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.
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.
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I shared this recipe over at The Weekend Potluck!
Hi, is this spicy at all? My family doesn’t like hot spicy food so the cayenne scares me
Hi, Emily! We don’t find this too spicy at all, but you can absolutely just leave the cayenne out! 🙂
Is this on the sweeter side? With the brown sugar and sweet baby ray’s that feels sweet to me…or does the bourbon offset that? Have you ever halved the sugar?
Hey, Jessica! I don’t find this too sweet at all, and I do not like my BBQ sweet. You can absolutely half the sugar if you feel the recipe will be too sweet for your taste 🙂
Can you cook this on high for 4 hours, or will it not be as tender?
Hi, Ashley! In my experience, this recipe is best cooked on low for the full time, for the most tender meat. When I have attempted to cook this on high for 4-5 hours, the meat just never shredded quite as easily. All slow cookers are different, so you could definitely try it out but I would plan for extra time just in case. Hope that helps! 🙂
Can you taste the Bourbon at all? Does the alcohol cook out of it?
The alcohol does cook out! The bourbon ads flavor, but it doesn’t taste of alcohol.
What kind of Bourbon do you use?
Hey, Ashley! Typically I just use what we have on hand. Don’t feel like you need to use a top-shelf bourbon for this recipe at all.
For doubling the recipe, is the cook time still the same? I was just going to pop in the slow cooker at night for a BBQ the next day at noon. What’s your go to BBQ sauce for this recipe? Thank you!!
You should be fine to double and cook the same amount of time, however, I would definitely go for the full 10 hours on low. Maybe give yourself an extra hour or two for cook time if you can to make sure the meat does get tender. I like to use Sweet Baby Ray’s BBQ sauce! 🙂
Thanks for this tip – my coworkers have requested pulled pork sliders for inventory time, this is awesome. I’m feeding about 20 hard workers, adding a side of 4 lbs potato salad, rolls of course. Any suggestions for another side? Baked beans are too similar. Thanks much for this dynamite recipe!
Could you do this with chicken? If so would you make any adjustments? I know chicken isn’t pork but I’m not a big pork eater and the recipe looks delicious.
Yes, you could definitely use chicken! I would use 2 pounds of boneless skinless chicken breasts. If you want, you could use half the amount of chicken, and half the entire recipe. Hope that helps!
Thank you so much. This definitely on my list to try soon..
Can you double the recipe? The reason i’m asking is I want to make this at the beach for a house full of people.
Yes, you can double it! 🙂
What can be used in place of the Bourbon?
Hi, Betsy! You could just leave the bourbon out and not add anything else, it will turn out fine. If you’d like, you can use beef broth in place of the bourbon as well.
I have 4 lb pork loin are u sure ur takes 8 hrs to cook just 2 lbs,
Cola, Root Beer and Dr Pepper all come to mind, but cut back the sugar a little. If you go with the beef broth, then add some bourbon flavoring. This recipe looks awesome, but living in Western N.C and East Tennessee, I’d like some Cole Slaw on my sandwich please!
You had me at Bourbon, Nichole! Thank you so much for sharing your delicious pulled pork recipe at Weekend Potluck! I’ve added this to my “must-try” list. We hope to see you again this Friday. Have a great week!
Thanks, Mary!! 🙂
thank you for the pulled pork recipe. I have never been able to make crackpot cooking come out right. the only thing that I changed was I used Amaretto instead of bourbon. just not a fan of bourbon. It was fantastic. thank you again
Hi. my husband doesn’t want to use pork loin, he wants to use a shoulder butt or something like that. Would that be okay?
Yes, that’s just fine 🙂
What is the Pressure cooker equivalent to a an 8 hour slow cook?