A partially shredded roast pork butt in a roasting pan with a fork nearby.
Rating
4.73 / 289 votes
Comments 503 Comments
Adapted From Nick Evans
Photographer David Leite

This post was updated Jan 6, 2025 to include a video, more serving suggestions, tips, and answers to more questions.

Over the past decade, I think of this recipe for oven-roasted pork butt as a masterclass in low-and-slow cooking. Adapted from Nick Evans, it combines a bold spice rub with the magic of slow roasting to create fork-tender, flavor-packed meat. After extensive testing in our testers’ kitchens, I’ve continued to fine-tune the recipe to give you consistent, foolproof results. Whether served as a centerpiece or shredded into sandwiches, this recipe delivers every time.

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What’s the Difference Between Pork Butt and Pork Shoulder?

A butcher's chart showing different cuts of pork pork butt is in red.

Pork butt isn’t actually the backend of the pig. That’s the ham. Pork butt is a squarish cut of meat that comes from the upper part of the pork shoulder of the pig and has lots of connective tissue and fat. It’s also known as Boston butt. 

Now, pork shoulder (or picnic roast) is the lower, triangular portion of the shoulder and is more muscular. 

Where things get confusing is many stores use the terms interchangeably. Luckily, both cuts work in this recipe. 

david caricature

Why This Recipe Works

This recipe delivers fall-apart tender, flavorful pork butt because of the low and slow cooking method that breaks down tough connective tissue. The balanced spice rub adds complexity, while the “fat cap up” technique ensures the meat bastes in its own juices for maximum moisture and flavor.

Resting the roast allows the juices to redistribute, guaranteeing a tender final product. Basically, it’s a foolproof method for delicious, melt-in-your-mouth pulled pork!

Notes on Ingredients

Ingredients for roast pork butt --pork shoulder, salt, cumin, paprika, light brown sugar, red pepper flakes, black pepper.
  • Pork butt–Use a well-marbled cut of pork butt or Boston butt for best results.  If your pork comes with the skin on, have your butcher remove it for you.
  • Spice blend—Our blend includes brown sugar, paprika, cumin, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, creating a sweet, warm, slightly spicy flavor profile.
  • Diamond brand kosher salt—Since salt’s weight varies from brand to brand, please weigh your salt and use 9 grams for this recipe. If you don’t have a scale and aren’t using Diamond brand, use 2 teaspoons to avoid oversalting.
A partially shredded roast pork butt in a roasting pan with a fork nearby.

How to Roast a Pork Butt

A man's hands mixing a bowl of spices for a oven-roasted pork butt.
  1. Stir together the salt, sugar, paprika, pepper flakes, cumin, and black pepper in a small bowl.
A man's hand rubbing in spice mix into a park butt/pork shoulder.
  1. Rub the pork all over with the spice mixture. It should be coated on all sides.
A pork butt wrapped in plastic on a white plate.
  1. Wrap the pork in plastic and refrigerate overnight.
A cooked roast pork butt on a rack over a baking sheet.
  1. Roast the pork, fatty side up, on a roasting pan in the oven until the internal temperature reaches 190° to 195°F. Let it rest at room temperature for 15 minutes.
A man's shredding meat for pulled pork with two forks.
  1. Use two forks to shred the pork. Serve alone or with your favorite BBQ sauce, if desired.

Common Questions about Roasting Pork Butt

1. How long to cook pork butt in oven?

Cook pork butt at 250°F (121°C) for about 1 hour per pound until the internal temperature reaches 190°F to 195°F (88°C to 91°C). So a 6 1/2-to-8-pound pork butt would take between 6 to 8 hours, longer if the meat was particularly, which is why a thermometer is crucial.

2. Do I really need to use a meat thermometer for this recipe?

Totally. This pork recipe is almost impossible to pull off without a meat thermometer. You can’t judge the pork by sight or feel. I prefer a digital probe thermometer that can be left in the pork as it roasts. When you insert the thermometer, stick it into the thickest part of the pork butt, and make sure it’s not touching the bone, or you’ll get a false reading.

3. Do I need to let pork butt rest after cooking?

Yes! Resting the meat for at least 15 to 30 minutes allows the juices to redistribute, ensuring a tender and flavorful result.

4. Can I cook pork butt in a slow cooker instead of the oven?

Yes! Cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or high for 5 to 6 hours until it’s tender and falls apart easily.

Best Ways to Enjoy Pork Butt

Pulled pork sandwich' a triple-decker pulled-pork grilled-cheese' creamy coleslaw; roasted sweet potatoes with lime and hot sauce.

This pork butt recipe is stupendously magnificent on its own, butt (get it?!), consider:

Pro Tips

  • Letting the pork sit overnight after rubbing it with the spice mixture is optional but highly recommended.
  • Make sure to let the pork butt rest before shredding it. It will be hot!
  • The pulled pork can be stored well in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If you’re freezing it for later, divvy it into 1-pound servings and freeze it in storage bags for up to 3 months. Reheat in a 300°F oven until warmed through.
  • This recipe is suitable for gluten-free and dairy-free diets.

Storaging & Reheating

Pulled pork stores well in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 4 days. If you’re freezing it for later, divvy it into 1-pound servings and freeze it in storage bags for up to 3 months. Reheat in a 300°F oven until warmed through.

More Juicy Pork Butt Recipes

Partially shredded slow cooker pulled pork with two large forks shredding it.
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
Two pork tacos filled with shredded pork, radishes, jalapenos, salsa, and sour cream on a plate.
Pork Tacos

Write a Review

If you make this recipe, or any dish on LC, consider leaving a review, a star rating, and your best photo in the comments below. I love hearing from you.–David

Leave a Review!

I made this pork shoulder a month ago, and my whole family loved it! Now that my nephew’s in town, and because we all had it on our minds, I decided to make it again. I almost cried when I thought I lost the recipe! Thank you so much for sharing!

Melissa

How to Cook a Pork Butt in the Oven

A partially shredded roast pork butt in a roasting pan with a fork nearby.

Roast Pork Butt

4.73 / 289 votes
This roast pork butt, coated in a simple rub of brown sugar, paprika, cumin, and red pepper flakes, is an easy recipe to make and yields enough pulled pork to feed a small army. Perfect for Super Bowl, weekend bashes, and weeknight dinners. Best of all, it can me roasted in the oven.
David Leite
Print
CourseMains
CuisineSouthern
Servings16 servings
Calories305 kcal
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time9 hours 40 minutes
Total Time10 hours

Equipment

Ingredients 

  • 1 tablespoon Diamond kosher salt
  • 1 tablespoons light brown sugar
  • 1 tablespoon  paprika
  • ½ to 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper
  • one (6 1/2- to 8-pound) bone-in skinless pork butt, or pork shoulder or two 3 1/2- to 4-pound pork butts
  • Your favorite grocery store or homemade BBQ sauce, (optional)
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Instructions 

  • In a small bowl, stir together the 1 tablespoon Diamond kosher salt, 1 tablespoons light brown sugar, 1 tablespoon  paprika, ½ to 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, and 1 tablespoon coarsely ground black pepper.
  • Rub the one (6 1/2- to 8-pound) bone-in skinless pork butt all over with the spice mixture. The pork butt should be completely coated on all sides.
  • If you have time, tightly wrap the pork in plastic wrap, place it on a plate, and refrigerate overnight (8 to 12 hours) to let the flavors "hold hands," as my grandmother used to say.
  • Crank the oven temperature to 250°F (121°C). Place a roasting rack in a large pan.
  • Place the pork butt, fat cap side up, on the rack. Roast the pork, uncovered, until the internal temperature reaches 190° to 195°F (88° to 91°C).
    By this point, the exterior should be crispy and dry. This is similar to what’s referred to as “bark” when smoking on a grill. This can take anywhere from 4 to 10 hours, depending on your oven and the size of your pork butt.
  • Remove the pork from the oven and let the roast rest for 15 minutes on a cutting board.

    ☞ TESTER TIP:  If you’re craving super-moist meat for pulled pork, remove the pan from the oven, tightly wrap the pork butt in a couple of layers of heavy-duty aluminum foil, and let it rest for 30 to 45 minutes to soften the exterior.

  • Shred the roast pork butt with a couple of forks, evenly mixing the crisp, dry edges with the insanely moist, tender pork inside.

    ☞ TESTER TIP: You may want to slather the pulled pork with barbecue sauce to impart flavor and sauciness, but I urge you to try it naked first.

Notes

  1. Rest—Letting the pork sit overnight after rubbing it with the spice mixture is optional but highly recommended.
  2. Cool—Make sure to let the pork butt sit before shredding it. It will be hot.
  3. Storage—The pulled pork will store well in the fridge for up to 4 days. If you’re freezing it for later, divvy it into 1-pound servings and freeze it in storage bags. Reheat in a 300°F oven until warmed through.
  4. Dietary—This recipe works for gluten-free and dairy-free diet.
 

 

Southwestern Rub Variation

For a Southwestern vibe, mix these together and use in place of the rub above:
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1 tablespoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon chipotle powder
  • 1 tablespoon light brown sugar
  • 2 teaspoons kosher salt
  • 1 teaspoon black pepper
Love Your Leftovers Cookbook

Adapted From

Love Your Leftovers

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Nutrition

Serving: 1 servingCalories: 305 kcalCarbohydrates: 1 gProtein: 43 gFat: 13 gSaturated Fat: 5 gMonounsaturated Fat: 6 gTrans Fat: 0.1 gCholesterol: 136 mgSodium: 588 mgFiber: 0.2 gSugar: 1 g

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

Tried this recipe?Mention @leitesculinaria or tag #leitesculinaria!
Recipe © 2014 Nick Evans. Photos © 2023 David Leite. All rights reserved.

Recipe Testers’ Reviews

Linda Pacchiano

This is one of the best pork butt recipes. Excellent. I rubbed the blend on and then refrigerated the pork shoulder roast overnight so the flavors would meld.

The hands-on time is minimal—about 15 minutes to assemble the spice mixture and rub it all over the pork butt. I used about 1/2 the stated amount of red pepper flakes because I thought 1 tablespoon would give too much heat for my taste. I used a bone-in pork shoulder roast that was four pounds, and it took 6 hours in a convection oven set to 225°F.

I served the pork with the classic coleslaw recipe and a bit of Bobby Flay’s barbecue sauce on a soft roll. The pork definitely needs some kind of sauce.

Larry Noak

Sometimes we either don’t have access to a smoker or can’t commit 6 or 8 hours to low and slow cooking on a grill. And while slow cookers can make WONDERFUL slow cooker pulled pork, one thing will be missing, and for me, that’s an essential part of pulled pork—the BARK!

When you rub a piece of pork with a spice rub and cook it, low and slow, on a smoker, grill, or in an oven, after several hours, the rub mixes with the hot fat and juices and eventually gets a hard crust called a BARK.

For my money, this is the VERY best part of ANY barbecue! Anyone who loves meat must LOVE a crisp, spice-rubbed exterior.) This bark can be achieved in your oven, and–as long as you have a clock and a thermometer–you can create a nice crust on your pork butt with this recipe. The rub mentioned here is great, but if you have your favorite rub on hand, by all means, use it.

From here, shred the roast pork butt by any means necessary (two forks work nicely) and top it with your favorite sauce, coleslaw, or, as I do, both.

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About David Leite

I count myself lucky to have received three James Beard Awards for my writing as well as for Leite’s Culinaria. I’m the author of The New Portuguese Table and Notes on a Banana. For more than 25 years, I’ve been developing and testing recipes for my site, my books, and publications. My work has also appeared in the New York Times, Martha Stewart Living, Saveur, Bon Appétit, Gourmet, Food & Wine, Yankee, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Washington Post, and more. I’m also a cooking teacher, memoirist, and inveterate cat lady.

Read More About Me
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503 Comments

  1. Going to try this for the very first time for a July 4th meal. Have never made homemade Bar-BQ and never fixed a pork roast. Am excited and nervous. Will definitely let you know how it turns out. Thank you for the recipe and the tips. Here goes nothing (or everything…lol)!!!!

    Reply

    1. We can’t wait to hear how it turns out, Karen. We hope you have a fantastic 4th of July BBQ.

      Reply

  2. There are just 2 of us. I cut a huge piece of pork butt into roughly 4 pound sections. I’ve got a couple in my freezer at the moment.

    Would doing a smaller piece in my slow cooker work just as well or should I make some accommodation?

    Reply

    1. Rainey, if you want to do a slow cooker version, I’d suggest following this recipe for slow cooker pulled pork. It can be made with a smaller piece and wouldn’t take quite as long. Using the method in this recipe in the slow cooker won’t give you the bark that makes this so worthwhile.

      Reply

      1. 4 stars
        My piece of pork was almost 5 pounds (boneless) so I followed the recipe using my gas grill. That gave me the opportunity to add some hickory chips to get some smokey flavor added to the interesting texture.

        The meat was delicious. We had it for dinner and invited the kids over for leftovers the next day.

        I found it fast and easy to “pull” the pork in sections using my electric mixer on a low speed. The whole roast was done in about 4 minutes.

        Reply

        1. Thanks, Rainey. I’ve never thought of using the mixer to pull pork. Great suggestion!

          Reply