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These Slow Cooker Shredded Lemongrass Pork Bowls are sure to become a regular on your dinner table! Perfect for a build-a-bowl night that the whole table will love.
The crisped pork paired with spicy mayo and pickled veggies is a combination I cannot get enough of! But, please don’t let the ingredient list overwhelm you. You’ll get the pork in the slow cooker then you can work on the other elements as your pork cooks away.
Slow Cooker Shredded Lemongrass Pork Bowls Ingredients: for the pork
- Boneless Pork Shoulder
- Salt and Pepper
- Garlic Powder
- Avocado Oil: Instant Pot Only!
- Garlic
- Lemongrass
- Fresh Ginger
- Low-Sodium Chicken Broth
- Fish Sauce
- Coconut Aminos
- Fresh Lime Juice
- Rice Vinegar
- Plus, a few more ingredients for the pickled veggies, sauce, and serving!
Slow Cooker Shredded Lemongrass Pork Bowls Step-by-Step: Slow cooker method
Step One: Prepare the Pork
Pat dry then season pork. Next, add the garlic, lemongrass, ginger, chicken stock, fish sauce, coconut aminos, lime juice, and rice vinegar to the bottom of the slow cooker. Whisk to combine. Nestle in the seasoned pork. Cover and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours, or low for 8 to 10.
Step Two: Make the Pickled Veggies
While the pork cooks, make the pickled veggies. In a bowl, combine the carrots, red onion, Fresno chile, rice vinegar, and salt. Toss to coat and set aside or refrigerate until ready to serve.
Step Three: Make the Sauce
In a small bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, lime juice, and coconut sugar (if using). Set aside until the pork is ready.
Step Four: Make the Mayo
In a small bowl, add the mayo, sriracha, garlic cloves, lime juice, and salt. Mix to combine and set aside until ready to serve.
Step Five: Shred the Pork
When the cooking time is complete, transfer the cooked pork to a large, rimmed baking sheet. Allow it to cool slightly before shredding with two forks.
Step Five: crisp the Pork
Next, add ½ cup of the reserved cooking liquid and the sauce. Using tongs, toss to combine so that the juices are evenly distributed. Turn the broiler on “high” and place the sheet with the pork on the highest rack. Watching carefully, broil for 6-9 minutes, until the edges of the pork are brown and crispy.
Step Six: Assemble Bowsl and Enjoy!
To build your bowls, add a bed of cauliflower or jasmine rice, some shredded pork, some pickled veggies, shredded cabbage, mint, cilantro, and a drizzle of spicy mayo!
Slow Cooker Shredded Lemongrass Pork Bowls Recipe FAQ:
Yes! The directions are below on how to make this in an Instant Pot instead!
I love creating a build-a-bowl night with this meal! Start with a base of cauliflower or jasmine rice and some pork then let your guests pile on all the toppings they’d like!
For more pork recipes:
Cuban-Inspired Pulled Pork with Mojo
BBQ Glazed Pork Tenderloin with Avocado Crema
Instant Pot Whole30 BBQ Pulled Pork
Slow Cooker Shredded Lemongrass Pork Bowls
Ingredients
For the Pork:
- 3.5 lbs. boneless pork shoulder, cut into 4 pieces
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil (IP method only)
- 4 cloves garlic, smashed
- 2 stems lemongrass, outer leaves removed, smashed, and minced
- 1 inch piece of fresh ginger, grated
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken stock
- 1 tablespoon fish sauce
- ¼ cup coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
For the Pickled Veggies:
- 1 cup matchstick carrots
- ½ red onion thinly sliced
- 1 Fresno chile thinly sliced
- ½ cup rice vinegar
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
For the Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons fish sauce
- 6 tablespoons coconut aminos
- 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
- 2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 3 tablespoons coconut sugar (omit for Whole30)
For the Spicy Mayo:
- ½ cup avocado oil mayo
- 2 tablespoons sriracha (I used Yellowbird Sriracha for Whole30)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
For Serving:
- 2 cups cooked cauliflower rice or jasmine rice
- 4 cups finely shredded cabbage
- ½ cup chopped fresh mint
- ½ cup chopped fresh cilantro
Instructions
SLOW COOKER INSTRUCTIONS:
- Pat the pork very dry with paper towels and season with salt, garlic powder, and pepper on all sides. Set aside.
- In the bottom of a slow cooker, add the garlic, lemongrass, ginger, chicken stock, fish sauce, coconut aminos, lime juice and rice vinegar. Whisk to combine. Nestle in the seasoned pork. Cover and cook on high for 4 to 6 hours, or low for 8 to 10.
- When the cook time is complete, transfer the cooked pork to a large, rimmed baking sheet and allow to cool before shredding with two forks.
- While the pork is cooking, assemble your condiments and sauces (see below for “both methods”).
INSTANT POT INSTRUCTIONS:
- Pat the pork very dry with paper towels and season with salt, garlic powder, and pepper on all sides. Set aside.
- In an Instant Pot, add the avocado oil and set to the “sauté” function. Once hot, add the garlic cloves, lemongrass, and ginger. Sauté until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Hit “cancel” on the Instant Pot. Nestle in the seasoned pork, and pour over the chicken stock, fish sauce, coconut aminos, lime juice, and rice vinegar. Secure the lid until it clicks with the valve set to “seal.” Using the “manual” setting, cook for 1 hour. Once the time is up, allow the steam to release naturally for about 10 minutes before removing the lid. Transfer the cooked pork to a large, rimmed baking sheet and allow to cool before shredding with two forks.
- While the pork is cooking, assemble your condiments and sauces (see below for “both methods”).
FOR BOTH METHODS:
Make the Pickled Veggies:
- In a bowl, combine the carrots, red onion, Fresno chile, rice vinegar, and salt. Toss to coat and set aside or refrigerate until ready to serve
Make the Sauce:
- In a small bowl, whisk together the fish sauce, coconut aminos, rice vinegar, lime juice, and coconut sugar (if using).
Make Spicy Mayo:
- In a small bowl, add the mayo, sriracha, garlic cloves, lime juice, and salt. Mix to combine and set aside until ready to serve.
Assemble:
- To the sheet with the shredded pork, add ½ cup of the reserved cooking liquid and the sauce. Using tongs, toss to combine so that the juices are evenly distributed.
- Turn the broiler on “high” and place the sheet with the pork on the highest rack. Watching carefully, broil for 6-9 minutes, until the edges of the pork are brown and crispy.
- To build your bowls, add a bed of cauliflower rice, a scoop of shredded pork, a few forkfuls of pickled veggies, shredded cabbage, mint, cilantro, and a drizzle of spicy mayo!
Notes
- The shredded meat in this recipe freezes well. To freeze, let the meat cool completely, then transfer it to airtight containers or freezer bags, leaving some space for expansion. Label and date the containers before placing them in the freezer.
- To thaw, transfer the meat to the refrigerator and let it thaw overnight.
- For reheating, warm the meat in a skillet over medium heat on the stove, adding a splash of water or broth to keep it moist.
- Alternatively, you can reheat this in the microwave in short intervals, stirring in between to ensure even heating.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Photography by Eat Love Eats.
This may be one of your most underrated recipes! This was such a hit in my home and it will definitely be in the normal rotation. Truly a 10/10 recipe!
The ingredient list looks intimidating but it is a simple recipe and you use a lot of the same ingredients in multiple parts of this recipe. The only change I made was I used lemongrass paste instead of fresh.
This is one of my favorites! I usually can only get bone-in pork shoulder that’s over 8lbs at my grocery store, so I double the marinade and put in the oven at 450 degrees for 30 minutes, then cover it and lower the temp to 275 degrees for about 6 hours. Then pull from the bone! It’s SO GOOD, relatively inexpensive to make since I always have these ingredients (besides the lemongrass) in our fridge. Freezes so well for lots of meals.
Can I use a chuck roast?
I make this often and my whole family loves it, we would like to make this for dinner quests who don’t eat pork. Alex, what other protein/and cut would be best?
This recipe is excellent, full of flavor and easy to throw together. I used rice noodles instead of rice for a change, loved it!
Delicious. I would make this again in an instant. Thank you. p.s. I couldn’t find fresh lemongrass, so I used refrigerated lemongrass paste. It worked very well.
Great swap! Glad you enjoyed this dish!
I made this recipe at least 4 times now, so I had to come back and leave a review and a heartfelt thank you! I’ve taken this to a friend after she gave birth, invited people over, packed leftovers for my husband’s lunch the next day, and everyone is crazy about it.
I find it a labor of love, but that’s probably because I buy a 14-15lbs pork shoulder from Costco and use 2 crockpots and multiply the entire recipe by 4. After 10 hours overnight, I trim every bit of fat as I shred the meat in the morning (my husband doesn’t like pork but loves it this way). I mix with the cooking juices and the recommended sauce, and I freeze half for another time. I also make the spicy mayo and the pickled veggies the night before I have guests over, and it makes it a lot easier to eliminate the stress of hosting.
The presentation is Insta-worthy, as one of my guests said yesterday, and everyone goes back for seconds.
Thank you for all the work you put into your recipes, Alex! This one made me buy your books too.
aw thank you so much!
What. A. Meal. This recipe is phenomenal. Great tasting, fun to cook but totally doable during the workweek, great for leftovers, so many great things to say.