Zesty Pulled Pork with a Kick

Ingredients

• 1 (12 ounce) can tomato paste
• ½ cup apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons dried onion flakes
• 2 tablespoons prepared yellow mustard
• 2 tablespoons molasses
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons liquid hickory smoke flavoring
• 7 tablespoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons kosher salt
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 teaspoons ground dried chipotle pepper
• 2 teaspoons hot smoked paprika
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon mustard powder (such as Keen's®)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 3 ¾ pounds pork shoulder roast

Step 1

Combine together the tomato paste, vinegar, dried onion flakes, yellow mustard, molasses, garlic, olive oil, and liquid smoke in a bowl until you get a thick, flavorful paste. Then, stir in the brown sugar, kosher salt, cumin, chipotle pepper, paprika, black pepper, garlic powder, mustard powder, and cayenne pepper until everything is well combined.

Step 2

Place the pork shoulder in your slow cooker and slather it with the spice paste, making sure it’s nicely coated all over. Cook it on High for about 4 hours. When it’s tender, use two forks to shred the meat and pull out the bone.

Step 3

Once shredded, switch the slow cooker to Low and let the pork cook for another hour or two to soak up all those delicious flavors. Give it a good stir now and then, and it’ll be ready to serve!