Since Marc received an electric smoker for his birthday this year, we’ve been slow cooking a ton of our meats like ribs, brisket, and pork shoulders in the smoker instead of the slow cooker.  The flavor that gets infused into the meats from the smoker seriously cannot be beat but here’s the thing – smoking meat is not a hands off process!  It’s not like the slow cooker where you “set it and forget it.”  No, you have to be around to add more smoker biscuits and make sure the temperature is staying consistent.  Not exactly weeknight friendly.

Since our expectations for meats are pretty high now that we’ve been spoiled with all the smoked meat our hearts and bellies desire, I was a little nervous to try a pulled pork recipe in the slow cooker.  Spoiler alert: we were not disappointed with this recipe!

This Cider Pulled Pork is not only super easy and delicious but will also make your house smell like fall.  The cider and cinnamon combined with the pork is a similar combination of serving pork tenderloin with applesauce, except in my opinion even better.

Since I can’t stop with just pulled pork, I made a cider barbecue sauce and a tangy coleslaw to go on top.

I kind of cheated on the cider barbecue sauce, as I just used store-bought barbecue sauce with apple cider because as a new mom, I am happy to cut any corner that I can.  The apple cider added just enough sweetness to the barbecue sauce and a hint of spice to go along with the pork.

Then there’s the coleslaw.  I can’t eat a pulled pork sandwich without coleslaw.  While I am typically super Midwestern and love a good mayo-based coleslaw, I went vinegar-based with this one so it wasn’t too overpowering with the pork.  A little bit of apple cider vinegar, honey, Dijon mustard, and dried cranberries along with a bag of coleslaw (so convenient!) were all it needed for a quick and delicious slaw.

Altogether, this sandwich just screams comfort food and fall!  I loved the ease of the pulled pork in the slow cooker, and we all loved the combo of the pork with the cider barbecue sauce and coleslaw.  It’s pretty much fall in a sandwich!

Slow Cooker Cider Pulled Pork with Cider Barbecue Sauce

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Cook Time: 10 minutes

Total Time: 10 minutes

Servings: 8 -10

Ingredients

• For the pork:
• 3-4 lb pork shoulder
• 1 onion sliced
• 1 cup cider
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• For the Cider BBQ Sauce:
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 cups your favorite store-bought barbecue sauce
• For coleslaw:
• 14 oz bag coleslaw mix
• 1/2 cup apple cider
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions

• Place sliced onions on bottom of slow cooker.
• Set pork shoulder on top of onions.
• In small bowl, combine cider, cinnamon, garlic powder, and salt.
• Pour over pork.
• Cook on low for 8-10 hours, until pork easily shreds.
• To make BBQ Sauce:
• Combine cider, cinnamon, and barbecue sauce in small saucepan over medium heat.
• Bring to a simmer and let cook 10-15 minutes, until mixture has reduced to the consistency of barbecue sauce.
• To make coleslaw:
• Combine all coleslaw ingredients and mix well.
• Refrigerate until ready to use.
• Can be made up to one day in advance.
• Serve pork on buns (I used pretzel buns!) topped with coleslaw and barbecue sauce.

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