Slow Cooker BBQ Pulled Pork

A great pulled pork recipe is a summer barbecue essential. Even better is one that’s nearly effortless to prepare in a slow cooker (i.e., this one) but which produces smoky, tangy, sweet melt-in-your-mouth meat all the same. Seasoning this pork butt with a flavorful dry rub and letting it rest flavors the meat throughout. Searing the pork until it’s golden brown all over before it goes into the slow cooker adds rich caramelization. If you’re short on time or don’t have all the spices called for below, don’t sweat it—this is a work-with-what-you’ve-got kind of recipe. Want to swap in paprika for the cumin? Go ahead. You have onion powder but not garlic? All good. Want to toss out the lot and sub in a pre-mixed chili powder? You do you. 

The meat braises in cola (or root beer, or Dr. Pepper, you get the picture), which results in the perfect balance of sweet-meets-savory flavor that you can further enhance with the addition of your favorite store-bought or homemade barbecue sauce. We love this hands-off shredded pork best as a sandwich, piled on warm hamburger rolls and topped with slaw, pickle slices, and hot sauce, but it would also be fantastic with rice, in tacos, or over nachos.