Barbecue Pulled Pork Sliders & Happy Mother’s Day!
Try this delicious recipe for an easy Mother’s Day luncheon, Barbecue Pulled Pork Sliders, served with a tasty side of Cole Slaw!
I love a simple recipe that you can start cooking early in the morning in the slow cooker, and this recipe is super easy!
Serve with Strawberry Guacamole and chips, and then my mom’s favorite make-ahead dessert, Frosty Raspberry Squares (easy to freeze ahead of time, and also scrumptious made with fresh strawberries).
Happy Mother’s Day!
With Mother’s Day right here this weekend (how did it sneak up on me so quickly?), and missing my own mama so, I think about our kids, who I love dearly.
We often remind our daughter, Abby, of what an easy, happy baby she was, only 9 months old when I lost my mom to cancer. Abby brought so much love, comfort, and a lightness to life—a hope for the future, that I could be even half the woman and mother that my mother was to me. As much as I loved my 2 sons greatly, I always wanted to have a daughter. Having been raised with 2 sisters and no boys in the family (we did have a slew of boy cousins), I felt like I knew “girls” well. And I also wanted to experience what my mom had experienced mothering daughters. [Above, Mom and me in 1963; below, bringing Abby home from the hospital in 1996.]
The summer that my mom passed away, Abby’s chubby little baby cheeks and smile helped me through a really tough time. She rarely cried, was always happy, and when we’d bring her in to sit on my mommy’s tummy, you should have seen her eyes light up like a sunny sky. Our boys (both 5 and 3 at the time) also brought a sense of peace and passion to my life during that hard season, with so much joy and energy. It’s difficult to explain the mix of emotions when you are being stretched, with one arm raised to heaven, losing the core and center of your life–someone you love so dearly. And then one arm hanging down, being pulled by six little hands, grasping tightly from so many directions, saying we need you, we need you!
In all my years of wanting children, and dreaming about my life as a mother, I never came close to understanding what it would be like, and how much joy my children would bring to me. (I love this poem by Erma Bombeck!)
Now at ages 24, 22, and almost 20, I feel so very blessed. I do not know what the future holds, but I do know that their once little hands, now big, still love to hold my hand.
Barbecue Pulled Pork Sliders
One dish my kids love is pork sliders. They’re easy, fun for entertaining, and everyone seems to love them.
Inspired by Better Homes & Gardens this month, I made their Barbecue Pulled Pork recipe in the slow cooker.
Easy, peasy – just toss it together in the slow cooker (which, by the way, have you entered this contest yet?)
Let’s say you’re not crazy about cooking with Coke. You really do need the acid and sugars (just buy 1 can, opposed to a pack of 6, if you do not drink it), but if you’re dead set on a substitution, try coffee, vanilla & brown sugar!
Cook and serve on slider rolls, flatbread, make a wrap, or even a nacho with this yummy meat!
ENJOY and Happy Mother’s Day!
Get the Recipe:
Barbecue Pulled Pork Sliders
Ingredients
- 4 pound boneless pork shoulder roast
- large sweet onion, cut into thin wedges (1 cup)
- 12 ounce bottle chili sauce
- 1 cup cola
- 1/2 cup ketchup
- 2 tablespoons yellow mustard
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- 1 tablespoon cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons ground cumin
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 16 slider rolls
Instructions
- Trim fat from meat. If necessary, cut meat to fit in a 5- to 6-quart slow cooker. Place onion in slow cooker; top with meat. In a medium bowl, combine chili sauce, cola, ketchup, mustard, chili powder, vinegar, cumin, garlic, paprika, salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper; pour over meat.
- Cover; cook on low-heat setting for 12 to 13 hours or on high-heat setting for 6 to 6 1/2 hours.
- Transfer meat to a cutting board; remove onion with a slotted spoon. Set cooking liquid aside. Thinly slice meat or pull apart with two forks; combine meat with onion.
- Add enough of the reserved cooking liquid to moisten pork. (If necessary, return pork mixture to cooker. Cover and cook on high-heat setting for 15 minutes more to heat through.) Serve pork mixture on toasted buns, slider rolls, in a wrap, nacho, or on flatbread. If desired, top each sandwich with coleslaw.
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
Hi! Do you happen to know if diet cola will work? My husband is diabetic, so we try to steer away from sugar as much as possible and often use sugar substitutes when it’s unavoidable.
I’m pretty sure it will work, Melissa!
Yum! Pinned this to try sometime. I’d probably do the cola substitute so thanks for sharing that option. Hugs to you this Mother’s Day