Looking for a simple, crowd-pleasing dish for Memorial Day weekend? Try Slow-Cooker Honey Mustard Pulled Pork. With a few pantry staples, a pork shoulder, and low-and-slow cooking, you’ll get tender, juicy pulled pork with a tangy, sweet honey-mustard flavor and a hint of jalapeño heat. Make a big batch to serve a crowd or freeze individual portions for easy meals, picnics, or camping trips.
Memorial Day weekend marks the unofficial start of summer, and for many of us that means backyard parties, picnics, and potlucks. I like to bring dishes that are easy to transport, feed a crowd, and won’t blow someone’s food budget. This Slow-Cooker Honey Mustard Pulled Pork is one of those dishes: effortless to prepare, easy to scale, and versatile once finished. It’s similar in convenience to other favorite slow-cooker roasts but offers a bright mustard-and-honey profile with a mild jalapeño kick.
Serve this pulled pork in many ways: piled on buns or sliders, in tacos or tortillas, stacked on cornbread, scattered over salads, used as a pizza topping, tucked into lettuce wraps, added to soups, or eaten straight from the pan. It also freezes and reheats beautifully, making it a great make-ahead option for entertaining or busy weeknights.
Cook’s Notes
- Plan ahead when possible: start the pork one or two days before serving. I often leave it in the slow-cooker overnight, then transfer the cooled meat to a container and refrigerate. Strain and reduce the pan juices and refrigerate those as well. Reassembling and finishing the dish the day you serve is quick and stress-free.
- Choose a large pork shoulder to feed a crowd — 8 pounds or more is ideal if your slow-cooker fits it. The meat shrinks and disappears quickly, and leftovers freeze well.
- Don’t add salt to the cooking juices before reducing. As the liquid reduces, flavors concentrate and pre-salting can lead to overly salty sauce.
- For easy freezing, pack single-meal portions into zipper freezer bags, press out the air, seal, and flatten. Frozen flat, they take up minimal space and thaw quickly.
- Finish the pulled pork in the oven briefly. A final bake gives a few caramelized, crispy edges that add texture and deepen the honey’s flavor. Those crunchy bits contrast nicely with the tender meat.
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Jalapeno Honey Mustard Pulled Pork
Rebecca Lindamood
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Ingredients
- 1 bone-in pork shoulder 8–12 pounds
- 1 cup mild honey
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/3 cup prepared mustard
- 1/3 cup cider vinegar
- 4 cloves garlic peeled and left whole
- 2 tablespoons ground mustard
- 1–2 jalapeno peppers washed and pricked with a fork
Optional:
- Extra honey-mustard (homemade or store-bought), if desired
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
Instructions
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Add all ingredients to a large slow-cooker. Cover and cook on LOW for 10–12 hours, or until the meat falls away from the bone when nudged with a fork. Transfer the pork (in sections if it’s falling apart) to a 9×13-inch pan, cover, and chill until it’s easy to handle. Chilling makes it simpler to remove excess fat and connective tissue.
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While the pork chills, strain the cooking juices into a 2–3 quart saucepan and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon. Remove from heat, cover, and set aside.
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Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C).
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When the pork is cool enough to handle, pull it apart into bite-sized pieces, trimming fat and connective tissue as desired. Discard the bone. Chop any large pieces so the meat is evenly sized. Return the meat to the 9×13-inch pan, cover tightly with foil, and bake about 30 minutes, or until hot through. Remove the foil, pour the reduced pan juices over the meat, and bake 10 more minutes to caramelize the honey and crisp some edges. Toss to coat and serve.
Nutritional information is an estimate and provided as a courtesy. Calculate nutrition using the exact ingredients and amounts you use.
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This post was originally published May 20, 2014.