Pulled Pork Sliders

The strong desire for barbecue at a tailgate is definitely fulfilled with these pulled pork sliders. Cooking the pork in a slow cooker leads to two beautiful things - effortless preparation and TENDERNESS. The pork roast is seasoned with your favorite barbecue sauce, and then releases lovely juices as it cooks for 8 hours. The sauce and juices combine to make one final magical sauce that's already in the slow cooker waiting for you when it's done! Just shred, mix in all the flavorful pork goodness, and serve on slider buns. So simple and easy and mouthwatering!

Featured in La Petite Fashionista Magazine :)
Pulled Pork Sliders
Makes 24 sliders
Cooking Time: 8 hours
Assembly Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 8 hours 20 minutes

Ingredients
3 lb boneless Boston butt pork roast
24 slider buns
1 cup barbecue sauce

1. Place pork roast in slow cooker fat side down and cover with barbecue sauce. Cook on low for 8 hours.
2. Discard any unwanted fat pieces. Shred pork in slow cooker and mix with the juices. Serve on slider buns.

A big heaping cup of barbecue sauce!

Slather the roast in the barbecue sauce and cook on low for 8 hours! That's it!

When the roast is done there will be plenty of added pork juice with the barbecue sauce. The mixture is THE BEST.

Remove any unwanted fat pieces and shred with two forks.

Mix the shredded pork with all of the juices and sauce and you're done!

Serve on slider buns and you've got yourself an easy game day dish! I'll tell you, it's impossible to stop eating these once you've started. The pork is so tender from slow cooking and it's not only slathered in barbecue sauce... it's slathered in barbecue sauce mixed with pork fat goodness. As Emeril says - Pork fat rules.

Italian Beef Sandwiches

I remember the first time I smelled this glorious dish being cooked in the slow cooker... It was love at first whiff. This is my boyfriend's mom's recipe for Italian Beef Sandwiches and the first time I tried it I HAD TO HAVE THE RECIPE! I make it on a regular basis now and it really doesn't get much easier and tastier than this, folks. Throw everything in the slow cooker, let it cook and get super tender for 8 hours, melt some cheese on a sandwich roll, and stuff your face. That's what happens when this sandwich is on the plate in front of you - pure happiness and face-stuffing. And your house will smell FANTASTIC and did I mention it was easy? Ugh. Yum (*does happy-food-dance).

Thank you Mrs. E for sharing the recipe with me!!! :) 

Italian Beef Sandwiches

Makes 6 sandwiches

Preparation Time: 10 minutes

Inactive Time: 8 hours

Total Time: 8 hours and 10 minutes

Ingredients

2 lb bottom round roast or chuck roast

1 onion

6 Italian rolls

6 slices provolone cheese

12 fl oz (1 jar) hot banana pepper rings

0.7 oz Italian salad dressing mix (dry packet)

Enough water to cover the roast in the slow cooker

1. Slice onion. Add roast, onion, banana pepper rings (including the juice from the jar), and salad dressing mix to the slow cooker. Add enough water to just cover the roast. Cook on high for 8 hours. (This can be done with a larger roast as well, up to 3-5 lbs. Add more onions and water to the slow cooker for a larger roast)

2. Shred beef with two forks and discard any fatty pieces. Slice rolls in half and put provolone cheese slice on one side. Broil to melt the cheese, about 2 minutes.

3. Use a slotted spoon to scoop Italian beef, onions, and banana peppers onto the rolls with cheese. Drizzle juice from the slow cooker over the beef or serve with a side of the juice for dipping. Enjoy!

Want to know how easy this recipe is? This is the hardest step - slicing an onion.

Put the roast, sliced onion, banana peppers with the juice, salad dressing mix, and enough water to cover the roast in the slow cooker and cook on high for 8 hours. Yay for setting it and forgetting it!

Oh my. Just look at how beautiful it is after 8 hours!

It is so tender that it falls apart when you take two forks to it. Shred it into small enough pieces for a sandwich.

Use a slotted spoon to scoop out the meat and onions and peppers but you'll also want to either ladle some of the juice onto your sandwich or get an extra little bowl of juice for dipping! 

Brown the sandwich bun and melt the cheese in the broiler for a few minutes, assemble the sandwich, stuff face. Mmmm warm, tender meat with very VERY little work. And whatever you do, don't let the delicious juice go to waste! Either drizzle some directly on the sandwich or have a little dipping bowl like above.

Shredded Pork Burritos

Burritos are on the menu today in Saucy Jocey's Kitchen! I used my slow cooked pulled pork and I also made fresh guacamole mmmm. With these shredded pork, guacamole, and cilantro lime rice recipes, you're off to a great start for tasty burritos. Add whatever else you like! I added black beans, salsa, sour cream, Tobasco green pepper sauce, shredded cheese, and lettuce.

You'll need:
tortillas
shredded pork
guacamole

cilantro lime rice (I like Budget Bytes cilantro lime rice recipe)
whatever else you like (black beans, salsa, sour cream, shredded cheese, lettuce, etc.)

The only bad thing about writing a food blog - Pausing to take pictures when you're hungry!

Pulled Pork

Mmmm pulled pork. It's so delicious and I think it can be very versatile when seasoned a certain way. This seasoning on slow cooked boneless Boston butt pork roast gives the pork great flavor while still complementing the flavors of other recipes. I'll use this for barbeque pork sandwiches and shredded pork burritos, for example, and add other flavors and seasonings accordingly. It's like a blank canvas of pork!

I'm a college student and cook on a college student budget, so if I'm going to cook an enormous cut of meat, I better be happy eating it all week. With this pork recipe I'm free to get creative because the flavors go well with variety of dishes! I eat home-cooked meals on the cheap all week and don't get bored. Perfect!

Pulled Pork

8-10 servings
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 7 hours
Total time: 7 hours 5 minutes

Ingredients
3 lbs boneless Boston butt pork roast
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp onion powder
1/2 Tbsp salt
1 tsp black pepper


1. Combine garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper.

2. Rub seasoning mixture on pork roast.

3. Place seasoned roast fatty side down in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours.

4. Shred pork in slow cooker with two forks and remove any unwanted fatty pieces. Mix shredded pork in the juice drippings in the slow cooker. Enjoy!

I like this seasoning mixture for the pork roast because the flavors go well with everything. I hate to call it "neutral" because that makes it sound bland, but it really is neutral in the sense that it keeps a lot of possibilities open for recipes to use the pork with. And that's the idea when you're trying to cook on a budget and keep some variety in there!

Rub the seasoning mix aaaaaall over the pork roast. You'll get messy, but it will be worth it.

Place the roast in the slow cooker, fat side down.

Cover and cook on low for 7 hours. Everyone should invest in a slow cooker! You can cook inexpensive pieces of meat and they will still be tender and delicious.

Mmmm and after 7 hours - this juicy goodness.

Shred with two forks. It will easily pull apart and you can remove any fatty pieces you don't want. I like to shred it in the crock pot so you can mix it in all the juice! It would be a shame to  waste.

Tonight it's a pulled pork sandwich with Sweet Baby Rays Sweet 'n Spicy barbeque sauce, salad, and loaded baked potato fries from Budget Bytes.  Nom nom nom.