Okay, so I think I’m about to be mocked here. I’m all Miss Foodiepants and everything, but up until about a year ago, it had never even dawned on me to put coleslaw and pickles on BBQ pork sandwiches. Seriously. I was at one of those roadhouse-style restaurants where you can pick your own steak and throw peanuts on the floor and I ordered the pulled pork sandwiches on a whim. And I nearly died of food happiness. I like BBQ pulled pork, I like coleslaw, I like pickles…but together, it was on a completely different plane of food awesomeness. Turns out I was kind of in the dark and that this is a common practice. I felt like I did in 4th grade when everyone else was singing “Step By Step” by New Kids on the Block while my parents made me listen to Judy Collins and Art Garfunkel.
For the sauce, we recommend using your favorite BBQ sauce–Cattleman’s is a great, inexpensive national brand, or you could try picking up some from your favorite local BBQ joint.
3 lb. boneless pork shoulder
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Kosher salt
Black pepper
Smoked paprika or liquid smoke
About 12 oz. of your favorite BBQ sauce
About 12 high-quality rolls
Memphis-Style Coleslaw
Thick-cut dill pickle slices
Instructions:
Rinse pork roast well in cold water and trim of excess fat. This is important because sometimes, boneless pork shoulder (and bone-in pork shoulder, for that matter) can take on kind of an icky fishy odor and a lot of that smell is in the juices and the fat. Pat dry. Sprinkle roast with liquid smoke and seasonings and place in your slow cooker. Add about 1/2 inch of water and cook on low for 8-10 hours.
FREEZER INSTRUCTIONS: Prepare meat through the seasoning step. Instead of placing in the crockpot, place seasoned meat in a freezer-safe container. When ready, follow the same cooking instructions. Just make sure that you have BBQ sauce, pickles, and rolls on hand. Because coleslaw isn’t freezer-friendly, if you’re not up to making homemade coleslaw, just pick up a container from KFC or your favorite BBQ restaurant.
Questions & Reviews
Really dumb question….but can I do this with chicken breasts?? I want to make pulled chicken sandwiches. I’ve made this before with pork, and loved the taste with and without sauce.
I feel like it’s worth noting that I could only find it bone-in (not that I looked really hard or anything) and it wasn’t that hard – the bone wasn’t very big or awkward. Some of the pieces were a little hard to shred, so I sort of wish I added a little more water, because I feel the parts not in water might have been the tough parts. All in all, this was great!
Can I cook this on high for 4-6 hours? I need it ready by 12pm so I won’t have 8-10 hours. Also I could only find the pork with bone-in. Will this be a problem? Or can I just cook it and pull the bone out when it’s done?
Help! I am making this for a crowd this weekend. Can I cook the meat a day ahead, refrigerate and then reheat it to serve? I’m just concerned about it getting mushy. Any suggestions?
We’ll see how good Rhoads rolls are as buns with this pork recipe tomorrow
Wow! A new favorite for this family! I made this for dinner tonight and it was good. REAL good. As in I am pretty sure I saw my husband actually licking the plate 🙂 Happy tummies tonight!
Can i use a pork loin to make these and still get the shredded texture from the meat?
If you make ahead to freeze, can you put it in the crock pot frozen?? Or do you need to thaw first? Thanks!
Just clarifying, did you use County Bob’s Barbecue Sauce or All Purpose Sauce? In your picture you show the All Purpose Sauce and that is definitely different from barbecue sauce.
I don’t have a slow cooker large enough for the pork shoulder. Please tell me what temperature to use if I cook it in the oven.
Thank you for a great web site.
I honestly don’t know, I’m sorry!
just put this in the crockpot, and i’m pretty excited for dinner tomorrow night.
but is it strange that the part of this post that has resinated the most with me is this fancy wal-mart? where are these places?
a google search of “fancy walmart” gave me only fancy feast cat food pricings and websites offering pictures of rednecks in wal-mart…. :/
After you freeze this meal should you defrost it before putting it in the crockpot? Or just throw it all in right away?
Either or, Kate!
Used root beer instead of water. It was pretty delicious. The slight sweetness from the root beer, combined with the great seasoning was fantastic.
Just curious 🙂 could you freeze AFTER you shred the pork? That way you just re-heat and throw on buns with the coleslaw?
Yep, definitely! We do it all the time! 🙂
my parents brought me a pork roast and said it had to be used soon so off to yoru site i went. found this little gem of a recipe and wow. it was so easy and tasty. cant wait to make it again.
Made this tonight for dinner, including your coleslaw. It was great and almost as important, it was so easy! My pork shoulder simmered all day while I was at the water park with my kids. I couldn’t believe how easy it was to shread the meat and add bbq sauce and be done. The recipe I used to make was so much more complicated (made my own sauce) and I don’t know that I liked it that much better. The coleslaw was easy, too. I’d never thought of buying pre-packaged cabbage. Thanks for a quick & easy dinner!