Think of it as a smaller size crock pot version of pulled pork. Moist and tender, this shredded BBQ pork tenderloin is seasoned with a few spices and only takes a few hours in a crock pot. Super easy for even a beginner with these step-by-step photo instructions.
Introduction
You will love this pulled pork for some great BBQ sandwiches. With most cuts of pork, you will end up with too much for most smaller households.
A lot of time, I just experiment with food, kind of like a chemistry lab but without the risk of explosion. But mostly, it will be recipes like this that are simple and logical.
My plan was to trim the pork tenderloin, cut it into chunks about 1-inch thick, spiced it, and then cooked it "dry." Shred and add it back into the liquid that came out during cooking.
So my logic for this was:
- A crock pot on high gets 200 plus degrees much faster than on low.
- Pork tenderloin is lean so low and slow is not needed. If you "overcook it" a bit in a moist environment it will shred easily.
- The amount of moisture in the tenderloin (usually a moist meat) would be about the right about to moisturizer it at the end of cooking.
It works great.
My Rating
A nice strong 4.
🐖Pork Tenderloin
A Pork Loin is NOT a pork tenderloin! The tenderloin refers to the psoas muscle along the lower back. It is chicken tenders in the chicken or beef tenderloin (filet mignon) in cattle.
The psoas muscle is generally the most tender cut since it is not used for movement.
Over the years on this blog, many commenters seem to get pork loin and tenderloin confused. It is obvious when they have a “4-pound pork tenderloin”. Please don't be that person.
A pork loin is much bigger and thicker than the 1 ½ pound tenderloin. They do not cook the same, and the problems most people are having seem to be the wrong cut of pork. If you have a loin, then please see https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/crock-pot-pulled-pork-loin/
♨️Crock Pot
The thickness of a mass of pork will affect the cooking time. You do not want to be piling the chunks on top of other chunks. Or if you do, cooking time will be longer. So try to keep it to a single layer to help the cooking time and even out the cooking.
So, the rule of thumb that a crock pot should be about 50% full doesn't apply here. If you produce a thick area of pork tenderloin in the crock pot, it will take longer to cook.
This works fine in a smaller crock pot. Bigger is OK.
If you do a double recipe, use a large crock pot.
✔️Tips
Spicing
The spicing is very nice for a BBQ pork sandwich. Feel free to change up the spice to your taste but be careful with salt. Remember the spicing in your sauce with any changes.
Storage
This is stores well refrigerated for 3-4 days. It will freeze well for 3-4 months.
Sauce
Use the sauce you love. I like Gates of Kansas City. I also frequently use my homemade Memphis BBQ Sauce.
Do not add sauce until just before serving. The acid in the sauce will destroy the texture of the meat. So do not reheat or store shredded pork in sauce.
Trouble Shooting
Like all recipes, there are some variables. Here it would be the meat and the crock pot.
First, let's address the meat. If the pork has been frozen, it may not contain as much moisture as a fresh tenderloin. Then add a bit of chicken broth at the start.
If the meat is cut thicker, not cut up at all, or piled up. You have a thicker mass to cook, and it will take longer. You need to cook until you can shred the pork with forks easily.
The second variable is the crock pot. This is the biggest issue.
A modern, properly working crock pot should not go over the boiling point (212°). The difference between high and low will be how fast it gets there.
Older crock pots may have been produced without a thermostat, or the thermostat may not be working well. Then the temperature of the crock pot may go much higher.
📖Crock Pot BBQ Recipes
Crock Pot Pulled Pork from Butt the Right Way
This recipe is listed in these categories. See them for more similar recipes.
🖼️Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
Start with a pork tenderloin. Trim off extra fat and the silver skin.
Cut into 5-6 about equal chunks.
Mix 2 teaspoon brown sugar, 2 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon each pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Mix well.
Add the spices to the tenderloin in a bowl and stir well to coat. You can add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke if you want at this point.
Place the meat in the bottom of a small crock pot. Cook on high for 2-3 hours. Check the pork at 2 hours to see if it will shred easily. You may need to cook up to 1 hour longer.
Shred the meat and mix it back into the liquid in the crock pot. Let it cook another 15-20 minutes on high, and you are good to go.
📖Recipe
Easy Crock Pot Shredded Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pound pork tenderloin - one whole
- 2 teaspoons brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Liquid Smoke - Wrights preferred - optional
Instructions
- Start with a pork tenderloin. Trim off extra fat and the silver skin. Cut into 5-6 about equal chunks.
- Mix 2 teaspoon brown sugar, 2 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, ¼ teaspoon each pepper, onion powder, and garlic powder. Mix well.
- Add the spices to the tenderloin in a bowl and stir well to coat. You can add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke if you want at this point.
- Place the meat in the bottom of a small crock pot. Single layer if possible. Cook on high for 2-3 hours. Check the pork at 2 hours to see if it will shred easily. You may need to cook up to 1 hour longer.
- Shred the meat and mix it back into the liquid in the crock pot. Let it cook another 15-20 minutes on high and you are good to go.
My Private Notes
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- Be sure you use pork tenderloin and not pork loin for this recipe.
- You don’t have to cut the pork tenderloin into chunks but it will take longer to cook and you will end up with very long stands of pork after shredding.
- Bad liquid smoke is worse than no liquid smoke. Use Wright's or skip this ingredient.
- Try to keep the pork in a single layer to help faster, more even cooking.
- This fits nicely in a 3-4 quart crock pot. I suggest a large crock pot for a double batch.
- Add the BBQ sauce you like at serving but do not store or reheat the shredded pork in sauce. It will affect the texture.
- Good in the refrigerator for 3-4 days and frozen for 3-4 days.
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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Editors Note: Originally Published July 13, 2014. Updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help navigation.
Lisa
If I am using a frozen tenderloin, other than obviously not being able to cut the meat into chunks, how would that change the process/cooking time?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Lisa,
Welcome to the blog.
Not a good idea. There are two potential issues. Frozen meat can literally break the ceramic inserts commonly used in crock pots due to temperature differential and expansion between the heating element and frozen meat. Not a common thing but obviously a dangerous situation.
The second is food safety with the food staying outside of the safe temperature zone for too long.
So, please thaw first. If you need to get it done, please follow the water thawing method discussed in this turkey recipe. A pork tenderloin should thaw quickly. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/how-to-roast-a-turkey-breast-the-easy-way/
Dan
Merzi
Hi Dan,
Thanks for your recipe! I used you spices mostly as is…I used garlic salt for my salt, I didn’t cut up the tenderloin and cooked it on high for 6 hours….after shredding I mixed some of the pork with Stubb’s Original BBQ sauce and the rest as is…it was delicious! I think your recipe was great and will use this going forward!
Lyndsey Colvin
Really grateful for your method- it was extremely hard to find a crock-pot shredded pork tenderloin recipe for just *one* tenderloin. We are two people, and we don't want to be forced to cook for 6+.
I was making this for a tropical/asian fusion taco concept, and it turned out wonderfully. I did type it up as a .txt to remember details and make notes of what I'd tweak. The tenderloin I've usually marinated 6-8 days, oven-roasted and sliced, but this was sooo much better. Since you don't appear to mind long posts, I'll copy-paste it below.
DrDan NOTE: To the readers, please see my concerns in my reply about food safety and the length of this marinade before following that part of this otherwise wonderful looking recipe.
For the marinade, I base it off of The Woks of Life's recipe, using brown sugar instead of honey and no food coloring. Sometimes more soy sauce. Taste it and make it to your liking. Then, I seriously put it in a freezer bag with the tenderloin and forget about it for a week or more. You end up with flavor throughout instead of just surface.
https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-bbq-pork-cha-siu/#wprm-recipe-container-25865
-Fusion Pork Tacos for two-
-1 tenderloin, 6-8 day marinated asian, cut into 4 chunks
-2 mangos (one for with leftovers)
-kimchi
-shredded cabbage (I get a basic bag meant for coleslaw), could do carrot
-cilantro, rinsed well, stems removed and discarded, and chopped
-flour/corn taco tortillas
-taco shells optional
-1tbsp oil of your choice, used olive
-red wine to deglaze
-ah-so sauce
-refried beans if making double-decker tacos
Slow-cooker:
about 2" chicken or beef broth
1. Pan sear all sides of tenderloin chunks on medium-high until nicely brown. When each are done, place them in the slow-cooker.
2. Turn heat on stove down, deglaze with a glug of red wine. Stir with a rubber spatula to dislodge brown bits. I added a swirl of ahso sauce to this and stirred to mix.
3. Pour contents of pan into the slow-cooker, dodging the meat the best you can. Gently stir if you like, but do turn meat chunks to coat.
4. Cover slow-cooker and set to High for 2-3 hours. I needed close to 3, but not all of the 3rd hour. Check after 2. If they don't shred with forks, put them back in for 30-40.
5. Turn off slow-cooker. Remove pieces from slow-cooker liquid and shred with two forks. Once you're done, add it back to the liquid and stir. Cover.
6. Peel/chop your mango into slices, chop your cilantro, and set up your bowls for serving. Warm plates if necessary in the microwave.
7. The shredded meat has now soaked in the sauce, so you can use a slotted spoon to place it in a storable container to serve. Discard remaining liquid/sauce.
8. Layer your tacos and eat: we did kimchi-meat-cabbage-mango-cilantro.
Notes:
-This was very hard to gauge for doneness via scent as it was very fragrant.
-Heat tortillas however you prefer. Greg fried in peanut oil, I wrapped in wet paper towels and mic'd for 20 seconds. I did bake some leftover taco shells and double-deckered it with taco sauce. Would be better with refried beans as a taco glue.
-A lime to slice and serve with would be nice, last little detail of an acid.
Best!
-Lyndsey
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Lyndsey,
Welcome to the blog and thanks so much for the note and recipe. It looks great. But I always have my doctor hat on and the length of the marinade bothers me.
Generally, marinades are limit to 24 hours (not a safety thing but a meat texture thing). At 48 hours your start getting food safety concerns with potential bacterial growth even when properly refrigerated. And raw meat (pork tenderloin here) should probably be tossed at 5 days (a food safety thing). So please shorten that up some and I have added a suggestion to your comment to suggest to readers to see this.
The marinade looks great and I agree that the food coloring is just odd to me too.
Again, thanks for the note and thoughtful recipe. But please consider my safety concerns.
Dan
Kristin Wrobel
I wanted to make pulled pork tacos and found your recipe to learn about how long to cook it in a crock pot. I cooked a 1.5lb tenderloin on high for 2.5 hours, but found it to be VERY hard to shred. I did more research online and read pork goes from raw to cooked to tender. I don’t believe 2.5 hours is the best time to create tender, easily shredded pork. Perhaps 4 hours? The pork tasted delicious though and was easy to bite into, but it created much larger chucks than desired. But perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing for tacos.
Cheryl
Hi,
I make a recipe very similar to yours frequently; it’s actually my 20 year old sons favorite! He is home from college (for spring break) and I’m going to make it for him; but I am wondering if you could give me times for making this in the Instant Pot?🙏🏼 I thought I’d brown the tenderloins (sauté function) and then add my liquid, but I’m worried about how long to cook. Thanks so much, glad I found you, you’ve got some great recipes!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Cheryl,
Welcome to the blog.
I'm not a big pressure cooker user and have not done this. But it should be in the same range as shredded chicken, so my guess is about 10 minutes under pressure. But again, I have not done this.
Dan
Victoria Ashton
Hello, I'm following this recipe (first time using a slow cooker) but I have a question - should you brown the meat first?
Thanks!
Victoria
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Victoria,
Browning is not needed.
Dan
Sandi
I made this tonight and it was just as described. It's super easy and very tasty. The meat was tender with a nice flavor. Everyone loved it and it will be used again! Thank you!
Kayla Evans
Im in the process of using this recipe and im wondering if i add water or chicken broth to my crock pot ir do i just put the tenderloin in and let it cook. I have already added my spices just curious about liquid?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan
Hi Kayla,
Welcome to the blog.
Some liquid will come out of the meat. No need to add any.
Dan