This Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Barbecue recipe is an easy way to enjoy barbecue at home. It's rubbed with fragrant spices and cooked low and slow in the crockpot until it's succulent and tender. Serve it on a bun or Texas toast with a side of slaw for a taste of the South.

Easy Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Barbecue Recipe

Barbecue is a year round hot favorite at our house. We like it smoky, spicy and sweet. As you know, barbecue is best cooked low and slow but, if you don't have a smoker, reach for the next best thing, your handy slow cooker will work like a charm. I not only make pork in my slow cooker but, beef and chicken both work incredibly well, too. In North Carolina we have two schools of thought on barbecue. Eastern North Carolina barbecue is made with a tangy and spicy vinegar based sauce. In the Western parts of the state, barbecue boasts a sweet tomato based sauce. Whatever your pleasure, North Carolina is known for pork barbecue and rightly so. You can read more about the two styles of NC barbecue on Our State.

How to Make the Best Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Barbecue Recipe

For this pulled pork, I use a spicy fragrant rub, and cook it low and slow all day. It's finished with a sweet and smokey homemade Dr Pepper Barbecue Sauce but you can certainly dress it with your favorite sauce.

Ingredients you'll need to make homemade Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Barbecue: Pork butt, prepared barbecue rub (your favorite for a shortcut) liquid smoke, Dr Pepper and Dr Pepper Barbecue Sauce.
Ingredients you'll need to make my homemade Barbecue Rub: Granulated sugar, light brown sugar, paprika, dark chili powder, salt, cumin, black pepper, lemon pepper, ground chipotle pepper, granulated garlic or garlic powder and onion powder.
Kitchen tools you'll need: A 6 quart or larger slow cooker (crockpot), measuring cups and spoons, forks and tongs.
Please note that I include a homemade rub for this recipe. If you have a favorite blend that you use or if you need a shortcut, you can use a prepared rub that you enjoy.
You can use any BBQ sauce that suits your fancy to finish this pulled pork. I recommend using a sauce that complements the chipotle in the rub.
It's perfectly fine to prep the pork butt and coat it with the dry rub and chill in the refrigerator. You can do this up to two days with the rub.
You may use your favorite barbecue rub for making this recipe or make your own. See the Cook's note for the homemade rub I recommend.
After cooking, you may freeze leftovers in a freezer safe container or plastic freezer bag for up to 2 months.
It will also keep in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Reheat gently tossed with sauce in a saucepan over medium heat or in single servings in the microwave.

Southern Side Dishes to Serve with Pork Barbecue

The sky's the limit when it comes to the side dishes to serve with barbecue. I wanted to give you a little inspiration with these recipes:

Homemade classic French Fries or Sweet Potato Fries are both options.
Southern Style Cole Slaw is the perfect topping.
Double Cheddar Macaroni and Cheese is a crowd pleaser.
Sweet Grilled Corn on the Cob or Oven Roasted Corn Cob.
Crisp Green Bean Salad is marinated in a delicious vinaigrette.
Southern Potato Salad is perfection.

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Slow Cooked Pulled Pork Barbecue

Prep Time10

Cook Time10

Marinate time8

Total Time18 10

Course: Main Course, Pork

Cuisine: American

Keyword: pulled-pork-bbq, pulled-pork-sandwich, slow-cooked-pulled-pork-barbecue

Servings: 16 servings

Calories: 327kcal

Author: Melissa Sperka

Ingredients

1 6 lb pork butt
⅓ cup prepared BBQ rub i.e. Barbecue Magic your favorite (See Cook's note for homemade rub recipe)
1 12 oz bottle Dr Pepper
1 tablespoon liquid smoke hickory or mesquite
3 cups Dr Pepper barbecue sauce divided

Instructions

Rub pork butt generously with your choice of dry rub seasoning on all sides. Or, homemade in Cook's note. Wrap with plastic wrap, and refrigerate overnight.
To prepare: Spray the crock of a 6 quart slow cooker with cooking spray.
Mix Dr Pepper with the liquid smoke. Pour into slow cooker. Center the pork shoulder in the cooking liquid.
Cook on the low for 8-10 hours until fork tender.
Remove pork to a platter. Discard the cooking juices.
Shred pork using 2 forks, removing any visible fat. Return pulled pork back to the slow cooker. Increase the temperature to high.
Pour 2 cups barbecue sauce over pork. Cover and simmer 30-45 minutes just until sauce has simmered into pork.
Serve on kaiser rolls or buns with cole slaw and extra sauce on the side.

Notes

If you'd like to take a shortcut for the sauce, I recommend using a bottled barbecue sauce with a chipotle flavor to reflect the flavors in the dry rub such as Sweet Baby Rays.

Homemade rub:

2 tablespoon granulated sugar
2 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoon paprika
2 tablespoon dark chili powder
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon ground cumin
2 teaspoon ground chipotle pepper
2 teaspoon lemon pepper
2 teaspoon granulated garlic or garlic powder
2 teaspoon onion powder

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @melissassk or tag #melissassk!

Comments

Melissa

August 02, 2013 at 12:04 am

Hey Steve! Oh sure, beef chuck roasts make fantastic pulled beef barbecue. I just posted this recently on Parade. Here's the link:
http://www.parade.com/20426/melissasperka/no-smoker-no-problem-make-bbq-beef-in-a-slow-cooker/

Steve

August 01, 2013 at 11:10 pm

Just out of curiosity..If you're not a fan of pork..Can you use some cut of beef as a substitute???..If you can..What cut of beef would recommend??..

Melissa

May 25, 2013 at 1:26 am

Thanks Didi, as you know there are so many outstanding seasoning rubs now, it makes life so much easier some days. Thanks for stopping by, ♥ Melissa

Didi Dalaba

May 25, 2013 at 12:46 am

I absolutely love the "shortcut" version of this recipe Melissa!! ♥

Awesome recipe!!