8 Store-Bought Pulled Pork Brands, Ranked

Unfortunately, most of us at-home chefs don't have the time or the patience to babysit slow-cooked meat all day long. Recipes for classics like pulled pork may try to tell you it's easy, maybe even foolproof, but, in reality, there's more to it than you might think. Everything from choosing the right cut of pork to total cooking time and the seasonings you use in your rub can influence the final product. So, sometimes it's best to leave the entire process to brands that have the time and resources to create a satisfying batch of meat.

There's actually a decent-sized market for store-bought, ready-to-heat pulled pork. They come from big names like Curly's and Jack Daniel's as well as private-label store brands. Some come already smothered in sauces, and some don't. But the best part is that they are all sold fully cooked, so the meat only needs a quick trip in the microwave before it's ready to go on top of a soft bun.

Convenience is clearly the name of the game with products like these. But the truth is that store-bought pulled pork can still suffer from many of the same problems as homemade versions. Some turn out dry, while others become mush-like beneath an overwhelming layer of sugary sauce. So, I tried eight different options to determine which ones actually deliver what's promised — the kind of pulled pork that tastes like a quality smokehouse product rather than a disappointing shortcut.

You'll likely take one look at this pulled pork and think the reason why it ranks so low is the lack of sauce. But that's not the case. There were a few other unsauced options I tried — from stores like Trader Joe's and Costco — and those fared much better. So, it's possible to impress without a blanket of barbecue, and I even like that these simpler products leave a blank canvas to dress up yourself. The issue is that Kroger's product lacks the fundamentals of what makes good pulled pork.

The package notes that it was slow-cooked with hardwoods for seven hours, and I fear that may have been a tad too long. Either that, or the microwave process was not kind to the meat. But, either way, it came out unforgivably dry and chewy. It's also inconsistent in terms of cut and texture. There are more big, tough chunks than shreds, making it hard to make a uniform sandwich.

And while there are seasonings at play here — things like sea salt, garlic, and paprika — it still lacks flavor on top of the dryness. It's missing that pronounced smokiness you want from pulled pork and is simply bland all around. Honestly, my hamburger bun seemed to have more going for it. With just a 2.8-out-of-5-star rating on Kroger's website, it seems plenty of other shoppers agree this isn't the best option.

Curly has you covered when it comes to ready-to-heat meat. Its whole schtick is smoked for hours, ready in minutes — a philosophy the brand applies to a range of proteins, like pork carnitas, ribs, chicken, and this classic BBQ Sauce With Pulled Pork. And before you ask, no, I didn't mix that up. The package word-for-word says BBQ sauce with pulled pork rather than the other way around, and after trying it, it makes perfect sense. This pick is so saucy that it truly does feel like the meat was an afterthought, lost in a reddish-orange soup. It's the exact opposite problem from what I encountered with Kroger's pulled pork.

To make matters worse, the pork that was there didn't seem top-notch. I picked out a decent amount of squishy, fatty pieces, and the rest was fine shreds of overprocessed meat and gristle. I didn't particularly care for the sauce itself either. It contains all the classic BBQ ingredients — tomato paste, mustard, vinegar, spices, and whatnot — but it is mostly just sweet with a really strong vinegary tang. It's not rich or spicy, just zesty, similar to an Open Pit BBQ sauce, and the natural hickory smoke flavor is nowhere to be found.

Essentially, I guess I would rather drown in a mediocre sauce than chew on pulled pork leather. So, Curly's earns a higher spot than Kroger. But it's really like picking the lesser of two smokehouse evils.

I've heard good things about Costco's pulled pork in the past, and its packaging says all the right things: All that good stuff about no nitrates or nitrites added, being USDA-inspected and passed, and the pork being raised antibiotic-free and vegetarian-fed. Then, there's the preparation method featuring 10 hours of smoking over hickory wood and a rub which includes salt, black pepper, red pepper, paprika, and garlic. It should shape up to be a pretty stellar, meaty product. But all I kept thinking was that it tasted more like ham than true pulled pork.

It even comes pressed together into a two-pound hunk that's shaped like a store-bought ham. The pinkish hue sells it even more, and the taste follows suit. I know both types of meat come from the same source, but they also come from different sections of the animal and typically have distinctly different flavors. Here, the larger chunks of meat have that cured and salty taste that tends to define a succulent ham.

It's not necessarily bad, and it's certainly better than the past two picks. At least it's tender and maintains some of that smoky flavor, so those 10 hours weren't for nothing. But it's missing that rich, savory, seasoned taste that you want in pulled pork, and I'm not sure adding barbecue sauce could really help that much — it would be like trying to put lipstick on a pig.

I will admit, this is not my first experience with the Park Street Deli pulled pork. I've gone through the process of sampling a wide selection of Aldi's prepared meats, and the pork doused in barbecue sauce happened to be one of them. Compared to other options at the store, like burnt ends and Thai Coconut Chicken, it landed somewhere in the middle. It was satisfying, but I wasn't blown away. And I feel the exact same way about it when compared to other store-bought pulled pork products.

The first thing you'll probably notice about it is the sweet sauce. It seems to be laden with brown sugar. But there are some other subtle peeps of black pepper and a bit of onion. The latter might actually come from the meat, seeing as it's slow cooked with both garlic and onion, presumably before it's ever introduced to the sauce.

What I don't like about it is that the meat is a bit inconsistent. Some pieces are chewy, some are tough, some are extra fatty. So, when it's good, it's really good, but those bites are few and far between. You'll also want to be aware that between the thinner sauce and pork juices, it's extra messy. Make sure to have a napkin or two on deck as you dive into your sandwich.

I have somewhat of a personal connection to this brand. It actually stemmed from a real-life restaurant called the Montgomery Inn, located in Cincinnati, Ohio — just about an hour south of where I grew up in Dayton. I have, in fact, dined there, and I experience that subtle ping of recognition and pride when I see its logo in the grocery store.

The brand's original sweet and tangy barbecue sauce is undoubtedly its most popular retail product. But you can also find that same sauce covering a tray of ready-to-heat pulled pork. It comes in a one-pound helping. It's hickory-smoked, and gets dressed in a handful of spices, including smoked paprika and salt.

After giving it a hearty try atop a neutral bun, my final consensus is that I would give the sauce an A+ and the pork a C. The sauce is approachable with its blend of tangy vinegar, richly sweet molasses, and a few hints of garlic. It tastes familiar, like true Midwestern home cooking. However, it covers a pile of what I would call pork mush rather than pulled pork. Before I heated it up, it looked like a clump of mashed kidney beans, and it continued to be very homogenized as I tasted it. I liked this uniformity better than the inconsistency of the Park Street Deli pork, but other brands produced higher quality meat, and some even paired it with bolder sauces. In the end, I couldn't let my sentimental attachment influence my decision-making.

Unlike Montgomery Inn, Big Shoulders Smokehouse is not an iconic brick-and-mortar eatery. You can't walk into one of its BBQ joints in the heart of its home city of Chicago. Instead, it's solely a meat brand owned by Farmington Foods that's been cranking out precooked BBQ pork, chicken, and beef products for decades.

Its BBQ pulled pork attempts to win you over with fancy phrases mentioning hand trimming and slow cooking over hickory. To its credit, some of that care comes through in the final product. At first, it does default to a slop-like look, similar to Montgomery Inn's option. But underneath a heavy pour of sauce is some decent meat. It shreds like it's supposed to, and it didn't seem to have any noticeable problem areas that I dug up. What stands out the most, though, is the strong peppery taste throughout. Black pepper is a part of the seasoning rub and makes a strong impression alongside the subtle smokiness.

The surrounding sauce is equal parts savory and sweet. It pulls in a trio of sweet flavors from cane sugar, molasses, and pineapple juice. Then offsets it with vinegar, tomato paste, spices, and another shot of natural smoke flavor. It makes for a very generic barbecue sauce yet one that's palatable enough for most people to enjoy.

It seems that Jack is now involved in the meat business. The brand has dabbled in other food products like coffee, seasonings, and sauces. But it's also expanded into fully prepared entrees, in the form of sausages, brisket, chicken, and pulled pork, all infused with its trademark Tennessee whiskey.

I expected the sauce to be richly flavored here, and for the pork to be just alright. But it surprised me. The meat is made just like most others featured in this taste test. It comes from pork shoulder and is both seasoned and hardwood-smoked for hours. The result is a product similar to Big Shoulders' option – it holds up well and shreds into tender pieces. There's definitely some fat in there, but that's to be expected. And I don't feel that the ratio between fat and meat is off.

So, with solid pork and an even better sauce, Jack makes it far in the rankings. The barbecue is my favorite sauce thus far, and since the next batch of pulled pork from Trader Joe's (with the highest quality pork) doesn't contain sauce, that makes it my favorite overall. This isn't the brand's honey whiskey version, but it still has some honeyed sweetness to it. It's far from one-note, though, and the whiskey provides some obvious depth. Meanwhile, Worcestershire brings somewhat of an umami backbone, and a combo of chili pepper and paprika gives it a small, smoky kick.

Trader Joe's Hardwood Smoked Pulled Pork is undressed to impress. It doesn't come glistening in a sticky-sweet sauce, but it edges out all other brands thanks to its meat quality. On paper, it sounds the same as every pulled pork that it's up against. It comes seasoned and hardwood-smoked, but the store also specifies that it uses a small-batch rotisserie smoker. Plus, along with the more savory blend of garlic, onion, salt, and pepper, a medley of sweet and surprising ingredients like brown sugar, molasses, maple syrup, and coffee is also thrown into the mix.

It may look crumbly and dry at first, but as soon as you taste it, its juiciness is evident, and all those delicious flavors start seeping out. It tastes rich and perfectly tender — much closer to a pile of pulled pork you would be served at a bona fide BBQ joint. There's just the right amount of fattiness and even a bit of caramelized char, which is something that's been missing from all previous options.

You don't necessarily need sauce with a flavor like this. But if you do want to build on it, Trader Joe's has a handful of options to choose from, like its Organic Kansas City Style BBQ Sauce or Carolina Gold Barbeque Sauce. Or, you can take it in a slightly different direction. The store also suggests pairing it with its Hatch Valley Salsa and stuffing it into taco shells for a Tex-Mex twist.

There's really nothing better than a well-made pulled pork sandwich — it's a staple in the Midwest, where I come from. There's something about that combination of smoky flavor and a tender, shredded texture that tastes incredibly wholesome and delicious. Plus, we can't forget about the optional sauce, which, when added, can elevate the entire experience with notes of tang, sweetness, and an additional layer of smokiness. This is exactly what I was looking for as I tried these store-bought pulled pork products.

To make all of them, I went with the fastest, easiest, and oftentimes, top recommended route, which was heating them up in the microwave. They all come fully cooked, so it's really just about warming them to an appropriate temperature without zapping them too much. Since all brands have this convenience factor down, I judged on taste and texture alone. I looked for pork that was high-quality and moist over everything else, and that actually resembled pulled pork rather than other kinds of pork byproducts. Light seasonings and a bold smokiness from the cooking process were also appreciated. That's really all these brands had to do, and that's why Trader Joe's won me over.

On top of this, the sauce was just a welcome extra. But if it's included, it had better be rich, smooth, and complementary to the meat without drowning it. Too much sauce can ruin the dish, however, a good sauce is still not enough to make up for inferior meat. The two needed to work together to create one mouthwatering batch of pulled pork.