Root Beer Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Root Beer BBQ Sauce

Top of the afternoon to ya! I am currently visiting my fam in the lovely town of East Wenatchee, Washington. Please do not get the “East Wenatchee” confused with just Wenatchee. Wenatchee is on the wrong side of the tracks . Anyone who is from the Eastside will tell you this. This is the view from my parent’s house.

My dad is in the hospital, so I came home to help out my mom etc. He hasn’t had much of an appetite and I can’t really blame him considering how gross the hospital food is. How do they expect people to get well eating that crap? Since coming home on Saturday I have been making him most of his meals. Yesterday, he thought barbequed pulled pork sounded great and since it slow cooks for hours it would definitely be soft enough for him to eat. Poor guy has a sore mouth.

My friend Crissie makes a delicious root beer slow cooked tenderloin, so I thought I would take the same idea and make a pork shoulder.

I woke up early this morning to make sure the pork had enough time to fully cook in the slow cooker. While I prepared the pork, my niece and nephew wanted to finish decorating the tree. They each showed me their favorite ornament

Finished tree.

I love the holidays! This recipe turned out great and is super easy! The root beer flavor is not overpowering, but you can still catch a hint of it. Everyone who tried it seemed to love it – Even Maverick who is now very sick with a tummy ache or maybe it is from wearing that Santa costume?

 Homemade BBQ sauce is my absolute favorite and incredible easy to make. I am going to bring my dad the dinner tonight with extra sauce – He has been known to eat sauce alone with just a spoon. I will let you know how it goes!

Root Beer Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Root Beer BBQ Sauce

 Serves roughly 10 hungry peeps

Pulled Pork

What you’ll need:
(Seems like a strange combo but I promise it will come out spectacularly moist with excellent flavor)
1 4-5 lb. Pork Shoulder – Bone-In
5 Cloves Garlic Chopped
¼ Cup Dijon Mustard
¼ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Cups Root Beer
1 Tablespoon Salt Pepper
10 hamburger buns
3-4 Tablespoons butter

Directions:
Put pork shoulder in slow cooker on low heat.

 Mix rest of ingredients in a small bowl. Pour over pork shoulder into slow cooker.

Cook on low for 8 hours until tender and falling off the bone. Mine practically shredded in the slow cooker.

 Shred pork with two forks removing fatty pieces and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add back to slow cooker with ¾ of the Root Beer sauce from below. Cook on low for 1 more hour.

Heat butter on medium in a griddle pan. Lightly toasted buns and top with finished pork and as much sauce as you like. Some top theirs with coleslaw. Do as you wish.

Root Beer BBQ sauce

You might want to double the recipe if you like a lot of sauce!

What you’ll need:
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
½ Onion Minced
1 Clove Garlic Minced
1 Cup Root Beer
1 Cup Ketchup
¼ Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
2 Tablespoons Mustard
¼ Cup Fresh Lemon Juice
¼ Cup Maple Syrup (Substitute brown sugar if you don’t have any)
2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire Sauce
½ Tablespoon Chili Powder
Dash of Tabasco (optional) S
alt and Pepper to taste

Directions: Heat oil over medium heat in medium saucepan. Add onion and garlic and sauté until translucent.

Add remaining ingredients and simmer 20 minutes until thick enough for your liking.

Enjoy!

Love, Lindzee