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Pulled ham sandwiches are a delightful and easy way to serve ham! Slow-cook a whole ham until it becomes tender and easy to shred. Then, pile it high on buns and drizzle with tangy barbecue sauce for a flavorful, crowd-pleasing meal.
Other sandwiches we love are slow cooker bbq ham sandwiches, and slow cooker root beer pulled pork.
Table of Contents
Forget about slow-cooking a traditional pork butt! Instead, try slow-cooking a ham for about 8 hours until it’s tender enough to shred. This cooking time makes it perfect for pulling apart. While the texture is similar to pulled pork, ham offers a unique smoky, salty flavor that’s unbeatable.
Recipe Ingredients
- Picnic ham: This is a whole-cooked ham. Most hams in the United States are pre-cooked. The ham may not say “picnic ham”; it may say shoulder ham, bone-in, or boneless ham. Do not buy spiral ham or sliced ham. You may have to cut the end of the ham off to fit it in the crockpot.
- Seasonings: Chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, and a touch of brown sugar for sweetness. Water is also added to keep the ham moist.
- For serving: Hamburger buns, barbecue sauce, pickles and onion.
Variations
- Add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke for even more smokey flavor.
- One cup of barbecue sauce can be added at the beginning of the cooking time to sweeten the pork.
- Add two sliced jalapenos to make the shredded ham spicy.
- Add the ham to the slow cooker. Pour over the water.
- Add the seasonings.
- Cook on low for 8-9 hours or until the ham shreds easily.
- Remove the ham to a large plate and shred it with two forks. Drain off all the liquid from the crockpot; you can save about 1/2 cup of the liquid to keep the shredded ham moist. Add the shredded ham back to the slow cooker and pour over the reserved liquid.
- Serve the pork and enjoy!
How to Serve:
- Serve the shredded ham on toasted sesame hamburger buns.
- Add toppings like barbecue sauce, onions, and sliced pickles. You can even add mustard if desired. We love to top this ham with Carolina Gold Barbecue Sauce.
- Great sides we love are slow cooker mac and cheese, and slow cooker baked beans.
Leftover ideas:
- Use the ham on Hawaiian pizza instead of cubed ham!
- Use the ham on a salad (we prefer to chop the ham first).
- Cold sandwiches are even great with this meat! Place the pulled ham on hoagies and top with the usual sandwich toppings.
- Cuban sandwiches are wonderful with this shredded pork.
- You can use the leftover ham bone in recipes like slow cooker split pea soup, or slow cooker ham and beans.
More Crockpot Sandwiches
- Slow Cooker Ohio Chicken Sandwiches – shredded chicken with stove top stuffing (Yes, this chicken is turned into sandwiches!)
- Slow Cooker Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork – the Dr. Pepper goes great with the barbecue sauce.
- Slow Cooker Nashville Hot Chicken Sandwiches – The base of this recipe is made with Tabasco sauce, SO GOOD!
- Slow Cooker Cuban Sandwiches – The pulled pork part of this recipe is made easy thanks to the crockpot.
- Slow Cooker Pastrami – A perfect sandwich for St. Patrick’s day (or any day).
- Slow Cooker Philly Cheesesteaks – Shredded beef with onion and peppers!
Slow Cooker Pulled Ham
Shredded ham sandwiches made in the slow cooker are a delicious twist—tender, flavorful ham cooked low and slow, then piled high on buns with barbecue sauce for the ultimate comfort food
Ingredients
- 6-7 lb picnic pork shoulder ham, This is a whole-cooked ham. Most hams in the United States are pre-cooked. The ham may not say "picnic ham"; it may say shoulder ham, bone-in, or boneless ham. Do not buy spiral ham or sliced ham.
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. chili powder
- ½ cup brown sugar
- ½ cup water
For Serving:
- hamburger buns
- pickles
- diced onions
- barbecue sauce
Instructions
- Add the ham to the slow cooker. If it is too large, you can cut a chunk off the smaller end.
- Pour over the water.
- Add the seasonings, and brown sugar.
- Cook on low for 8-9 hours or until shreddable. Remove the ham on to a large plate and shred with two forks. Drain off all the liquid from the crockpot, you can save about a 1/2 cup of the liquid for to keep the shredded ham moist. Add the shredded ham back to the slow cooker and pour over the reserved liquid.
- Serve over buns with pickles, onions and barbecue sauce.
Sarah’s Notes
Variations:
- Add 1 teaspoon of liquid smoke for even more smokey flavor.
- To sweeten the pork further, one cup of barbecue sauce can be added at the beginning of the cooking time.
- Add 2 sliced jalapenos to make the shredded ham spicy.
- Serve the shredded ham on toasted sesame hamburger buns.
- Add toppings like barbecue sauce, onions, and sliced pickles.
- Great sides we love are slow cooker mac and cheese, and slow cooker baked beans.
Nutrition
Calories: 588kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 49g | Fat: 38g | Saturated Fat: 14g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 18g | Cholesterol: 141mg | Sodium: 2701mg | Potassium: 672mg | Fiber: 0.2g | Sugar: 9g | Vitamin A: 99IU | Vitamin C: 0.05mg | Calcium: 26mg | Iron: 2mg
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
Made this recipe? Leave a comment below!
So is this a picnic ham not smoked or a regular smoked ham
Picnic hams are smoked. Any ham that isn’t sliced or spiraled will work fine.
How would you vary the recipe if you used a boneless half ham like a cure 81? Seems like it would need a shorter cook time.
Yes, depending on the size you may only need 5 to 6 hours on low.