There’s a slow cooker recipe that I’ve been using for leftovers for a couple of weeks – I’ll be posting about that one in a week or so. We’re in the habit of putting in a grocery order to pick up, so I requested sirloin tip roast for the recipe. Unfortunately, there was a mistake, and instead of a beef roast, they gave us pork shoulder roast.

I wanted to do something that would provide good leftovers, and be really simple. And I found this one on SeriousEats (a serious lifesaver, despite the changes to the website lately).

Print Recipe

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Dr. Pepper (?)

Modified Serious Eats Recipe (with Coca-Cola, and increased by 50%)

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time8 hours hrs

Total Time8 hours hrs 15 minutes mins

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: American

Keyword: Pork, Slow-Cooker

Servings: 10

Equipment

• Slow Cooker
• Heavy Skillet

Ingredients

• 3 lb pork sirloin roast
• 16 oz Classic Coke
• 1½ tsp honey
• 1½ Tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 c barbecue sauce Kansas City-style

Instructions

• In a large, heavy skillet, brown the roast on all sides on medium-high heat, approximately 4-5 minutes per side. Remove roast to slow cooker.
• Pour soda into pan, continue heating over medium-high heat, and use a spatula or wooden spoon to deglaze pan. Cook liquid for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat.
• Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together honey, vinegar, salt and pepper. Add the cooked soda, and whisk to combine. Pour over roast in slow cooker.
• Set slow cooker to low, and cook for 7-8 hours.
• Remove roast to a cutting board, and dispose of liquid. Shred roast using two forks, and return to slow cooker. Add barbecue sauce, cover, and set slow cooker to low, and cook for one hour.

Notes

Original recipe calls for 2 lbs roast, and a single can of Dr. Pepper.  I ended up with 3 lbs of roast, and didn’t have Dr. Pepper – upping all ingredients by 50%, and using Coca-Cola seemed to work well, and I repeated the effort to confirm that it wasn’t a fluke!  🙂 

While there’s some work prior to putting the roast into the slow cooker, it’s really pretty simple. Which means I was able to get this done and going first thing in the morning before work. Reheating in the microwave is a snap, so it works well for MM’s lunches at work.

It’s up to you, but the serving situation is completely flexible! We’ve used brioche buns, Hawaiian sweet rolls, and at one point, paired it with sourdough and cheddar to make a melt. It’s been tasty in all ways, and I highly suggest trying out whatever you like. Maybe find a good coleslaw to use as a topping?

What route would you choose?