Hey party people!
Hope your Independence Day celebration was wonderful! We hosted a little get-together & I made barbecue pork in a crockpot. It turned out absolutely delicious. It was super simple & a really affordable way to feed a crowd!
Barbecue Pork Recipe in a Crockpot
*This recipe feeds up to 20 people
12lbs pork shoulder roast (I got mine from Costco)
20 oz. bottle of ginger ale (or about 2 1/2 cups)
1 large onion (sliced)
Liquid Smoke
Barbecue Sauce of your choice (I used Sweet Baby Rays)
Instructions: Lay half of the onion slices on the bottom of your crockpot. Lay the pork shoulder roast over the onions, then lay the rest of the onion slices on top of the pork. Pour the ginger ale over the roast & set the crockpot on low for 12 hours.
Once it’s finished cooking, shred the meat with a fork. Save some of the juice in the crockpot (3 cups or so). Add the shredded meat back to the crockpot and add a few tablespoons (or more) of liquid smoke. Stir and add barbecue sauce to the meat. I didn’t pour the entire bottle on the meat. I wanted guests to be able to add their desired amount but I also wanted to make sure the meat had some flavor.
Add some of the leftover juice to the shredded meat. I held onto my leftover juice & would add it whenever it looked like the meat was starting to look a little dry. It really helped keep the meat tender & moist. (Sorry if you’re like my friend Jenny that hates the word “moist.” I couldn’t think of a better word to describe it…so I hope I didn’t cause you to cringe too much. ;p)
Set the crockpot on “warm” and your barbecue pork is ready to be served.
For more information on how much food to prepare for a party…check out this previous post.
I served mine in the aluminum serving dishes. You can get these at most party supply stores. I actually had almost 25 lbs of pork shoulder but we had over half leftover so for about 20 people, you could get away with 12lbs. It cost me a little under $25.00 for the 12 lb slab of pork at Costco. All together with all the ingredients and the buns (also got them at Costco), it ended up costing me a little under $2/person.
I thought about purchasing the barbecue pork from a restaurant (since I had never attempted it before…definitely not for a crowd that size) but most places charged almost $8/person. I ended up saving $120 by doing it on my own.
Next time you’re planning a big get-together, make this barbecue pork recipe in the crockpot. It’s so low-maintenance, inexpensive, and delicious.
I’ll show you all the pictures from the 4th of July party on Monday! I’ll let you know what happened that stressed me out & why we had to go with Plan B!
p.s. This is YOUR official invite to the party… join in on the Parties for Pennies Facebook page, Twitter, and Pinterest!