When we had our girls weekend for the 4th of July at the cottage, I didn’t have the nerve to pull out the grill for a typical 4th of July dinner. So I decided to do instead while still keep it fun and festive, and easy, is use the slow cooker. I ran across this really great beer pulled pork nacho recipe in an article I read about how slow cookers were a great tool for summer-not just for fall and winter. They are great for the summer because they do help keep your kitchen cool by keeping you off of the stove and the oven. However this does need the oven to finish off the nachos, and I also adapted the recipe to include roasting some of the corn and jalapenos in the oven as well. So, unfortunately, this recipe does use a hot oven for a little bit of your day.
But when it comes to the pulled pork, the slow cooker does all the work, melting it down for 8 to 10 hours in a wonderful mixture of brown ale, brown sugar, barbecue sauce, and coffee. This pork butt recipe is perfect for even creating pork sliders. We made this again with some guests last weekend, and we finished off the pulled pork in my husband’s pulled pork sauce that he jarred last year and it worked out perfectly! If you don’t have a special pulled pork sauce recipe, you can just toss it with some barbecue sauce at serving time for some great sliders. Either way, this slow cooker pulled pork recipe is a keeper and you can pretty much put it out anything.
Here it works great with some chips, cheese and roasted corn for a really fun, finger food dinner. My daughter and I really enjoyed this for 4th of July girls weekend, before we went to go see the fireworks. Keep this in your summer repertoire this year. I know we will.
Pulled Pork Roasted Vegetable Nachos
Ingredients:
Slow cooker:
2 pounds of pork butt
2 cups of brown ale
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/3 cups of classic spicy grain mustard
1/4 cup of molasses
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1 tablespoon of salt
1 teaspoon of fresh cracked pepper
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper
1/2 cup of sweet barbecue sauce
1/2 cup of brewed coffee
1/2 teaspoon of smoked paprika
Assembly:
2 pounds of cheese
8 ounces of tortilla chips
Toppings:
3/4 cup black beans, drained and rinsed
1/4 cup of minced red onions
roasted vegetables:
two jalapenos, cored and sliced thinly
one can of Southwest corn blend, drained and rinsed
2 tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
optional toppings for serving:
sour cream
one avocado diced
cilantro
lime
extra onions
salsa
Directions:
Make pulled pork; place pork butt in the bottom of the slow cooker. In a large bowl mix all the remaining slow cooker ingredients. Pour mixture over pork butt. Set the slow cooker to low. Cover and cook for 8 to 10 hours, skimming fat as you go.
While the pork is cooking, roast the corn. Heat oven to 400°. Line a baking sheet with tinfoil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. In a bowl, mix the drained corn blend, sliced jalapenos, and olive oil. Toss to coat, season with salt and pepper. Lay the corn in an even layer on the lined cookie sheet, and roast in the oven, tossing a couple times, until the corn is caramelized and brown. Let cool until ready to serve.
After 8 to 10 hours the pork butt should be ready to be pulled. Place pork on a cutting board, and with a fork and a knife pull apart pork, discarding any grizzle, bone or fat. Set pulled pork aside.
Assemble the nachos; preheat oven to 350°. Lay tinfoil over a large baking sheet. Spray with nonstick cooking spray, and layer half the tortilla chips on top of the baking sheet. Next lay half the pulled pork, half the corn, half the onions, and half the cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients for one more layer, ending with the cheese on top.
Bake until cheese is melted, 20 to 25 minutes. Serve hot with all extra toppings.
You can choose to use the onions on the cooked nachos or use them as a topping only so guests can choose. Onions can get polarizing-and especially when kids are at the table!
Flora is an award-winning creative director in Chicago turned food and lifestyle blogger extraordinaire. She is also author to the popular BEE NATIVE! gardening book series and various children's books that celebrate the wonder and hard work of bees and butterflies. Her blog and social spaces inspire thousands to create, learn, cook, grow, and craft, making their world lovelier one pixel/petal/seed/bite/stitch/brushstroke at a time. Follow her on all the social spaces, YouTube, and Amazon, and get creative!
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