Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Seasoned with just salt, sugar, and apple cider vinegar, this pulled pork is a perfect blank canvas for a mustard-forward BBQ sauce and tangy slaw.
Serves6 to 8
Prep25 minutes
Cook6 hours to 8 hours
Welcome to Rollover Dinners, a series to help you make smart use of leftovers. In this post, we’re using leftovers from these pulled pork sandwiches to make easy work of lettuce wraps. Read the intro here.
Pulled pork is one of my favorite big-batch recipes for meal prep: Pork shoulder is relatively inexpensive and practically cooks itself in a slow cooker. Seasoned with salt, sugar, and apple cider vinegar, this pulled pork is the perfect blank canvas for a mustard-forward BBQ sauce and tangy slaw.
This recipe takes almost no time to pull together, but it does take all day to cook. Start the pork before work or plan to make it on a weekend day when you have plenty of time. To make things extra easy, you can skip the homemade sauce and use your favorite bottled sauce instead (look for Gold or Carolina sauce — we love Lillie’s Q Gold). Similarly, you can shortcut the slaw by opting for a bag of prepared slaw mix.
Roll Over These Leftovers into Another Easy Meal
This recipe makes the most delicious BBQ-inspired sandwiches sans grill (or smoker), but more importantly it intentionally makes tons of leftovers for another meal later in the week. After dinner, reserve 2 cups of pulled pork, 1/2 cup BBQ sauce, and 1 cup slaw. You’ll turn that into the fillings for lettuce wraps another night.
Rollover Dinner Recipe: Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps
Big-Batch Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Seasoned with just salt, sugar, and apple cider vinegar, this pulled pork is a perfect blank canvas for a mustard-forward BBQ sauce and tangy slaw.
Prep time 25 minutes
Cook time 6 hours to 8 hours
Serves 6 to 8
Nutritional Info
Ingredients
For the pork:
- 1
pork shoulder or pork butt (6 to 7 pounds with bone, 5 to 6 pounds if boneless)
- 2 tablespoons
kosher salt
- 2 tablespoons
packed dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup
apple cider vinegar
Split hamburger buns, for serving
For the sauce:
- 1 cup
yellow mustard
- 1/2 cup
packed dark brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon
chili powder
- 1 teaspoon
Worchestershire sauce
- 1 teaspoon
liquid smoke
For the slaw:
- 1
small head green or red cabbage (about 1 pound)
- 1 (8-ounce) bag
shredded carrots
- 1 teaspoon
apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 teaspoon
kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon
freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
Make the pork: Trim off any large pieces of fat from a pork shoulder. Cut the pork into 4 large pieces, working around the bone if bone-in. Sprinkle the pork all over with 2 tablespoons kosher salt and 2 tablespoons packed dark brown sugar, and pat into the pork.
Place the pork in a 6-quart or larger slow cooker (add the bone in if you'd like). Pour 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar around the pork. Cover and cook on the LOW setting until the meat is tender and can be easily shredded, 6 to 8 hours. You can make the sauce at this point or anytime before the pork is ready.
Make the sauce: Place 1 cup yellow mustard, 1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar, 1 teaspoon chili powder, 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce, and 1 teaspoon liquid smoke in a small saucepan over medium heat. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until bubbly, thickened, and reduced almost by half, 12 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Make the slaw: About 30 minutes before the pork is ready, quarter 1 small head cabbage through the core, then cut the core out of each piece. Finely shred the cabbage (about 4 1/2 cups) and place in a large bowl. Add an 8-ounce bag shredded carrots, 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar, 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, and 1/2 teaspoon black pepper. Toss to combine and let slaw sit for 30 minutes.
When the pork is ready, discard the bone if needed and shred the meat with two large forks. Serve the pulled pork on hamburger buns with the sauce and slaw. Don't forget to reserve 2 cups pulled pork, 1/2 cup sauce, and 1 cup slaw for Pulled Pork Lettuce Wraps another night.
Recipe Notes
Storage: Refrigerate the pulled pork, slaw, and sauce in separate container for up to 4 days.