this vegan pulled pork is easy to make and oh so delicious! no jackfruit, no mushrooms, no tofu. this recipe is made with soy curls and made in a slow cooker for ultimate ease!
If you google “vegan pulled pork” most recipes come up are made with jackfruit. Personally, I can’t stand jackfruit and I want to give us vegans something else to use. So, soy curls it is! They are great to have on hand, full of protein, and have a great texture for replicating pulled pork.
What are Soy Curls?
If you have never used soy curls before I can’t recommend them enough. Soy curls are just large dehydrated pieces of soy. They come from the brand Butler and you can order them directly from their site, on Amazon, or check the Butler website for their store locator. I love soy curls because they last a while since they are dehydrated it makes them great for having on hand. They really work so well here for a vegan pulled pork and much better than jackfruit or mushrooms in my opinion.
Why a Slow Cooker?
I love my slow cooker. My slow cooker is a 6 QT Crock-Pot but there are so many awesome ones out there. They are also not too expensive and last for years so it is worth buying them. It is great for the summer for so many reasons. You don’t need to turn on the oven getting your kitchen all hot. It is great to keep things warm in and serve out of. Slow cooking makes your whole house smell amazing. My whole family kept asking me what I was making because it just smelled so good. It also works well here to really soften those soy curls up with minimal effort.
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How to Prepare without a Slow Cooker
I have to say in my opinion everyone needs a slow cooker. However, I totally get that not everyone has one so here are a few other ways to prepare this vegan pulled pork that would still turn out great.
- In the oven: start by rehydrating the soy curls in 1 ¼ cup (300ml) water. Once rehydrated, pour the water out, and add the seasonings and BBQ sauce. Add in ¼ cup (60ml) water and bake covered with foil for 30 to 40 mins at 350°F (176°C). Once the soy curls are softened shred in food processor and then place back in pan and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes until some bits get crispy.
- In the instant pot: most instant pots do have a slow cooker function, so you can just use it like that.
- Stovetop: (this is the method I would least recommend) but again you could rehydrate the soy curls, pour out water and add ¼ cup. Then cook in a large pan with the seasonings and BBQ sauce over medium low heat for about 15 minutes until soy curls are soft. Shred them in food processor, place back in the pan and cook for another 15 to 20 minutes until parts of soy curls turn a bit crispy.
Vegan Pulled Pork FAQ
- How long does this last? It will stay in the fridge for up to 4 days.
- How should I reheat this? You can warm it in the microwave.
- Can I replace the soy curls? This recipe was designed around the soy curls. However, I have an alternate recipe for you here that still doesn’t use jackfruit or mushrooms and it’s soy free!
- What barbecue sauce do you like? I like either Kraft or Sweet Baby Ray’s always check your ingredients to make sure there is no honey.
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Vegan Pulled Pork
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 cups (120g) soy curls
- 2 tablespoons (30ml) low sodium soy sauce
- 3 tablespoons (36g) organic brown sugar
- ½ cup (144g) barbecue sauce
- 1 ¼ cup (300ml) water
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients into a slow cooker.
- Cook on high for 55 minutes. The soy curls should be completely rehydrated and soft.
- You can shred the soy curls by hand with two forks but it is a bit tedious. Transfer them into a food processor and pulse a few times for about 10 seconds to get a shredded texture. Do not over shred or it will break it down too much.
- Transfer back into the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 1 hour and 30 minutes. Depending on your crock-pot some parts of the soy curls may even turn a bit crispy, which I love.
- You can then use these soy curls however you like! On a sandwich, in a salad, bowl, wrap, or just for some snacking.
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My only complaint is that I didn’t have more… seriously, as soon as I tasted it I immediately made a second batch. Seriously- it is the simplest recipe ever and SO delicious!
yay!!! I am so glad you enjoyed them Alyssa!! Right so easy and so delicious. thank you for trying the recipe and leaving a comment/review xo
Hi, didn’t make it yet. We are serving pulled pork o our wedding but received an RSVP with someone that doesn’t eat meat and came across your pulled pork version, I would like to know if it can be made ahead of time and be frozen? How do you reheat
I will be doing part of our food, we already had gluten and dairy free guests but now also a no meat person.
Thank you for your feedback
Hi Carmen, sure I have it covered here in the FAQ. I would not recommend freezing.
“How long does this last? It will stay in the fridge for up to 4 days.
How should I reheat this? You can warm it in the microwave.”
So easy and full of flavor and texture! Thank you for a recipe with few steps to a yummy protein alternative.
Hi Cheryl! I am so glad you enjoyed it!! thank you for trying it and taking the time leave a comment/review!! xo
This looks fantastic! I was wondering about making it in the Instant Pot… any idea about times? Thanks!
thank you Lauren! I am honestly not an Instant Pot pro so I truly have no clue. I do believe instant pots have a slow cooker setting though, so you could use that!
Will do! Thanks!
We are having a company party and are serving pulled pork but we have two vegetarians. So, I wanted to find something equivalent to pulled pork for them. When I found this recipe, I had to give it a try before the party to make sure it was good 😉. This is absolutely delicious and I would eat it anytime even though I am not vegan or vegetarian. However, I often eat vegetarian due to having many friends that are. This is so much better than jackfruit. I honestly couldn’t tell that I wasn’t eating meat. Thank you for this simple and delicious recipe. I know my coworkers will be pleased!
I was wondering if you think I could make it the night before and reheat it in the crockpot before the party. I wanted to serve it that way instead of microwaving it.
Thanks for this delicious recipe!
Hi Jolie! oh yay I am so so glad to hear it was enjoyed by everyone! I agree I am not a jackfruit fan at all haha! I think the reheating should be okay but i worry that the crockpot would just take too long to warm it up. Unless you let it go for a few hours before but it could make it a little dry so you may need to add a little extra BBQ sauce and water.
Thank you!
Hi
I was wondering if this recipe can be frozen?
Hi Debra, I personally haven’t tried. It may need some extra bbq sauce after freezing and thawing!
This recipe was a huge hit! I doubled it and used the leftovers for a BBQ burrito, then on nachos with black beans and vegan “cheese” sauce, then on a BBQ pizza. So many uses! I wanted a little more smoky flavor and tang so the second time around I added splashes of apple cider vinegar and Liquid smoke and used smoked paprika for half the paprika.
Hi Ashley!! thank you so much for leaving a comment and a review. I am so glad you enjoyed it in so many ways!! yay!
What type of BBQ sauce do you use? The one we like is a little sweet so I’m wondering if the brown sugar will make it more sweet. So excited to try!
Hi Krish! I hope you enjoy this. I have them tagged directly in the FAQ section of the blog post either Sweet Baby Ray’s or one from Kraft! They are sweet and yes the brown sugar does make it sweeter so if you tend to like things less sweet you can adjust the sugar amount. Enjoy 🙂
Yes, yes, yes! This is the best vegan pulled I’ve ever tasted! Perfect 🤩🤩🤩
Hi Katrine!! awww yay I am so glad you enjoyed it thank you so much for trying it and taking the time to leave a comment and review!!
This was so delicious! The texture is just like pulled pork and it was so easy to make. Even my husband who is a huge carnivore, liked these and ate the leftovers! I highly recommend!
Hi Jaymie! Oh yay I am so so happy to hear that. Always so happy when it is a hit for the whole family too. Thank you for trying it and leaving a comment/review!
This sounds really interesting. I was wondering: did you try the same technique with just BBQ sauce? Do all the other ingredients make the curls actually taste like pork? (Am new to vegan cooking.)
Hi Anne, so the addition of the soy sauce, brown sugar, and spices is there to help further intensify and deepen the flavors. If you would prefer to just use BBQ sauce you can definitely try that but I personally wouldn’t recommend doing that and especially as someone who is newer to vegan cooking and you are going to be looking for more flavor.
Could you make this with adobo sauce instead? I love the idea of vegan pulled pork but I don’t like the taste of BBQ sauce.
Hi Nagem, sure! you can play around with the flavors definitely have fun with it. let me know how it goes
Could you substitute the brown sugar with coconut sugar? I can’t do cane sugar for health reasons.
Sure that is fine
So easy and delicious! Took 5 minutes to throw together. It as a little sweet for me so I added a splash of apple cider vinegar after the first hour. But this will definitely be a regular recipe for us moving forward!!
So glad you enjoyed!!!