Easy Keto Pulled Pork Recipe (Instant Pot & Slow Cooker) (2024)

Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

This flavorful, easy Keto Pulled Pork Recipe can be made in the Instant Pot or slow cooker. The pork is moist, tender, and scrumptiously delicious, while the keto BBQ sauce is perfectly tangy and sweet! You will want to make this a regular on your keto meal plan.

Easy Keto Pulled Pork Recipe (Instant Pot or Slow Cooker)

Whether it’s a family gathering, picnic, holiday, or just time around the table, most families, including mine, enjoy pulled pork. So often, the rubs are made with sugar, and the BBQ sauces are not keto-friendly. Like many recipes, we used to enjoy before following a keto diet a few modifications can be made to make pulled pork keto-friendly. In this case, a sugar-free rub and keto bbq sauce are all I needed to make this recipe a fabulous keto dinner option.

Let’s take a look at making a sugar-free rub and keto-friendly BBQ sauce to go with our mouthwatering keto pulled pork. Along with with electric pressure cooker (Instant Pot) instructions, I have included a keto pulled pork slow cooker (Crock-Pot) recipe in the recipe card, plus answers to the following questions.

How do you make pulled pork keto-friendly?
What kind of meat do you use for pulled pork?
How do you shred pork?
What can I add to pulled pork for flavor?
Can you overcook pulled pork?
How do you keep pulled pork moist?
Is there a keto-friendly BBQ sauce?
and more

How Do You Make Pulled Pork Keto-Friendly?

It is easy to make pulled pork keto-friendly. Simply swap out the sugar for keto-friendly sugar in both the rub and BBQ sauce. I used Lakanto Monkfruit Golden, a brown sugar substitute. Monkfruit Golden is amix of monk fruit extract and erythritol. Made without fiber, maltodextrin, artificial flavoring or sweeteners, it containszero net carbs, zero calories, and is zero-glycemic.

What Kind of Meat Do You Use for Keto Pulled Pork?

You’ll need a fatty pork roast for the most flavor when making Keto Pulled Pork. In the grocery store, you’ll typically see two cuts of pork that are great options; the Boston Butt and the Picnic Roast. Both are high in fat and are cut from the pork shoulder.

What Can I Add to Pulled Pork for Flavor?

A great keto pulled pork recipe starts with a good rub with flavor that will wake up your taste buds. My rub recipe is keto-friendly. I have included the list of rub spices below:

Lakanto Monkfruit Golden
Chili Powder
Paprika
Mustard Powder
Cumin
Cayenne Pepper
Bay Leaf
Salt and Pepper

To make sure the pork cooks evenly in the Instant Pot, cut it into even-sized pieces and coat with the rub. Once the Instant Pot is hot, add the oil and saute each piece on all sides.

After your meat is properly seared, remove it to deglaze the Instant Pot.

How to Deglaze the Instant Pot?

To deglaze the Instant Pot, simply add a bit of liquid with the saute function on and scrape the bits stuck to the bottom with a wooden spoon. You will want to leave the loose bits in the Instant Pot as they are full of amazing flavor.

Why Do I Deglaze the Instant Pot?

Deglazing not only adds wonderful flavor to your dish, but it also cleans the inner pot. The Instant Pot has to have a certain amount of liquid in the pot to come to pressure. Otherwise, it won’t be able to generate enough steam. If food is burned to the bottom of the pot, it won’t be able to come to pressure properly, and you will get a burn code.

You will now pile the meat and liquids back in the pot. After turning your dial to high pressure, it will take about 10-15 minutes for the Instant Pot to come to pressure before starting to pressure cook. I like to do a natural release when the meat has finished cooking.

How Do You Shred Pulled Pork?

Shred with two forks – using two forks face down you can easily and quickly shred the pulled pork
Use a mixer – some people love this method as it shreds the meat very quickly. I find that it shreds the meat too fine for my preference.
Bear Claws – My hubby recently got a pair of these. They work much like the two forks method but are sharper, so they get the job done quicker.

How Do You Keep Pulled Pork Moist?

Meat tends to dry out pretty quickly after being pulled. To keep the pulled pork moist, you can either cover it with the liquid from the Instant Pot when it is finished cooking or use keto BBQ sauce. I’ll always vote for BBQ sauce!

Is There a Keto-Friendly BBQ Sauce?

Yes! I tweaked my family’s recipe for homemade BBQ sauce to make it keto-friendly. You can find my recipe link here.

I have so many fond memories of my daddy. I remember him always making homemade BBQ sauce. He would stand over the pot of sauce and taste test it until it was just right. Tonight at dinner, my four-year old daughter called it Papa’s sauce, which I love. I can help my two younger daughters know my daddy by telling them stories like this about Papa’s sauce.

How Many Servings in a Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder Roast?

Taking into account bones, fat, and juices, you can generally expect about half the cooked weight of the raw Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder. So, a five-pound Boston Butt would yield approximately two and a half pounds of pulled pork. The average serving size per person is approximately five ounces. I estimate a five-pound roast to serve eight people.

How to Store Keto Pulled Pork

You can store pulled pork in an airtight container or baggie for three to four days in the fridge. It will freeze well in an airtight container for up to six months.

This Easy Keto Pulled Pork Recipe turned out so yummy and was easy to make. Best of all, the kids loved it, which, in my book, is a real win!

How to Make a Low Carb Pulled Pork Sandwich?

SOLA Hamburger Buns (these are technically low carb because they contain wheat)
Chaffles Make Great Keto Buns
90-Second Keto Bread

What to serve with Keto Pulled Pork?

Southern Green Beans
Keto Cauliflower Mac N Cheese
Roasted Asparagus
Cheesy Brussels Sprouts with Bacon

Pin it to save for later!

Follow Pinterest

How to Make Keto Pulled Pork in the Instant Pot (or Slow Cooker):

Print Recipe Pin Recipe Rate this Recipe

4.84 from 12 votes

Best Keto Pulled Pork in the Instant Pot or Slow Cooker

This flavorful, easy Keto Pulled Pork Recipe can be made in the Instant Pot or slow cooker. The pork is moist, tender, and scrumptiously delicious, while the keto BBQ sauce is perfectly tangy and sweet! You will definitely want to make this a regular on your keto meal plan.

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Ingredients

5 lb Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder Roast
2 tbsp olive oil
1/4 cup Lakanto monkfruit golden
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tbsp paprika
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/8 tsp cumin
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tbsp Bragg's Aminos
1 tsp liquid smoke
1-2 cups homemade keto bbq sauce (or store bought)

Instructions

For the Instant Pot or Electric Pressure Cooker:

Cut the Boston butt or pork shoulder into equally sized chunks so that it will cook evenly in the Instant Pot.
Turn Instant or electric pressure cooker to saute and add 2 tbsp olive oil when it is hot.
In a small bowl, combine the spices along with the Lakanto Monkfruit Golden and coat the pork.
Sear each piece of the pork roast on each side in the Instant Pot (approx 3-4 minutes), then remove from Instant Pot and set aside.)
After each piece of the roast has been seared and removed from the pan deglaze the inner pot by adding the chicken broth then scraping the bottom of the pan, with a wooden spoon. All of the bits of pork that were stuck to the pan should come up easily. They have incredible flavor, so leave them in the Instant Pot.
Add the apple cider vinegar, Bragg's Aminos, and liquid smoke to the pan, then place the pieces of seared pork roast back in the liquid mixture.
Turn the Instant Pot from the saute function to high pressure for 70 minutes. It will take 10-15 minutes to come to pressure before it begins to pressure cook the pork roast.
Once the pressure cooking has completed, let the pressure naturally release for 20 minutes. If the pin has not dropped, do a QR to release the steam before carefully removing the lid.
Scoop the pork into a bow,l leaving the liquid in the Instant Pot.
Using two forks shred the meat.
Add approx one to two cups homemade keto bbq sauce (or store bought keto version).
Stir to combine the sauce and the pulled pork before serving.

How to Make Keto Pulled Pork in the Slow Cooker

In a small bowl, combine the spices along with the Lakanto Monkfruit. Coat pork roast with spices then sear in a skillet on each side in 2 tbs olive oil.
Place the seared pork roast in the slow cooker and cover with chicken broth, apple cider vinegar, Bragg's aminos, and liquid smoke.
Slow cook on low for 10-12 hours or high for 5-6.
Remove the pork roast from the slow cooker and shred with two forks. Dump out the juices left behind in the slow cooker.
Return the pork roast to the slow cooker and pour 1-2 cups keto bbq sauce on top. Stir to combine then enjoy!

Notes

The sugar alcohols from the Lakanto Monkfruit Golden are not included in the nutritional information as most subtract to calculate net carbs.

One cup of my homemade low carb bbq sauce is included in the nutritional information.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @kaseytrenumblogger or tag #kaseytrenumblogger!