Shredded Pork for a Crowd

A week ago, Ree from The Pioneer Woman Cooks posted a recipe for  Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork. I was hooked instantly.  It looked delicious.  Did you notice how I titled this post "Shredded Pork for a Crowd" though?  Well, I was so smitten with this recipe that I had to make it ASAP.  I held out for a few days and then I made it for the four of us.  I have LOTS leftover.  Like another eight dinners maybe.  Good thing we loved it!  I think it will freeze just fine for those lazy cooking days I have all the time every so often.

This recipe is so easy.  Just dump your ingredients in your pot, stick it in the oven and then come back six hours to take it out of the oven.   No searing.  No excessive chopping.  No hard to find ingredients.  There's really only a handful of ingredients in making the meat.

This would be a great BBQ recipe or for graduation parties that are coming up.   The meat can be made the day before and then just reheated.  And did I mention it serves a crowd? ;)

So, I started out with this:



Yep.  6.5 pounds of meat for two adults and two little boys.

Added a large onion to the bottom of the dish:



And added the seasoned pork:



I really need a large dutch oven.  Once I added the liquid, this was almost overflowing!


Added chipotle peppers to the top:

 I just them on there and left them like that.

Then I added 24oz ( or a few ounces shy since my pot was too full) of Dr. Pepper and a TBS of brown sugar.  I didn't get a pic here because I was worried about how full my pot was and I just wanted to get it in the oven.

The recipe says to cook it for 6 hours at 300 degrees Fahrenheit or until it is falling apart tender, turning it a few times during cooking. 

After maybe 5 hours, mine was like this:

Definitely falling apart!

I shredded my pork and then added it back to the liquid:

See where it overflowed while cooking?  Good thing I put a pan under it to catch the drips!

The Pioneer Woman had a great tip to cut down on the fat.  After making this dish, if you're making it ahead, keep the meat and liquid separate and refrigerate them both.  The saturated fat will harden and you can scoop it off the top of the liquid the next day.  I do this for soups I make and it works great.

To serve, I had tomato, avocado, lettuce, lime and cheese:

 Like my fancy dishes?  I knew you would!

I made a mistake of buying corn tortillas the first day.  I don't really care for the rubbery texture of store bought corn tortillas, so it ruined it a little for me.  The second day, I bought flour tortillas and it was 100% better.  Wow!  So good!  They are slightly spicy, but my boys ate them, so it wasn't horribly so.  Ree even has a recipe for homemade flour tortillas on her blog and I am going to try them someday!



Here is the recipe, but I strongly recommend you check out Ree's post about making it.  She has some great tips and her pictures are a million times better than mine.

Spicy Dr. Pepper Shredded Pork

Ingredients

• 1 whole Large Onion
• 1 whole Pork Shoulder ("pork Butt") - 5 To 7 Pounds
• Salt And Freshly Ground Black Pepper
• 1 can (11 Ounce) Chipotle Peppers In Adobo Sauce
• 2 cans Dr. Pepper
• 2 Tablespoons Brown Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

Peel the onion and cut it into wedges. Lay them in the bottom of a large dutch oven.

Generously salt and pepper the pork roast, then set it on top of the onions in the pan.

Pour the can of chipotle peppers over the pork (include the sauce.) Pour in both cans of Dr Pepper. Add brown sugar to the juice and stir in.

Place lid tightly on pot, then set pot in the oven. Cook for at least six hours, turning roast two or three times during the cooking process. Check meat after six hours; it should be absolutely falling apart (use two forks to test.) If it’s not falling apart, return to the oven for another hour.

Remove meat from pot and place on a cutting board or other work surface. Use two forks to shred meat, discarding large pieces of fat. Strain as much of the fat off the top of the cooking liquid as you can and discard it. Return the shredded meat to the cooking liquid, and keep warm until ready to serve. (You can also refrigerate the meat and liquid separately, then remove hardened fat once it’s cold. Then heat up the liquid on the stove top and return the meat to the liquid to warm up.

Serve on warm flour tortillas. Top with shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, grated cheese, avocado slices, salsa, and whatever else you’d like.

 Have a wonderful day!