{Tasty + EASY} Root Beer Pulled Pork

Slow Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork is quick and effortless to throw in the crock pot for an easy, make-ahead, family-pleasing dinner that's also perfect for game day, parties, or potlucks! Drenched in a fantastic homemade BBQ sauce, this pulled pork in root beer can be piled on buns or sliders and topped with a creamy slaw for a meal that everyone will love.

If you enjoy pork, you'll also love Pork Tenderloin Marinade, Pineapple Pulled Pork Pizza, Pork Tenderloin with Mushroom Gravy, or Crock Pot Pork Loin with a tantalizing honey balsamic glaze!

I originally shared the recipe here almost ten years ago, but this Root Beer Pulled Pork has been on the regular menu at my house for as long as I've had kids. It's great as a hands-off, effortless, weeknight dinner...it's great for hosting guests or gatherings...and it just tastes, well, great. And because your crock pot does all the work, it's as easy to make as it is mouth-wateringly delicious!

Ingredients

It only takes a handful of simple ingredients to throw together this succulent Root Beer Pulled Pork:

• Boneless pork butt. It's not really the "butt" of the pig, though...it's also known as shoulder roast. Cuts of meat can be confusing, so don't hesitate to ask the butcher if you're not sure! A bone-in pork butt will work as well...you just might want to buy a slightly heavier roast to account for later losing the bone. And although it's leaner and more expensive, I sometimes use pork loin instead of pork butt if that's what I already have on hand. As a bonus, pork loin actually ends up being faster to shred because there's very little fat to pick out and discard!
• Root beer. AKA, the cooking liquid. I prefer using a natural root beer made with cane sugar as opposed to high fructose corn syrup.
• Minced garlic. You can either use fresh or it's fine to use the jarred minced garlic in water for this and other crock pot recipes. I find that jarred garlic is quick and easy to toss into crock pot recipes. Plus, since it ends up slow cooking for so long, the end result doesn't taste any different than if I had taken the time to mince fresh garlic cloves myself. On another note, because a long cooking time mellows garlic, I tend to add more garlic than called for when it comes to crock pot recipes.
• Barbecue sauce. You can absolutely use your favorite brand of store-bought, bottled BBQ sauce in this recipe...I often use half of this one combined with half of this one. Or if you prefer, you can whip up a batch of the very BEST Homemade BBQ Sauce! 😉 But no worries if not...even if you go the bottled route, your Root Beer Pulled Pork will still turn out delicious.

In addition to optionally making a homemade barbecue sauce for this recipe, you can further jazz it up with coleslaw or -- my favorite -- creamy, crunchy Broccoli Slaw, which is shown in these photos. (More info on that below, and the actual recipe can be found in the "Notes" section at the bottom of the recipe card, should you feel so inclined...)

How to Make Root Beer Pulled Pork

(The below photos are intended to be helpful, but please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post for FULL DIRECTIONS.)

This Root Beer Pulled Pork recipe is so easy to make that I'm almost embarrassed to call it a recipe.

1. Trim the fat from a pork roast and use a knife to pierce it all over. Place it in the bottom of your slow cooker.

2. Pour root beer over the top of the pork and scatter garlic over the surface, pressing it into the meat. Sprinkle liberally with pepper. 

3. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours. (While your pork is cooking, prepare the homemade barbecue sauce and broccoli slaw, if desired.)

4. When the pulled pork in root beer is pull-apart tender, simply drain off the liquid, remove any fat, and shred the meat.

5. Return the Root Beer Pulled Pork to the crock pot, stir in the barbecue sauce, cover, and allow it to warm back up for a few minutes until heated through.

6. Finally...finally(!!!)...it's time to pile some of your sweet, tangy pork onto tender little Hawaiian rolls (or you can use your favorite slider buns or regular-sized buns) and top with a generous mound of slaw, if you like. Yum, yum, YUM.

Timing the BBQ Sauce + Broccoli Slaw

Since your whole day is being freed up by the wonder that is the crock pot, you might decide to go ahead and invest a tad bit of time into making the aforementioned batch of homemade BBQ sauce and/or the yummy Broccoli Slaw to accompany your Root Beer Pulled Pork. And if that's your decision, it's simple to do so!

1. While your Root Beer Pulled Pork is slow cooking, measure out the BBQ sauce ingredients into a pot and let 'em start bubbling away on the stove.
2. Next, whip up the dressing for the slaw, which takes a whole two minutes. Stir in some shredded broccoli mix, which you can find sold in a bag in the produce section of many grocery stores. Then cover and chill the slaw in the fridge.
3. Once your BBQ sauce has simmered long enough, allow it to cool a bit before transferring it into a container and popping it in the fridge to keep the broccoli slaw company.

Now when your pulled pork in root beer is done slow cooking, you'll already have some fantastic homemade BBQ sauce to dress it and a creamy, dreamy broccoli slaw to go on top (or alongside)! I'm telling you, the cumulative 30 minutes of work is so worth the final, delectable results.

How to Serve Root Beer Pulled Pork

My favorite way to eat Root Beer Pulled Pork is on regular ol' buns or as heavenly little sliders, as demonstated in this post. Good gracious do I love them!

However, this pulled pork is also delicious in numerous other applications, whether the first night or as leftovers! A few of my favorite ideas:

• Sprinkled over nachos.
• Dolloped over baked potatoes.
• Stuffed into tacos.
• Spread over a pizza.
• Mounded over mac and cheese.
• Folded into quesadillas.
• Tossed with pasta.
• Scattered over a salad.
• Rolled into enchiladas.
• Packed into a frittata, quiche, or omelet.

What other ways can you come up with to enjoy leftover Root Beer Pulled Pork?

What to Serve with Root Beer Pulled Pork

As for other side dish ideas to accompany your pulled pork (in addition to coleslaw or Broccoli Slaw), here are a few suggestions:

• Beans, whether Ranch Beans, Charro Beans, or Baked Beans.
• Corn, including Creamy Corn Casserole, Cornbread Casserole, or fresh Corn on the Cob.
• Pasta salads, from simple Easy Pasta Salad to loaded Tomato Cucumber Pasta Salad.
• Fresh veggies, like Marinated Tomatoes or Creamy German Cucumber Salad.
• Roasted veggies, such as Roasted Tomatoes, Baked Parmesan Squash and Zucchini Rounds, or Roasted Broccoli.
• Salads, from Corn, Tomato, & Avocado Salad to Homemade Caesar Salad.
• Potato salads, whether Classic Potato Salad or German Potato Salad.

When to Enjoy Root Beer Pulled Pork

This recipe would make a fabulous, family-pleasing dinner on an ordinary, busy weeknight. However, Root Beer Pulled Pork sandwiches or sliders particularly shine when feeding a large group or hosting a party, since a crock pot full of pork goes a long way and everyone can assemble their sandwiches to their liking.

As an added bonus, this recipe is beautifully make-ahead. You can make it a day (or several days) ahead of time and then simply reheat it at lunch/dinner/party time.

I don't know about you, but getting as much cooking out of the way ahead of time helps make hosting folks or throwing a party less stressful and more enjoyable for this easily frazzled hostess.

My friends, I implore you to try this effortless, tasty Root Beer Pulled Pork recipe!

I think you will be especially pleased with the results if you take the time to make the easy, homemade barbecue sauce and whip up the yummy slaw to top your sandwiches.

But even made with bottled BBQ sauce and served with no adornments, Root Beer Pulled Pork is so easy and delicious that I guarantee you'll turn to this easy slow cooker recipe time and time again. 🙂

More Sandwiches for Supper

• Slow Cooker Honey Balsamic Shredded Beef Sandwiches
• Bacon & Blue Cheese Egg Salad Sandwiches
• Best Ever Homemade Sloppy Joes
• Slow Cooker French Dip Au Jus
• Crockpot Meatball Subs
• Slow Cooker BBQ Chicken

Originally published on January 20, 2014, and updated on October 2, 2020, and June 27, 2023.