Slow-cooker pulled pork is a classic! If you're looking for a healthier, refined sugar-free version to make your entire family, this is it. Made with coconut sugar, spices, chicken broth, and a dash of soy sauce, this Refined Sugar-Free Slow Cooker Pulled Pork can be thrown in the slow cooker in the morning and enjoyed with the whole family for dinner. This recipe also makes tons of leftovers for enjoying a second or third time around!
This post is a part of my series on bringing meals to others. This Refined Sugar-Free Slow Cooker Pulled Pork is perfect for sharing with someone who could use a home-cooked meal because it's so easy to make and can double as dinner for your family, too. There are tons of ways to make this a full meal to bring to someone who just had a baby, experienced a loss in the family, is going through a transition like a new job or move, or is just having a hard time. For more info on this series visit this page.
When Steven and I first got married, I was not a fan of pork at all. I grew up in a house that didn't eat a lot of red meat and I've always considered pork to be red meat. This is kind of a coin toss, depending on who you ask (whether pork is white or red meat) but the point is, I didn't eat a lot of it growing up. So when we got married, we both had to adjust our expectations (as you often do in marriages of course). I couldn't just cook chicken every night and Steven had to get used to me nibbling at pork when we made it since I didn't care much for it.
Over the last five years though, I've really learned to like cooking pork in different ways. I wouldn't say that it's something I'd order at a restaurant-- unless it's bacon, because BACON--but it's definitely something I choose to cook rather than cooking it as a special treat for my husband. Even during this pregnancy, I could almost have called pork a craving at a certain point.
I'll be honest, slow cookers have never been my forte when it comes to cooking. Slow cooker recipes are something I've tried to get better at because they are super convenient and great for our family on busy weeknights. When I finally made this slow cooker salsa verde chicken and it turned out well, I grew some confidence in trying out some more slow cooker recipes. I knew I wanted to try to figure out a slow cooker pulled pork recipe.
The problem I kept running into is that a lot of slow cookers pulled pork recipes use brown sugar or a jar of barbecue sauce that is filled with ingredients I don't want my whole family eating. If you've been around here for a while, you know that I don't use a lot of sugar in the food that I feed our family (and generally, we have stopped eating a lot of processed sugars except for in actual desserts). So when I wanted to make pulled pork, I had to figure out something that would be refined sugar free that our whole family could enjoy.
A friend recently helped me discover coconut sugar. Now some people consider this to still be the same as sugar and some people consider it to be "refined sugar-free" when used in recipes. Unless you're really concerned with the sugar-free nature, let's just say that coconut sugar is generally considered to be healthier and a great substitute for either brown sugar or white sugar. In this case, if you didn't care that much about the sugar content, you could also use brown sugar in place of coconut sugar, especially since most people have brown sugar in their stocked pantries anyway!
I looooove how much food this recipe makes. We are recent Costco members and I get the pork tenderloin from there and use just one of the packages (which has about 2 pounds of pork tenderloin). It makes enough for us to eat dinner at least three times and usually lunch for Steven too. I usually will make it the first time with rice and green beans, then serve the leftovers another night as pork taco bowls or quesadillas. And the best part is I only had to make dinner once.
Another note to add, Steven is super picky about pulled pork. I've made it in the past and had issues with it being too dry. So it was super important to me that this recipe not be dry. With that being said, if you like your pulled pork saucy, this is definitely not that kind of pulled pork and you'll probably want to add a little barbecue sauce to it. But if you like your pulled pork seasoned well and not dry, this should be a hit!
If you're taking this meal to a friend in need, make some white or brown rice to bring with it, serve it with some buns and barbecue sauce, or even bring a nice salad to go along with it. You could also get the supplies to make taco bowls or quesadillas, too! Don't forget to check out this post for more tips on bringing meals to others!
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Ready to make your own Slow Cooker Pulled Pork?
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Slow Cooker Refined Sugar Free Pulled Pork
Slow-cooker pulled pork is a classic! If you're looking for a healthier, refined sugar-free version to make your entire family, this is it. Made with coconut sugar, spices, chicken broth, and a dash of soy sauce, this Refined Sugar-Free Slow Cooker Pulled Pork can be thrown in the slow cooker in the morning and enjoyed with the whole family for dinner. This recipe also makes tons of leftovers for enjoying a second or third time around!
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pork tenderloin
- ¼ cup coconut sugar
- 1 tablespoon chile powder
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- ½ cup water
- 1 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
Instructions
- Line a slow cooker with a slow cooker liner or spray with cooking spray.
- In a small bowl, mix together coconut sugar and spices.
- Rub dry rub over pork tenderloins and put into slow cooker.
- Pour in water and soy sauce.
- Cook on low for at least 6 hours, 8 hours preferred. If possible, use tongs to stir, pull apart meat half way through or at least 30 minutes before eating.
- Serve over rice, with buns, or over a salad! If you prefer, you can also add your favorite barbecue sauce to the pork before serving.
Notes
Brown sugar can be substituted for coconut sugar.
Coconut aminos can be substitutes for soy sauce (I'd recommend using only a teaspoon though).
Store leftovers in an air tight container with the liquid from slow cooker for up to one week or freeze right away.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 9 Serving Size: 8 ouncesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 174Total Fat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 2gCholesterol: 74mgSodium: 117mgCarbohydrates: 6gFiber: 0gSugar: 5gProtein: 27g
Teresa says
I've never used coconut sugar before but now I'm curious! This is for sure going on my meal plan for next week!