It’s that time of year again, graduation and graduation parties, Memorial Day, family reunions and picnics. I’ve received some requests over the past few weeks for my super simple pulled pork recipe, so I thought I’d post it for everyone’s enjoyment. It’s really easy, relatively inexpensive, it tastes amazing and as a bonus it easily feeds a lot of people.
I’ve had seven kids graduate from high school and seven times we’ve hosted a graduation party, so I’ve had a lot of experience coming up with great inexpensive ways to feed a lot of people. After trial and error over many years, I think I have perfected a special pulled pork recipe!
The great thing about pork butt or picnic roasts is that it’s a fairly inexpensive cut of meat compared to others and if you follow my slow cooker recipe, it’s almost impossible to screw up. Plus if you’re having a large gathering, like a graduation party or family reunion, it’s a great way to easily feed a lot of people at once.
First head to your favorite grocery store or butcher and buy a pork butt or a pork picnic roast. Both come from the shoulder area of the pig. I like to use pork butt because it doesn’t have a bone…but picnic roast is just as good because after cooking your roast, the bone will just fall off anyway.
You might be tempted to use a pork loin or a loin roast…DON’T! They don’t have a lot of fat content in them and your pulled pork sandwiches will become dry…and nobody likes dry pulled pork. By the way, the pork tastes so good right out of the crock pot, that I’ve been asked to not put the BBQ sauce into the pulled pork so that people can enjoy it without.
Recipe and Cooking Instructions:
Pork Butt (Allow about half a pound per person) Left overs are great and if you have a lot, you can freeze it to use later. I used 21 pounds to fed about 70 people for my last party. As I mentioned earlier, the great thing about picnic roast or pork butt is that it’s not very expensive…I can usually find it for around $2 per pound or less, which is less expensive than hamburger..
1 Pork Butt or picnic roast (1/2 lb. per person)
Chicken stock 1/2 cup per 5 lbs
1 table spoon of minced garlic
1/2 large finely chopped onion
1 package of powdered Hidden Valley Ranch dip
Salt and pepper generously sprinkled and spread over all sides of roast. You can also sprinkle turmeric and paprika on the roast. Make sure to get it on all sides, then rub it into the roast.
Place roast into a crockpot, pour chicken stock over roast and then the final thing you will need to do is pour the Ranch dip over the top of the roast. (Just let it sit on top of roast and as it cooks it will soak into the meat)
Turn crock pot to low and cook for 9 to 10 hours. If you are short on time, you can also cook for 6 to 7 hours on high, but it really comes out better cooking it on low heat for a longer time….remember, slow and low. You will know the pork is done when it begins to fall apart all by itself…don’t worry it’s almost impossible to overcook this recipe.
When pork is falling apart, remove it from the crock pot and on a cutting board take two forks and pull it apart…or shred it.
After shredding, strain the left over onions and garlic and ad to the pork, then mix all together….at this point you can add your favorite BBQ sauce, or leave it as is and let your guests add BBQ sauce if they want it….I used to add the BBQ sauce, but so many people have asked me not to add the sauce to the meat, because they loved the flavor so much without it.
By the way you will want to make plenty, so that you can have leftovers.. When preparing your left over pulled pork, I suggest that you fry it in a frying pan with a little olive oil, served extra crispy on a flour tortilla….It’s almost better as leftover because all the juices and spices have had time to soak into the meat.
There you have it, that’s it, super simple and almost impossible to screw up.
If you try it, I’d love to hear how you liked it. Email me at mike@kboi.com
