As soon as I saw this recipe in September, I knew I wanted to make it with my friend Lindsay. It took us a while until our free weekends lined up, but boy was it worth the wait! I’m not even usually really into coleslaw*, but this apple slaw is delicious and crisp for days, and the pork is amazing! This recipe can be prepared in advance and will keep well to be reheated when you’re ready to serve, but after you’ve smelled the pork cooking, you’re not going to want to wait!

*The internet is telling me that coleslaw and cole slaw are both valid spellings, and firefox’s spell-check seems to prefer coleslaw, so I’m going with it!

Ingredients:

• 3-4 pound boneless pork shoulder

Dry Rub:

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons salt

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons Tabasco brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce

Apple Slaw

• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Tabasco brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce
• 1 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper to season
• 14 ounce coleslaw mix (or two 8 ounce bags)
• 2 apples, small diced

• Buns, for serving

Giant hunks of pork like this tend to come with a big sheet of fat on them. I cut most of that off, and some other smaller bits from the other side, as it seems highly unappealing to eat straight fat, but you don’t want to obsessively remove every little bit – leaving some fat will make sure that the meat stays moist and tasty as it cooks.

Over you’ve got the meat to a level of fattiness you can stand, combine all the ingredients of the dry rub and stir together in a bowl. Place the pork on a large cutting board, or in a baking dish with sides to catch the excess dry goods, and coat the meat with the rub. Transfer the meat, and any rub that’s fallen off, to a crock pot and cook for 4 hours on high, or 8 on low.

Once the meat is in the crock pot, in a small bowl stir together all the slaw ingredients except for the coleslaw mix and apples. Combine the apple and coleslaw in a large bowl, then pour in other ingredients and stir to combine. Cover, and refrigerate until the pork is ready. The slaw is better if the flavors have some time to come together, and, once covered in the sauce, the apples don’t brown or get squishy, so there’s no reason to wait to do this step.

When the pork is done, it should be easy to pull apart with a pair of forks. Remove the meat from the crock pot to a large cutting board or a dish with sides, and shred the meat with two forks. Place shredded meat back in the crock pot.

Stir together the BBQ sauce ingredients, then pour over the shredded pork and stir to coat. Reduce the heat of the crock pot to Warm, and cover until ready to eat.

To serve, make pork and slaw sandwiches, realize you’ve made piled way too much on the buns for them to support, and just go at it with your hands silverware, like a civilized person.

With the use of Greek yogurt, rather than mayo, the slaw seems healthy enough, and every bite tastes like crunchy apples, rather than soggy vegetables. The pork… it’s just fantastic! The chipotle Tabasco adds a good flavor, without making either the pork or slaw especially spicy. (I suppose you could add more if you actually wanted spicy?) You should check it out, it’s pretty delightful!

Chipotle Pulled Pork with Apple Slaw

From Cookies and Cups.

• 3-4 pound boneless pork shoulder

Dry Rub:

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chili powder
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 2 teaspoons salt

Chipotle BBQ Sauce

• 1/2 cup ketchup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons Worcestershire Sauce
• 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 2 tablespoons Tabasco brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce

Apple Slaw

• 1 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 2 teaspoons Tabasco brand Chipotle Pepper Sauce
• 1 tablespoons honey
• 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
• salt and pepper to season
• 14 ounce coleslaw mix (or two 8 ounce bags)
• 2 apples, small diced

• Buns, for serving

To prepare the meat, first combine all the ingredients of the dry rub and stir together in a bowl. Place the pork on a large cutting board, or in a baking dish with sides to catch the excess dry goods, and coat the meat with the rub. Transfer the meat, and any rub that’s fallen off, to a crock pot and cook for 4 hours on high, or 8 on low.Once the meat is in the crock pot, in a small bowl stir together all the slaw ingredients except for the coleslaw mix and apples. Combine the apple and coleslaw in a large bowl, then pour in other ingredients and stir to combine. Cover, and refrigerate until the pork is ready.

When the pork is done, it should be easy to pull apart with a pair of forks. Remove the meat from the crock pot to a large cutting board or a dish with sides, and shred the meat with two forks. Place shredded meat back in the crock pot.

Stir together the BBQ sauce ingredients, then pour over the shredded pork and stir to combine. Reduce the heat of the crock pot to Warm, and cover until ready to eat.