Apricot preserves do double duty in this Crock Pot pulled pork! They sweeten the meat, and they melt down into the cooking liquid, so nothing else goes in the pot. Ten minutes of prep in the morning gives you a big batch of tender, shreddable pork by suppertime!
More slow cooker pulled pork:
Before You Get Started
Pulled pork is forgiving, but these tips take it to the next level:
- Buy a bone-in pork butt. Also sold as Boston butt or pork shoulder. The marbled fat and the bone keep the meat juicy and extra flavorful through a long cook.
- Skip the extra liquid. The preserves melt down, the vinegar adds acid, and the onions release plenty of moisture on their own.
- Cook to temperature, not time. Pork that still resists two forks is undercooked, not overdone. Give it another hour and check again.
How to Make Apricot Pulled Pork
This is the kind of recipe you start before you leave the house. The preserves and onions build a sweet, tangy, aromatic base in the bottom of the pot, while the dry rub seasons the meat from the outside in!
Step 1: Stir Together the Apricot Base
Whisk the apricot preserves and apple cider vinegar right in the bottom of the slow cooker, then stir in the sliced onion. The preserves will look thick and stubborn at first, but they loosen as soon as the pot warms up.
⇢ Preserves, jam, or marmalade all work. If you cannot find apricot preserves, peach preserves or orange marmalade give you the same sweet and tangy result with a slightly different fruit note.
Try it another way
or a version with the same flavor on a leaner cut, my Crock Pot Pork Roast with Apricot Sauce uses a pork loin roast and finishes in about half the time.
Step 2: Mix the BBQ Dry Rub
Stir the brown sugar, chili powder, salt, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder together in a small bowl. It is slightly sweet and a little zesty without being spicy, which is exactly what you want against the fruit.
⇢ Store-bought rub is fine too: Use your favorite barbecue blend if you have one on hand, and taste the pork for salt at the end.
Step 3: Season the Pork
Pat the pork completely dry with paper towels first, then rub the seasoning over every surface.
A dry exterior lets the rub grip the meat instead of sliding off into the sauce. Press it into the folds and creases, since that is where the flavor settles in.
Step 4: Cook Low and Slow
Set the pork on top of the onions and preserves, cover, and cook on LOW for 10 to 12 hours or on HIGH for 5 to 6 hours.
Resist the urge to lift the lid, since every peek releases heat and stretches the cooking time.
The pork is ready when it reaches an internal temperature of about 205°F and shreds with almost no pressure. A 6 to 7 pound bone-in butt usually lands at the long end of that window, and a boneless roast runs faster.
⇢ Tough pork just needs more time. The collagen has not broken down yet. Put the lid back on and give it another hour before you judge it.
Step 5: Shred the Meat
Turn off the pot and move the pork to a rimmed sheet pan. The rim catches the juices that would otherwise run across the counter, which matters more than you would think with a piece of meat this size.
Let it cool just enough to handle, then pull it apart with two forks and discard the bone and any large pieces of fat.
Step 6: Return It to the Juices
Stir the shredded pork back into the sauce in the slow cooker so it soaks up the apricot and onion liquid. Taste it and add salt and pepper as needed.
Serve it as is, or pass barbecue sauce at the table for anyone who wants more.
Try it another way
If you want something with more tang than a standard sweet barbecue sauce, my Alabama White BBQ Sauce is a good match for the apricot.
Oven Method
No slow cooker, or need it faster? Layer everything the same way in a large Dutch oven with a tight lid and roast at 325°F for 5 to 6 hours, until the pork hits 205°F and pulls apart easily.
Check it around hour four, since ovens run hotter and less evenly than a Crock Pot.
What to Serve it With
The sauce here leans slightly sweet, so the sides that work best bring acid, cool and creamy, salt, or crunch to balance it out. Vinegar slaw and pickles are the two I reach for every single time, piled right on the sandwich or served alongside it. From there, add something starchy to round out the plate.
- Vinegar Coleslaw
- Refrigerator Dill Pickles
- Hush Puppies
- Southern Cornbread
- Homemade Baked Beans from Scratch
- Baked Potato Wedges
A 6 to 7 pound pork butt feeds 8 to 10 people, which makes this an easy one to carry to a cookout or a potluck. Hold it on the WARM setting until you are ready to serve.
Storage
Store leftover pulled pork in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Keep the meat and the reserved juices in separate containers if you have room, then combine them when you reheat. The pork comes back much moister that way.
Freeze the cooked, shredded meat with a little of its liquid for up to 3 months. Portioning it into meal-size containers before it goes in the freezer is worth the extra two minutes, since you can pull out exactly what you need instead of thawing the whole batch.
Reheat in the slow cooker on WARM for 2 to 4 hours with all of the reserved juices, which is the best option when you are prepping ahead for a crowd. For smaller amounts, warm the pork gently in a saucepan over low heat or in the microwave, adding a spoonful of the juices to keep it from drying out.
Turn the leftovers into dinner:
Frequently Asked Questions
Why is my pulled pork tough?
It almost certainly needs more time. Toughness in a pork shoulder means the collagen has not broken down yet, and the only fix is continued low, slow heat.
Put the lid back on, give it another hour, and test again with two forks. Pork butt is very hard to overcook this way, so err on the side of longer rather than shorter.
How do I fix pulled pork that came out dry?
Stir the reserved cooking juices back into the shredded meat, a few spoonfuls at a time, until it looks glossy again. Most dryness happens because the pork was shredded and served without the liquid it cooked in.
If you have already used all of the juices, a splash of apple cider vinegar plus a spoonful of preserves warmed together makes a quick substitute.
Can I use a boneless pork butt instead of bone-in?
Yes. A boneless butt or pork shoulder roast works fine, it just tends to weigh less and cook faster than a bone-in piece of the same shape. Start checking the temperature an hour or two earlier than the recipe calls for.
Bone-in gives you slightly more flavor and a little more insurance against drying out, but boneless is easier to shred.
Can I cook a bigger pork butt for a crowd?
As long as it fits in your slow cooker with the lid closed, yes. Keep the preserves, vinegar, and onion the same, and scale the dry rub up so you can season the whole surface generously. A larger roast needs more time rather than more liquid, so plan on the long end of the LOW range and go by temperature.
More Pork Dinners
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Crock Pot Apricot Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- 1 cup apricot preserves
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 2 tablespoons chili powder
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt, plus more as needed
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 (6-7 lb.) bone-in Boston Butt, pork butt, pork shoulder, or picnic ham (or substitute boneless)
- Optional, for serving: sandwich rolls; bbq sauce; coleslaw; pickles; or other sides of choice
Instructions
- Whisk the apricot preserves and vinegar together in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Stir in the sliced onion.
- Stir the brown sugar, chili powder, salt, cumin, paprika, garlic powder, and onion powder together in a small bowl.
- Pat the pork completely dry with paper towels. Rub the spice mixture over every surface, pressing it into the folds, then set the meat on top of the onions and preserves.
- Cover and cook until the pork is fall-apart tender and reaches an internal temperature of about 205°F, 5 to 6 hours on HIGH or 10 to 12 hours on LOW. Avoid lifting the lid while it cooks.
- Remove the pork to a rimmed sheet pan and let it cool just enough to handle. Shred with two forks, discarding the bone and any large pieces of fat.
- Stir the shredded pork back into the sauce in the slow cooker. Taste and season with additional salt and pepper if needed. Serve on rolls with bbq sauce, or on a plate with sides.
Notes
- Bone-in pork butt, also sold as Boston butt or pork shoulder, gives you the most flavor and stays juiciest through a long cook. Boneless works too, and generally cooks faster since it weighs less.
- Cook to temperature rather than to the clock. The pork is ready at about 205°F, when two forks pull it apart with almost no pressure. If it resists, it needs more time, not less.
- No extra broth or water is needed. The preserves liquify, the vinegar adds acid, and the onions release moisture as they break down.
- Apricot Alternatives: Peach preserves or orange marmalade can stand in for the apricot preserves with the same sweet and tangy result.
- Store-Bought Rub: Substitute your favorite store-bought barbecue rub for the homemade spice blend if you prefer.
- For spicy pulled pork, add cayenne to the dry rub and serve with crushed red pepper flakes, sliced jalapeños, or hot sauce.
- Oven Method: Layer the ingredients the same way in a large Dutch oven with a lid and roast at 325°F for 5 to 6 hours, until the pork reaches 205°F. Start checking around hour four.
- Refrigerate leftovers for 3 to 4 days, or freeze the shredded meat with some of its liquid for up to 3 months.
- To reheat for a crowd, place the pork and reserved juices in the slow cooker on WARM for 2 to 4 hours. *Storing the meat and juices separately, then reheating them together, keeps the pork noticeably moister.
Nutrition
Originally published in May, 2022, this post was updated in September, 2026.
Sounds good! I took the plunge and ordered a crock pot/instant pot from amazon last week. Still waiting for it to arrive. I’m looking forward to making pork like this.
Awesome! I know you’ll enjoy it. I love my Crock Pot — especially during the hot summer months when we don’t want to turn on the oven or heat up the stove!
My crockpot/instant pot came! Yay! Now I just need to figure how to use it and I can to work on some delicious pulled meat. Bless you and your detailed instructions, extra info, and photographs.
Great! I hope you enjoy, Marion!
This is the best pulled pork I’ve had. Used a bone in picnic roast and cooked on low for 10 hours. Once the pork was shredded, I stored the pork and juices separately overnight. Reheated pork and juices together on warm for 2 1/2 hours. It was the first dish to be completely gone at a church potluck. I will be making this again.
Thank you, Laura! We’re so glad it was such a hit.
This was really yummy!
I made this recipe in my crockpot with a big piece of pork, froze most of it as it’s just myself and my partner now – kids have left home.
It has been delicious each time I’ve heated and eaten!
I would love to make the corn bread you guys eat so much over there it looks and sounds like a great accompaniment! We’ve had it in buns, as Mexican in wraps and I’ve even used it in noodles for another twist! Thank you for the recipe!
Sounds perfect, Lizz! I’m glad that you’ve been able to get multiple uses out of one effort. Thank you!
I have some disabilities and I find that a pork roast is too heavy and unwieldy for me to deal with. I know,BIG bummer. I wonder if the recipe could be adapted for, maybe 2-4 pounds of chicken. It sounds yummy!
I think so! I find that chicken does well at low for 4-6 hours or high for 2-3. Thighs stay more moist in the crock pot, but white meat is fine too!