Pork. I know what you’re thinking.
Most pulled pork is made with pork butt. Yep. True. It’s probably very tasty that way, but your thighs won’t be looking any slimmer after you down your 2nd sandwich. Barbecue pulled pork is a mouthwatering comfort food. There’s no denying it. I’m all about full flavor, but I’m not always about full calories and saturated fat. This recipe uses lean pork tenderloin and adapted from one I found on allrecipes.com. It is loaded with flavor but not with fat. Tenderloin is usually a tougher cut since it’s lean (fat makes meat more tender). If you cook a lean cut of meat for a long period of time on a low heat setting (slow & low) you’ll end up with a softer outcome.
Place your pork tenderloins in your crockpot.
Add 1 small chopped onion and 3 cloves of minced garlic.
Dump an entire bottle of your favorite BBQ sauce on! I used Sweet Baby Ray’s (Open Pit has 1/2 the calories and tastes more tangy. It would be a fantastic alternative). I sprinkled on some cinnamon, salt & pepper, a splash of low sodium chicken stock & hot mustard. You may want to add a splash of root beer.
Put the lid on that bad boy and set it on low for 7 hours.
It should look kind of weird like this.
At this point I was horrified and didn’t think this dinner would be edible, never mind taste good. But, I shrugged it off because it smelled really good. So, I took the meat out a put it on a dish, then used 2 forks to shred it.
I put the shredded pork back into the crock and stirred it in with the juices. Now we’re talking!
Serve on a multigrain or low-cal bun. Go ahead! Have seconds with no guilt 😉
Lean pulled pork??? Did I just read that right? I love pulled pork!
I’m so happy for this recipe I could kiss you.
YAY! I thought I was the only one excited about this one lol!
Mmmm, pulled pork. This looks tasty. Yay for crock pots!
I made it this way a few years ago and loved it and this is the only cut of meat we use now.
So glad to find a lean version of this. Tried crock pot pulled pork recently using a butt – thought I would never finish picking through the fat – yuk. Also, wanted to share a tip with your readers. Place your crock pot on the back porch so your house does not smell like food. Most people like this smell – I don’t mind cookies, etc, but food smells bother me. Look forward to trying this. Thanks
So glad to find a lean version of this. Tried crock pot pulled pork recently using a butt – thought I would never finish picking through the fat – yuk. Also, wanted to share a tip with your readers. Place your crock pot on the back porch so your house does not smell like food. Most people like this smell – I don’t mind cookies, etc, but food smells bother me. Look forward to trying this. Thanks
😉
So glad you like this recipe Debbie! Laan can be delicious too!