The shoulder took eight hours and you're not doing that twice
A three-pound pork shoulder goes into the slow cooker at 8 a.m. with barbecue sauce, onion, and a splash of vinegar, and by 4 p.m. it shreds apart with two forks. Portion it into gallon bags with the sauce it cooked in, press the air out, and freeze each one flat on a sheet pan.
The sauce settles to the bottom of the bag as it freezes, and the weight of it can crack a seal that wasn't pressed all the way flat. Check the seams before you stack bags on top of each other, or you'll find sauce pooled in the bottom of the freezer drawer.
Reheat it in a saucepan over low heat with a splash of water, stirring every few minutes so the edges don't scorch before the center thaws. Fifteen minutes gets you back to the texture it had the day you shredded it.
Ingredients
The batch makes about 6 cups (4 dinners worth). Plan on about 6 hours in a slow cooker, then freeze.
- 3 to 4 pound pork shoulder, trimmed and cut into large chunks
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1 tablespoon each salt, brown sugar, paprika, and garlic powder
- BBQ sauce (added after cooking and at serving)
How to Make It
- Rub the pork with the salt, brown sugar, paprika, and garlic powder.
- Slow-cook with the broth on low for 6 to 8 hours, until it shreds easily.
- Shred and toss with a little cooking liquid; add BBQ sauce to taste.
- Cool completely before freezing.
Freeze It
One slow-cooker afternoon makes several dinners. Freeze it lightly sauced, then add fresh BBQ sauce when reheating so it does not taste dull.
- Freeze in flat 1.5-cup portions in labeled bags (best within 3 months)
- Add a spoon of the cooking liquid to each so it reheats moist
- Press out the air before sealing
Thaw and reheat on practice night
Warm a portion from frozen and stir in extra BBQ sauce to wake it up.
- Skillet from frozen: covered with a splash of broth, medium heat, 10 to 12 minutes
- Microwave from frozen: 4 to 6 minutes, stirring once
- Stir in fresh BBQ sauce, then pile on buns or over potatoes
- Serve with: buns, coleslaw, baked potatoes, corn
Parent Tip
Skip the buns and load it onto a baked potato for a no-bread dinner.
Make it fit tonight
Small changes that make this one fit your night
Pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw on top
Pile it on a toasted bun with slaw instead of on the side for crunch in every bite.
Baked potato with pulled pork and cheddar
Split a potato, load it with pork and sauce, and skip a separate side dish entirely.
Pulled pork nachos
Layer chips, pork, cheese, and jalapeños under the broiler for two minutes.
Pork quesadilla with pickled onion
Fold pulled pork and cheese into a tortilla, then top with quick pickled onion for acid.
Pulled pork over cornbread
Spoon warm pork and sauce over a wedge of cornbread for a plate that needs no side.
Plan the next step
Cook a shoulder
Use the planner to slow-cook a pork shoulder and freeze it in dinner packs.