Sous Vide Pulled Pork Shoulder for BBQ Tacos

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The basic sous vide pulled pork recipe is completely versatile. This version, a sous vide barbecue pulled pork shoulder recipe, is a delicious sous vide main dish. Serve it for an easy dinner, event or party. We love making pork sous vide style for football games, march madness parties and potlucks. Not much work goes into cooking sous vide pork, and it’s an easy sous vide recipe to feed a crowd.

Let’s make tasty sous vide pulled pork

Today you’re going to learn how to make beautiful sous vide pulled pork for tacos that’s tender on the inside, and has a thick, flavorful seared bark on the outside.

New to sous vide techniques? Learn why is sous vide so popular.

While I love traditional barbecue and smoked pulled pork, the weather here in Portland, Oregon doesn’t always allow for outdoor cooking. Plus, those methods require someone to be home and watching the food as it cooks.

That’s where this super easy sous vide pork recipe comes in.

Here’s a video of the recipe…

(keep scrolling for step-by-step directions)

Cooking pork shoulder sous vide style makes extremely tender shredded pork for carnitas tacos or pulled pork sandwiches. You can take the base of this pulled pork sous vide recipe and turn it into a variety of dishes.

Here’s how it’s made, step-by-step…

Prepare the sous vide bath

Program the sous vide machine to 165 degrees.

Sous vide pork at 48 hours cooks best in a covered large sous vide container.

If you have a smaller, 12, 18, or 22 quart sous vide container, then cover the top with foil or a lid.

If you use an open container without a lid, you’ll want to watch the water level.

Seasoning for sous vide pork shoulder

Generously rub pork shoulder with BBQ seasoning and black pepper. Using a little olive oil helps the seasoning stick.

If you’re looking for a good BBQ blend, try Bone Suckin’ Seasoning Blend or this Smokehouse Coffee BBQ Rub.

Sear the pork shoulder to form a thick bark

Searing the pork shoulder before adding it to the sous vide bag adds a boatload of flavor to the pork.

Personally, I think the thick bark on the ends of tender sous vide pulled pork is the best part!

In fact, at my favorite BBQ tent at the farmers market, “burnt ends” are an up-charge.

So don’t skip this step!

How to get the perfect sear on sous vide pork shoulder

Heat a pan on the stove to medium-high.

Add olive oil to pan, then sear each side of the pork shoulder (don’t forget those end caps!) until a thick brown bark seals the edges of the meat.

Once the pork is seared, vacuum seal it. No additional liquid is needed in the bag.

Sous vide pulled pork temperature and time

This is a 48 hour sous vide pork shoulder recipe set at 165 degrees.

I’ve tried cooking 24 hour pulled pork, and found that isn’t enough time for the tender quality I like in pulled pork tacos.

Once complete, remove the sous vide pork shoulder from the water bath.

Pull apart the tender sous vide pork with a fork.

Add the pork to your taco vessel of choice.

I served this batch of BBQ pulled pork sous vide style on flour tortillas with coleslaw, caramelized onions, avocado, and pork sauce.

Make a sauce from the sous vide pork juice

Reserve the pork juice from the sous vide bag to make a sauce. Reduce the pork juice on the stove with a pat of butter.

Add a little BBQ sauce or hot sauce to the pork juice to amp up the flavor. If you haven’t tried it yet, this chipotle hot sauce is one of my favs.

(PSST… If you’re a big fan of long-cook sous vide recipes, check out this recipe for 24 hour sous vide beef ribs. The ribs are super tender.) 

How about a sous vide side dish?

Buttery and always juicy sous vide sweet corn on the cob is a perfect addition to these tacos. It comes with a tasty sauce made of cilantro, lime and jalapeno to spice things up!

How do you cook a bone in pork shoulder sous vide?

You can cook a bone in pork shoulder with this same sous vide recipe, as long as the weight of the meat is about the same.

Tasty tips for cooking sous vide pulled pork shoulder tacos

• Cole slaw, avocado, and caramelized sous vide onions make a wonderful taco toppings
• Here are a couple BBQ seasoning recommendations: Bone Suckin’ Seasoning Blend and Smokehouse Coffee BBQ Rub
• Leftover sous vide pulled pork is delicious tossed on a homemade pizza with BBQ sauce and mozzarella
• For 48 hour sous vide recipes like this one, it’s smart to invest in a large sous vide container, or at least buy a lid for a standard size container
• If you use an open container without a lid, cover the sous vide bath with foil and watch (and continue to replenish) the water level
• Check out my post on sous vide accessories to learn about tools that make long sous vide recipes easier to execute

Your taco-loving, pulled pork sous vide cookin’ foodie friend, Jenna.

Have you tried to make your own salsa? My friend Jo at Nourishing Time has an easy homemade tomato salsa recipe – you have to try it. 

Have leftovers?? Lucky you!

Add them to some toast with soft boiled sous vide eggs. 

Or go a step further and get fancy.

Enjoy left over pulled pork for breakfast in these breakfast tacos with sous vide onions. 

Breakfast tacos are also delish with leftover sous vide brisket, pork butt, and pork chops. I never thought I’d enjoy leftovers so much, but with sous vide recipes, the leftovers are always notch because the food comes out so tender.

Tender food makes the best leftovers.

Share your sous vide cooking 

If you’ve tried this recipe and made your own sous vide pulled pork, don’t eat it it till it’s photographed– you need to share that beauty with the world! Include #sipbitego and tag @sipbitego on Instagram – I’d love to see your pic.

Check out my sous vide cookbook on Amazon: The Home Chef’s Sous Vide Cookbook.