Slow Cooker Texas Pulled Pork Sandwich Recipe

Texas barbecue is globally recognized as some of the best 'que you can eat state-side, and rightfully so. There's a lot of TLC that goes into the long, slow, meticulous methods necessary for cooking large, glistening slabs of meat: hours spent toiling over smokers, time spent crafting the ideal spice blend to pre-season those meaty cuts. That's love!

Alas, I live very far away from Texas. When I'm jonesing for that low-slow, smoky, well-seasoned barbecue, my only resort is to craft it at home. Texas' barbecue regions are broken up into almost compass points: central, east, west, and south. Each offering their own variation. This recipe pulls inspiration from the East Texas-style of barbecue. East Texans love their pulled pork chopped and juicy. Before cooking, the pork is heartily seasoned with a substantial dry rub. This region does not snub the sauce. The sauces are drizzly (not super thick like other iconic barbecue regions) with a complex flavor profile that mixes and mingles sour, savory, and sweet ingredients. The assembly is simple: buttery buns and pickled goodies to balance the rich and smoky elements of the barbecue.

Instead of smoking our pulled pork barbecue, I opted to use a combination of grill-searing and crockpot slow cooking — just to make this recipe accessible to most. To honor the influence German and Czech immigrants had over the creation of Texas barbecue, I used lager beer as a moisture retainer and flavor enhancer during the slow-cooking process.

For seasoning and slow cooking the pork, you'll need a raw boneless pork butt, salt, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, black pepper, olive oil, and Shiner Bock beer or a similar lager. For the barbecue sauce, you'll need tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, apple cider vinegar, Dijon mustard, brown sugar, fresh garlic, fresh onion, chili powder, ground coriander, and celery salt. For assembling the sandwiches, you'll need brioche or potato rolls, salted butter for toasting the rolls, dill pickle chips, and sliced pickled onions.

Pat the pork butt dry with paper towels.

Place the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and black pepper in a small bowl.

Stir to combine the seasoning blend.

Drizzle the pork with olive oil.

Sprinkle the pork with half of the seasoning blend. Set the other seasoning portion aside.

Using your hands, generously rub the pork with the oil and seasoning.

Preheat a grill or grill pan over medium-high heat.

Once hot, add the pork, and grill it on all sides until it's seared and grill marks have formed, about 3 minutes per side.

Transfer the grilled pork to a slow cooker.

Add the beer and remaining seasoning blend to the slow cooker.

Cover and cook on low for 12 hours or high for 6 hours or until fork-tender.

Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred it into bite-sized pieces with a couple of forks.

Remove ⅔ cup of pan drippings from the slow cooker and set it aside.

Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker, stir to combine with the remaining pan drippings, and keep warm until ready to serve.

To make the barbecue sauce, place the reserved pan drippings in a small saucepan and add the tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, vinegar, mustard, brown sugar, garlic, onion, chili powder, coriander, and celery salt.

Whisk to combine and bring to a low simmer over medium-low heat.

Cook the barbecue sauce for 10 minutes, whisking frequently.

Brush the rolls with the softened butter.

Toast the rolls until slightly crisp and golden brown.

Divide the pork between the toasted rolls.

Serve the pulled pork sandwiches with the barbecue sauce, pickles, and pickled onions on the side for sandwich customization.

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Beer isn't just for drinking! It is a fabulous ingredient for creating all sorts of tasty dishes. In this recipe, we use beer for flavor enhancement, moisture retention, and mild tenderization. Lager beer is a crisp, clean, malty-tasting beer that imparts a subtle caramel-like sweetness without contributing any bitterness. It also has a lower ABV (alcohol by volume) than heavier beers (like porters or stouts or super-hoppy beers like IPAs), and you won't notice any lingering boozy undertones.

When slow cooking, you need some liquid to maintain moisture and promote even cooking. The natural acidity and fizziness (carbonation) that characterizes beer actually helps with breaking down tough muscle fibers. Pork butt is a hearty cut and needs a little tenderizing assistance, in addition to time and heat, to break down those muscle fibers into succulent shreds.

You do not need to use lager, but I strongly recommend it. If you're looking for a suitable substitute, go with a wheat beer or saison. Just be mindful to check the ABV content. Try to keep it under 8% so as to not overpower our pork.

The sauce I craft in this recipe is very "East Texas." A style that pulls inspiration from its neighboring southern states. You'll see some Cajun, Creole, Tex-Mex, and even a little Midwest inspiration thrown in. It is tomato-based with a slightly sweeter profile than other Texas sauces, and it combines brown sugar or molasses with garlic, onion, vinegar, and spices for tasty complexity. I added a hearty glug of our pulled pork pan drippings for an even deeper flavor concentration.

If you'd like to customize your barbecue sauce, here are some potential swaps I would recommend. You can absolutely use ketchup rather than tomato paste. I would reduce the amount of pan drippings to approximately ⅓ cup to balance the consistency. We want our sauce drizzly, not super liquid. You can also add in spicier ingredients. A dash or two of hot sauce would work really well. If you like super-sweet barbecue sauces, feel free to use molasses instead of the brown sugar. Molasses is richer, more concentrated, and would enhance the overall sweetness. Don't go too heavy on the molasses, as it is a very potent flavor.

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