Slow Cooker Anyday: Spicy Pulled Pork & GIVEAWAY!
Technically this isn’t a slow cooker recipe, but I’m sure you could make a variation of it in your crock pot. Still, it does take a good 7 hours to cook in a roasting pan or Dutch oven, so you can throw it in the oven in the morning and have it ready by dinner time without much work on your part (yay!).
This recipe is one of my favorite slow-cooking recipes. It is Pioneer Woman’s Spicy Pulled Pork from The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook. I’ve made it a couple times and have found it’s not actually spicy, just very flavorful. Plus it makes a ton so you can freeze the leftovers and use them in tacos or quesadillas when you need to quickly throw together dinner.
We love serving this pulled pork in small soft tacos topped with our favorite taco fixings like diced tomato, avocado, sour cream and even a squeeze of lime juice if you’re a fan. I’ve also made Pioneer Woman’s Pico de Gallo from the same cookbook and it is delicious with this pulled pork recipe…and with tortilla chips, of course! This is a great recipe for entertaining. Shred the pork, set up your taco bar and you’re good to go!
Pioneer Woman’s (Not So) Spicy Pulled Pork
5- to 7-lb pork shoulder roast
1 onion, quartered
1 T chili powder
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 garlic cloves, peeled*
1 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp ground cumin
1 to 2 T salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper
3 T olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar
Lime wedges
Flour tortillas
Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Rinse pork shoulder roast and pat dry.
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In a food processor, combine the onion, chili powder, brown sugar, garlic, oregano, cumin, salt, pepper, olive oil and vinegar.
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Pulse until totally and completely combined.
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Pour the mixture over the pork and thoroughly rub it in here, there and everywhere.
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Place the pork in a roasting pan or Dutch oven and add 2 cups water.
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Cover tightly and roast for 6 or 7 hours, turning once every hour. (I’ve forgotten to do this and turned it only once about 1/2 to 2/3 the way through and it turned out just fine!)
Use a fork to make sure it’s tender. Increase the heat to 425 degrees and roast uncovered for 20 minutes or until skin gets nice and crispy. Remove from oven and all to rest for 15 minutes.
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Using two forks, shred the meat. Place the meat on a large platter and pour the pan juices over the shredded meat so it stay extra tender. Serve with warm tortillas and pico de gallo (optional…sort of).
I wish I had a photo of the pulled pork on a nicely lime-lined platter but it was for a party and I plum forgot amidst putting up the tiki torches, plugging in the paper lanterns and making sure every guest got lei’d.
Don’t forget—freeze any leftovers and use for spicy pulled pork quesadillas!
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Pioneer Woman’s Pico de Gallo
Yellow or red onions
Roma tomatoes
Cilantro
Jalapenos
Lime
Salt
Finely dice onions.* Dice tomatoes so you have an amount equal to the onions. Use a bunch of cilantro equal in amount to the tomatoes and chop finely.
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Slice 1 or 2 jalapenos in half and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds. Finely dice the jalapenos.
Combine onions, tomatoes, cilantro and jalapenos in a bowl. Slice a lime in half and squeeze the juiced into the bowl. Sprinkle with salt and stir until combined. Taste the pico de gallo using a tortilla chip and adjust the salt and/or jalapenos until it’s exactly how you’d like it. (Pico de gallo only keeps a day or two in the fridge, so keep that in mind when figuring out how much to make!)
* I wrote a quick tutorial for a super easy way to peel garlic and dice onions. I use these methods all the time! (Okay, all the time when I’m not using pre-minced garlic or frozen chopped onions.)
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And now for today’s giveaway…because I love giveaways, even small ones like this one sponsored by yours truly.
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I am giving away one (1) copy of Pioneer Woman’s new book,
Black Heels to Tractor Wheels—A Love Story!
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For your chance to win, leave a comment telling me your most favorite recipe ever!
For extra entries, you can do any/all of the following. Please leave a separate comment for each one you do (each one earns you an extra entry).
~ “Like” ITRML on Facebook.
~ Become a friend of ITRML on Google Friend Connect (sidebar) and/or subscribe to ITRML.
~ Tweet about this giveaway and leave the URL of your tweet.
~ Update your Facebook status with a link to this giveaway.
This giveaway will end at midnight on June 10th.
Note: Winner will be notified via email. If no reply is received, a new winner will be drawn.
Disclaimer: I bought my own copy of The Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook and did all the dicing, processing, rubbing, Dutch oven-ing, pico de gallo-ing myself. I also bought the giveaway copy of Black Heels to Tractor Wheels—A Love Story. It’s not an autographed copy, but I’d be happy to sign it for the winner.
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Previous Slow Cooker Anyday recipes:
- Barbecue Pork Ribs
- Polska Kielbasa Mac & Cheese
- Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Creamy Italian Chicken
- Market Street Clam Chowder
- Rocky Road Chocolate Cake & Creamy Chicken Tortilla Soup
- Cafe Rio-Style Shredded Pork
- Lemon Herb Chicken
- (Sneaky) Honey BBQ Ribs
- Chicken & Mushrooms
- Cheesy Taco Soup
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Trackbacks & Pingbacks
- Tutorial: Peeling garlic & dicing onions | is this REALLY my life?
- Slow Cooker Anyday: Parma Rosa Crockpot Chicken | is this REALLY my life?
- Sqaure foot gardening for dummies | is this REALLY my life?
- Our very first garden…and stuff is actually growing! | is this REALLY my life?
- Slow Cooker Anyday: Peperoncini Chuck Roast | is this REALLY my life?
- Slow Cooker Anyday: Easy Crock-Pot Sausage Dip | is this REALLY my life?
- Taco Tuesday, Part 1: Fish tacos with chipotle mayo | is this REALLY my life?
- Slow Cooker Anyday: Cafe Rio Sweet Pork & Creamy Cilantro Dressing - is this REALLY my life? | is this REALLY my life?
- Slow Cooker Anyday: Spaghetti & meatballs - is this REALLY my life? | is this REALLY my life?
- Slow Cooker Anyday: Crock pot chicken tacos - is this REALLY my life? | is this REALLY my life?
You can read more about the inspiration for this site 
Oh I worship Ree Drummond and salivate at her recipes and photos on her blog… but I am ashamed to say that I have NOT tried any of her recipes for myself!! This looks like a good one to start off with, though :)
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Emily Reply:
May 27th, 2011 at 4:32 pm
It’s a great one! I also recommend the artichoke dip and cinnamon rolls. I’ve tried the cornbread and I’m not a fan, sad to say.
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Oh, wow. This almost makes me want to try to cook yummy dinners again. Been in a dry spat lately, embracing much laziness. However, now I’m craving these recipes. YUM.
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I love the Pioneer Woman. I first saw her website and read “High Heels” in increments while she posted it, because I saw her website on my cousin’s blog. I got hooked! I would love a copy of the printed book. I’ve only been able to thumb through the cookbook a bit now and then in the store, but it sure looks good.
I’ve got so many favorite recipes, but I sure love the peach cobbler I got from my local news show. It’s so delectable it’s hard not to eat it all myself, or for breakfast too…and I never come away from a get-together–especially in the summer–without the pan being completely scraped clean!
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I also shared this on my Facebook.
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My most favorite recipe *ever* is for my mom’s stuffed peppers. I don’t make them often, but when I do the whole place fills with the aromas of my childhood. I am transported back to that our yellow kitchen with my mother and grandmother sitting together the kitchen table, both sipping black coffee and wearing aprons covered in flour.
Here is mom’s recipe.
Stuffed Peppers
Six 5-inch sweet green peppers
Boiling water for blanching
1 pound chopped beef
1/4 cup uncooked white rice or 1/2 cup cooked rice or bread crumbs
1 medium yellow onion, grated
1 carrot, grated
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of pepper
3 eggs
Water to cover
Sauce
1 cup tomato puree
1/2 cup water
3 tablespoons vinegar or lemon juice
3 tabelspoons brown sugar
1/8 teaspoon paprika
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
Cut away the stem end of the peppers and remove seeds. Blanch in boiling water and invert to drain while preparing the meat mixture for the filling.
Combine all ingredients except water. Mix thoroughly. Stuff peppers compactly and even with the top. Stand upright in a casserole and cover with water. Bake 45 minutes at 350 F. Remove cover and and increase heat to 400 F for 15 minutes.
Cook sauce on top of the stove, stirring continuously till thick, approximately 10 minutes over moderate heat. Add to the pepper in the casserole, turn off heat. The heat of the oven is sufficient to lightly brown the tops of the stuffed peppers and cook the sauce with the liquid in the casserole.
annulla´s deep thought ~ This is a sale
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I follow publicly on Google Friend Connect.
annulla´s deep thought ~ This is a sale
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I like is this REALLY my life? on Facebook. (My username is Annulla Sweeps)
annulla´s deep thought ~ This is a sale
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I hadn’t thought about serving pulled pork with pico. Great idea!
Barbara @ Barbara Bakes´s deep thought ~ Best Blueberry Streusel Muffins
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I have Ree’s cookbook and I have enjoyed it. I didn’t know she had authored another book.
One of my favorite recipes is a leek and spinach quiche that I make for holidays and brunches. I don’t have it written down I know it by heart. I usually add a bit of Canadian bacon to it for that extra bit of goodness and I use the Knorr Leek soup mix as a base. My family goes nuts for it.
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Pancakes again?!? Just recently my grandchildren, who have been living with me for 9 weeks now, asked what I was fixing for breakfast. We’ve lived on the staples such as waffles, pancakes, scrambled eggs, french toast and hot cereal…so when I mentioned pancakes, I didn’t get the reaction I expected. I quickly ran to the computer and pulled up Pioneer Woman and saw her post for Lemon Blueberry pancakes and knew I had what I needed to make them. I quickly made the delicious Buttermilk syrup to go along with them and the grandchildren were, may I say, ecstatic that it was not the “usual” and everyone was full and contented! What a wonderful change from the ordinary. I love this website and the fact that she is SO willing to share. I’d love to get a copy of the book for sure!
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i want you to read it.
vanessa´s deep thought ~ Things I Loved This Week
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My most favorite recipe is quite basic but amazing!
Ingredients
2 free-range eggs
125g/4½oz plain flour
150ml/5fl oz milk mixed with 150ml cold water
1 level tbsp grain mustard
salt and freshly ground black pepper
6 fat, herby pork sausages
100g/3½oz thinly sliced prosciutto, pancetta, Serrano ham or thin streaky bacon
3 tbsp dripping or lard
To serve
brown onion and madeira gravy
Preparation method
Whisk together the eggs, flour, milk, mustard and seasoning, beating out any little lumps of flour. The consistency should be about that of ordinary double cream, but no thinner. Rest for 15 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
Carefully remove the skin from each of the sausages. Wrap each piece of skinned sausage meat in a piece of cured ham.
Put the dripping or lard in a roasting tin and leave it in the oven until it is smoking.
Pour in the batter – it will sizzle softly in the hot fat – then arrange the sausages in the batter.
Transfer the tin back into the oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until puffed and golden. Serve with brown onion and madeira gravy.
mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
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Like you on Facebook (D Schmidt)
mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
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GFC Follower
mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
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Tweeted
http://twitter.com/#!/mummytotwoboys1/status/76393804290199552
mummytotwoboys@yahoo.com
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I absolutely LOVE Ree’s recipes!! I don’t have my cookbook in front of me but I love the lasagna recipe. Heck I love every recipe of hers! She is an amazing cook!
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Liked you on facebook!
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I’m a new Google friend!
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My new favorite recipe is Crockpot Cream Cheese Chicken. I recently dicovered it online. It taste like something from a restaurant. Here’s a link to it: https://twitter.com/ksh123/status/78907059738910720
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I’m a GFC follower.
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That’s like asking me to choose a star from the sky! I do love Pioneer Woman’s quiche recipe though. I use it as a base and alter it a million different ways.
Ceinwyn´s deep thought ~ WIN 25 Greeting Cards from UPrinting!
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My Mom has a recipe for Sweet Vidalia Onion Pie!
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I’ve tried her lasagna and it’s my new fav recipe.
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My mom’s crab puffs are my favorite!
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My most favorite recipe is Stuffed Jalapeno Poppers. I have made them for MANY get togethers, and everyone loves them, and always ask for the recipe.
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My most favorite recipe is Lemon Pepper Shrimp over pasta.
I have been following Rae’s blog for a few years. Would
love to win a copy of her cookbook.
thanks
Chris Ann
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My most favorite recipe is my mom’s dirty rice.
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Cheesy minestrone.
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I’m a GFC follower.
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My favorite recipe was my mpm’s slow cooker pot roast.
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