These pulled pork sliders make me speechless. Omg, they are soooooo tasty! I made the pulled pork in a heavy pot in the oven and it took the meat less than 3 hours to fall apart when pierced with a fork. But these sliders …I don’t know if I crave them because of the slightly smoky and not overwhelming pulled pork or the combination of all the homemade ingredients including brioche buns, BBQ sauce, and red cabbage slaw.

These pulled pork sandwiches are great for gatherings with friends and make the perfect accompaniment to a nice cold beer. By the way, you can make everything ahead of time so you won’t face a stressful preparation before your friends arrive and you will be able to enjoy the time while you have company. It also helps that everybody can assemble his/her own pulled pork sandwich according to personal preference – à la slider bar. Everyone can top their sandwich, with their favorite combination to their liking.

Step-by-step recipe for pulled pork sliders

Method (but not ingredients) for the pulled pork is adapted from The Kitchn.

Ingredients for pulled pork.

For the pulled pork you will need 4 to 5 pounds (about 2 kg) of pork shoulder (= Boston butt) and some spices. For assembling the sandwiches you’ll need some brioche slider buns, nicely balanced BBQ sauce and red cabbage slaw – preferably everything homemade if you have time.

Cut pork into large pieces.

Cut the pork into eight pieces.

Season the pork.

Mix salt and all spices. Sprinkle the pork evenly with the seasoning. Rub the seasoning into the pork with your fingers so the meat is evenly coated on all sides. Put it into a bowl, cover and let it rest for at least one hour at room temperature (better: in the fridge overnight).

Sear the pork.

Heat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat on the stove top. Sear the pork on all sides until nicely brown, about 2 1/2 minutes on each side. Work in batches, if necessary, to avoid overcrowding.

Add liquid.

Put all pork pieces into the Dutch oven and pour the broth over the top of the pork. The pork will be only partially submerged, that’s ok. Set the Dutch oven with the pork over medium-high heat on the stove-top and bring the broth to a simmer.

Cook for 2-4 hours.

Put the lid on and transfer the whole pot to the oven. Let the pork cook undisturbed for 2 hours, then begin checking it every half hour. The total cooking time in my oven was exactly 3 hours. The pork is done when it can be easily pierced with a fork without resistance and falls apart easily. The broth will be reduced to about 3/4 cup, covering the bottom of the pan. Save it for later.

Shred the pork.

Lift the pieces of pork out of the liquid and transfer to a large plate or bowl. When cool enough to handle, use two forks to shred the meat into pieces. Remove any large pieces of fat (in my case, there were hardly any). If you made the pulled pork ahead of time, for the following day for example, do the shredding right away. It’s hard to shred the meat into pieces when it’s cold from the fridge. Reheat when needed.

Moisten the pork with the cooking liquid.

To moisten the pork, mix some or all of the cooking liquid back into the pork. I used all the liquid (3/4 cup). I suggest that you mix a small batch of shredded meat with some of the cooking liquid first to make sure that you like the taste. For barbecue pulled pork or pulled pork sandwiches, a lot of people mix the meat with barbecue sauce right away. I am not a fan of doing so, instead I prefer to use the cooking liquid only. This way, you can freeze leftovers and use them universally like for salads, tacos, quesadillas, nachos, burritos, pizza or a chili.

For the sliders you will need pulled pork, BBQ sauce, red cabbage slaw and brioche buns.

Now it’s time to assemble the pulled pork sliders. For best results I recommend using homemade brioche buns, BBQ sauce and red cabbage slaw.

Assemble to your liking.

Slice the brioche buns in half horizontally and toast before assembling. For big batches, I put all halves, cut side facing up, on a baking sheet and toast them using the oven broiler for a few minutes. Be careful, they toast quickly and burn easily.

Put some pulled pork on the bun, drizzle some homemade BBQ sauce and top with red cabbage slaw.

Enjoy!

Recipe: Method (but not ingredients) for the pulled pork is adapted from The Kitchn.

Pulled Pork Sliders

Yield: 24 sliders

The pulled pork is made in the oven and takes 2 to 4 hours. If you want to deepen the flavor, season the pork ahead of time and put it in the fridge overnight. You can prepare the the pulled pork, brioche buns, BBQ sauce, and red cabbage slaw the day before.

Ingredients

• 4 to 5 lbs boneless pork shoulder (= Boston butt), here: ~ 4 lbs/1.850 g, makes 2 1/2 lbs/ 1.150 g pulled pork after cooking
• 1 1/2 cups (360 ml) vegetable broth (you can substitute water or lager beer)
Spice-rub (medium-spicy):
• 1 tablespoon (20 g) fine salt
• 1 tablespoon (6 g) black pepper
• 1 tablespoon (10 g) light brown sugar
• 1/2 tablespoon spicy-hot smoked paprika (Pimenton picante ahumado)
• 1/2 tablespoon chipotle chili powder (you can substitute with more smoked paprika)
• 1/2 tablespoon chili powder (the spice mix)
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander (optional)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin (optional)
To assemble (homemade or store-bought):
• Brioche slider buns (see recipe)
• BBQ sauce (see recipe)
• Red cabbage slaw with a white wine vinegar dressing (see recipe)
• In addition: Dutch oven/heavy pot with lid

Instructions

The day before (or at least 1 hour before)
1. Cut the pork into eight pieces.
2. Mix salt and all spices. Sprinkle the pork evenly with the seasoning. Rub the seasoning into the pork with your fingers so the meat is evenly coated on all sides. Put it into a bowl, cover and let it rest for at least one hour at room temperature (better: in the fridge overnight).
On the same day
3. Heat the oven to 325°F (160°C). Place an oven rack in the middle of the oven. Make sure that there is enough space to put a large Dutch oven on top of the rack.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in the Dutch oven over medium-high heat on the stove top. Sear the pork on all sides until nicely brown, about 2 1/2 minutes on each side. Work in batches, if necessary, to avoid overcrowding.
5. Put all pork pieces into the Dutch oven and pour the broth over the top of the pork. The pork will be only partially submerged, that's ok.
6. Set the Dutch oven with the pork over medium-high heat on the stove-top and bring the broth to a simmer.
7. Put the lid on and transfer the whole pot to the oven.
8. Let the pork cook undisturbed for 2 hours, then begin checking it every half hour. The total cooking time in my oven was exactly 3 hours. The pork is done when it can be easily pierced with a fork without resistance and falls apart easily. The broth will be reduced to about 3/4 cup, covering the bottom of the pan. Save it for later.
9. Lift the pieces of pork out of the liquid and transfer to a large plate or bowl. When cool enough to handle, use two forks to shred the meat into pieces. Remove any large pieces of fat (in my case, there were hardly any). If you made the pulled pork ahead of time, for the following day for example, do the shredding right away. It's hard to shred the meat into pieces when it's cold from the fridge. Reheat when needed.
10. To moisten the pork, mix some or all of the cooking liquid back into the pork. I used all the liquid (3/4 cup). I suggest that you mix a small batch of shredded meat with some of the cooking liquid first to make sure that you like the taste. For barbecue pulled pork or pulled pork sandwiches, a lot of people mix the meat with barbecue sauce right away. I am not a fan of doing so, instead I prefer to use the cooking liquid only. This way, you can freeze leftovers and use them universally like for salads, tacos, quesadillas, nachos, burritos, pizza or a chili.
Assemble the pulled pork sandwiches
11. Slice the brioche buns in half horizontally and toast before assembling. For big batches, I put all halves, cut side facing up, on a baking sheet and toast them using the oven broiler for a few minutes. Be careful, they toast quickly and burn easily.
12. Put some pulled pork on the bun, drizzle some homemade BBQ sauce and top with red cabbage slaw. Enjoy!

3.1

https://www.lilvienna.com/pulled-pork-sliders/

Did you follow this recipe? You could share your result here. All you need to do is take a picture with your smartphone and send it to [email protected]