Pulled Pork

There’s almost nothing more satisfying than throwing a large cut of pork into the slow cooker at the start of what you know will be a busy day and being greeted at the end of it with the smell of dinnertime. Even though I make dinner almost every night, I feel especially proud of this accomplishment. With some store-bought buns, pickles and coleslaw dinner can be on the table by the time it takes a hungry kid to set it.

Surprisingly, I’ve never really had a “go to” recipe for pulled pork. I usually end up googling and going with the first recipe to catch my eye or winging it with some sliced onions and a bottle of barbecue sauce. But recently, I decided to take a little time and find a recipe that felt right, which just so happened to fall somewhere between real direction and going with the flow. This Easy Slow-Cooker Pulled Pork is your busy day savior. Enjoy!

Pulled Pork

Pulled Pork

Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

  • 1 onion finely chopped
  • 3/4 c ketchup
  • 3 Tbls tomato paste
  • 1/4 c apple cider vinegar
  • 1 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp mustard powder
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 1 4-lb pork shoulder trimmed of excess fat
  • Kosher salt
  • freshly ground black pepper
  • coleslaw for serving
  • buns for serving

Instructions

  • Combine onion, ketchup, tomato paste, apple cider vinegar and spices in the bowl of a slow cooker. 
  • Season pork shoulder all over with salt and pepper then add to slow cooker, covering it with ketchup mixture. 
  • Cover and cook until very tender (the meat should fall apart easily with a fork), on HIGH for 5 to 6 hours or on LOW for 8 to 10 hours.
  • Remove pork from slow cooker and transfer to bowl. Shred with two forks and toss with juices from the slow cooker. Serve on buns with coleslaw.