Pulled Pork Sliders
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These succulent pulled pork sliders feature tender fall-apart meat, and a classic homemade BBQ sauce. An easy slow cooker recipe. Tuck the juicy shredded meat between slider buns and add some tangy coleslaw. These savory pulled pork sandwiches are hearty and delicious.
👩🏻🍳 Reasons to Love Pulled Pork Sliders
- The pulled pork is made in a slow cooker. An ideal cooking method. Slow cooking over a long period of time at a low temperature (slow and low) produces juicy tenderized meat. Prep the simple recipe in 10 minutes, then let your slow cooker do the rest.
- This southern dish is sweet and tangy with a savory BBQ flavor. For this easy recipe we make our own classic BBQ sauce, but feel free to use a bottle of store-bought BBQ sauce instead. The choice is yours!
- The delicate meat almost melts in your mouth. For pulled pork sliders with meat smothered in sauce, serve extra BBQ sauce on the side. You can prep the sliders with or without coleslaw.
- It’s a great make-ahead recipe. Cook the meat 1 day in advance and refrigerate. Reserve the cooking juices. Rewarm in the oven or in a crockpot, remoistening the meat with the reserved cooking broth.
- Pulled pork sliders are perfect for potlucks, backyard gatherings, and parties year round. Use Hawaiian sweet rolls for these small-bite sandwiches. They’re quick to assemble and can feed a crowd.
- Enjoy pulled pork sandwiches for lunch or dinner. Use standard-size hamburger buns, brioche buns, or sourdough buns. Pair the sandwiches with healthy sides like carrot strips, sliced apples, or fried zucchini. Or serve with crunchy kettle chips.
- They’re a family favorite. Just like cheeseburger sliders and corned beef sliders, this is a popular recipe I’m excited to share.
🛒 Ingredients
For Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- White Onion: Has a clean sharp taste with a touch of sweetness. Once cooked, it’s delicious and tender with a mellow aftertaste. But feel free to use a yellow onion instead, if that’s what you have on hand.
- Ketchup: Adds sweetness and tanginess to the pulled pork. It also thickens the juices and gives helps give this dish a savory taste.
- Apple Cider Vinegar: Adds a bright zesty flavor. Its mild citric acid helps tenderize the meat so it can be easily shredded.
- Light Brown Sugar: Adds the perfect amount of sweetness.
- Tomato Paste: Adds a rich tomato flavor to the juices of the meat. It helps bring out the umami taste and aroma of the pulled pork.
- Smoked Paprika: Contributes a delicious smoky flavor.
- Chili Powder: Adds color, a rich warm flavor, and a bit of heat.
- Garlic Powder: Adds a rustic earthy flavor and aroma.
- Onion Powder: Has a bold, concentrated onion flavor and aroma.
- Kosher Salt: Enhances the flavor of the other ingredients.
- Black Pepper: Adds an earthy taste and aroma with a hint of heat.
- Boneless Pork Shoulder: This cut is also known as pork butt or Boston butt. When selecting the meat, make sure there’s a good balance between meat and fat. The meat itself should be reddish in color, not light pink. The fat cap on one side should be pearl white.
👉🏻 KITCHEN SMARTS: It’s important to know that raw pork cooks down to half its weight. So 1 lb. of raw pork will yield about 1/2 lb. of cooked meat.
For Assembling Pulled Pork Sliders
- Cornstarch: We create a classic BBQ sauce by using cornstarch to thicken the cooking juices.
- Coleslaw: Homemade or store-bought.
- Good-quality Buns: Hawaiian rolls are ideal for sliders. For pulled pork sandwiches use regular-size hamburger buns or brioche buns.
👩🏻🍳 Recipe Variations
- Want pulled pork with a kick of heat? In Step 1 (below) add 3 teaspoons of your favorite hot sauce.
- Want to give the meat a deep smoky flavor? In Step 1 (below), add 1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke.
- Don’t want to make your own BBQ sauce? Skip Step 1 (below). Instead, toss the meat with 2 cups of store-bought sauce. I favor Sweet Baby Ray’s Original BBQ Sauce.
📖 Recipe Steps
- Add all the ingredients for classic BBQ sauce to the slow cooker: diced onion, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, and spices. Stir to combine.
- Add the cubed pork shoulder to the pot. Stir until all pieces are coated in sauce.
- Cook on high for 6 hours (or on low for 8 hours), until the pork is fork tender and the internal temperature of the meat registers 205°F on a meat thermometer.
- Transfer the cooking liquid to a saucepan. Whisk in cornstarch. Cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the BBQ sauce reaches the desired thickness. Shred the meat with 2 forks.
- Pour just enough BBQ sauce over the meat until it’s coated to your liking, then toss well to combine. Reserve any leftover sauce to serve on the side. Assemble pulled pork sliders.
🧑🏼🍳 Recipe FAQ
These are the most commonly-asked questions when making pulled pork sliders, and the most helpful answers for recipe success.
For food safety, use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Pulled pork is done cooking when the internal temperature reaches 205°F.
Tent the meat with foil and let it rest for 30 minutes before shredding. During this time the expelled juices in the meat will redistribute. The dryer parts of the meat will have a chance to reabsorb the lost fluids.
USDA guidelines for food safety recommend storing pulled pork in the fridge (in a shallow covered container) for no longer than 3 to 4 days. After that time, it must be discarded.
The best way to reheat pulled pork is in the oven. Preheat your oven to 250°F. Transfer the meat to a shallow baking dish and add some moisture – meat juices, broth, water or BBQ sauce. Cover the dish in foil. Reheat the meat to 165 °F (hot and steaming).
Yes, you can freeze pulled pork. Transfer meat to zip-top freezer bags. Include some meat juices and fat so the meat will stay hydrated and tender when thawed and rewarmed. Remove as much air as possible from the bags. Freeze for up to 3 months.
🍽 Sides for Pulled Pork Sandwiches
Wondering what to serve with pulled pork sandwiches? I’ve got you covered. In addition to baked beans and chips, these are the most popular sides.
- Baked Mac and Cheese
- Corn on the Cob
- Loaded Baked Potato Salad
- Cucumber Salad
- Classic Macaroni Salad
- Crispy French Fries
Rate This Recipe ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Flavor testers rated these the best-tasting pulled pork sliders. They enjoyed the delicate, fall-apart meat. They appreciated being able to prep the recipe in a slow cooker. They loved the idea of serving sliders at parties, then using the recipe for pulled pork sandwiches during the busy workweek.
If you agree this recipe’s a keeper, give it a 5-star rating in the comments. Then be a recipe hero. Share it with friends. 📌 Pin it to Pinterest.
Pulled Pork sliders
- Total Time: 6 Hours 10 Minutes
- Yield: 16 Pulled Pork Sliders 1x
Description
Slow-cooker pulled pork sliders feature tender, juicy fall-apart meat. The succulent pork is tossed with homemade BBQ sauce, then tucked into rolls or buns with tangy coleslaw.
Ingredients
For Slow Cooker Pulled Pork
- 1 small white onion, finely diced
- 3/4 cup ketchup
- 1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 1/2 tablespoons smoked paprika
- 1 1/2 teaspoons chili powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 boneless pork shoulder (about 4 lbs), fat trimmed & meat cut into 1″ pieces
For BBQ Sauce and Assembling Sliders
- 4 teaspoons cornstarch, to thicken cooking liquid for BBQ sauce
- 4 cups coleslaw, homemade or store-bought
- Hawaiian rolls, brioche slider rolls, or hamburger buns
Instructions
- Add all the ingredients for the classic BBQ sauce to the slow cooker: diced onion, ketchup, apple cider vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, and spices. Stir to combine. Add the cubed pork shoulder to the pot. Stir until all pieces are coated in sauce.
- Cook on low for 8 hours (or on high for 6 hours), or until the pork is fork tender and the internal temperature of the meat registers 205°F on a meat thermometer.
- Transfer the cooking liquid to a small saucepan. Whisk in the cornstarch. Cook over medium heat for 3 to 4 minutes, or until the BBQ sauce reaches the desired thickness.
- Shred the pork with 2 forks. Pour just enough BBQ sauce over the meat until it’s coated to your liking, then toss to combine. (Any leftover BBQ sauce can be served on the side.)
- Assemble the pulled pork sliders: Add the meat and coleslaw to rolls or buns.
Notes
👉🏻 It’s important to know: Raw pork cooks down to half its weight. So 1 lb. of raw pork will yield about 1/2 lb. of cooked meat.
Servings: This recipe yields enough meat for 16 pulled-pork sliders, or 8 pulled-pork sandwiches.
How long will pulled pork last in the fridge? USDA guidelines for food safety recommend storing pulled pork in the fridge (in a shallow covered container) for no longer than 3 to 4 days. After that time, it must be discarded.
Recipe Variations
- Want pulled pork with a kick of heat? In Step 1 (above), add 3 teaspoons hot sauce.
- Want to give the meat a deep smoky flavor? In Step 1 (above), add 1 1/2 teaspoons liquid smoke.
- Don’t want to make your own BBQ sauce? Skip Step 1 (above). Instead, toss the meat with 2 cups of your favorite store-bought sauce. I favor Sweet Baby Ray’s Original BBQ Sauce.
- Prep Time: 10 Minutes
- Cook Time: 6 Hours
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Slow Cooker
- Cuisine: American
Pulled Pork Sliders 👉🏻 Join the Convo
Are you ready to plug in the slow cooker for this easy pulled pork recipe? Will you be prepping sliders to feed a crowd? Or will it be individual pulled pork sandwiches? Share your thoughts below. I’d love to hear from you.
Fantastic! Easy, tender, tasty. Everything I was hoping these would be. I topped them with your coleslaw recipe. Served them on brioche slider buns. Everyone at the family potluck raved about them. So I shared the recipe!
I don’t even eat pork and I liked this. I was at my in-laws house and they made sliders. I didn’t know what a slider was, so I didn’t realize it was pork (thought it was beef). So I ate it and I loved it! So much that I asked for the recipe…which is when I discovered it was pork not beef…
So, after all these years, it looks like I might start eating pork as well as beef. All because of this recipe. Thank you for widening my horizons. And my husband says thank you too! lol