Kalua Pork is a classic Hawaiian dish that brings the luau right to your kitchen. Our recipe stands out by incorporating fresh ginger and garlic, elevating the traditional smoky-salty profile with vibrant Island notes. The slow cooker provides ultimate convenience allowing you to simply ‘set it and forget it’, while an additional oven method offers flexibility for those who prefer the more diverse texture you get using a low and slow cook in the oven.

This recipe goes ridiculously well with our easy coconut rice and quick grilled pineapple.

Why Our Recipe

  • We aren’t just blowing smoke, we also add ginger and garlic for the ultimate Island flavor.
  • One of the easiest set-it-and-forget-it ways to cook a pork butt.
  • Alternate oven directions are included to let you choose your own adventure.
An overhead view into a bowl of kalua pork garnished with green onions.

Now traditionally, Kalua Pork involves a whole pig being cooked in an underground oven called an imu, where it slowly smokes and steams to perfection wrapped in banana leaves. This ancient method is a Hawaiian staple for celebratory feasts. While our slow cooker version obviously deviates from the pit quite a bit, it’s designed to deliver a similarly tender smoky experience. By using liquid smoke and slow cooking the pork with garlic and ginger, we hope you can bring a little Island flavor to your home, no matter how far away you live.

Ingredient Notes

An overhead view of the ingredients needed to make our kalua pork recipe with a pork butt, ginger, garlic, and liquid smoke.
  • Pork Butt Roast: bone-in or boneless pork butts work best for this recipe. You can also use a picnic or shoulder roast.
  • Minced Garlic: yes, we really do want this much garlic! The flavor mellows during cooking giving you that sweet roasted garlic goodness.
  • Minced Ginger: brings in the Asian influences of Island cuisines which sets our recipe apart from the rest.
  • Salt: Hawaiian pink salt is preferred for that authentic touch, but listen, you can also just use regular old sea salt and still have
  • Hickory Liquid Smoke: This is what mimics the traditional pit-smoked method used in Hawaiian cooking. Non-negotiable.

Liquid Smoke

In most grocery stores, you’ll find liquid smoke in the condiment aisle, typically near the BBQ sauces. There are commonly two types available: hickory and mesquite. Hickory liquid smoke has a strong robust smokiness, while mesquite offers a slightly sweeter and more subtle smoky flavor. Both can be used in this recipe depending on your taste preference, but we recommend Hickory for its strong flavor.

Side by side images showing kalua pork before cooking, after cooking, and after shredding.

Turn Your Kalua Pork Into More Meals

Kalua pork is most frequently enjoyed plain as the star protein of your plate, but don’t let that stop you from turning this into a whole variety of meals.

Kalua Pork Quesadillas: Use the shredded pork as the filling for quesadillas. Add cheese, and maybe even onions, and peppers for extra flavor. Serve with hoisin sauce and sour cream for dipping.

Pork Salad: Toss Kalua Pork into a fresh salad with mixed greens, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers. Our cilantro-lime ranch dressing is perfect on top.

Breakfast Burritos: Wrap Kalua Pork in a flour tortilla with scrambled eggs, cheddar cheese, and diced potatoes.

Hawaiian Pizza: Give this pizza a real reason for it’s name by adding some Kalua pork on top, or even replace the standard Canadian bacon altogether.

Hawaiian Pulled Pork Sliders: Serve Kalua Pork on Hawaiian rolls with coleslaw and a drizzle of BBQ sauce.

Pork Fried Rice: Sauté leftover pork with rice, peas, carrots, onions, and eggs for a quick and easy fried rice dish.

Pork Stuffed Baked Potatoes: Bake some potatoes or sweet potatoes, then stuff them with Kalua Pork, top with green onions and a sprinkle of cheese, and broil until the cheese melts.

Pork and Pineapple Hawaiian Tacos: Combine the pork with diced pineapple, cilantro, and chopped red onions in corn tortillas.

An overhead birdseye view into a large crock full of shredded kalua pork.

Storage and Reheating Instructions:

Refrigerate leftover Kalua Pork in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

Freeze leftover pork in airtight containers or plastic freezer bags. It can be frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator overnight when ready to use.

To reheat on the stovetop, place the pork in a saucepan or skillet over medium heat, adding a few tablespoons of water to help add some moisture back in. Stir occasionally until heated through.

To reheat in the microwave cover the pork with a damp paper towel and heat on high in 30-second increments until heated through, stirring in between to ensure even heating.

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