneless pork shoulder · vegetarian

    Not recommended

    What changes: The pork is the dish; no tested substitution was found.

    Not a swap: Any meat.

These notes don't change the amounts, allergens or nutrition shown for this recipe.

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Recipe url
https://isthebestrecipe.com/pork/garlic-pulled-pork-with-tangy-sauce
Name
Garlic Pulled Pork with Tangy Sauce
Servings
10
Recipe yield
10 servings
Recipe ingredient
about 6 lb boneless pork shoulder in one piece, 6–8 cloves garlic peeled and lightly crushed, 1 tbsp flaky kosher salt for the pork, 2 tsp black pepper ground, for the pork, about 3/4 cup water, about 1 cup ketchup, 1 can tomato sauce (8 ounces, 227 g), 2 tbsp distilled white vinegar, 1 tbsp cider vinegar, 1 tbsp brown sugar packed, 2 tsp granulated sugar, 3/4 tsp flaky kosher salt for the sauce, 1/2 tsp black pepper freshly ground, for the sauce, 2 tsp hot sauce
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Garlic Pulled Pork with Tangy Sauce