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Hawaiian Kalua Pork

Hawaiian kalua pork recipe: slow-cooked, smoky, salty pork that shreds like butter. The classic luau centerpiece, made right in your own oven at home.

⏱ 15 minPrep time
🔥 30 minCook time
🍽 4Servings
🏷 DinnerCategory
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Kalua pork is the centerpiece of the Hawaiian luau: a whole pig seasoned with sea salt, wrapped in banana and ti leaves, and slow-roasted for hours in an imu, a pit oven heated with volcanic stones. The name means ‘the pit’ — the method is everything.

The long cooking gives impossibly tender, smoky, salty pork that needs nothing but rice and maybe some cabbage cooked in the drippings. At home, a slow cooker and a little liquid smoke capture the spirit.

Step by stepInstructions

  1. Pierce the pork all over with a knife and insert the garlic slivers if using.
  2. Rub the pork with the salt and liquid smoke, working it into the crevices.
  3. Place in a slow cooker (or a covered roasting pan at 300°F) and cook on low for 8-10 hours (or 5-6 hours in the oven), until the pork falls apart.
  4. Remove the pork, shred with forks, and toss with the cooking juices.
  5. If using cabbage, cook it in the pan juices until tender, then fold into the pork. Serve with rice.

💡 Chef tips & storage

Hawaiian sea salt (alaea) gives authentic colour and mineral flavour — kosher salt is a fine substitute. Don't skip the liquid smoke; it replaces the imu's smoky depth.

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Recipe details

Prep15 min
Cook30 min
Servings4
CategoryDinner
PublishedAugust 17, 2026
Emily — the cook behind My Comfort Recipes

Hi, I'm Emily 🧡

Hi, I'm Emily — the cook behind My Comfort Recipes. Simple, tested comfort food for real weeknights, written down the way grandma would. Pull up a chair. More about me →