Lean, healthy, and tasty shredded pork from loin that's great for a hundred or the family. Just follow these easy step by step photo instructions. Cut the recipe down or triple it as needed. Cook ahead or freeze.
Introduction
Some would call this "pulled pork," but I generally call it shredded saving the term for pork butt recipes.
This was the "trial run" for another "mass cooking." I decide to publish it in this smaller form but scaling it up to a hundred servings, or more is simple.
This is a modification of a recipe I had developed and used over the years for shredded pork loin on the stovetop. I use broth that as spiced up, slices of pork loin, and then braise it on the stovetop covered on simmer for several hours.
But it is easier for large amounts to do this oven method. Feeding a large group has never been so easy.
The Technique:
1) Trim a center-cut pork loin of extra fat and any silver skin.
2) Braise in beef broth seasoned with chili powder, onion, and liquid smoke.
3) Do the cooking in the oven in a covered pan, so I don't need to pay attention.
4) Cook to 180+ so it will fall apart with melting all the connective tissue. And the tightened-up cells start to relax.
5) Cool and shred by hand.
6) Add some of the braising liquid back in to add moisture and a LOT of taste.
My Rating
Very high 4 or a lower 5. Really nice and very smoky. Not quite equal to pork butt pulled pork, but you will live longer, and this is a great cheap way to feed a hundred people.
🐖Pork Loin
This recipe uses a center-cut boneless pork loin. You will see them on sale at the meat department frequently and are usually about 5-6 pounds. A lot for a "cooking for two" home. But, cut the recipe down or triple it as needed. Cook ahead or freeze.
Remember, pork chops are just slices of pork loin. So, it can dry a lot. Also, if you decide to not cook the whole loin, do some 1-inch chops for the freezer.
🔪Preparing the Meat
The silver skin on the pork loin is tougher than on pork or beef tenderloins. If you don't want to fight it, you could leave it initially and remove it during the hand shredding. The same for the fat. I'm fat adverse.
You might also run into the small piece of meat on the side. I believe this is the tail end of the pork tenderloin. If you can trim it out, then cut it into a couple of pieces and put it in the pan with the braising fluid.
I have run into an occasional pork loin that seems to be "tougher." If you hit one of this (and I don't think you can tell until cooked), then try to be sure to do the overnight rest in the refrigerator after adding fluid the first time. This is to allow the braising liquid to absorb.
Cut the loin into 1 to 2-inch slices. If you decide to freeze some of the raw loin. Cut it 1 inch thick and use as a center-cut pork chop (that is what it is).
👨🍳The Braising Fluid
The braising fluid is simply beef broth with some spicing. You can use chicken, vegetable or even pork if you can get it. But I think the beef adds a nice taste to this. Please buy a good quality beef broth. The cheap ones are bad.
After cooking, reserve about 2 cups or a little more of the fluid per 5 pounds of loin.
After shredding, add back some of the braising fluid. Start with about a cup per 5 pounds. I usually end up abound 1 ½ cups.
This is a little like a casserole, it is better warmed up the next day. It is still good the day of cooking but a noticeable difference.
An overnight rest in the refrigerator covered tightly allows the braising fluid to absorb. Add some of the remaining fluid if needed the next morning.
I usually end up using about 1 ½ cups total per 5-pound loin. So save at least 2 cups at the beginning.
✔️Tips
Make it Mexican
Remove the liquid smoke and add 2 teaspoons of cumin. Great for any Mexican cuisine.
How Much to Cook, Storage, and Reheating
If you are using this for a large group, calculate ¼ pound per sandwich. If it is the lone main dish, then 1 ½ sandwiches per person.
Good refrigerated for 3-4 days and freezes very well for 3-4 months at least. So a great cook ahead dish for a large group.
For a large event, I reheat in a crock pot on low. Depending on the amount you have, it may take a few hours or more. You can also reheat in the oven covered with foil.
If frozen, thaw before reheating.
Can I add sauce to reheat?
No, never do that to any pork. The tomato acid will break down the texture of the meat the longer it sets. Just let the people add their own sauce. I like to take a variety of choices, but my Memphis BBQ sauce is always the favorite.
📖Party Size Recipes
Oven Pulled Pork from Pork Butt
Memphis Barbecue Sauce; A Wonderful Thing
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Trim a whole center-cut pork loin of extra fat and silver skin. Cut into about 1 ½ inch slices across the grain.
You could use a dutch oven or any oven safe pan that you can seal shut.
Chop one onion. Add to the pan along with the spices, broth, and liquid smoke. Add pork slices. It may not be entirely submerged. Add a little water if needed to almost cover the pork.
Seal with aluminum foil and place in a 300° oven for 2 ½ hours give or take a little. I did not preheat. It's a long cooking time and doesn't matter.
Remove from over. Move pork to a plate to cool a bit before shredding.
Reserve 2 cups of the braising liquid per 5 pounds of pork and discard the remainder.
After the pork is cooled, hand shred disregarding anything that you don't want to eat.
Add back one cup of the braising liquid.
Mix well and add more liquid if needed. Refrigerate overnight if possible. Save the rest of the braising liquid to add on future warmups.
📖Recipe
BBQ Shredded Pork Loin in the Oven
Ingredients
- 5 pounds pork loin - Center cut
- 1 onion - large chopped
- 28 oz beef broth - two cans or one large box
- 4 tablespoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
Instructions
- Trim pork loin. Cut into 1 to 2-inch slices across the grain.
- Chop a large onion. Add to an oven-safe pan. You could use a dutch oven or any oven safe pan that you can seal tightly.
- Add 4 tablespoons chili powder, 1 teaspoon salt, 28 oz. beef broth and 2 teaspoon liquid smoke. Mix well.
- Add pork slices. It may not be entirely submerged. Add a little water if needed to get the fluid level near the top of the meat.
- Seal with aluminum foil and place into a 300° oven for 2 ½ hours give or take a little. I did not preheat. It’s a long cooking time and doesn’t matter.
- Remove from over. Move pork to a plate to cool. Reserve 2 cups of the braising liquid per 5 pounds of pork and discard the remainder.
- After pork is cooled, hand shred. Add back one cup of the braising liquid. Mix well and add more liquid if needed. Refrigerate overnight if possible. Save the rest of the braising liquid to add in during future warmups.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips:
- Easy to cut down or scale up as needed. If using less than a whole pork loin, cut the rest into 1-inch pork chops.
- This is a great cook ahead for a party recipe. It is actually better the day after cooking.
- You can change up the broth, but I find a good quality beef broth the best here.
- Add other seasonings, and you can make it hot with some cayenne pepper.
- When in doubt, keep extra braising fluid.
- You can eat this the day of cooking but better the next day.
- For large groups, cook about ¼ pound per sandwich — good refrigerated for 3-4 days and frozen 3-4 months.
- I usually reheat for large groups in a crock pot on low for a few hours. Time will vary by amount. If frozen, thaw before reheating.
- Add braising fluid or broth if needed for reheating. DO NOT use BBQ sauce for reheating. It will destroy the texture and make a mushy mess.
- Make it Mexican: Remove the liquid smoke and add 2 teaspoons of cumin. Great for any Mexican cuisine.
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
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Editor's Note: Originally Published August 18, 2011. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Jackie
This recipe worked great! I had to modify just a bit because my roast was just under 2.5 pounds and my husband won't eat onions-so swapped that for onion powder. It took just 2 hours for it to reach recommended temp and after cooling a bit, it shredded beautifully! Hubby ate it with just the braising liquid but the kids and I added bbq sauce and ate on buns. It was so delicious and I'll definitely keep this recipe for repeats! Thanks!!
Ann
I made this as directed. Came out great!! Will use it to cook for 25 people for upcoming event. Great, economical dish to serve. Thank you!!
Terry Yarham
Dr. Dan - love the blog - I've gotten many recipes from you that we now consider ""goto's".
After about 2 1/2 hours, our pork (about 5 1/2 lbs) was at 192 degrees. I pulled it (recipe says 180 degrees plus), but it was pretty difficult to shred after it had cooled. If it were pork butt, I would say it needed cooked more to get the temp up, but wasn't sure with the pork loin being so much leaner if that would be the case. Does it react the same?
I'm sure the flavor will be great, and we are looking forward to using this as a healthier alternative to pulled pork. Any idea if our loin was overcooked, undercooked, or was it fine and it's just a lot harder to shred than pork butt?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Terry,
You seem to have gotten one of the "tough ones" I discussed in the post. And it may be a tad over cooked. Don't cook it more.
Shredded/chop it up and get some bracing fluid on it for overnight. It will be better after that.
Dan
Reddee
Made this it was very good. I added a few spices it this was a good start. Thank you so much.
Betty
Hi Dan...yes, sorry a misprint on my part. Took it out after 1 hr.45 min. It's tender & smells great. Will be having it tomorrow,
putting in fridge overnight in some braising liquid. (& a little bbq sauce)
Will let you know how it turned out!
Betty
I've got this in oven now but just have 2 lbs pork. Is 1/2 hrs.braising time still ok?
DrDan
The time should be a little shorter but the time is 2 1/2 hours not 1/2 hour. Check it at 2 hours.
Dan
MJ
thanks, am using pork loin for pulled pork for 300 guests. added 1/4 c beer & Canola. frig overnight. Thanks!!
DrDan
I think this is the best use for those big chunks of pork loin. Good luck with the mass cooking.
DrDan
Jim
This was delicious! I started with a bone-in pork sirloin (cheap) and carved off as much meat as I could while trimming off the fat, then cut it into 2 inch or so pieces as you suggested. Next time I will look for a boneless roast to make it easier. I also used 1 can of beef broth and 1 can of chicken broth because that was all that I had on hand--turned out just fine. Otherwise followed the cooking directions using a pyrex 9X13 dish covered with foil. 2 1/2 hours at 300 was perfect. Instead of returning the juice, I dumped a bottle of Stubb's smoky mesquite bbq sauce and let it set overnight.
Just had it for lunch on hot dog buns (a tip from a sloppy joe recipe) and it was awesome. Thank you for sharing such an easy recipe since I am a complete newbie cook.
Jim
DrDan
Thanks for the note Jim. All recipes are just guidelines anyways. I'm always for getting rid of solid fat. I think you could just leave the bone in and when you take it out to shred, it will probably just fall off the bone. I though the left overs were better the second day after they absorbed fluid back in.
DrDan
Dr Dan
The cayenne was a great idea I may try next time. I found it surprising that pork loin can be so moist.
Sam Courtney
Yes - wonderful recipe - simple and the results were awesome - thanks for sharing! I used a little cayenne pepper instead of chili powder and it gave it a nice little bite....even my girls like it! I also used 1/2 onion since we aren't much of an onion family....but it still tasted delicious! It could cook 3 hrs instead on 2.5 and it would be even more tender to tear up by hand.
Dr Dan
The mass feeding went great. They ate about twice as much as I expected so it was great hit. Or they will eat anything that's free.
The 190 was so it would shred easy by melting any fibrous tissue that was present and have that pulled pork type feel. The key is adding moisture and taste back with the braising liquid. Otherwise it would be wood chips.
Chris
I would have told you that you are crazy to take a pork loin past 160 because it is so lean but then when I saw how you cooked it, it made sense. The liquid makes the difference.
It looks like you have a solid plan now. I hope the mass feeding goes well.
Dr Dan
I don't play so I cooked. This was just so dang easy to do.
Inspired by eRecipeCards
Great post... be careful drawing to an inside straight, it is only a small mistake to fold a winning hand and a charity game means incredibly loose players. Beware of draws.
Oh and the pork looks incredible as well.