Pulled Pork Sandwiches
with coriander carrot fries
We use pork tenderloin to make these healthier pulled pork sandwiches, but you'll be shocked at how flavorful and juicy they still are! Our vegetarians will be enjoying the same flavors with tempeh strips and our paleo folks will be having these as lettuce cups. Don't forget to save some for Thursday night's chile relleno stuffing!
Ingredients
- Garlic - 3 cloves, minced
- Pork tenderloin - 2 lbs, sliced
- Apple cider vinegar - 1/4 cup
- Soy sauce, low-sodium - 2 Tbsp
- Cumin - 1 tsp
- Coriander - 1 tsp
- Burger buns - 4 ((Or 8 small slider buns))
- Sour cream - 1/2 cup
- Cabbage - 1/4 head, sliced
- Cilantro - 1/3 bunch, chopped
- Coriander - 1/2 tsp
- Apple cider vinegar - 1 1/2 Tbsp
- Brown sugar - 1 Tbsp
- Salt - 1/2 tsp
- Cooking oil - 1 Tbsp
- Carrots - 1 1/2 lbs, sliced into sticks
- Cilantro - 1/4 bunch, chopped
- Cooking oil - 2 Tbsp
- Coriander - 1/2 tsp
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Note about the pork - The recipe suggests doing this in a slow cooker. However if you are sans slow cooker, you can make this in your oven. Follow directions below but place pork and marinade in a Dutch oven. Cover and cook in the oven at 250F (121C) degrees for about 2 to 3 hours until internal temperature reaches 180F (82C) degrees.
- Slow cook pork - This makes enough for Thursday’s dinner. Mince garlic. Slice pork into 1” (2.5 cm) thick pieces, at a diagonal (I find slicing it before putting it in the slow cooker increases the surface area for flavor absorption). Place in slow cooker. Cover pork with apple cider vinegar, soy sauce, cumin, coriander, and garlic. Tenderize pork with a fork to get the flavors into the meat. Cook on low for ~8 hours or high for ~4 hours. (Should be done 1 day ahead)
- Carrots / Cabbage / Cilantro (for slaw and carrots) - Prep as directed. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Make slaw - Mix cabbage and cilantro together with coriander, vinegar, brown sugar, salt, and cooking oil in a mixing bowl. Cover and refrigerate until serving time. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
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Make
- Preheat oven to 400F (204C) degrees. If it's too hot to fire up the oven, turn your grill into an oven (I do this all summer long, and it's great). Follow the same temperature and instructions but just place carrots into a skillet or a foil pan. Give them a shake every 10 minutes.
- Spread carrots out onto a sheet pan and toss with cooking oil. Roast for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden on the outside.
- While carrots are roasting, using two forks or tongs and a fork, pull pork apart directly in slow cooker with the juices. Let the pulled pork sit in the juices on warm while carrots are roasting.
- Toast buns if desired. You can just place them in the oven when the carrots are almost done.
- When carrots are done, toss with coriander and cilantro. Assemble sandwiches with pulled pork, slaw, and a dollop of sour cream (~2 tbs. (30 ml) / serving). Remember to save ~2 cups (473 ml)(for 4 servings - adjust accordingly) of pulled pork for Thursday’s dinner though. Enjoy!
Nutrition Facts
Reviews
Ratings
49 reviews
Loved the slaw, had some leftover which didn't last long. I forgot to pre cook the tenderloin. Prepped the same way but stuck it into a pressure cooker with a little more liquid (so it wouldn't burn) was in the pot for 50 min, and fell apart with forks afterwards.
0 HelpfulThis was really delicious! The slaw was so yummy even my picky 6 year old devoured it! (I used apple cider vinegar and avocado oil.) The carrot 'fries' - well I was skeptical but made them anyway, and wow was I happy I did! After eating a few it really felt like I was eating fries! Which is great because I can't have potatoes and I LOVE fries. I will be making more of these!
0 HelpfulMy husband is generally not a fan of apple cider vinegar, and thought the house smelled "weird" when he came home (I thought it smelled good!), but he loved both the pulled pork and the slaw (we used red cabbage which was lovely). Carrots were good but I couldn't get them to crisp up -- tasted more like roasted carrots than sweet fries.
0 HelpfulThis was a nice change from the typical BBQ pulled pork sandwich. My husband thought the pork was a little bland on its own, but I enjoyed it. We added chilli powder to the carrots to kick it up. They were a hit. Next time we're going to make sriracha sour cream to put on the sandwiches.
0 HelpfulWe didn't care for the flavoring of the apple cider vinegar. I would make this with a different flavor profile. Love the cabbage slaw!!
0 HelpfulWe did this in the oven because we didn't plan ahead, and it turned out quite tasty. We would make it again. It was a pretty easy, simple recipe.
0 Helpful