Slow Cooker Island Pulled Pork

Slow cooked pork, fork-tender and saturated with flavor, is one of my favorite dishes of all time. Today I’m sharing this wonderful Slow Cooker Island Pulled Pork recipe from Jill Holland, Chef Instructor at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. This recipe is included in the just released slow cooker cookbook “Where Slow Food and Whole Food Meet”, a labor of love that has been put together by my friends Christine and Jennifer, with brand new recipes contributed from an amazing group of food bloggers. Together, we are sharing our best slow cooker recipes and raising awareness for September’s Hunger Action Month with Feeding America. Won’t you please join us?
Over 30 food bloggers teamed up to put together a cookbook full of healthy and affordable slow cooker recipes. Here’s a great little video that features some of the recipes and bloggers involved. By purchasing your very own copy of “Where Slow Food and Whole Food Meet: Healthy Slow Cooker Dinners from our Kitchens to Yours”, you’ll not only be set for some amazing meals, but you’ll also be helping to fight hunger in America, with all book proceeds going to Second Harvest Food Bank.
My Slow Cooker Balsamic Orange Roast Beef is included in this new cookbook. You seriously don’t want to miss this recipe!
To help get the word out about hunger in America and this new cookbook, some generous sponsors jumped on board. Together, San Miguel Produce, Grimmway Farms, and Old Oak Farms by RPE Produce made contributions to help end hunger. They each contributed food to their local food banks, provided cookbooks for giveaways at each blogger’s site, PLUS they gave $5 for every print copy of the book that was sold, up to $600.
Slow cooker food means comfort food. Warm and delicious meals to satisfy our hunger.
This Slow Cooker Island Pulled Pork offers a lovely twist of island inspired flavors that my entire family approves of. I had never before made a rub that incorporated freshly grated ginger, and it’s absolutely wonderful with the cloves and other spices involved.
With just a bit of a kick, this pulled pork recipe is a definite keeper. I especially like to eat the tender, juicy pork on a buttered and grilled bun, with a slathering of sauce – I quickly mixed up some mustard, BBQ sauce, and honey for this meal. With a side of my mom’s sweet refrigerator dill pickles, this meal is complete perfection.
You will find the recipe for this Slow Cooker Island Pulled Pork below. For all the other awesome slow cooker recipes, purchase a copy of the cookbook from Amazon. Thank you so much!
Here is a list of all the participating bloggers and their contributed recipes – please visit them!
- Broccoli and Cheese Potato Soup from Big Bear’s Wife
- Chicken, Potato and Barley Stew from Magnolia Days
- Autumn Apple Chicken Sandwiches from Chocolate & Carrots
- Pumpkin, Chicken and Spinach Tortellini Soup from An Edible Mosaic
- Thai Coconut Curry Beef and Broccoli from Food Faith Fitness
- Chicken Burrito Bowls from Two Healthy Kitchens
- Barbacoa Tacos from My Baking Heart
- Balsamic Orange Roast Beef from a farmgirl’s dabbles
- Cuban Seafood Stew from The Kitchen Prep
- Chinese Beef and Broccoli from Very Culinary
- Pork Meatballs in Marinara Sauce from Savvy Eats
- Chicken with 40 Cloves of Garlic from Around My Family Table
- Tex-Mex Scalloped Potato and Carrot Dinner from Cook the Story
- Cuban Black Bean Soup from Food n’ Focus
- Macaroni and Cheese With Sugar Snap Peas from Brooklyn Farm Girl
- Sweet and Spicy Carnitas from Cravings of a Lunatic
- Pork Tenderloin Florentine from All Day I Dream About Food
- Thai Pork with Vermicelli Salad from Jane’s Adventures in Dinner
- Mango Chicken from Stetted
- Creamy Buffalo Chicken from Mother Thyme
- Spiced Lentil Stew from Je suis alimentageuse
- Harvest Chili from WonkyWonderful
- Whole Tuscan Chicken from The Little Kitchen
- Vegetarian Pumpkin White Chili from Kitchen Treaty
- Sweet Italian Sausage and Peppers from Sweet Remedy
- Chicken Cacciatore from Poet in the Pantry
- Lentil, Sausage and Kale Stew from Jeanette’s Healthy Living
- Italian Beef Sandwiches from Yummy Healthy Easy
- Butternut Squash Vegetarian Chili from Nutmeg Nanny
Slow Cooker Island Pulled Pork
This slow cooked pork, fork-tender and saturated with flavor, is one of my favorite dishes of all time.
Ingredients
- 1 T. onion powder
- 1 T. garlic powder
- 2 tsp. grated fresh ginger
- 1.5 tsp. ground cloves
- 1.5 tsp. ground allspice
- 1.5 tsp. thyme
- 1.5 tsp. dry mustard
- 1.5 tsp. coarse salt
- 1 tsp. sweet or hot paprika
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/2 tsp. sugar
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
- 1 3-pound boneless pork butt
- 1 c. apple cider or apple juice
- 1 bay leaf
- hamburger buns, sliced open
- your favorite BBQ sauce
- chopped fresh cilantro, optional
Instructions
- In a small bowl combine onion powder, garlic powder, cloves, ginger, allspice, thyme, dry mustard, salt, paprika, cumin, sugar, black pepper, and cayenne. Use fingers to rub spices together to ensure that ginger is dispersed throughout. Rub spice mixture all over pork.
- Place pork in the slow cooker, fat side up. Pour apple cider over pork and add bay leaf. Cook on low for 8 hours. Remove pork from slow cooker. Use two forks to shred meat. Skim fat off liquid in slow cooker. Drizzle a few tablespoons of the remaining liquid over the meat and mix to combine.
- Serve on a bun as-is (a buttered and grilled bun is awesome!) or slathered with your favorite BBQ sauce. Sprinkle with fresh cilantro if desired.
Notes
Recipe comes from Jill Holland, Sous Chef of Catering for Good and Chef Instructor of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida. Printed with permission.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 8 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 524Total Fat: 33gSaturated Fat: 12gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 17gCholesterol: 146mgSodium: 628mgCarbohydrates: 15gFiber: 1gSugar: 8gProtein: 41g
Nutrition information is automatically calculated by Nutritionix. I am not a nutritionist and cannot guarantee accuracy. If your health depends on nutrition information, please calculate again with your own favorite calculator.
Thank you so much to Christine and Jennifer for organizing this awesome slow cooker cookbook. You have put a tremendous amount of heart and time and talent into this. Thank you also to Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, Feeding America, Hamilton Beach, Old Oak Farms by RPE Produce, Grimmway Farms, and San Miguel Produce for all your time and generosity in helping to fight hunger in America.
Oh jeez, never mind. Now I see the slathering sauce recipe. YUM.
The pork looks incredible! Did you just top with a melted slice of cheddar cheese? It looks as though there’s something else there, almost looks thousand island dressing. But I could be crazy and just imagining things, too.
@Adam- She mentions the sauce in the paragraph under one of the pictures as mustard, BBQ sauce and honey but does not give the ratio or recipe.
What is the yellow sauce that is pictured with the sandwich and where can I find the recipe?
Oh I love your twist on pulled pork!
What an awesome project to support a really great cause! Pulled pork is my favorite way to BBQ, and it HAS to have a mustardy BBQ sauce. This recipe looks and sounds amazing!