23 Recipes That Start With a Pork Shoulder

Adobada is a general term that refers to meat (often pork) that is marinated in a very thick, flavorful, chile-based mixture. When cooked in a hot pan—note, this is key, your pan needs to be hot— the meat will develop a delightfully charred, crisp exterior while maintaining a succulent interior. This flavor-packed pork recipe is an amazing start for tacos; simply spoon the meat into warm corn tortillas and serve with minced onion, cilantro, and lime juice. If you want to prep ahead, the marinade mixture can be made up to 5 days in advance. While set sauce may seem like an out-of-place addition, it delivers just the right hit of salty umami to balance out the bittersweet chiles. Guajillo and

ancho chiles can be found in most groceries stores. Anchos are mild with a slightly bitter, yet sweet flavor. Guajillos offer a

slightly fruity flavor. They also have a thinner flesh and therefore, produce less puree (which is why there are more in the recipe). As far as the cut of meat, we’d definitely recommend sticking with pork shoulder here. Rich and fatty, pork shoulder will not dry out or take on an unpleasant chewy texture after resting in the acidic marinade. 

Utilized in professional kitchens for years, sous vide is a largely hands-off cooking method, based in incredibly precise temperature control, that many home cooks are beginning to embrace for seamless, simple meal prep. After the initial investment in obtaining the necessary equipment, sous vide provides a no-fuss, foolproof route to incredible flavor and consistency. Take this succulent pork recipe, for example. It offers the texture of a perfectly cooked pork tenderloin paired with the rich flavor that comes with the fat you get in pork shoulder. A quick finish on a grill pan (or grill, if you’ve already got it heated) along with some barbecue sauce, and this pork gives the impression that you’ve spent hours manning a grill to achieve such consistency and flavor. Plus, if you want to prep for a cookout in advance, this method allows you to do so up to a week in advance, and have your delicious barbecue pork, potato salad, and slaw on the table in a matter of minutes.

The slow cooker makes fall our new favorite season for barbecue. This pork shoulder simmers in a vinegar- and ketchup-laced liquid until tender and juicy. Top with pickled red onions. Pile the pork onto game-day sandwiches or baked sweet potatoes.

Posole is a traditional Mexican soup, which boasts exuberant flavors of hominy, chiles, pork shoulder, and corn tortillas. Top your bowl with cilantro and thinly sliced radish to make it a year-round favorite!

The pork is especially flavorful if you rub on the spices well ahead of time and let the roast stand in the refrigerator overnight. Copeland uses Arrowood smoked lager for this recipe (it’s local for her), but you can use any smoked beer; if you can’t find one, try a nut ale, a porter, or just 1 1/2 cups chicken stock. Though the oven method here produces tastier results, you can also make the pork in a slow cooker; brown the meat on the stovetop first, and cook with the beer on LOW for 6 to 8 hours.

Maximize the space in your hot oven by roasting several sweet potatoes at once. You could also use the same method to roast beets or a head of garlic. The foil traps in the steam for moist, tender sweet potato flesh. Refrigerate the remaining foil-wrapped spuds for up to one week. To turn this popular side into a meal, we stuff the potatoes with saucy barbeque pork tenderloin, a “hacked” version of an hours-long barbeque pork shoulder. You could sub the pork for chicken, or go vegetarian with a baked bean filling and a sprinkle of shredded cheddar cheese.

Although these pork and black bean nachos require a bit more attention than your basic platter of loaded nachos, they’re well worth the effort. These are the nachos to make when you really wanna go next-level and impress a group. With the succulent pork, Swiss cheese and mustard sauce, and bread-and-butter pickles, this crowd-pleasing play on a Cuban sandwich packs a powerful load of flavor. Although they may seem out of place at first glance, the briny-sweet pickles are a perfect balance for the savory pork and the funky Swiss cheese sauce. As for the homemade refried black beans, you’ll never look back once you try them. Going for refried beans is one of our favorite pro-tricks when it comes to building a superior plate of nachos; they’re creamy, flavorful, and actually stay on the chip! We’ve linked to a pork recipe in the ingredient list below that would be excellent for these nachos (let’s be real, it would be excellent for just about anything), however, this roasted pork shoulder is time intensive to prepare—so if you’re not up for that, you can definitely use cooked, shredded pork (without sauce) from your favorite local BBQ joint or supermarket instead. 

If you want to dress up the humble pork shoulder roast, ask your butcher to butterfly it. Sprinkle the spice rub all over both sides of pork; roll and tie it with kitchen string before browning.

Little bits of crisped pork belly offer chewy bites in the bowl, but easier-to-find ground pork is delicious, too. If you happen to have some leftover cooked pork shoulder, you can toss that in the soup as well.

This is going to become your new go-to on taco night. Pork shoulder becomes meltingly tender as it slow-cooks in the chile- and garlic-infused citrus sauce. Searing the pork in a skillet for just a minute adds a depth of flavor you don't otherwise get in a slow cooker. Mildly spicy ancho chile (dried poblano peppers) adds authentic chile flavor to the sauce. Look for dried chiles in the produce or bulk spice department in large supermarkets. To serve taco truck–style, tuck the carnitas into warm corn tortillas and keep the toppings simple with diced white onion, cilantro, and a squeeze of lime. Pair with slaw on the side.

Don't be intimidated by the size of the pork roast that you're working with; your slow cooker  is going to do pretty much all of the work for you. Wake up in the morning, take a few minutes to brown the pork, and then set it and forget it--you'll be on your way to something exceptional.

Ask your butcher: While a holiday ham traditionally consists of a cured, brined, or smoked cut of pork from the hind leg, we're taking liberties with the word "ham" and choosing the best cut for this job: the shoulder. Order a skin-on fresh picnic ham, aka the picnic cut, a forgiving, economical joint that will give you the juiciest results.

This is a riff on the Korean rice dish bibimbap, in which various toppings are arranged over a bed of rice. Here, Southern Barbecue bowl must-haves such as pinto beans, charred corn, and roasted pork shoulder top brown rice.

Grilling this roast over charcoal is a little complicated, but the results are worth it-the crust is crisper and the meat is melt-in-your-mouth tender. You can do the pork on a gas grill instead, though: Cook it at 275° with all burners turned on except the one beneath the pork; set a drip pan on the turned-off burner. The recipe is from Dana Ewart and Cameron Smith, chefs and caterers in Canada's Okanagan Valley, in British Columbia. They serve it as part of their open-air feasts at God's Mountain Estate, a vineyard and B&B near Penticton.