I am a huge fan of Cochon de Lait. HUGE. If you ask my husband about my love for it, he will tell you that a Cochon de Lait po-boy is the only reason I go to Jazz Fest every year. I swear.
Cochon de Lait is a marinated, roasted young pig, sliced thin with gravy on a plate or on a po-boy (sandwich). The aroma of the rub seasonings themselves will get your stomach grumbling long before the pork is done cooking. The only problem with the traditional way of cooking Cochon de Lait -outside and over a fire pit- is that getting a hold of a full sized baby pig… can be difficult.
I’m not sure about your butcher… but where I live I can’t go into my grocery store and ask for a full pig. Ok, back to the recipe. Last year, at Jazz Fest, I ate two Cochon de Lait po-boys at the festival and brought a third one home for “later”.
Over the past year, I’ve barbecued pork, slow roasted in the oven, in a cast iron pot… and in the crockpot. In the end, I settled for a shoulder roast in the crockpot and edited John Besh’s Cochon de Lait Rub recipe from his My Family Table Cookbook. The creole slaw dressing is of my own making; a fantastic combination of my two favorite Zatarain’s items: Creole Mustard and Big & Zesty Creole Seasoning.
While I enjoy fancy food, you should know by now that I try to keep things simple. A succulent dish you can “set-and-forget” in the crockpot? Even better. You can serve it on a plate, with rice or in a hoagie like I did here.
Now, if you are going to eat this Cochon de Lait the traditional New Orleans way… you need some slaw in your po-boy! My husband doesn’t eat slaw, so my final recipe I tested at Gabriel’s birthday party this past weekend. Hands down, my creole slaw dressing rocked and I had to whip up a second batch mid-party. That’s how I knew I nailed the dressing!
What I love about this recipe is that anyone can make it at home regardless of where you live in the world. It makes me happy to be able to share a little bit of my passion for good family food with you. The rub recipe will yield extra seasoning. Store it in an airtight container (or small zip bag) and use it on pork chops, pork loin…anything pork.
It’s the perfect party food too. Your guests will go back to the crockpot for seconds and ask you for the recipe.
And this my friends… makes it all worth it. Cooking food my family enjoys without slaving in the kitchen. This way, I have more time to spend with Baby G and celebrate his birthday… New Orleans Style. Yes, he had a king cake as a birthday cake. The kid is special.
Crockpot Cochon de Lait
Cochon de Lait rub yields approx 1 1/4 cup dry rub. Serving size will vary depending the size of your roast.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 8 hours
- Total Time: 8 hours 10 mins
- Yield: 8
- Cuisine: New Orleans Food
Ingredients
For the rub:
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoons paprika (smoked or regular)
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
For the Cochon de Lait
- 3lb pork shoulder roast
- 1/4 cup cochon de lait dry rub
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
Rub:
- In a medium bowl, mix the rub ingredients together and transfer to a Mason jar. This rub mix should yield enough for 2 roasts.
Roast:
- Generously rub 3-4 Tablespoons of dry rub on clean pork shoulder roast and transfer roast inside the crockpot. Add water and close the lid.
- Cook on high 6 hours or 10 on low, or until the meat is so tender it pulls apart without resistance between two forks.
- minutes to one hour prior to serving, remove cooked roast from crockpot and with two forks, shred pork meat.
- Bring shredded pork roast back into the crockpot and mix with liquid. Simmer for remaining 30 minutes to one hour.
Creole Coleslaw
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Total Time: 10 mins
- Yield: 8
- Cuisine: New Orleans
Ingredients
- 2 16 ounce bags coleslaw salad mix
- 1 1/2 cups thinly sliced onions, about 1 large onion
- 2 green onions thinly sliced
- 1 cup shredded carrots
- 1/2 cup mayonnaise
- 1/4 cup white vinegar
- 1 tablespoon creole mustard, or French mustard
- 1 teaspoon Creole Seasoning (below)
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine coleslaw salad mix, onions, and carrots.
- In a small bowl, combine mayonnaise, vinegar, creole mustard and seasoning.
- Add dressing into veggie bowl and toss mixture until the slaw is coated in dressing.
- Refrigerate until ready to serve.
Notes
*I say add dressing slowly because cabbage size and salad mix bag size will vary. I’m not sure what you have in your kitchen. For this reason, I suggest you double your dressing batch and keep extras in the fridge. **Don’t have
Creole Seasoning
- Yield: 1 cup
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup paprika
- 3 tablespoons dried oregano
- 2 tablespoons ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoons dried basil
- 2 tablespoons salt
- 1 1/2 tablespoons granulated garlic
- 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon smoked paprika
- 1 tablespoon granulated onion
- 1 tablespoon dried thyme
Instructions
- Combine all ingredients in a medium bowl. Stir to combine. Store in an airtight container up to three months.
Looks delish! LOVE pulled pork…
★★★★★
Oh my goodness – this looks so good, Laura! Love your beautiful new look too 🙂
This looks so good – how many people does this serve?
Hi Dawn! I just edited the recipe to reflect that. Thanks! Serves about 8-but also depends on the size of your roast. 🙂
This was so good – I halved the recipe since it was just for two people and it came out perfect. Doubled the dressing though – ha! Can never have enough of that 🙂
Excellent recipe – very easy!!!
Yum! You’re pictures are getting supah dupah awesome! great job! Happy Bday baybeeee!
thank you so much Tiffany!
Your recipes look absolutely amazing. I am always looking for new recipes. I can’t wait to try the salmon bites, the pork sandwich and also the slaw dressing. I have book marked this page just so I don’t lose it.
Thank you Nadene! Let me know how your family enjoys them! 🙂
Thank you! I am an “everyday” jazzfester so I eat my fair share of Cochon de lait poboys. It is always my first stop. Made it for Mardi gras today. AWESOME. I’m not a recipie follower but I decided to give it a shot. (I make things up as I go along). I will print this out and make it again and again. My family is full if Cochon de lait freaks so they were very happy! Eating on right now on the neutral ground!
This makes me SO happy to hear Keri! Happy Mardi Gras to you and your family! Wait till you see the crawfish bread… that recipe is coming to the blog in a couple of weeks 🙂
Thank you, thank you, thank you! I can now stop trying to replicate this recipe just to be disappointed and missing NOLA even more! Been to jazz fest 29 years and it’s always my first stop before heading to Economy Hall! Just made it for family reunion and was fabulous! I did add some sugar to the cole slaw! Hope to run into you next fest–look for the second liner’s in Economy Hall!
★★★★★
My pleasure Barbara!! I know how difficult it can be to try to replicate the flavor of a beloved jazzfest dish!! So glad this was a hit at your family reunion! Most importantly, thank you for stopping by and letting me know that everyone enjoyed it. 🙂
Bigg Thanks!!.. Gonna give this a swing … I tried one of these at fqf a few years ago and nearly hit the ground when my knees buckled!…
Cochon de Lait will do that to you…. –you had me at knees buckled lol
We just finished your delightful pork sandwiches. After the pork was finished cooking in the slow cooker, I strain the remaining liquid then poured it into a saucepan and boiled it for 5 – 10 minutes until it was slightly thickened and reduced by about half. I then poured it over the shredded meat and seasoned it with a tiny bit more salt and pepper. The pork was just lovely; so flavorful and moist. Probably one of my favorite pulled pork recipes (if not #1). I kept picking at as I put away the small amount of leftovers! The coleslaw was good too, however, this was our first experience with Creole Coleslaw and we found it a little too strong for our taste. The next time we make the pork we might wimp out and have regular coleslaw. Thank you so much for the awesome recipe.
★★★★★
I’m so glad you liked the pork recipe Janice! It’s my favorite as well. I am delighted that you enjoyed it! the creole slaw is a tad strong… but the sandwiches will work with regular slaw as well too.
Excellent recipe! Roughly how many calories in each poboy serving?
I am sorry but I do not calculate calories in my recipes. You can plug the ingredients into a website that specifically does that and estimate your guests. Thanks for visiting!
Thank you for the amazing recipe! I think in reading it wrong….at what point do I add the Cochon Du Lait seasoning? Or is that to use instead of the dry rub? I’m planning to make these for a baby shower next weekend. Thanks for your help!
The seasoning is used to run on the pork roast. You insert the “rubbed” roast inside the slow cooker. I hope this helps. Enjoy!