My family and I really enjoy a good pulled pork sandwich… and this is a good one indeed!
Using the slow cooker makes this pulled pork taste so flavourful and tender. It tastes great on sandwiches, as a topping for pizza and can even be used as a taco filling for a unique flavour!
The ingredients and spices in this recipe make for a deliciously fragrant, moist and tender pulled pork. Personally, I enjoy a little spicy zing along with a nice garlicky undertone.
Let me tell you…
This smelled so amazing as it was cooking in the slow cooker all day!
Part of what makes this recipe so delicious is the homemade pork rub. It's an awesome combination of paprika, cayenne, chili powder, cumin, garlic, oregano and a few other spices. If you'd like you can marinate the pork overnight with the spices but that's not absolutely necessary.
When you mix up the spice rub you might think it's a lot of seasonings to use in one recipe, but I find that it's just perfect for the size of a 3-4 lb pork loin. You can control how spicy the finished pulled pork is but reducing the amount of seasonings used, but I would recommend using at least 4 Tbsps of the seasoning mix.
My obsession with mozzarella cheese also makes an appearance when I have one of these yummy pulled pork sandwiches. I usually just put enough to give it a little extra yum since the star of the show is the pulled pork. 🙂
If you're having your pulled pork in sandwich form I would highly recommend using some delicious ciabatta bread. It just adds more awesomeness to an already awesome dish – plus, we got this ciabatta bread on sale for $1 which makes this inexpensive dish an even sweeter deal! 😀
Pulled pork makes for such a delicious and tasty meal. Pair it with some crispy baked sweet potato fries and you've got something amazing.
I hope you enjoy this recipe! 🙂
Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- Yield: 3-4 lbs of Pulled pork (10-12 servings) 1x
Ingredients
Pulled Pork Ingredients
- 3–4 lbs pork loin, as much of the fat trimed off as possible – a little fat is ok though
- 1/4 cup water
- 1 1/2 cup of BBQ sauce – I highly recommend using one that has a garlic flavor with this recipe
- At least 4 tbsp of the pork rub seasoning below – Personally, I use the entire amount below for a 3-4 lb pork loin but feel free to reduce the amount if you'd prefer a little less for your tastes
The Pork Rub
- 1 tbsp black pepper, ground
- 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/2 tbsp chili powder
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 1 tbsp oregano
- 4 tbsp paprika
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- 1 tsp white pepper
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tbsp onion powder
Instructions
- Cover the pork loin in the desired amount of the pork rub. Make sure that it covers all surfaces of the meat.
- Place the meat into the slow cooker along with the remaining ingredients under “Pulled Pork Ingredients” and cook on LOW for 8 hours. You can also set this to cook on HIGH for 6 Hours.
- Once the pork loin has cooked, turn off the slow cooker and remove the meat. Cut the meat into 4-6 large chunks so it's easier to work with when shredding.
- If you have a stand mixer, place 2-3 chunks of the meat into the bowl and turn on to the lowest speed using the paddle attachment. Keep a close eye on it so that it doesn't get “over-shred” This will shred the pork without much effort. Take the pork out of the stand mixer and mix with the liquid in the slow cooker. Continue to shred the remaining pork in the mixer, remove and combine with the liquid in the slow cooker.
- If you don't have a stand mixer, The pork should be tender enough that you can shred the pieces with two forks. It will take a little longer to shred using this method but it won't be too difficult since the meat will be tender. Once the meat is shredded combine with the liquid in the slow cooker.
- You can use the pulled pork on a sandwich, pulled pork pizza, pulled pork tacos, etc. There are so many options for using pulled pork! 🙂
Notes
The prepared pulled pork freezes very well so you can store any leftovers in the freezer until you want some more.
Do you have a favorite way you use pulled pork?
I always enjoy hearing from my readers so please feel free to leave a comment in the comment section below! 🙂
