Slow Cooker Pineapple Pulled Pork with Pineapple BBQ Sauce
Succulent pork and juicy pineapple are slow cooked in the crock pot with a flavorful, homemade Pineapple BBQ Sauce, resulting in sweet and savory pulled pork for sandwiches, tacos, quesadillas, nachos, pizza, and more!
Course Main Course
Cuisine American
Prep Time 20 minutesminutes
Cook Time 11 hourshours
Total Time 11 hourshours20 minutesminutes
Servings 8servings (depending on how you use pulled pork); 2 to 2 ½ cups BBQ sauce
Trim fat from pork and pierce all over surface with a knife. Liberally season all sides with garlic salt and pepper and place in slow cooker. Pour can of pineapple tidbits and juice on top. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours.
An hour or so before pork is done, prepare Pineapple Barbecue Sauce. Combine pineapple juice, garlic, ginger, jalapeño, and cilantro in a medium pot. Bring to a boi, reduce heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring every few minutes. Stir in ketchup, vinegar, honey, molasses, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, and pepper. Cook on low for 15 more minutes. Remove from heat.
Remove pork from slow cooker and place on cutting board. Discard fat, cut meat into chunks with a knife, and then shred chunks with two forks. Drain liquid from slow cooker (reserving about a cup) and add shredded meat back to crock pot. Stir in Pineapple Barbecue Sauce. You may add a splash of reserved cooking liquid if sauce seems too thick. Heat on low for 30 minutes to 1 hour or until warm.
Notes
Although it's leaner and more expensive, I sometimes use pork loin instead of pork shoulder if that's what I have on hand (but it doesn't turn out as moist).
If you have fresh pineapple, feel free to use it. But since it gets pretty cooked down after so many hours in the slow cooker, I typically use canned pineapple for this recipe. Then depending on how I use the finished pulled pork, I often use fresh pineapple chunks for garnish.
When I buy a big hunk of fresh ginger, I keep the unused portion in the freezer until the next time I need it. Then I peel a small section and use a microplane to grate the amount I require (while still frozen).
This barbecue sauce is not too spicy using only one jalapeño (as long as you remove all seeds and membranes). For more heat, feel free to leave the seeds and membranes intact and/or add an extra jalapeño!
Since the sweetness of pineapple juice may vary, you might want to add the honey gradually and to taste, rather than all at once.