Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Homemade Spicy BBQ Sauce

Pulled Pork with a Smoky Flavor

Pulled pork is one of my all-time favorite foods. It’s super easy to make in your slow cooker and can be made in large batches so that you always have some to put in your freezer and save for meals later in the week.

BBQ sauce, with its traditionally high sugar and carb count, sounds like one of those things you have to give up on a low carb diet.

Thankfully, this assumption is FALSE! With a few tweaks, you can make a tasty BBQ sauce that is low carb and suits your own tastes.

I like a spicier BBQ, so I used Plochman’s Chicago Fire Yellow Mustard as my base. It’s similar to French’s but with a little extra kick. You can probably add a few dashes of Tabasco sauce to regular yellow mustard for a similar effect. I also cut down on the artificial sweetener (you can easily double it).

If your pork shoulder isn’t already boneless, it’s fairly easy to cut it right off the bone, as long as you have a proper boning knife. If you eat a lot of meat, this one is a solid investment without breaking the bank. It’s super sharp right out of the package and seriously cuts through meat like butter.

Now, let’s make some pulled pork!

Ingredients (12 Servings)

Pulled Pork

• 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder
• 2 teaspoons onion powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 2 teaspoons ground sea salt
• 1 teaspoon fresh black pepper
• 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder
• ½ cup of water

For the BBQ Sauce:

• ½ teaspoon ground allspice
• ¼ cup Plochman’s Chicago Fire Yellow Mustard or regular yellow mustard
• 3 teaspoons Texas Pete hot sauce or your favorite hot sauce
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 4 tablespoons Heinz reduced sugar ketchup
• 2 teaspoons liquid smoke
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar substitute
• ½ teaspoons xanthan gum (used as a thickener)

Instructions

1. Remove the pork shoulder from the bone.
2. Mix together onion powder, garlic powder, sea salt, pepper, paprika, allspice, celery salt, and mustard powder in a small dish.
3. Rub the spice mixture all over the pork shoulder.
4. Add water to the slow cooker. Place pork shoulder inside and cook on high for 4 hours, or on low for 6-8 hours, until the meat is visibly tender.
5. Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred it with two forks.
6. Whisk together the BBQ sauce ingredients until smooth.
7. Add your BBQ sauce to the remaining liquid in the slow cooker (you may want to remove the excess fat/solids from the top first) and stir well.
8. Place the pork back in the cooker and stir until it’s fully coated.
9. Cook on high for an additional 10-15 minutes, or until the sauce reaches your desired thickness.

P.S. If you hate cleaning up after using your slow cooker, get these slow cooker liners. You can get a pack of 3 boxes for under $10. It’s worth it.