My pulled pork and sides recipe is a great and tasty way to make pulled pork that you cook in your slow cooker. Each layer of flavor in this whole dish (if you are making the sides too) is amazing and worth the effort of making all the different components. The pulled pork cooks for hours in the slow cooker and then gets crisped up under the broiler for that perfect caramelized bite.
Table of contents
- This pulled pork and sides recipe consists of 4 parts:
- Pulled Pork in the Crockpot (Slow Cooker) method-
- Ideas for meal planning with pulled pork-
- If you are looking for specific meal ideas to make use of this pulled pork:
- The Pulled Pork Sides-
- Common questions about making this pulled pork with sides:
- More Texas Inspired Recipes:
This pulled pork and sides recipe consists of 4 parts:
- The pulled pork
- Rice
- Cumin and lime coleslaw
- Cuban style black beans
The recipe below is for cooking the pulled pork in the crockpot (slow cooker) and assembling it. For the recipes for the sides, just scroll down to the bottom.
This pulled pork recipe also includes side dishes to serve with it. There are links to the recipes for all the sides if you are making the entire pulled pork bowl.
Alternately, you can opt for just making the pulled pork and using it in pulled pork tacos (see picture below) or in any recipe that calls for pulled pork!
Pulled Pork in the Crockpot (Slow Cooker) method-
Making pulled pork in the crock pot (slow cooker) is the easiest way to make pulled pork. It achieves that long and slow cooking that makes the pork tender and you're not heating up your house with the oven.
The slow cooker does all of the work and you just sit back and relax. I really love the slow cooker for so many of my meat dishes because it cuts down on my time in the kitchen and the meat always comes out tender and delicious.
I always make my chili and brisket in the slow cooker. I even make a beef bourguignon in it.
Since this method of cooking makes the meat very tender, I like to crisp up the edges of the pork under a broiler for a few minutes with a little bit of the sauce from the slow cooker and it really gives the meat a nice bite.
I love a crispy edge on my pulled pork. Essentially, this pulled pork recipe is carnitas since the crisping part is the defining difference between pulled pork and carnitas (in case it ever came up in conversation or a debate ensued!)
If you do not have a slow cooker but maybe you have a pressure cooker, you can check out my recipe for pulled pork in the pressure cooker. It is my recipe for pressure cooker pork carnitas and it is equally delicious!
Ideas for meal planning with pulled pork-
This recipe makes a good bit of pulled pork so I like to use this as a meal prep dish and make a batch for different meals during the week. I also like to use this as a leftover night type of meal to save myself one night of cooking dinner.
It really is an all year round kind of dish. Aside from using this as a summer dish where I do not want to run my oven, I love cooking this all through the winter months too.
If you are looking for specific meal ideas to make use of this pulled pork:
- Pork Carnitas is the best and traditional way to use the pulled pork. This recipe is essentially a carnitas recipe since the meat is crisped up at the end before cooking.
- A buddha bowl for pulled pork with vegetables (see some sides ideas below if you want more than vegetables). My favorite vegetables to serve with pulled pork are roasted peppers, roasted squash and zucchini and avocado!
- Pulled Pork Tacos. If you saw the picture above, I love this idea and always add my cumin lime slaw and homemade pico de gallo to the tacos. If you are wondering should I serve something with my pulled pork tacos the answer is you can but it is not necessary. The tacos are an all in one kind of meal. If you are feeling the need to have a side, you can serve some chips and a simple and delicious avocado dip to go with them.
- Burritos. Just add your pulled pork to some flour tortillas along with your favorite toppings (pico de gallo, cheese, beans, etc) and roll it all up.
- On nachos! Pulled pork nachos are so good. Think a bed of tortilla chips topped with some juicy and tender pulled pork then melted cheese over top of that. Serve it with some homemade salsa like this roasted tomato and tomatillo salsa for an even more amazing experience.
- With Rice and Black Beans.
- Pulled Pork Sandwiches. You can add this pulled pork to some hoagie rolls along with my cumin and lime coleslaw for the most delicious topping. I swear, this cumin and lime coleslaw makes the best pulled pork sandwich topping! The coleslaw and pulled pork are just a match made in heaven.
The Pulled Pork Sides-
As the title of the recipe suggests, my pulled pork recipe does come with side dish ideas. I always find that side dishes are some of the hardest things to think of when I am trying to find one that goes with meat.
To help you all out, in case you struggle with side dishes too, I wanted to include some ideas below. My family loves these sides with our pulled pork and I hope you will enjoy them too.
My Favorite Side Dishes to Go With Pulled Pork-
Mostly From Scratch Black Beans
Cuban black beans is really one of my favorite side dishes and main meal if I am looking for a quick but satisfying dish. This black bean side dish recipe uses canned black beans making it really quick to make. The deliciousness comes from all the spices and add ins to the beans and believe me it is not all boring.
This cumin and lime coleslaw is really delicious you all. I am not a person who likes coleslaw and I will eat this almost every week. There is so much freshness in this with the lime and shallots and the cumin gives that little bit spice that is so good.
If you are more of a taco fan, this pork goes perfectly on soft tortillas making the most delicious tacos! I love using my cumin lime slaw with the pork tacos.
Common questions about making this pulled pork with sides:
Can I make the coleslaw ahead of time?
Yes, you can make this ahead of time so you do not have to worry about making all the parts of this dish at once. For the best experience where there is some freshness and crunch, you can make this up to 4 hours ahead of time. You can certainly make it even further in advance but you will loose some of that freshness.
How long does the coleslaw last in the fridge?
I recommend storing coleslaw for no more than 3 days. After this, it just starts to become mushy and no one likes that 🙂
Can I freeze the extra pulled pork?
Yes you can! Pullled pork makes a great freezer meal. Just store it in a freezer proof bag after it has cooled and freeze for up to 2 months. To thaw, place in the fridge overnight.
To re-heat, place the pulled pork inside of some aluminum foil closed tightly in a 350 degree oven for 30 minutes. To crisp it back up, open up the aluminum foil to expose the meat and place under a broiler for a couple minutes or until crisp.
This pulled pork recipe is for the crockpot. Can I cook the pulled pork another way?
Traditionally pulled pork is done over an open fire. You can cook pulled pork many ways but this recipe only has instructions for the crockpot version. I do have a pressure cooker (instant pot) pulled pork (carnitas) recipe as well.
This dish couldn't be easier and is so amazing! No matter how you do it it will taste amazing! I hope you give it a try!
More Texas Inspired Recipes:
- Authentic Texas Chili
- Homemade Pico de Gallo
- Roasted Salsa
- Poblano Quesadilla with Poblano Cream Sauce
- Sheet Pan Nachos
Pulled Pork and Sides
Tried the Recipe? We Would Love To Hear From You In The Comments Below!
Equipment
- Slow Cooker
Ingredients
Roast
- 1 pork butt roast 4-5 lbs no bone
- 2 chipotle chilis you can find these in cans in the international section of your grocery store
- 1 fresh avocado sliced
- 1 lime
- 1 batch of cumin lime coleslaw see recipe link above
- 1 batch of Mostly from Scratch black beans see recipe link above
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt and 1 teaspoon pepper and more to taste
- 1 tablespoon of cumin
- 1 teaspoon of oregano
- 2 teaspoon of paprika
- 2 teaspoon of brown sugar
- Water for your roast The water in your slow cooker should come up to the middle of the roast (½ way up)
Rice
- 1 tablespoon of butter or olive oil
- 1 cup of uncooked basmati rice
- 1 ¾ cup of water for the rice
- 2 teaspoon of kosher salt
Instructions
Roast
- Place your pork roast in a slow cooker and add your chipotle chili, your oregano, salt, pepper, cumin and paprika over top.
- Now add about 1 cup or so of water just to come up a little on the sides of your roast and then cover and cook for about 4-6 hours on low heat or until the roast is easy to shred with a fork.
- Once your roast is fully cooked, remove it from the slow cooker and place on a sheet pan to cool and cover with aluminum foil.
- While it is cooling, make your black beans and cole slaw (recipe above)
- Do not discard your cooking liquid yet since we will use it in a bit.
- Once cooled, remove any fatty layers and discard and then begin to shred your pork by tearing it with 2 forks.
- Once you have shredded all of the pork, add about 3-4 tablespoon of your cooking liquid and drizzle that over your pork making sure to coat all the pork a little bit.
- Now sprinkle your brown sugar evenly over the pork and set aside.
- start to slice your avocado and place in a bowl and then squeeze your lime over top to prevent browning and set aside.
Rice
- In a medium pot over hight heat add your butter or olive oil and then add your rice.
- Mix your rice around well to coat it in your oil for about 2 minutes.
- Now add your water and bring to a boil.
- Once the water comes to a boil, add your salt, stir and add your lid and lower the heat to low.
- Cook rice until it is ready (no more water is left), about 5-8 minutes.
Crisping up the Pork
- Pre-heat the broiler
- Place your pork under the broiler to crisp up, about 2-3 minutes. Once ready, remove from the oven and cover with aluminum foil to keep warm.
To Assemble The Rice Bowls
- Place 1 cup of cooked rice in a bowl
- Add ½ cup of cumin lime slaw
- Add ½ cup of almost from scratch black beans
- Add any other toppings like avocado or salsa
- Enjoy!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition Values are estimates only.
See full nutrition disclaimer here
Kevin says
I made this for the family and it was so easy and delicious. I will be making this again!
Ali says
Delicious!
Meg says
We made this exactly like the recipe except we added a little citrus (orange and lemon). It was amazing. So easy
TJ says
Made the perfect filling for tacos!