As you probably know, Kate and I both went on Hawaiian vacations this summer (you can see a little of Kate’s here, and a little of mine, here.) I think that has contributed to us both having tropical food on the brain lately. Kate posted her Kalua Pork last week and I’m not kidding; it’s one of my absolute favorite things to cook these days. The word Kālua, in Hawaiian, literally means, “to cook in an underground oven.” And in Hawaii, they use an Imu, which is basically a big pit, where they use koa wood and burning rocks to cook create a hot oven right in the ground. This photo is the remains of an Imu, right after the piggy was taken out.
Meat (like a whole pig, for example) is wrapped in banana leaves and packed into the hot hole. It’s covered up and the smoky wood infuses flavor while the insulated heat slow-cooks.
Kate’s short-cut version involves an easier-than-a-whole-pig pork roast and nothing but some salt, liquid smoke, and a slow-cooker which results in a tender, smoky meat without the fuss of digging that giant pit in your backyard and trying to locate banana leaves.
I know Kate and I both use the basic pork recipe in so many different ways, so we’ll probably reference it in different posts, showing you how to turn the basic meat into a huge selection of meals (like they do in Hawaii. Remember the Kalua Pork Pizza I posted about in this post? Still need to recreate that one…) This is one of my favorites these days; piled on sweet rolls with a sweet and tangy colorful slaw on top.
Ingredient Notes
- Pork – We’ll be using pork shoulder here, which goes by many different names. You may see it labeled as picnic roast, Boston butt, blade roast, or even country rib.
- Liquid Smoke – Liquid smoke provides the slow-roasted smoky flavor that makes this pork what it is.
- Sea Salt – Be sure to read the recipe notes about the amount of salt to use depending on what type you have. You will need much less salt if you are using table salt or kosher salt. If using large, flaky sea salt or Hawaiian salt, you will need a bit more.
- Slaw – The tropical coleslaw combines purple cabbage, red bell pepper, celery, green onions, cilantro, fresh mango and pineapple. You could always use all mango or all pineapple, but I love the combination of both.
- Dressing – The sweet and tangy slaw dressing is made up of mayo (regular or light is fine), apple cider vinegar, fresh orange juice, Dijon mustard, celery seed, sugar, orange zest, onion powder, and salt and pepper.
- Hawaiian Rolls – I can’t imagine anything more fitting for these sliders that sweet Hawaiian rolls.
- Barbecue Sauce – Barbecue sauce is optional. If you’d like, you can drizzle a bit over your pork while assembling your sliders. I love how fresh and soft they are (as long as you’re buying a fresh bag!).
How to Make Kalua Pork Sliders
- Start by preparing your pork. Rinse the roast and pat it dry. Pierce the entire roast with a fork and sprinkle generously with liquid smoke, then rub the whole roast down with sea salt.
- Place the roast in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours, or until the meat shreds easily with a fork.
- When the meat is nearly done, begin assembling your coleslaw. Combine some shredded red cabbage, finely diced red bell pepper, diced celery, sliced green onions, chopped cilantro, diced mango, and diced pineapple in a bowl. Set aside.
- For the dressing, I wanted to base the recipe on a traditional coleslaw, but infuse some brightness into it and make it not quite as heavy. So I just used a couple of tablespoons of mayo, just for a tiny bit of creaminess, and mixed it with some orange juice, and zest, a little cider vinegar and mustard and some seasonings. It’s a very light coating of dressing so the color and flavors of the vegetables really shine through.
- Pour the dressing right over those veggies and toss it all together. Since the fruit in the slaw adds moisture as well, you don’t have to let the slaw sit for a super long time; a few minutes in the fridge while you’re prepping some other things is all it needs.
- While your slaw chills, you’ll remove the roast from the slow cooker, shred, and drizzle with a bit of the juices from the crock pot to keep it from drying out.
- To assemble your sliders; separate your Hawaiian rolls and slice them in half and pile the tender, juicy pork on top. I like to be pretty generous. You can add a drizzle of barbecue sauce here, if desired. And then top it with the sweet and tangy slaw. Pile it high; it’s okay if it falls all over the place.
Storing and Other Tips
- Store leftover pork in an airtight container in the fridge and eat within about 4 days.
- It helps to stick a skewer through your finished sliders to help hold them all together.
- These look great all lined up on a platter ready to serve (fun food for a baby or bridal shower- pair it with one of our tropical drinks and a big platter of fruit; yum!), or in separate dishes and people can assemble their own.
- Yield depends on how full you make them. I would estimate 1 1/2 dozen very generously filled sliders and 2 dozen moderately filled ones.
- The Kalua Pork can easily be made ahead of time, then frozen or refrigerated until it’s time for assembly. It may need extra seasoning upon thawing.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you are preparing this for a large event, it is helpful to do as much prep work as possible before hand. You can chop everything up to the night before, as well as whisk together the dressing. However, do not combine the dressing and slaw quite yet, as it will cause the slaw to get soggy. Store them in the fridge, then combine them just before guests arrive.
Yield depends on how full you make them. I would estimate 1 1/2 dozen very generously filled sliders and 2 dozen moderately filled ones.
Pulled pork from a barbecue restaurant is usually well seasoned with a spice rub and smoked in a smoker. This Kalua Pork has minimal seasonings, allowing the flavor of the liquid smoke and pork to shine through. That said, what really makes the meal here is the tropical additions that create the slider. You could absolutely serve Kalua Pork with your favorite barbecue sauce and traditional barbecue sides!
Tips For Making Kalua Pork Sliders
- Since you’re putting the slaw on a small bun, make sure to dice everything relatively small so you get a little of everything in each slider.
- Kalua Pork is super versatile. Don’t worry about using up all the meat for this one meal. It’s great on pizza, over rice, or served with traditional barbecue sides!
Kalua Pork Sliders pair well with:
Lime-Cilantro Rice with Pineapple
Hawaiian Macaroni Salad
Brazilian Lemonade
Kalua Pork Sliders with Pineapple-Mango Slaw
Equipment
Ingredients
Kalua Pork
- 3 pound boneless pork shoulder butt roast
- sea salt
- Hickory-flavored liquid smoke
Slaw
- 2 cups purple cabbage, shredded cut shreds into about 1″ pieces
- ½ red bell pepper, finely diced
- 1 rib celery
- ⅓ cup green onions, sliced
- 3 heaping tablespoons cilantro, chopped
- ½ cup mango, diced
- ½ cup pineapple, diced
- 1 – 2 dozen Hawaiian Rolls
Dressing
- 3 tablespoons mayo
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 1 ½ tablespoons orange juice, fresh
- 1 teaspoon dijon mustard
- 1 teaspoon celery seed
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 heaping teaspoon orange zest
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon onion powder
Instructions
Kalua Pork
- Rinse the pork roast and pat it dry. Pierce the entire roast with a fork. Sprinkle generously with the liquid smoke (about 1 tablespoon, more if you have a very large roast) and sprinkle with the sea salt (start with about a little less than tablespoon and see how far it gets you; you can always add more after it cooks). If using traditional kosher salt, decrease salt to 1-2 teaspoons. Rub the salt into the roast.
- Place the roast in a slow cooker and cook on low for 8-10 hours or until the meat shreds easily with a fork.
- Remove the roast from the pan and place it in a serving dish or on a serving platter. Shred it, discarding any large pieces of fat. Drizzle enough of the cooking liquid over the pork to re-moisten it and keep it from drying out.
Slaw & Dressing
- Combine all slaw ingredients and gently toss. Whisk dressing ingredients together. Add dressing to slaw and toss gently until everything is lightly coated. Chill for 15 minutes.
Assembly
- Slice Hawaiian rolls in half, top with shredded Kalua Pork and a generous spoonful of slaw. Top with other half of bun. You can add a drizzle of BBQ sauce if desired.
Questions & Reviews
I made just the slaw and served it with brats and sausages. So, SO yummy! I did modify the recipe a little, it seemed like too much onion, so I chopped just 2 green onions. I think I also added a little extra OJ, as I was squeezing an orange and didn’t want to waste the orange half. I am not a huge coleslaw fan, but this was sweet with just a little spice and the cabbage taste wasn’t strong like in coleslaw. Thanks for a cool new summer fave!
These are delicious!
I’ve made this recipe twice now and our family loves it! I used the Hawaiian rolls recommended in the recipe above, however, I’m wondering if anyone has tried any other types of rolls that don’t get soggy so quick. Even when you eat them right away, I feel like it becomes a soggy mess rather quickly. Thanks!
Sam’s Club sells mini hamburger buns for sliders. I’m going to try these instead of Hawaiian rolls hoping they won’t get soggy so quickly..
This is an excellent recipe! While in Oahu I had something very much like these. Thank you!!!!!!!
This slaw was amazing! I substituted plain yogurt for the mayo to lighten it up a tad more.
We had this tonight with the kalua pork (that I made yesterday) and loved it! I kind of fudged my way around the slaw just to buy a few less ingredients and do a little less chopping. I used a bag of broccoli slaw and it went well. Thanks for another great recipe!
Have any of you made the slaw in advance and kept it in the fridge? Maybe diced everything and kept the dressing seperate? I’m making these sliders for a party this weekend and want to have as much prep work done before the day of as possible! (hopefully, I’ll save my fingertips from frantic-chopping-knife-slips if I get it done early…) Any tips would be GREATLY appreciated 🙂
Just FYI, I chopped everything and had the dressing ready to go the night before – didn’t combine until right before the party and it was perfect. I don’t know that I would mix everything the day before, but having the components ready to go made it simple 🙂
I very much enjoyed making both the pork and the slaw! Very fun, pretty, and most of all, YUMMY! Just had it again this morning, for…breakfast! 🙂
Made these last night from leftover Kalua pork. I LOVE the slaw. All the chopping was a bit more labor intensive than my usual weeknight meal, but it was so worth it!!
Oooh! This looks delicious. There is something so enticing about a food item that is so colorful. It makes you want to eat it that much more. I think I will give this a try sometime soon! Found you blog not too long ago, and it is beautiful Love the layout. Thanks for sharing!
~Laura Muir
You can find me at:
Fresh Cooking=Happy People
http://www.freshcookinghappypeople.blogspot.com
Hi Aliya, I’m not interested in a Biblical debate, but like most Christians, we do eat pork! Like another commenter suggested, you could try this with chicken thighs- that would probably be really good! Hope you enjoy it!
Yikes! Please post only kind comments. All you really needed to post was your question (minus the other comment). And yes, of course you could use another meat such as chicken thighs.
Why post if you are going to be rude! Awful attitudes are toxic and not appreciated! Thanks ladies for posting ALL types of food for us to enjoy reading about, passing along and/or trying! I chose to eat pork and believe in a loving God! I bet he still loves me no matter what I eat!
Delicious idea and great photos!! Love this post and these sliders!
Brilliant. What a beautiful and delicious looking recipe! We do a lot of kalua pig around here, so I will be sure to try this next time. 🙂
Okay, so that photo of the smoked pig is a little shocking/disgusting!! 🙂
Emily, I prefer my pigs pre-shredded for me too, haha 😉
I have never heard of a rib of celery! Ha! Totally had to google that one! 😉 Learned something new for sure! This looks so good! Going to try it!!
Haha, Hilary- what do you call it??
Um, maybe a stick of celery! Ha! Or a celery stalk but never a celery rib! Oh but you better believe I will be calling it a celery rib from now on!! 🙂
My husband would love these for dinner!! So perfect and totally going on the menu 🙂
I’ve been making BBQ pulled pork with a pork loin (got the idea from Paula Deen’s son …). It’s not quite as delicious as a pork shoulder, but healthier. If you put enough sauce / toppings on your sandwich it doesn’t matter. Will this recipe work with a loin or would I need to add some liquid into the slow cooker and maybe use less salt?
You’d have to experiment Kate, but I’m guessing you might need a little liquid. I’m not a fan of pork loin for pulled pork so I’m not much help!
Hmm.. These look really great. Going to have to try them for the next family get together.
Mmm! I LOVE these!! I cannot get enough tropical foods in my life!