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My kids really love pulled pork, but I can’t always make them smoked pulled pork – so I designed this Crispy Baked Pork Shoulder to bring perfect crave-worthy pulled pork – right from the oven when I don’t have time to fire up the smoker or the weather is bad. The flavor and crunch is so delicious, this has become my favorite way to make pulled pork – and you won’t believe how easy it is!
We’re upping the flavor in this pulled pork big time by creating a crispy, crunchy crust outside of our tender, delicious pork shoulder that cooks slowly to perfection!
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At Sweet C’s, I add lots of tips in all of my recipes – because I am a home cook without any formal training, and I find I am more confident making dishes when I understand why it works, and what each ingredient means to the flavor of a recipe. My goal is for even the most beginner home cook to feel empowered in the kitchen.
Table of contents
How to Make Crispy Baked Pork Shoulder
When you think of pork shoulder, you usually think “slow and low”. It’s the way we’ve been told to make pulled pork forever – cook it for a very long time at low heat to let the fat render, and meat soften and get incredibly tender.
Crispy Pulled Pork Ingredients:
To make this pork shoulder, you will need:
- Pork shoulder – Rich, marbled cut that becomes tender and juicy when slow-cooked, perfect for shredding and crisping in the oven.
- Celtic sea salt or kosher salt – Enhances natural flavors and helps create a flavorful crust.
- Fresh cracked black pepper – Adds sharp, earthy heat and texture to balance the pork’s richness.
- Garlic powder (optional) – Brings savory depth and a mild roasted flavor.
- Adobo seasoning (optional) – A bold, herby blend that adds smoky, tangy, and slightly citrusy notes.
- Smoked paprika (optional) – Adds a hint of sweetness and deep smoky flavor, enhancing the outer crust.
Crispy Baked Pork Shoulder Method:
While this recipe takes a long time – about 8 hours – there is very, very little active prep or work – and just a few super-simple steps.
Prep
With the oven rack in the middle of the oven, preheat oven to 250 degrees F. Line a baking sheet or roasting pan with foil. Set a wire cooling rack or roasting rack over foil lined baking sheet or roasting pan.
Season
Season pork liberally with salt, pepper, and optional spices or pork rub.
Slow & Low Roast
Place seasoned pork on rack and place in oven. Roast until you can easily pull meat by gently twisting with a fork when inserted into pork shoulder, about 8 hours.
Crisp
Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Let oven fully preheat. Add pork to oven and let skin puff and get crispy – rotate every five minutes to make sure you get an even blister around the pork shoulder.
Rest & Shred
When pork is crunchy around all sides, after about 20 minutes, remove from oven, tent with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes. Pick/shred/pull pork meat and serve immediately.
Tips and Tricks for Perfect Crunchy Pork Shoulder
Pork shoulder vs pork butt. Pork shoulder and pork butt don’t actually come from the rear end of the pig, but are from the leg and shoulder area. Butt is really the “shoulder” area of the pig, and pork shoulder comes from a little lower down the leg. Neither come from the rear of the hog – and refer to the front legs, which is kind of confusing! Normally, we call for pork butt for pulled pork, since there is more delicious marbling – but for this recipe, we specifically call for pork shoulder, so the fat and skin can crisp and give us that amazing crispy crunch!
How to prep pork shoulder. To start, you’ll prep your pork shoulder – trim excess fat, and pat dry any liquid to help aid in seasoning generously.
How long to bake pork shoulder. You will bake for approximately 8 hours, until pork is tender and shreds with light pressure from a fork.
How long to crisp pork skin for crunchy crust. Finally, you’ll crisp the pork at 500 degrees for 20-30 minutes to get an amazing out of this world crispy, salty crunchy skin!
What tools you need to make crispy skin pork shoulder. This recipe is incredibly easy because it doesn’t require many ingredients (just salt, pepper, pork, and optional spices) – OR kitchen equipment (a baking sheet, oven, foil, and roasting rack/metal rack) are all you need.
Is pork low-carb? Pork shoulder is a great option for people following a low carb diet – but you do need to be sure to watch any pork rubs, seasonings, and even sauces after your pork is cooked, since they can add hidden carbs.
How to make pulled pork keto. To make your crunchy baked pork shoulder keto, please follow these tips:
- Golden monkfruit sugar can be used as a brown sugar substitute at a 1:1 ratio. It isn’t an exact replacement since you won’t get the rich caramel flavor but it works and keeps your macros in check.
- Reduce garlic and onion powders in a rub mix if you are strictly limiting carbs, as they can contain more than other spices.
- Watch BBQ sauce when serving – BBQ sauce can be loaded with carbs and sugar.
- Make sure to grab a low-carb sauce (vinegar and mustard-based sauces often have fewer carbs, as does Alabama white sauce – make sure to grab a keto-approved version of Kansas City-style sauce if you want a traditional pulled pork sweet BBQ sauce.)
What to serve with pork shoulder. This pulled pork is so delicious, you’ll want to eat it right out of the oven – but I’m sharing some of my easy meal ideas with pulled pork:
How to serve pork shoulder. To serve this crunchy baked pork shoulder, I usually just treat it as pulled pork – shredding it and serving with buns, sauce, coleslaw, and other toppings for guests to make pulled pork sandwiches. If you’re making this crispy pork shoulder for a party and serving pulled pork sandwiches, I’m listing some of my favorite pulled pork sandwich ideas below:
- Korean BBQ pulled pork sandwiches – toss pulled pork with Korean BBQ sauce and top with kimchi or favorite asian slaw.
- Combine pork with green chili enchilada sauce and top with monterey jack cheese, shredded lettuce, and jalapeños for a spicy pulled pork sandwich.
- Toss pulled pork in BBQ sauce and top with crispy fried onion strings and shredded iceburg lettuce and a slice of tomato.
- Pulled pork hash browns – combine hash browns, a diced onion and diced bell pepper, and pulled pork and pan fry for a delicious pork breakfast skillet. Top with a fried egg for even more flavor!
- Pulled pork mac and cheese – top creamy and delicious mac and cheese with shredded pulled pork!
- Pulled pork tacos – add pulled pork, hot sauce, salsa, beans, and cheese for meaty pulled pork tacos.
FAQ’s
Pork shoulder is done cooking at 145 degrees when read by a meat thermometer in the thickest part of the meat.
Pork shoulder often isn’t a recipe we check the temperature of to determine doneness – we will be cooking past 145 degrees, and instead will cook until pork is fork-tender, meaning it shreds with light pressure from a fork.
Since we’re cooking this shoulder for a long time to break down connective tissue, we’re not going off temperature for this recipe.
This pork shoulder takes 8+ hours to cook to tender – which either means waking up early, eating late – or pre-cooking for some of the time.
We’ve made this pork numerous times by roasting 5-6 hours one day, and then finishing off a few hours the day we serve it – and its always delicious!
Wrap pork tightly in foil and store in fridge, and either let it come to room temperature or expect to add 30-40 minutes additional roasting time if you take it cold from the fridge – it will still turn out perfectly!
For this crispy skin pulled pork recipe we are using pork shoulder to get a great crispy crunch from the additional fat and skin, unlike other pulled pork recipes which call for pork butt.
Either will work – but for the most crunch, opt for pork shoulder.
If using a pork butt, watch cooking time, as the butt is smaller and may cook faster.
What to Serve With Crunchy Baked Pork Shoulder
This pork shoulder goes with your favorite BBQ classics – but I’m sharing some of my favorite sides to go along with this crunchy pulled pork I think you’ll love:
- The Best Deviled Egg Recipes Ever
- Blistered Shishito Peppers
- The Best Creamy Broccoli Cauliflower Salad Recipe
- Easy Jalapeno Cheddar Bread
- The Best Easy Oven Roasted Asparagus Recipe
- Easy Sautéed Squash and Zucchini Recipe
- The Best Easy Keto Garlic Butter Rolls Recipe
- Restaurant Style Instant Pot Pinto Beans
- Brown Butter Bacon Baked Brussels Sprouts Recipe
- Cheesy Chicken Taquito and Bean Casserole Recipe
For another knockout game day pork shoulder recipe, please check out my green chile pork carnitas. They are so delicious in tacos, and are also low carb and keto!
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The Best Crispy Baked Pork Shoulder
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pork shoulder, 8-10 pounds
- 1 tsp fresh cracked pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp adobo seasonings
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
Instructions
- With the oven rack in the middle of the oven, preheat oven to 250 degrees F.
- Line a baking sheet or roasting pan with foil.
- Set a wire cooling rack or roasting rack over foil lined baking sheet or roasting pan.
- Season pork liberally with salt, pepper, garlic powder, adobo seasonings, and paprika.
- Place seasoned pork on rack and place in oven.
- Roast until you can easily pull meat by gently twisting with a fork when inserted into pork shoulder, about 8 hours.
- Remove pork from oven and tent with foil, at least for 20 minutes but up to two hours if prepping ahead of a party.
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F.
- Let oven fully preheat.
- Add pork to oven and let skin puff and get crispy – rotate every five minutes to make sure you get an even blister around the pork shoulder.
- When pork is crunchy around all sides, after about 20 minutes, remove from oven, tent with foil, and let rest for 20 minutes.
- Pick/shred/pull pork meat and serve immediately.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container or plastic bag for up to six days in the refrigerator, or up to four months in the freezer.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Why would you put 2hours cool time when it’s really 8hours?
Thats an oversight, thanks for pointing it out I fixed it!
That picture is HORRIBLE! I thought it was cancerous skin when I was flipping through.
Apparently you’ve never made pulled pork with the skin on and the skin is the best part!
Wow! Looks scrumptiously delicious. Thanks for sharing this amazing recipe.
Made this for the family and it was a hit!
This pork shoulder recipe looks incredible! I need to try this out sometime. Thanks for sharing!