I love pulled pork and it is such an easy, family-friendly meal to make at home. It takes time to cook it, but I cook a large joint and then freeze in portions. Having this delicious dinner raring to go in the freezer is so convenient! It’s super cheap to make, as it uses boneless pork shoulder, which is a very good value piece of meat to buy either in supermarkets or from your local butcher.
My BBQ pulled pork recipe is naturally gluten and dairy free, so it is also an ideal dish to make for parties or family getogethers. There’s nothing better than making a single crowd-pleaser dish that caters for multiple dietary requirements.
You can use a premade BBQ sauce if you wish (please check to ensure that it is gluten free) or use my recipe below to make an easy homemade BBQ sauce. It’s really delicious and takes 15 minutes to whip up.
Serving Suggestions
The first option is to serve it as a main dish for a large group, with roast potatoes or boiled new potatoes and salads or vegetables. However here are a few other ways we enjoy this pulled pork (especially for family meals using portions from the freezer):
- Pulled pork tacos – suuuuch a favourite of ours. Use gluten free soft tortillas as the base (the Old El Paso gluten free corn tortillas are ideal). Then load with a little grated cheddar cheese and hot BBQ pulled pork. Finish with mango and avocado salsa (or pineapple avocado salsa – both work so well!) and lime pickled onions (finely sliced red onion marinated in lime juice). Throw some crunchy lettuce or red pepper on if you want extra veg, and then enjoy!
- Pulled pork buns – great for a speedy lunch, take soft gluten free rolls and fill with pulled pork and coleslaw or homemade rainbow slaw.
- BBQ pork rice bowl – another lovely lunch option, serve a portion of pulled pork in a bowl with brown rice, crunchy veggies and smashed avocado.
- Pork ragu pasta – I discovered this pork works really well as a speedy sauce for spaghetti! Add a little tomato passata to the pork, heat and then stir through cooked gluten free pasta. Serve with a generous grating of cheddar cheese or parmesan and it’s like a lovely ragu sauce.
- Loaded Fries – make yourself some serious comfort food at home by topping oven chips with pork, cheese, jalepenos and sour cream. So good!
- Pimp Those Nachos – or instead of having fries as a base, add pulled pork to your nachos for a seriously meaty treat.
So many options and oh so tasty. I bet you can now understand why I love having a stash of this gluten free pulled pork raring to go in the freezer. When you microwave it to reheat, simply add a little water and then cook until is it piping hot and fully defrosted.
Easy BBQ Pulled Pork Recipe (Gluten and Dairy Free)
It’s recipe time! If you enjoy this recipe, I would be really grateful if you could review the recipe on the card below.
You’ll find a full method below, plus some images to refer to as you work through the recipe. Feel free to email me any questions or comments you might have. Contact me at laura@mygfguide.com or DM me on social media @myglutenfreeguide.
Laura xxx
Easy BBQ Pulled Pork (GF, DF)
Ingredients
- 2.5kg boneless pork shoulder joint
- 1 tbsp smoked paprika
- 1 tbsp cumin
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tsp oregano
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 500ml apple cider or apple juice
For the BBQ sauce:
- 1 onion
- 1 garlic clove
- 300ml tomato ketchup
- 50ml cider vinegar (white wine vinegar also fine)
- 1 tbsp dijon mustard
- 75g dark brown sugar
- 1 tbsp tamari soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Henderson's relish/gluten free Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 150ml casserole juice from the cooked pork
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 150C (fan).
- Mix the smoked paprika, cumin, 1 tbsp brown sugar, oregano and garlic powder together to create a rub for the meat.
- Rub the spices all over the pork joint and then place the meat into a lidded casserole dish (skin side up), so that it fits quite snugly with a little space round the sides.
- Pour the cider over the meat (or as much of it as will fit in the pan/top up with water if there is not enough liquid to almost fill the casserole dish) and place it on the hob.
- Heat until the liquid is simmering and then place the lid on and transfer to the oven. Cook at 150C (fan) for 4 hours - check every hour and top up with water if liquid is low.
- While the pork is almost finish cooking, you can prepare the BBQ sauce. In a small pan, fry the diced onion in the olive oil for 5 minutes or until soft and translucent.
- Add the crushed garlic clove to the onion and cook for a couple of minutes over a low heat.
- Now add the ketchup, cider vinegar, tamari, mustard, brown sugar and Henderson's relish to the pan. Add 150ml liquid from the casserole dish to the saucepan. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Now use a stick blender or small food processor to blend the sauce until smooth. Set aside while you prepare the pork.
- Once cooked, carefully lift the pork out of the casserole and into a large serving dish. Shred the meat with two forks, removing any pieces of fat, until you have lots of lovely lean pulled pork.
- Reheat the BBQ sauce, then pour over the shredded pork and stir through until the pork is completely coated. Serve while still hot or, if making ahead of time, allow to cool them store in the fridge or freezer until needed.
I hope you all enjoy making and eating this BBQ pulled pork! While you are here why not check out some of my other recipes and bookmark your favourites to try later:
Bon appetit! Laura xxx
