Slow-cooked pork shoulder with applesauce, apple cider, and warm spices served on soft buns with coleslaw.
# What You Need:
→ Pork
01 - 3 lbs boneless pork shoulder or pork butt, trimmed
02 - 1½ tsp kosher salt
03 - 1 tsp black pepper
04 - 1 tsp smoked paprika
05 - ½ tsp ground cinnamon
→ Sauce
06 - 1½ cups unsweetened applesauce
07 - 1 cup apple cider
08 - ¼ cup brown sugar
09 - 2 tbsp Dijon mustard
10 - 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
11 - 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
12 - 3 cloves garlic, minced
→ To Serve
13 - 6 sandwich buns
14 - 1 cup coleslaw, optional
15 - Extra applesauce or barbecue sauce, optional
# How-To:
01 - Pat the pork shoulder dry and season all sides evenly with kosher salt, black pepper, smoked paprika, and ground cinnamon.
02 - Place the thinly sliced yellow onion and minced garlic in the bottom of a slow cooker.
03 - In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together unsweetened applesauce, apple cider, brown sugar, Dijon mustard, and apple cider vinegar until the mixture is smooth and well combined.
04 - Place the seasoned pork on top of the onion and garlic in the slow cooker. Pour the applesauce mixture evenly over the pork, ensuring it is fully coated.
05 - Cover the slow cooker and cook on low heat for 8 hours, or until the pork is extremely tender and shreds easily with a fork.
06 - Remove the cooked pork from the slow cooker and shred using two forks, discarding any large pieces of fat or connective tissue.
07 - Skim excess fat from the cooking liquid in the slow cooker. Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker and mix thoroughly with the sauce until evenly combined.
08 - Divide the warm pulled pork among sandwich buns. Top with coleslaw and additional applesauce or barbecue sauce as desired.
