Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches

I’ve never liked BBQ sauce. It rules out whole categories of food for me and some restaurants that my husband loves. But now there’s a Pulled Pork Sandwich recipe that I absolutely love, and it’s done in the slow cooker so it’s easy and makes the house smell great and makes dinner easy (did I mention that?) and it’s delicious. I also like that the list of spices are ones I keep on hand, so I’m not really buying anything unusual to make this recipe, just waiting for pork roasts to go on sale.

Slow Cooker Pulled Pork Sandwiches
reprinted with permission of Relish!

1 yellow onion, chopped
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/4 cup tomato paste
2 Tbsp sweet paprika
2 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce (make sure it’s gluten-free if you need to)
2 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 1/4 tsp coarse salt
1 tsp black pepper
3-4 lbs. shoulder pork roast (I used a leftover pork loin from the freezer)
6 hamburger buns (this recipe is scaled for 6 servings, but you can adjust the size at Relish! if needed)


In a slow-cooker pot, stir onion, ketchup, vinegar, brown sugar, tomato paste, paprika, Worcestershire, mustard, salt, and pepper until combined. Add pork to sauce mixture and turn to coat well with sauce.

Cover slow cooker with lid and cook pork mixture on low setting as manufacturer directs, 8 to 10 hours or until pork is very tender.

With tongs, transfer pork to large bowl. Turn setting on slow cooker to high; cover and heat sauce to boiling to thicken and reduce slightly.

While sauce boils, with 2 forks, pull pork into shreds. Return shredded pork to slow cooker and toss with sauce to combine. Cover slow cooker and heat through on high setting if necessary.

Spoon pork mixture onto bottom of sandwich buns; replace tops of buns.

I served this with whole wheat hamburger buns (for my family) and gluten-free bread (for me), plus a broccoli slaw salad (the crunch and vinegar went perfect with the pork) and mandarin oranges on the side. Another night, we just had it with a big salad and corn on the cob. Yum!

This recipe is linked up to The Shabby Nest’s Frugal Friday, Paisley Passions Thrilling Thursday and Save at Home Mommy’s Scrumptious Bites.