Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Bourbon Peach Barbecue Sauce

Summer months are just meant for barbecue. And not just barbecued foods on the grill; your slow cooker can make some mean pulled pork for you as well! This recipe for Pulled Pork with Bourbon Peach Barbecue Sauce is perfect for a crowd and is great on a kaiser bun with some coleslaw!

I found this recipe in my Cooking Light magazine, made it over the weekend, and enjoyed it during the week for a quick meal to assemble. I also froze half of the pork to bring to the beach for my extended family to enjoy and it held up great! I changed the recipe a bit because I ended up with a 5.5 pound pork shoulder so I altered the amounts to compensate for that.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt, divided
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 (5 1/2-pound) bone-in pork shoulder roast (Boston butt), trimmed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup unsalted chicken stock
• 2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2/3 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup lower-sodium soy sauce (or coconut aminos to make gluten free)
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 1 8 oz jar peach preserves
• 2 cups vertically sliced onion
• 8 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoons cornstarch

Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Combine the smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper in a small bowl. Rub evenly over the pork. Add the olive oil to the saute pan and add the pork once the olive oil is heated. Cook for 10 minutes, turning to brown on all sides. Add the pork to your slow cooker.   Add the chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, molasses, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper to the saute pan. Bring to a boil, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits. Add the peach preserves and stir with a whisk until combined. Pour the mixture over the pork. Top with onions and garlic cloves. Cover and cook on LOW for 6 1/2 hours or until pork is tender. Remove pork from the pan and allow to cool slightly on a cutting board. Shred with two forks. Remove the onions with a slotted spoon from the slow cooker and add to the pork.   Add a large zip-top plastic bag to a large glass measuring cup or bowl (~4 cups). Pour the half of the cooking liquid from a slow cooker into the plastic bag and let stand for 10 minutes. This will allow the fat to rise to the top. Seal the bag and carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of the bag. Drain the drippings into a saute pan, stopping before the fat layer reaches the opening. Discard the fat. Repeat with remaining cooking liquid. (If you have a fat separator you can do the same process with that. I used mine in the photos). Stir bourbon into the drippings. Bring to a boil and cook the liquid for 10 minutes or until reduced to about 3 cups. Combine 3 tablespoons cold water and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add the mixture to the sauce, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in remaining teaspoon salt. You can pack up the pulled pork and barbecue sauce separately at this stage to be refrigerated or frozen. Or you can drizzle some of the barbecue sauce over the pork and dig right in as is. We enjoyed ours on a kaiser roll topped with creamy coleslaw and a little bit of chopped red onion. This barbecue sauce is really awesome! I doubt I’d be able to place the specific flavors of bourbon or peach in the sauce if I didn’t know but boy do they work well together in this sauce! The pulled pork is juicy and oh so flavorful. I made the mistake of asking my boyfriend to help shred the pork and noticed the pork disappearing little by little. The rub on it was fantastic! As a sandwich, this really hit the spot. It was great to have such a simple meal ready for us in the fridge when we got home. We heated up the pulled pork on the stove, toasted up the kaiser rolls a bit, and then assembled. My family seemed to really enjoy it as well!

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Slow Cooker Pulled Pork with Bourbon Peach Barbecue Sauce

A flavorful recipe made right in your slow cooker, perfect for pulled pork sandwiches!

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Keyword Barbecue Sauce, Bourbon, Peach, Pulled Pork, Slow Cooker

Prep Time 10 minutes minutes

Cook Time 7 hours hours

Total Time 7 hours hours 10 minutes minutes

Servings 8 servings

Author Kaitlin @ I Can Cook That

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon Spanish smoked paprika
• 2 teaspoons kosher salt divided
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 5 1/2-pound bone-in pork shoulder roast (Boston butt), trimmed
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup unsalted chicken stock
• 2/3 cup balsamic vinegar
• 2/3 cup molasses
• 1/4 cup lower-sodium soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper
• 1 8 oz jar peach preserves
• 2 cups vertically sliced onion
• 8 garlic cloves roughly chopped
• 1/2 cup bourbon
• 3 tablespoons cold water
• 1 tablespoons cornstarch

Instructions

• Heat a large saute pan over medium-high heat. Combine the smoked paprika, 1 teaspoon salt, and black pepper in a small bowl.
• Rub evenly over the pork.
• Add the olive oil to the saute pan and add the pork once the olive oil is heated. Cook for 10 minutes, turning to brown on all sides.
• Add the pork to your slow cooker. Add the chicken stock, balsamic vinegar, molasses, soy sauce, and crushed red pepper to the saute pan. Bring to a boil, scraping the pan with a wooden spoon to loosen browned bits.
• Add the peach preserves and stir with a whisk until combined.
• Pour the mixture over the pork. Top with onions and garlic cloves.
• Cover and cook on LOW for 6 1/2 hours or until pork is tender.
• Remove pork from the pan and allow to cool slightly on a cutting board. Shred with two forks.
• Remove the onions with a slotted spoon from the slow cooker and add to the pork.
• Add a large zip-top plastic bag to a large glass measuring cup or bowl (~4 cups).
• Pour the half of the cooking liquid from a slow cooker into the plastic bag and let stand for 10 minutes. This will allow the fat to rise to the top.
• Seal the bag and carefully snip off 1 bottom corner of the bag.
• Drain the drippings into a saute pan, stopping before the fat layer reaches the opening. Discard the fat. Repeat with remaining cooking liquid.
• Stir bourbon into the drippings. Bring to a boil and cook the liquid for 10 minutes or until reduced to about 3 cups.
• Combine 3 tablespoons cold water and cornstarch in a small bowl, stirring with a whisk. Add the mixture to the sauce, stirring constantly until thickened. Stir in remaining teaspoon salt.

Notes

If you make this recipe, share a photo on Instagram and tag me @icancookthat!

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