Slow Cooker Maple Bourbon BBQ Pork

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So I don’t know about you, but I am a huge fan of coming home after a long day of work, and having dinner ready for me. There is also nothing better than walking into the house on a cold March afternoon, and smelling BBQ pork roasting in the slow cooker. I can throw a pot of rice on the stove, sauté some green beans or broccoli, and dinner is served! This Slow Cooker Maple Bourbon BBQ Pork is a main course that works for everyone in our family. My kiddos literally devour the pork by the bowlful…yum!

This recipe is flexible and easy to make. There are two ways to finish the pork. You can either shred all of the meat at once, and then combine it with a BBQ sauce, or you can shred as you go, and top with either your favorite BBQ sauce or a Sweet Chili Sauce.

I found my BBQ Seasoning Shak’r at Wegman’s and there are quite a few BBQ Seasoning options from different brands in every grocery store spice aisle. If you are feeling ambitious, or you can’t find a BBQ Seasoning at the store, here is a recipe for BBQ Spice Rub from allrecipes that looks very easy to make and sounds delicious. If you are not a bourbon fan, I understand (sort of), and you can replace the bourbon with 1/8 cup of a cup of orange juice or water.

There are also endless possibilities for the BBQ pork. You can serve it with rice and a vegetable, as I plan to do tonight. But you can also make pulled pork sandwiches, BBQ pork tacos, or serve the pork with a crisp seasonal slaw like my Shaved Brussels Sprouts Apple, and Cranberry Salad and corn bread. I’m sure there are at least twenty other options that I am not thinking of at the moment..but give me time.

If you would like the pork to be a bit sweeter, you can add a bit more brown or maple sugar to the rub. You can also substitute the boneless pork shoulder for a bone in pork shoulder if that is easier for you to find at your local grocery store.

Making the BBQ Pork:

This recipe is super easy to prepare. You’ll start with a 3-4 pound boneless pork shoulder, a BBQ Spice Mix, olive oil, maple syrup, maple sugar, brown sugar, Papa Joe’s Salt or salt and pepper, and 1/4 of a cup of your favorite bourbon. You literally rinse and dry the meat, make the rub by combining the spice mix, salt and pepper, olive oil, and maple syrup, brown sugar and maple sugar,coat the meat with the rub, add the meat and bourbon to the dish of your slow cooker, and cook on low for 8-10 hours. I even prep the rub the night before, and let the meat marinate in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning, I add the marinated pork and bourbon to the slow cooker, turn it on to low, and head out for work.

Make your day a little easier…and yummier. Give this recipe a try!

Other delicious slow cooker recipes

• Slow Cooker Maple Apple Butter
• Slow Cooker Maple Peach Butter
• Slow Cooker Sweet Potato Turkey Chili
• Slow Cooker Chicken Noodle Soup

Slow Cooker Maple Bourbon BBQ Pork

Maple and Thyme

A versatile BBQ pork recipe that can be served with rice and a vegetable or made into pulled pork tacos. Flavored with BBQ seasoning, maple syrup, and bourbon...a definite crowd pleaser!

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 8 hrs

Total Time 8 hrs 20 mins

Course Main Course

Cuisine American

Servings 6 people

Calories 441 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 3.5-4 lbs boneless pork shoulder
• 1 1/2 tbsp BBQ Seasoning Blend or make you own using recipe in the post
• 1/2 tsp Papa Joe's Salt or combination of salt and pepper
• 2 tbsp maple syrup
• 2 tbsp maple sugar
• 2 tbsp light brown sugar
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup bourbon can also use water
• 1/2 bottle BBQ Sauce or Sweet Chili Sauce

Instructions

 

• The night before or morning of, rinse and dry pork shoulder and set aside.
• In a small bowl, make the rub by combining the BBQ Seasoning, Papa Joe's Salt, maple syrup, maple sugar, light brown sugar and olive oil. Mix to combine.
• Use the rub to coat the pork shoulder on all sides and place in the dish of your slow cooker. Pour in bourbon or water. 

  Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
• At this point, you can serve the BBQ Pork directly from the crock pot. I like to put the meat on top of a pile of steaming rice alongside a fresh vegetable. Then I top everything with a sweet chili or BBQ sauce. 

Notes

If you would prefer to make more of a pulled pork, remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred all of the cooked meat. Drain the drippings from the pan and return the shredded pork to your slow cooker. Stir in BBQ Sauce and allow everything to warm through. This is great with rice, in tacos, in a sandwich, on a pizza... the possibilities are endless.

Nutrition

Calories: 441kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 60gFat: 11gSaturated Fat: 3gCholesterol: 158mgSodium: 340mgPotassium: 1053mgSugar: 12gVitamin A: 95IUVitamin C: 0.4mgCalcium: 70mgIron: 3.7mg

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Kitchen Tools and Ingredients That I Used for This Recipe:

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