Tuesday, March 29

Dinner for Real: Crockpot Barbecue

Another weekday; another need for a simple dinner recipe. Today I'll share with you one of the easiest things I make: Crockpot Barbecue.

This is so simple you don't even need a recipe. All you do is to place a piece of pork (Boston butt, pork loin, or pork tenderloin--your choice) in a Crock Pot. Mix together a generous amount of barbecue sauce and vinegar (I use half barbecue sauce and half apple cider vinegar for a total of about 2 cups). Pour over meat. Cook for hours--probably 3-4 hours on high or 7-8 hours on low, until meat is very tender. Using two forks, pull meat apart (thereby creating "pulled pork"). Serve on buns to make delicious barbecue sandwiches, adding additional barbecue sauce if desired.


Believe me, this makes a tender, juicy, delicious barbecue. We like Sweet Baby Ray's barbecue sauce; you can use whatever barbecue sauce strikes your fancy. And if you need a good side dish, try this recipe for Crunchy Salad. I think this is technically an "Asian" salad, but I think it is wonderful with barbecue--and besides, I'm not a big fan of traditional cole slaw.

Crunchy salad

Ingredients:

Vegetables
16 oz. cole slaw mix or chopped cabbage
3-6 green onions

Crunchies
1/2 cup sliced or slivered almonds
1 package Ramen noodles (chicken or Oriental flavor)

Dressing
1/2 cup oil (I use canola)
3 Tablespoons apple cider vinegar
2 Tablespoons sugar (or 3 packets artificial sweetener)
1/2 teaspoon salt
seasoning packet from Ramen noodles

Roast almonds and Ramen noodles at 350 degrees until light brown (about 5-7 minutes). Set aside.

Chop green onions. Stir into cabbage.

Whisk dressing ingredients together well.

Toss vegetables, crunchies, and dressing together just before serving.

I hope you're enjoying this Dinner for Real series! Right now I'm looking for volunteers to share their recipes here; please let me know if you have an easy, tried-and-true recipe you'd like to see featured here. And soon I think we'll have a linky party so that we can collect a bunch of recipes.

What's for dinner at your house tonight??

12 comments:

  1. I am definitely enjoying this series, Richella. :) And can I just say...YUM??!! haha! I love a good barbecue sandwich. I like to eat mine with coleslaw on top. I have never added the vinegar when I make mine in the crockpot, I bet that makes it more tender. I'll try it next time. I'm really hungry now. :)

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  2. I love bbq and being from the south, you can get it all kinds of ways. We like ours sweet and spicy mixed.

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  3. I have a similar recipe, but it also has brown sugar and hot sauce in it. Mmmm.

    I love your series! It's so fun, and you can count on me to send you something after we get home from vacation. Remind me!

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  4. You are freaking me out just a bit! Tonight we are having bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin and crunchy broccoli slaw. Just a little too close to what you have posted here! :)

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  5. ...just practicing my blog commenting etiquette.
    How'd I do?
    ?????
    ?????
    ?????
    (Actually, my stomach is now growling--I LUVLUVLUV BBQ!)

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  6. love my slow cooker I have made barbecue in it before oh so easy and delicious

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  7. I absolutely adore bbq made in the crock-pot. I did a beef roast Monday with a sauce made from onion, celery, ketchup, chili sauce, and worcestershire sauce. After cooking all day, it shredded easily and made such yummy sandwiches.

    Your salad recipe is a favorite around here. I like it so much that I could eat just that as a meal.

    I am really enjoying this series!

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  8. I love your "dinner for real" posts. I tried the easy baked chicken and boy was it a hit!! I had never tried the creamy caesar dressing and the kids LOVED IT! I love when I hit a homerun with dinner. And finding something that all three kids like is awesome! Thanks again and keep 'em coming. :)

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  9. I have been dying to make barbecue sandwhiches! My recipe is similar, but you cook the meat in the crock pot and then cook it with the sauce in the oven. Gracious, I am hungry after looking at that picture.

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  10. MMMmmmmm..... our students at church are selling smoked Boston Butts as a fundraiser and I CAN'T WAIT to get mine. Your picture just makes it worse! I'm glad to know that I can do it as easily (maybe without the smoky flavor - hee hee) in the crock pot!

    I have a suuuuper easy spaghetti dish. It is my family's favorite. Here's the link to it. http://butterflygenes.blogspot.com/2009/03/dinner-this-weekend-pasta-carbonara.html

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  11. This one looks totally doable to me, Richella! :) We love barbeque. Do you have a particular amount (pounds-wise) of meat cut that you look for? I can't wait to try this one!

    We're have a chicken/veggie/rice casserole tonight. I needed something easy. :)

    I have a great recipe I could share!!

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