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Pulled Pork Barbecue

For many of you who follow along with our posts and podcasts, you know that I (Hayley) have not eaten red meat in quite some time. After drooling many mornings over the smell of Bill cooking bacon, I couldn’t take it any longer. I decided to brave the unknowns of how red meat would react in my stomach, and tried the bacon. It was a slow start (only a few bites), but from those first few bites I knew I was in love! Wow, I had been missing out!

After I got over my fear of red meat making me sick, I had a landslide of recipe ideas involving pork. Pork roast, pork chops, pork loin, and of course… pork barbecue! Bill and I both love barbecue pulled pork, or barbecue chicken, and growing up I was always a fan of ribs covered in barbecue sauce. Unfortunately, there really aren’t any safe conventional barbecue sauces out there, so it was my new mission to create one fit for a caveman! The sauce and the slow cooked pork were a huge success! Bill and I couldn’t get enough of that tangy, sweet, and tender pulled pork.
Ingredients
Barbecue Sauce:
  • 1 1/4 cup Imagine Chicken Broth (you can also use vegetable broth, or plain water)
  • 6 oz can of tomato paste (no salt)
  • The juice of 1.5 limes
  • 1 tablespoon unrefined virgin coconut oil
  • 2 shallots, minced
  • 3 cloves garlic minced
  • 1 tsp organic spicy (or dijon) mustard (always check ingredients, not all dijon mustards have favorable ingredients.)
  • 1 tsp chipotle seasoning
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 1 tsp ground cumin
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp liquid stevia extract (you can also use 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup or raw honey if you choose)

Process:

  1. In a sauce pan, heat coconut oil on medium.
  2. Add garlic and shallots, and saute until soft and translucent.
  3. Add mustard, smoked paprika, chipotle, cumin, and salt, and continue to saute (about 30 seconds).
  4. Add chicken broth, lime juice, stevia, and tomato paste.
  5. Whisk all ingredients until smooth.
  6. Bring to a light boil, reduce to simmer, and slightly cover with a lid.
  7. Simmer for 45 minutes, and let cool.

Ingredients
Pulled Pork:

  • 3 lb “Boston Butt” Pork Shoulder
  • 1 fist of garlic, peeled
  • 3 cups Imagine Chicken Broth

Process:

  1. Rinse pork under cold water and pat dry with a paper towel.
  2. Cut slits into pork and stuff with cloves of garlic (the more the merrier!).
  3. Place pork in crock pot and cover with chicken broth.
  4. Cook pork on low for 8 hours.
  5. Remove from crock pot, and let cool.
  6. Discard thick layers of fat.
  7. Shred pork with two forks.
  8. Toss pork with barbecue sauce and enjoy!

*If you do not own a crock pot, you can also cook the pork in a covered souffle dish in the oven at 250 for 8 hours, or overnight at 200.

http://vimeo.com/moogaloop.swf?clip_id=21111873&server=vimeo.com&show_title=0&show_byline=0&show_portrait=0&color=00ADEF&fullscreen=1&autoplay=0&loop=0

[Printer-friendly recipe – click here]

This is a great recipe for a summer cookout, or any gathering with friends. This recipe would please any barbecue pork lovers. We enjoyed every bite!

As always, enjoy!

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    COMMENTS

    1. March 17, 2011

      I've been looking for a low sugar BBQ sauce recipe for ages. I really love the flavor of BBQ sauce but just haven't been able to find a good replacement – thanks for this! I'll save it and try it out with summer time grilling!

    2. March 17, 2011

      Since when is bacon red meat? 🙂

      Thanks for the recipe. Looks great.

    3. March 17, 2011

      Pork is considered red meat by the USDA because it is red before cooking (also due to high amounts myoglobin). However, it has been advertised as "the other white meat" in an attempt to make it seem healthier.

    4. March 17, 2011

      how many servings does this recipe make?

    5. March 17, 2011

      Anywhere between 4 and 8 – it all depends on what else you're serving it with. Our Pork butt was 3lbs, so 4 servings would be BIG, stand alone servings. It's probably more to the tune of 6-8 with other side dishes.

      Enjoy!

    6. March 18, 2011

      this looks great! how much mustard did you use? i see it pictured but not listed.

    7. March 18, 2011

      Thank you for spotting that error. I(Hayley) had a strange feeling I was leaving something out with this recipe! We used 1 teaspoon. The recipe is fixed now.

    8. March 23, 2011

      Oh, yeah! Pork shoulder. Pulled pork! We <3 the pig. I am so glad that you had a pleasant re-introduction to red meat. Thanks for this recipe. I can't wait until pork shoulder is on sale again. 😀

    9. April 16, 2011

      This recipe is AWESOME! The sauce is a amazing! I've been eating it on everything. Thanks for another excellent alternative to the yucky stuff!

    10. April 17, 2011

      Was your pork butt bone-in or boneless?

    11. April 18, 2011

      @Carol Anne- So glad to hear you enjoy it!

      @Beth- There was a small bone that fell out easily after the pork cooked low and slow for 8 hours.

    12. April 18, 2011

      Thanks, can't wait to try it this weekend!

    13. April 28, 2011

      This is amazing. I made it the other night for dinner and it was awesome. I has to fight my husband for leftovers. I didn't use any sweetener in the bbq sauce and it was great. Thanks for all the recipes!!

    14. November 8, 2011

      Can you do anything with the reserved liquid from the crock pot?

    15. November 16, 2011

      Hi Laura,

      You could try using some of the liquid in the bbq sauce instead of the chicken broth or water. Besides that, I'd just say pitch it.

    16. December 22, 2011

      Just made the BBQ sauce (to serve with meatloaf) and it is delicious! Will have to unearth my slow cooker and try it with the pork itself at some point…

      Thank-you!

    17. ashlelise
      March 11, 2014

      Found on Pinterest!

      I used pork sirloin roast, because Target’s grocery store didn’t carry any other cuts!

      The pulled pork was tasty- but next time I’ll add onions in the slow cooker for a little more flavor.

      I did not use the stevia in the BBQ sauce- just omitted all together. The sauce was okay– a little bland, though.

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