Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Fifteen minutes of work in the morning, dinner for eight in the evening, and enough left over to feed people again on Thursday.

Ingredients

• 4–5 lb boneless pork shoulder (Boston butt), trimmed of excess hard fat
• 2 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 1 cup chicken broth
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• 1½ cups barbecue sauce, plus more for serving
• 10 soft buns
• Coleslaw, for serving

Instructions

1. Combine the salt, brown sugar, smoked paprika, garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, and mustard. Pat the pork dry and rub the mixture over every surface, pressing it in.
2. Scatter the sliced onion across the bottom of the slow cooker and set the pork on top. The onions keep the meat off the bottom and turn into part of the sauce.
3. Pour the broth and vinegar around the sides, not over the top — you want to keep the rub on the meat rather than washing it off.
4. Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. High for 5 hours works if you're short on time, but low gives noticeably better texture.
5. The pork is ready when a fork twists in it with no resistance, around 200–205°F internal. This is well past "safe" and that's intentional — collagen doesn't break down until roughly 190°F, and that breakdown is what makes it pull.
6. Transfer to a board or bowl and shred with two forks, discarding any large fat pieces.
7. Skim the fat from the cooking liquid. Return the pork to the cooker with 1 cup of the defatted liquid and the barbecue sauce. Stir and keep warm 20 minutes.
8. Pile onto buns with coleslaw.

Substitutions

• Oven method: 300°F in a covered Dutch oven, 4–5 hours, same target temperature.
• Instant Pot: cut the pork into 4 chunks, pressure cook 60 minutes, natural release 15 minutes.
• Chicken thighs: 4 lb, cooked on low for 4 hours, same rub and finish.
• No barbecue sauce: a vinegar-based Carolina-style finish — ½ cup cider vinegar, 1 tbsp sugar, red pepper flakes — is lighter and excellent.

Storage and reheating

Refrigerate up to 5 days in some of its own liquid, which is what keeps it from drying out. Reheat in a covered pan over low with a splash of broth. Freezes exceptionally well for 3 months — portion it flat in bags with a little liquid. Realistically the best cost-per-meal recipe in this library.

Serving suggestions

Buns, coleslaw, pickles, and hot sauce. Beyond sandwiches: tacos with lime and onion, nachos, loaded baked potatoes, or over rice with beans. Plan for the second meal — this recipe assumes it.