A little inside joke and a stuffed animal led to this simple pulled pork recipe becoming a frequent inclusion in my meal plan, especially during college football season. Pork tenderloin with just a bit of seasoning and a few canned items make this an incredibly easy recipe, perfect for a weeknight meal with lots of leftovers to repurpose, or great for a big gathering or party!
Simple Pulled Pork
Equipment
- Crock Pot
Ingredients
- 2 lbs. Pork Tenderloin
- 1 can green chilies
- 1 onion chopped
- 1 can diced tomatoes
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp chili powder
Instructions
- Trim pork tenderloins if needed. Place in the bottom of crock pot.
- Sprinkle pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder over meat.
- Add onion, chilies, and tomatoes to crock pot.
- Cover and cook on low for 7 hours
- Using two forks, shred the pork. Stir and allow pork to sit in juices for a few minutes before serving.
Notes
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Simple Pulled Pork
Like most couples, especially couples that have been together for a long time, my husband and I have a lot of inside jokes. Those little sayings or comments that always elicit a smile or a laugh but no one else really understands the meaning of them. One of our inside jokes revolve around a set of stuffed tigers I bought for my husband when we were dating.
My nickname for my husband is Tiger. I don’t remember why this started, but it’s been Tiger since we started dating. When we were dating, as a Christmas present, I bought him a small set of stuffed tigers. The set it was actually the tiger set from the National Zoo’s Adopt a Species fundraiser to celebrate the birth of a pair of very rare Sumatran tiger cubs. They were cute, it was for charity, and I didn’t think anything would come of it, but he would take the tigers and position them around house and send me pictures with silly comments. Think of it as a home-based Flat Stanly, or less annoying Elf on a Shelf.
As my husband and I are huge sports fans, of course we jokingly said the tigers were too. I mean, it was so easy: favorite baseball team? Detroit Tigers. Favorite NFL team? Cincinnati Bengals. Favorite golfer? Tiger Woods. As this joke grew, and we started to keep tabs on more tiger and wildcat related sports teams, we started casually following the Clemson Tigers. Maryland was an ACC team at the time. But as we watched Clemson win it’s first national title a few years ago, we did so while eating a Southern inspired pulled pork. It has become a joke that we now always have to have this simple pulled pork when Clemson is in the playoffs.
Yes, we’re that superstitious. No, because the playoff was on New Years Day this year and I always make ham on New Years Day, we skipped the pulled pork. You can blame me for their loss to Ohio State.
Pork Butt vs Pork Tenderloin
So on to the meat! If you look for recipes for pulled pork, most of the time you will see recipes that call for pork butt, however, I use pork tenderloin. There are a few reasons why.
Price. While neither of these cuts of meat or that expensive, pork tenderloin does tend to be a bit cheaper. Plus, I have found that tenderloin is easier to find, and frequently on sale at my local grocery store.
Size. Not only are the tenderloins cheaper per pound than the pork butt is, but you can buy smaller tenderloins. Pork butt or pork shoulders are usually around four pounds. The pork tenderloins come in packages closer to two pounds. Let me tell you – two pounds of pork makes a lot of pulled pork. A LOT. We usually are eating pork for about a week afterwards, so there’s no need for a four-pound piece of meat. If I was hosting a large party or get together, I might swap out the tenderloin for the shoulder, but for a regular family meal, the smaller pork tenderloins are more than enough. But then again, I’m not sure the larger cut would fit in the crock pot
Points. You knew I had to touch on this at some point. Yes, the WW points. Feel free to substitute calories, bites, whatever method you’re using to track what you eat, if you’re into that. Pork tenderloin is a lean cut of meat, much leaner than pork butt. A three-ounce portion of pork shoulder is 5 WW points, but three ounces of pork tenderloin is only two points. Or in other words, you can double your portion of meat if you choose tenderloin, and still use less points.
Cooking the Simple Pulled Pork Tenderloin
So now to get cooking. Seriously, crock pot pork tenderloins are some of my favorite recipes because they are so easy. Just a few ingredients, barely any prep, which also means barely any clean up. With seven ingredients, this recipe has more than most of my recipes, but two come from cans and three of seasonings, so you know this is a fast prep.
To start, unpack your tenderloins. There are probably two small ones in the pack, and we’ll use both. Trim any excess fat away if desired, and then place the pork in the bottom of the crock pot.
Next, sprinkle the pepper, garlic powder, and chili powder over the meat.
Finally, add the chopped onion, green chilis, and diced tomatoes over the meat and spices. Cover the crock pot and cook on low for seven hours.
Shortly before serving, take two forks and shred the meat. I usually let the meat sit once shredded while I prepare any sides and set the table.
How to Serve the Simple Pulled Pork
The great thing about pulled pork is that it is really versatile. I usually don’t cook it with a sauce so everyone can chose their own. Usually when I first make the pulled pork, that first dinner I just eat it plain or with a bit of BBQ sauce. However, there’s plenty of other options. You can serve it on rolls or use it as a taco filling.
And there will be leftovers. Seriously, if you’ve never made pulled pork, you’d be surprised how much met two pounds of pulled pork actually is. I have a few favorite recipes that use pulled pork leftovers, like Pork and Grits, and a Pulled Pork Hash.
The recipe occasionally appears on a Hoppin Meal Plan, and because there’s so much leftover, I include a second recipe that makes use of the remaining pork. Curious about what else is on my meal plans? Check them out! Get your choice of Clean Eating or Healthy Balance plans in our store.
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Simple and delicious! Perfect combination!!
Pulled pork is so good!
Nice….simple….tasty.
Great for a mid-week dinner! Delicious!
Great easy and delicious recipe. I’ll make it again super soon
Really simple and tasty, thanks.
I absolutely love pulled pork, and I love how simple you made this recipe! Thanks so much for sharing!
Great easy recipe.