Easy Roasted Pulled Pork
When colder weather hits, it’s only natural for us to want to make dishes that are warm, hearty and satisfying.
Soups, stews, braised meats and vegetables are all good this time of year. The kind of food that “sticks to your ribs”, as my mother would say.
One of my favorite things is pulled pork. It’s a rich and satisfying dinner on a cold evening.
I’ve made a lot of recipes for it over the years. The one I originally started with was a lot spicier than my final version, calling for an entire can of chipotle peppers! Little did I know how immensely hot that was going to be. I could barely get it down, my esophagus was engulfed in flames. Unfortunately, I had to toss it. The next time I made it, modifications had to be made, so I tried using barbecue sauce instead, but it lacked punch and all I tasted was the cloyingly sweet taste of BBQ sauce. The third time I made it (this is sounding like a Goldilocks story) I used chipotle BBQ sauce, combining, I hoped, the best of both worlds. Sure enough, this added just enough spice without torching my lips and intestines. I think it’s just right the way it is now.
It’s super simple to make. All you need is time, as in all afternoon, so it’s best made on the weekend (or, if you’re still working from home, anytime). You could try it in a slow cooker - it would take less babysitting, but it won’t be the same. You could brown the meat before adding it to the slow cooker, but still you won’t end up with the caramelization you would achieve in the oven. Slow-roasting the meat in the oven is key. Here it is.
Ingredients
1 large or 2 small onions, peeled and sliced, not chopped
1 pork butt (pork shoulder roast), bone-in, about 3-4 lbs
salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/2 to 1 can real cola with sugar (not diet)*
1/2 bottle chipotle barbecue sauce
Directions
Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.
Place the onion slices in the bottom of a roasting pan with a lid. Trim roast of some of the fat but leave it whole and if it has a bone, be sure to leave that in. That will provide loads of flavor. Sprinkle the roast all over with salt and pepper, and then place it on top of the onions. Pour in just enough of the cola so that the liquid comes about 1/4 -1/3 up the sides of the roast. You don’t want it to swim in too much liquid. Then add the BBQ sauce over the roast, rubbing it over the top and sides. In the photo above, far right, I added some chunky Habanero Peach Salsa to my BBQ sauce because all I had was regular Kansas City style BBQ sauce and not the chipotle variety. It wasn’t much, but it added a little dimension to the dish that wouldn’t have been there had it just been plain ole BBQ sauce.
Cover the pot, put it in the oven and cook for 4-5 hours, depending on the size of your roast. For a 3 pounder, this is enough time. Turn the meat 2 or 3 times during the cooking process. For the last hour, leave the lid off in order to get that caramelization I was talking about. If you don’t want the caramelization (what is wrong with you?), put the lid back on.
When it’s done, the meat should be fork-tender and easy to shred. Do so completely with 2 forks while the roast is still in the pot. Leave the meat in the juice until you serve it. If the meat is not coming apart easily, you’ll need to cook it longer, covered.
That’s it! How hard was THAT?
Pulled pork goes well with beer, of course, but also with a bottle of Grenache. This lighter red wine is perfect with the sweetness of the pork and its sauce. You can serve pulled pork with coleslaw, or you could drain some of the liquid and serve it as a pulled pork sandwich. Or you can serve it over some slightly mashed (s’mashed) potatoes to soak up the liquid. I love pork with sweet potatoes, so I’ll throw a sweet potato in to the oven for the last 1-1/2 to 2 hours (depending on how big it is) so that it’s done by the time the pork is ready.
O.M.G. is all I can say!
The dark bits are the caramelization that adds so much flavor at the end of the cooking process.
*Note: sugar in the cola will help with the caramelization process. If you don’t like the idea of cola, omit it and add the equivalent amount in the form of a tablespoon or two of brown sugar dissolved in about 10 oz. of chicken broth.
