Crockpot Bourbon Bacon Pulled Pork – An easy recipe for the BEST ever crockpot pulled pork! This pork is slow cooked to perfection with BBQ sauce, spices, bourbon, and the addition of bacon for even meatier barbecue flavor. We love this BBQ pulled pork recipe that makes slow cooker pulled pork tenderloin the most tender and flavorful!
Ok, can I please make myself sound a little “official” here and just say if there is one thing that I know well, it’s good BBQ.
A lot of people attribute BBQ with Kansas City – which is the right thing to do because it’s amazing there.
It’s also amazing everywhere in Kansas!
I’m 99.9% certain that everyone here grows up eating BBQ on a weekly basis. It’s a mouthwatering staple around here.
CHECK OUT OUR VIDEO FOR THIS RECIPE BELOW!
Pulled pork is one of the first things I ever started making – It’s really simple and honestly our fave dinner in my house.
Since it was one of the first things I attempted to cook, you can imagine by now that I’ve made it about a trillion and a half different ways over the years.
I’m telling you, I’ll never switch up my recipe again. This one is just right. And I’ll tell ya why!
I want my pulled pork to have MAX flavor!
For that to happen, I do a simple spice rub and massage it right into the meat first.
Then, a simple sauce – brown sugar, bourbon, apple cider vinegar, and your favorite BBQ sauce.
The apple cider vinegar helps to make the meat extra tender!
This sauce turns out so rich – not too sweet, just right on the tang. It’s perfection.
After the pork has cooked and shredded, we add in about 1 cup of cooked crumbled bacon.
More if you want – never enough bacon.
It’s a meaty sandwich, tender, tons of flavor, rich and tasty!
Enjoy this pulled pork! It couldn’t be easier to make or more melt in your mouth to eat!
Note: Don’t be intimidated by the ingredient list – it’s mostly all seasoning!
~Nichole
Crockpot Bourbon Bacon Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- 2 Pounds Boneless Pork Loin
- 1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Paprika
- 1/2 Teaspoon Pepper
- 1/2 Teaspoon Cumin
- 1/4 Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- 1 Cup Packed Brown Sugar
- 1 Cup BBQ Sauce
- 1/3 Cup Apple Cider Vinegar
- 1/2 Cup Bourbon
- 8 Slices Bacon, Cooked and Crumbled
Instructions
- Place the pork loin in the bottom of the slow cooker. In a small bowl mix together the garlic powder, onion powder, salt, paprika, pepper, cumin, and cayenne. Sprinkle the seasoning mixture over the meat and massage into all sides for 1 minute.
- In a medium bowl, mix together the brown sugar, bbq sauce, apple cider vinegar and bourbon. Pour over the pork loin. Cook on low for 8-10 hours.
- Shred the pork using two forks. Mix in the cooked and crumbled bacon. Serve immediately or refrigerate until ready to use.
Nutrition
I shared this recipe over at The Weekend Potluck!
Hi Nicole, I tried your recipe and doubled everything with s four and a half pound pork tenderloin. I did notice it was very wet and had a lot of liquid however still delicious. Would you recommend not doubling the liquid and keeping it the same as if it was a two pound loin? Thanks much, Steve
This may be a dumb question, but after you shred the pork, do you put the meat back in the sauce left in the crock pot, or leave it out and just drizzle, or not at all? Just curious what you typically do. Making this today and my kitchen smells awesome!
Hope you put it back in the Crock-Pot. You can pull it in the Crock-Pot you really don’t have to remove it
This is a delicious recipe! I have a larger crockpot, and my piece of pork shoulder was about 6 1/2 pounds. I tripled the spices and doubled the liquid portion of the recipe. I did not triple the liquid portion of the recipe, because it would not all fit into the crockpot, even though I have a larger crockpot. It cooked in about nine hours, and the meat just fell apart – delicious! Also, I used the whole foods 365 brand of barbecue sauce – it is so good and does not contain high fructose corn syrup. I used Irish whiskey for a bourbon – again, delicious! Another tip: Trader Joe’s carries a spice mixture that contains all of the needed spices in the correct proportion, except Cayanne pepper. It does contain a little bit of nutmeg which was not noticeable and probably added to the dish.
Can this be made ahead to freeze in portions? I’m single and mostly cook for myself so one or two portions frozen works best for me. Thank you in advance! PS I work at a liquor store so the Bourbon isn’t a problem, I don’t drink it but we do have Jim Beam White Label in mickey size so that totally works. I love the idea of cooking with liquor and I’m also a manager of our store’s Facebook page and can share recipes, in fact my boss encourages that… 😉
I just read somewhere that a woman used a muffin tin to freeze single portions and then transferred the frozen meat “muffins” to a zip lock bag. She heats on high for 55 seconds on high. I am going to try that tip. I just put a frozen 4# shoulder into this luscious sauce and am cooking on low overnight for tomorrow nights dinner.
Can you use Brandy in place of the bourbon ?
Hi Nichole,
Thank you for this AMAZING recipe! I made a double batch for work a couple of weeks ago and I’m making 2 more double batches this wknd to share at both of my jobs. Served with Hawaiian and potato rolls (dinner roll size for sliders) and it was a big hit!
This is in my slow cooker now and it smells amazing! Can’t wait for game time so we can eat it!! My hubs is not a fan of pulled pork so I convinced him to let me try this recipe (I had him at Bourbon!!!) so he will be my true test!!
Made this last night and everybody raved. It was delicious. I made a few changes. I used a 4 pound boston butt. Omitted the bourbon(didn’t have any on hand) but subbed with root beer soda and beef broth. Doubled everything except the cayenne pepper. Used both smoked paprika and sweet paprika. Took a bit longer in the crockpot but i suspect it was due to the size of the boston butt. The flavor was outstanding! Thank you for a great recipe!
Could you please tell me if a pork loin roast is different than the cut you recommended? I used a 2.5lb pork loin roast and cooked on low for a full 8 hours but it wasn’t pull apart tender. Delicious, but not terribly tender. Thanks!!
Have you tried making this in an instant pot/pressure cooker?
Thanks!
MP
Hi! I haven’t tried it, but, you can definitely try it following the directions for my IP pulled pork https://thesaltymarshmallow.com/instant-pot-pulled-pork/
Absolutely loved your recipe for pulled pork!
I used Sweet Baby Ray’s and Four Roses Bourbon.
Perfection! Thank you
I’m thinking pork tenderloins could be substituted for the pork loin?
Yes, that’s fine 🙂
What size crock pot do you use? If I double the recipe, would that same size work, or do you think I should use a bigger crock pot? I always stress over whether my crock pots are the right size for a recipe! Thanks in advance 😉
Hi! I use an 8 quart crockpot. It might be a tight fit if you double the recipe in a 7 or 8 quart. You can always slice the meat to make it fit though if necessary 🙂
Hands down, the BEST BBQ I’ve ever made or had!! It’s even better the second day!! I had a ton of compliments on this recipe and have gladly added it into our dinner rotation at home. You will not be disappointed! And don’t wor h about the bourbon! It totally adds to the flavor without the bite or worrying about kids eating it. The recipe is perfect just the way she has it listed!!
Made this last night. This recipe is a keeper. Much flavor!
I’ve made this before and it was amazing! Thank you for sharing!
I’m about to make it tomorrow, but do not have bourbon. Is it possible to substitute it with beer?
I’m sure that beer would be fine 🙂