Growing up in Kansas City has been a blessing in many ways. The best one has been the outstanding, award-winning BBQ joints that are located, well, everywhere! They provide wonderful inspiration for cooking at home. I won’t lie, I do love Kansas City style BBQ sauce so much more than a North Carolina vinegar BBQ sauce. I am definitely just biased due to having grown up around KC’s finest. Our style of BBQ sauce is more sweet, tangy, and rich, less vinegary and thin. One of the best ways to learn how to make new recipes is by trying delicious food, like good BBQ! A recipe that I love to make because of its simplicity and punch of flavor is slow cooked pulled pork. Most slow cooker recipes are fairly easy as long as you remember to start the crockpot early enough. A lot of the time I forget until it’s the afternoon… Oops!
There is a video version of this recipe over on my YouTube channel!
One of the ways I remedy this issue is by using pork tenderloin instead of pork shoulder. I also cut it up using kitchen scissors (my favorite kitchen tool, ever). This makes it cook in a much shorter time! Depending on the size of the tenderloin, it can take between 4-5 hours or so on high in the crockpot. Many recipes I have seen have a long cook time of 6+ hours. those few extra hours are so precious if you, like me, forget to start the crockpot in the morning. This is the best pulled pork because of how easy the recipe is! The perfect finishing sauce is simple and can be made with ingredients you most likely keep in your refrigerator already. The best part is, it all cooks together so there is no need for any unnecessary extra steps, plus, the pork is super saturated in flavor by the end of the cooking process. The secret ingredient to make it extra delicious is some good dijon mustard! To serve, I love to have an open-faced pulled pork sandwich drizzled with ranch.
Click Jump To Recipe button above to skip to the full printable recipe!
All you will need for this recipe are the ingredients, a slow cooker, some tongs, a stand mixer for easy shredding, and some kitchen shears. If you are looking for a more traditional finishing sauce, this is where it is at! Different finishing sauces such as a North Carolina vinegar sauce or a hot and spicy sauce are good too, but the best kind is a traditional KC style sauce! These are just two examples of regional variations, there are a ton more out there like Texas style BBQ which is awful IMO. Or maybe my experience with it was just bad… Once again, I may or may not be biased in my opinion on BBQ.
Recipe:
Total time: 4-5 hrs
Serves 4-5 people 2 sandwiches per person
Ingredients:
1 Tbsp Onion Powder
2 Tbsp Garlic Salt
1 Tbsp Chili Powder
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1/4 Cup Light or Dark Brown Sugar
Optional: for a spicy kick, add some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper
2 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
1 Cup Homemade BBQ Sauce or (Storebought BBQ Sauce)
1/2 Cup Water
1-1.5 lb Pork Tenderloin
The cooking process is so simple and easy, here it is:
1. In a slow cooker, combine BBQ sauce, onion powder, garlic salt, chili powder, black pepper, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce, cup cider vinegar, dijon mustard, and water. Start the slow cooker by turning it to High. This will create a thin sauce for the pork to marinate and cook in. It will provide a juicier sweet flavor for your pulled pork sandwich!
2. Next, add in a pork tenderloin that has been sliced in half. Mine is usually mostly frozen and already halved, so I wait a little bit until it’s halfway cooked before cutting it up into two inch slices.
3. After 4 hours of cooking, check that the internal temperature is at least 165 degrees at the thickest part in the middle of the meat. Make sure the pork easily comes apart by poking it with tongs. If it falls apart easily, transfer it to a small bowl. Now you can put the pork in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and lock the mixer head down into place. Pulse the mixer to shred pork until it is broken down into medium sized chunks. Another option is to shred the pork with two large forks. Please don’t over-shred your pulled pork 🙂
4. Add the pulled pork back into the crockpot and stir it in with the finishing sauce. Turn the pot to warm and wait 30 min to serve!
Once this delicious saucy pulled pork hits your taste buds, you won’t want to put it down! It is great for any party, tailgate, or weeknight dinner you may have planned. This recipe is for sure a favorite at my house.
Have a different cut of pork such as pork shoulder or boston butt?
If you’ve got a different cut of pork in your freezer, just adjust the time and season with the same ingredients to be able to use what you have. It was by accident that I purchased a bunch of pork tenderloin a while back! I was actually wanting a 1 pound pork shoulder or pound pork butt. Oh well! It turned out delicious and the recipe took much less time to cook. The meat was super tender and fell right apart. It paired so well with the finishing sauce and we enjoyed it for a couple days! My boyfriend came in asking if there was any left a couple days later and it was already all gone… I might have had the last bit for lunch. Heheh. Tenderloin has become my favorite cut for pulled pork since then.
Pulled Pork + Finishing Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp Onion Powder
- 2 Tbsp Garlic Salt
- 1 Tbsp Chili Powder
- 1 teaspoon Course Black Pepper
- 1/4 Cup Light or Dark Brown Sugar
- Optional: for a spicy kick add some red pepper flakes or cayenne pepper
- 2 Tbsp Worchestershire Sauce
- 1 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
- 1/2 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1 Cup Homemade BBQ Sauce or Storebought BBQ Sauce
- 1/2 Cup Water
- 1-1.5 lb Pork Tenderloin
Instructions
- In a slow cooker, combine BBQ sauce, onion powder, garlic salt, chili powder, black pepper, brown sugar, worcestershire sauce, cup cider vinegar, dijon mustard, and water. Start the slow cooker by turning it to High. This will create a thin sauce for the pork to marinate and cook in. It will provide a juicier sweet flavor for your pulled pork sandwich!
- Next, add in a pork tenderloin that has been sliced in half. Mine is usually mostly frozen and already halved, so I wait a little bit until it’s halfway cooked before cutting it up into two inch slices.
- After 4 hours of cooking, check that the internal temperature is at least 165 degrees at the thickest part in the middle of the meat. Make sure the pork easily comes apart by poking it with tongs. If it falls apart easily, transfer it to a small bowl. Now you can put the pork in a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and lock the mixer head down into place. Pulse the mixer to shred pork until it is broken down into medium sized chunks. Another option is to shred the pork with two large forks.
- Add the pulled pork back into the crockpot and stir it in with the finishing sauce. Turn the pot to warm and wait 30 min to serve!
As a last note, I’d like to recommend my favorite BBQ joints in Kansas City, just in case you would like to visit!
1. Porky’s Blazin’ BBQ – Best ribs in the world. Located in Grain Valley, MO. This place is only open Friday-Sunday and once they’re out, they aren’t making any more! So go earlier in the day and get a rack of ribs.
2. Zarda, delicious baked beans and BBQ – Blue Springs and Lenexa
3. Jack Stack, more pricey, but everything is ridiculously good. I used their sauce in this recipe, actually!- 6 locations including Lee’s Summit, Martin City, Overland Park, and Lenexa.
Privacy Policy About Me Other Posts
Blessings,
Anna C.
Leave a Reply