Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Tagliatelle

Tagliatelle goes in the pot first. Not after. The pasta soaks up everything—the wine, the mustard, all of it. This isn’t a pulled pork situation where you shred meat and pile it on a bun. This is Italian comfort food. Pork braised down until it falls apart, then tossed with pasta like you actually planned this the whole time.

Why You’ll Love This Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Pasta

Takes 40 minutes total. You’re not standing there watching a crock pot for eight hours. Shredded pork comes already cooked—you’re just finishing it.

Tastes like something from a restaurant kitchen. Mustard in the sauce instead of ketchup. Basil at the end so it stays bright.

One pot for everything after the pasta drains. Onion, garlic, wine, pork, peas—all in the same place. Butter and cheese finish it. That’s the whole move.

Works as a weeknight dinner that doesn’t feel rushed. Comfort food energy without the all-day commitment.

Leftovers are better cold. Seriously.

What You Need for Pulled Pork Slow Cooker Pasta

Tagliatelle. Wide ribbons. Thin ones fall apart when you stir.

One small onion, chopped fine—not rough chunks. One clove garlic, minced small. Garlic chunks don’t break down in five minutes.

Olive oil. Twenty milliliters. Not more.

Dry white wine. The kind you’d actually drink. Eighty milliliters. Cooking wine is garbage. Don’t bother.

Whole grain mustard. Twenty milliliters. The seeds matter. Brown mustard works. Yellow doesn’t. Spicy brown definitely works.

Pork shank cooking liquid. Two hundred milliliters. This is where the flavor lives. Use the broth from your slow cooker pork—the liquid it braised in. If you don’t have it, use stock. Not water. Stock.

Shredded pork shank meat. Four hundred milliliters. Slow cooker pulled pork, basically. Pre-cooked. Cold. Doesn’t matter—you’re heating it anyway.

Frozen green peas. Three hundred milliliters. Don’t thaw them first.

Unsalted butter. Forty milliliters. At the end.

Fresh basil. One hundred milliliters, chopped. Not dried. Dried basil will ruin this.

Parmigiano Reggiano. One hundred milliliters, grated. Not pre-grated from a bag. Actual cheese. Grate it yourself five minutes before you need it.

Salt and black pepper.

How to Make Pulled Pork Slow Cooker Pasta

Boil water in a large pot. Salt it. Tastes like the sea. That’s not exaggeration—it actually needs to taste that salty.

Add tagliatelle. Cook it until it’s almost done. Not totally done. Maybe a minute before the package says. It finishes cooking in the sauce. Drain it. Toss it with a drizzle of oil so it doesn’t glue itself together. Set it somewhere.

Same pot. Medium heat. Olive oil goes in. Let it get hot—not smoking, just hot.

Onion and garlic go in. Watch them. Four minutes until they’re soft and smell like something. You’ll know when. The kitchen smells different.

Pour in the wine. Mustard too. The whole grain mustard. Stir it in. It breaks up into the wine and makes this beige sauce. Not beautiful yet. It will be.

Pork cooking liquid goes in. Bring it to a rolling boil. Not a simmer. Rolling. You should hear it.

Green peas in—straight from the freezer. Three minutes. They warm up and turn bright green. That’s it. That’s the signal.

Tagliatelle goes back. Shredded pork too. The cold pork doesn’t matter. Everything gets hot. Stir it. Keep stirring for about five minutes. The pasta’s still absorbing liquid. When it looks less soupy and more saucy, you’re there. Most of the broth gets soaked up. Not all of it. You want it loose, not dry.

How to Get Pulled Pork Pasta Rich and Balanced

Stop the heat. Don’t cook it any longer.

Butter in. Basil in. A handful of Parmigiano. Stir until the butter melts and the cheese coats everything. Tastes different now. Rounder. The mustard’s still there but softer.

Taste it. Probably needs salt. Maybe pepper. Adjust it. This is the only time you can fix it, so taste and fix it now.

Serve immediately. Don’t let it sit. The pasta keeps absorbing and dries out. Plate it. Eat it. It’s done.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Pasta Tips and Common Mistakes

Don’t use pre-grated cheese. It has anti-caking powder in it. Dissolves weird. Tastes chalky. Grate fresh cheese. Takes 90 seconds.

The broth matters. If your slow cooker pork came out of a recipe with BBQ sauce, this won’t work the same way. You need the pork braising liquid—the plain stuff. The savory base.

Wine matters. Not a ton, but some. It brings acid and softens the mustard. If you don’t have white wine, don’t use red. Skip it. Water and mustard works but tastes different. Less interesting.

Don’t crowd the pasta when you’re cooking it. Leave room for it to move around. Crowded pasta cooks unevenly and sticks together.

Basil at the end only. Heat kills it. Texture goes bad. Flavor fades. Add it after you take the pot off the heat and stir it in just before serving.

The peas are optional if you hate peas. Honestly though—they add something. Sweetness. Texture. They’re in there for a reason.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Tagliatelle

By Emma

Prep:

25 min

Cook:

15 min

Total:

40 min

Servings:

4 servings

Ingredients

• 450 g tagliatelle
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 20 ml olive oil
• 80 ml dry white wine
• 20 ml whole grain mustard
• 200 ml pork shank cooking liquid
• 300 ml frozen green peas
• 400 ml shredded pork shank meat
• 40 ml unsalted butter
• 100 ml fresh chopped basil
• 100 ml grated Parmigiano Reggiano
• Salt
• Black pepper

Method

1. 1 Bring large pot of salted water to boil. Cook tagliatelle just shy of al dente. Drain, toss with drizzle of olive oil. Set aside.
2. 2 Heat oil in same pot over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook 4 minutes until soft and fragrant.
3. 3 Stir in white wine, mustard, and pork cooking liquid. Bring to rolling boil.
4. 4 Add peas. Cook 3 minutes. Return tagliatelle to pot along with shredded pork. Simmer, stirring, until pasta soaks up most broth, about 5 minutes.
5. 5 Remove from heat. Stir in butter, basil, and Parmigiano. Adjust salt and pepper. Serve immediately.

Nutritional information

Calories

520

Protein

30g

Carbs

55g

Fat

18g

Print Recipe Save to Pinterest

Frequently Asked Questions About Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Pasta

Can I make this without the wine? Yeah. Use the same amount of broth instead. Tastes flatter. The mustard gets louder and less balanced. But it works.

How long does this keep? Two days cold. Three if you’re lucky. Reheats fine on the stovetop with a splash of water. Doesn’t reheat in the microwave well—pasta gets weird and the sauce seizes up.

What if I don’t have fresh basil? Don’t use dried. Seriously. Just leave it out. The dish is good without it. Dried basil tastes like hay in this one.

Can I use a different pasta shape? Tagliatelle works because it’s wide and catches the sauce. Fettuccine’s the same thing basically. Pappardelle works too—even wider, holds more sauce. Thin pasta like spaghetti or angel hair falls apart when you stir it back in. Not worth it.

Is this actually from a slow cooker or crock pot? The pork is. You braise the pork in a slow cooker until it shreds. This recipe is what you do with that meat afterward. The final dish cooks on the stovetop in 15 minutes. The slow cooker pulled pork is the ingredient.

Can I freeze this? Freezes okay. Not great. Cheese breaks when it thaws. If you freeze it, don’t add the butter and cheese until you reheat it. Freeze it without those. Add them fresh when it’s warm again.