This Dutch oven pulled pork recipe is sugar-free, gluten-free, and, of course, keto-friendly! Fatty meat with beer and BBQ sauce is a combination that no-one can resist. Make a big batch of it and serve for family celebrations. It’s also perfect as a meal prep recipe!
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As a former bartender, I love cooking with beer! Sometimes I put it in the food I’m cooking! But, all joking aside, who doesn’t like the pork and beer combo? Just add some healthy BBQ sauce and how can you say NO to this easy pulled pork recipe? I don’t think you can! It’s so juicy, so satisfying; it will become your favorite keto pork recipe.
Ingredients and substitutes
For the pork
Pork - Use boneless pork butt or pork shoulder with the visible fat trimmed.
Garlic and onions - I use fresh garlic and onions seasoned with freshly ground black pepper and salt, then fried in some butter as my aromatics.
Chicken broth - You can't go wrong with a splash of chicken broth for extra flavor.
Beer - Use a gluten-free lager or ale beer if you have a gluten sensitivity or celiac.
Spice mixture - As for the dry rub, I'm gonna use smoky paprika, onion and garlic powder, ground cumin, chili powder, and salt.
For the homemade barbecue sauce
Ketchup - Use an unsweetened ketchup of your choice.
Worcestershire sauce - There are tons of flavor variations you can use to make homemade BBQ sauce. I like to add some Worcestershire sauce for its tangy, sweet, and spicy flavor.
Sweetener - I use a blend of erythritol and stevia from Sukrin for its almost non-existent aftertaste. The other great option would be an allulose sweetener. You can also use coconut sugar if you follow a paleo diet.
Apple cider vinegar - Or you can use white wine vinegar!
Chipotle paste - This will add smokiness and a touch of spiciness to our dish. Alternatively, you can also use liquid smoke and a teaspoon of chili powder.
Step by step directions
Whisk together the BBQ sauce ingredients and set aside.
Then, prepare the dry rub by combining all dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Then take the pork butt and rub it with the dry rub mixture. Let the meat marinate at room temperature for at least 30 minutes. Meanwhile, whisk together the BBQ sauce ingredients and set aside.
Preheat the oven to 150C (300F).
Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven (4qt/4 liters) over a medium-high heat and brown the pork butt on each side. When done, remove onto a plate.
To the same Dutch oven, add extra oil if needed and onions with garlic. Season everything with salt and black pepper and cook until slightly browned. Then, add a splash of water to deglaze the bottom of the oven and place the meat back.
Pour the beer and chicken broth in, cover the Dutch oven with a lid, and place in the preheated oven for around 3 hours. Then, remove the lid and let the meat cook for 1 more hour until the meat pulls apart easily.
After, remove the meat from the Dutch oven into a large bowl or onto a plate and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
Meanwhile, place the Dutch oven on the stove and bring the remaining liquids to a simmer. Add the BBQ sauce and cook until it’s thickened to your taste (it took me around 10 minutes). Remove from the heat.
Using 2 forks, shred the meat and place it back into the Dutch oven. Stir well to combine with the BBQ sauce.
Serve our dutch oven pulled pork dish hot topped with chopped cilantro and lime wedges and the side dish of your choice.
What to serve with BBQ pulled pork
If I wasn’t on a keto diet, I would eat Dutch oven pulled pork with mashed potatoes, but there’s a healthier alternative – CREAMY CAULIFLOWER MASH. It’s a low-carb side dish that’s creamy and tastes very
similar to mashed potatoes.
Also, I can’t stop myself from mentioning that you can use this keto pork recipe with my MICROWAVE KETO BREAD to create an amazing sloppy joe style pulled pork BBQ sandwiches!
Other than that, Dutch oven pork butt or shoulder can go well with roasted root vegetables like these EASY ROASTED CARROTS AND PARSNIPS or just on the top of your favorite fresh vegetable salad or LOW CARB KETO CAULIFLOWER RICE.
Carbs in keto pulled pork
This is one of those BBQ pulled pork recipes that are actually healthy. It's much lower in carbs than your usual pulled pork. We don't use any sugars or ingredients sweetened with sugar in this recipe, which makes it suitable for a low carb and keto diet. You can split it into 6 generous meals with only around 7g net carbs per serving.
FAQ
It's done when it's easily pulled apart using a fork. To achieve such a result, you need to cook your pork cut for a really long time (this can take up to 5 hours, depending on the size of your cut) at a rather low temperature (around 150C/300F).
Yes! After you finish cooking your pork shoulder or pork butt, let it rest for 5-10 minutes before pulling the meat apart. This will help the meat to relax and reabsorb the moisture, which will lead to a juicier dish.
You can dry rub your pork cut 12-24 hours before cooking.
More low carb pork recipes
ONE-PAN CHEESY BRUSSELS SPROUTS WITH BACON
Recipe
Dutch oven pulled pork recipe
Equipment
- Dutch oven (4qt/4lt)
Ingredients
- 2.5 lb. 1.2 kg pork butt or pork shoulder, boneless, fat trimmed
- 1 small 50g yellow onion, finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- ½ cup 120g chicken broth
- 33 cl gluten-free beer, lager-style (12fl oz bottle)
- Ground black pepper
- Salt
- Olive oil for frying
Dry rub
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon chili powder
- Salt
BBQ sauce
- ⅔ cup 150g ketchup, unsweetened
- 2 teaspoon granulated sweetener
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 teaspoon chipotle paste
- ¼ cup 60g apple cider vinegar
- Salt
Garnishing
- Cilantro, chopped
- Lime wedges, optional
Serving ideas
Instructions
- Whisk together the BBQ sauce ingredients and set aside.
- In a small mixing bowl, combine the dry rub ingredients and set aside.
- Take the pork shoulder, rub with the dry rub mixture, and leave to marinate for 30 minutes at room temperature.
- Preheat the oven to 150C (300F).
- Heat the olive oil in a Dutch oven (4qt/4 liters) over a medium-high heat and brown all pieces of the pork on each side. When done, remove onto a plate.
- To the same Dutch oven, add extra oil if needed and onions with garlic. Season with salt and black pepper and cook until slightly browned. Then, add a splash of water to deglaze the bottom of the oven and place the meat back.
- Pour the beer and chicken broth in, cover the Dutch oven with a lid, and place in the preheated oven for around 3 hours. Then remove the lid and let the meat cook for 1 more hour until it pulls apart easily.
- After, remove the meat from the Dutch oven into a large bowl or onto a plate and let it rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, place the Dutch oven on the stove and bring the remaining liquids to a simmer. Add the BBQ sauce and cook until thickened to your taste (can take from 5-15 minutes depends on how much liquids left in the Dutch oven after baking). Remove from the heat.
- Using 2 forks, shred the meat and place back into the Dutch oven. Stir well to combine with the BBQ sauce.
- Serve it hot topped with chopped cilantro and lime wedges.
Notes
This website, https://heretocook.com, offers nutritional information for recipes contained on this site. This information is provided as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. This information is a product of online calculators such as Cronometer.com and MyFitnesPal.com
Anna says
Thank you for your kind words!
Mia says
Absolutely delicious! Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Anna says
Thank you for your comment, Mia!
Agnese says
Can I cook the meat the day before and “finish” the morning of when I want to serve it? How would you do it?
Anna says
Hi Agnese! I would cook the meat the day before. When it's done, remove it from the Dutch oven and let it rest, then shred it, but don't put it back. Instead, let it cool down to room temperature and refrigerate overnight in a big bowl covered with plastic wrap. While the meat is cooling down, you can finish cooking the sauce (step #9). When done, cool it down too, and put it in the fridge. I would refrigerate it right in the Dutch oven on the bottom shelf because it's the only shelf in my fridge that can handle such a heavy thing. If you're not sure about your fridge, I would recommend removing the sauce into a lighter vessel and then refrigerate 🙂 Next morning, reheat the sauce on the stovetop until bubbling (if it's too thick, add a little bit of water). Then, add the shredded meat, and mix well. Taste and adjust salt if needed. Let it cook for 1-2 minutes and serve! So, next morning you can finish everything in 10 minutes! I hope it will help!
Agnese says
Thanks so much! It was a success!
Holly says
Is the beer just a splash? Not familiar with the measurement of cl but when I converted it, it looks like half a tablespoon? Thank you!!
Anna says
Hi Holly, there was a mistake in the recipe card. You need a whole bottle of beer (33cl/330ml/12fl oz) for the recipe.
Orionberry says
This was really good. Had a question about the beer though: "0.33 cl" is like half a teaspoon, is that what was intended or did I do the unit conversion incorrectly? Either way, that seemed really low. I ended up using half a cup of beer which, we all thought, turned out fine.
Anna says
Orionberry, it was a mistake in the recipe card; I fixed it. It should be 33cl which is one beer bottle, not 0.33cl, so you did everything right adding more beer!
Lisa B says
If I do not want to use a sweetener, can you I use regular sugar? if so, how much?
Anna says
Yes, you can replace sweetener with the same amount of regular sugar.