Italian Pepper Pulled Pork - 3 Ingredients!

This easy juicy 3-Ingredient Italian Pepper Pulled Pork recipe is the best quick and simple recipe on my blog to date!  Make it in a slow cooker or in an Instant Pot, any way you chose, you and your family are sure to love this low carb dinner.

 

 

Are you like me and scrambling to find simple and easy recipes with ingredients that you have readily available?

If you answered yes (or even if you answered no!), this recipe is for you!

 

What makes this Italian Pepper Pulled Pork so great?

• ridiculously easy to make
• only requires 3 ingredients
• can use several different types of pork
• can be made in a pressure cooker or in a slow cooker
• perfect for sandwiches or wraps, as a salad topping or stuff it in a baked potato

 

 

 

What ingredients do you need to make this Italian Pepper Pulled Pork?

• choice of Italian or other vinaigrette based salad dressing
• a jar of mild banana peppers, pepperoncini or roasted red peppers
• pork tenderloin, pork loin, pork shoulder or pork butt

 

What type of salad dressing works best?

You want to use a salad dressing that is oil-based.  If using a pork loin or tenderloin, I would suggest a salad dressing that contains some olive oil as the meat itself is very lean.

If using a Boston butt or a pork butt, you need not worry about adding extra fat to the marinade as the meat is already marbled with fat

My favourite brands are:

• Organicville - all of their products are organic and most are Whole30, Paleo and Keto
• Primal Kitchen - although they are not organic, this brand is Paleo and Keto friendly

 

 

What are the differences between the types of pork?

Pork Tenderloin:

• long and narrow
• also called pork "filet"
• a very tender cut of meat
• tends to cook quickly
• best cooked on high heat such as a grill or on the stovetop

Pork Loin:

• thicker and wider than a pork tenderloin
• more accurately called a pork loin "roast"
• since it is thicker, it cooks a little slower
• best cooked low and slow in a slow cooker or pressure cooker to retain moisture

Boston Butt or Pork Shoulder:

• both come from the shoulder of the pig
• pork butt is higher on the foreleg, 
• pork shoulder is farther down
• both are higher in fat and relatively tough cuts of meat
• both benefit from long, slow cooking methods such as roasting, stewing and braising

 

 

What makes this Italian Pepper Pulled Pork so juicy?

The secret is injecting the meat.

That's right!!

That marinade injector that you only use for your turkey is actually used to make this pulled pork super tender even if you use a pork loin.

 

 

 

How do you inject the pork?

Very carefully!  

I am not joking about this.  If you are somewhat careless with injected the meat, it can come shooting right back at you.  It happened to me when I made my Maple Bourbon Ham.

So, you would think I would learn my lesson, right?

WRONG!!

Once again, my mind started wandering and I was being careless with an injector and...you guessed it!  A geyser of salad dressing went flying on to my kitchen window!

Make sure that you insert the needle into the pork and as you press down to release the marinade, you slowly draw the needle out of the pork.  

 

 

 

How do you prepare the Italian Pepper Pulled Pork?

• Allow your choice of pork cut to come to room temperature
• Take approximately ½ cup of your choice of salad dressing and pour it into a thin or slightly narrow drinking cup
• At about 1 inch apart, inject the pork, making sure to flip the meat and get all sides of the pork
• There will be some salad dressing that you will not be able to get into the injector so set whatever is remaining to the side
• Add the pork to the slow cooker or pressure cooker

If using a slow cooker:

• Pour any remaining salad dressing over the pork
• Set the slow cooker on "HI" for 4 hours or on "LOW" for 8 hours
• If you prefer slicing the meat rather than shredding the meat, slow cook on high for about 2.5 hours
• Shred pork and stir in jarred peppers any additional salad dressing for taste

If using a pressure cooker (or Ninja Foodi or Instant Pot)

• Divide the 3 lbs of pork loin into 2 sections weighing approximately 1.5 lbs each
• Add 1 cup of water to the pressure cooker (you can use some of the extra salad dressing or the liquid from the jarred peppers if you want to add a little flavour to the water)
• Add in the rack and place the pork on the rack
• Pressure cook for 20 minutes and allow it to release the steam naturally for 15 more minutes if you want to slice your pork.  If you want to have pulled pork, pressure cook for 30 minutes and naturally release for 15 minutes.

 

 

 

How do you know when the pork is cooked?

Pork must be cooked to an internal temperature of 145 degrees F.

If you want to keep this as a roast and slice it instead of pulling it, then you can remove it at the 145 degrees F. mark.

If you want to "pull" the pork, cook the pork to about 205 degrees F.

Please note that regardless of which type of pork you want (sliced or pulled), pork will continue to cook when left by about 10 degrees.

 

How can you make this Italian Pepper Pulled Pork faster?

• make sure the pork is at room temperature
• cut the pork into smaller sections AFTER injecting the meat 
• if using a pressure cooker, warm the 1 cup of liquid before placing it in the pressure cooker

 

 

If you like this Italian Pulled Pork recipe, you may also enjoy:

• Mexican Pulled Pork Carnitas
• Easy Air Fryer Pork Cracklings and Lard
• 5-Spice Ginger Pulled Pork
• Whole30 Pork Fried "Rice" - Paleo and Keto
• Crispy Slow Cooker Pulled Pork (Whole30, Keto, GF)
• Whole30 30-Minute Ribs - Made in a pressure cooker

 

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