Slow-Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork
Remember a few days ago when I posted about Food Quirks? Here’s another one of mine: I don’t really enjoy any carbonated beverages, soda included. I’m kind of a baby and don’t like the way they burn my throat. 
But when I came across this lovely little post on Ashley’s blog, it occurred to me that cooking with the fizzy drink might not be as painful as drinking it straight up. Probably because with this recipe, carbonation isn’t an issue; you get the flavor of the Root Beer – and the pork stays nice and moist – but the bubbles get cooked away. You actually end up discarding most of the soda.
Since discovering this recipe I’ve already made it twice, considering that the cold and rainy conditions of late have led me to officially declare it Slow-Cooker Season. And really, nothing beats coming home from a long day at work to a house filled with the lovely aroma of dinner, just waiting to be eaten.
So here’s what you do. In the morning, place a pork tenderloin in your slow cooker, then dump two cans of Root Beer on top of it. Push the pork down so that it’s surrounded by the soda, set the cooker to Low, then carry on with your day.
When you return, drain the pork from the remaining Root Beer and shred it (I use the two-fork method). Give it a taste, and pour on a few more spoonfuls of soda if you’d like (I promise it tastes good!). Then add some BBQ sauce, more or less depending on your preferences.
Mix it all up, plop it on some hamburger buns, and get eatin’! THAT’S IT! 
Slow-Cooker Root Beer Pulled Pork
Adapted from Cupcakes and Combat Boots
Serves 4-6, depending on the size of your tenderloin
Ingredients
1-1.5 lb. pork tenderloin, trimmed of fat if you’d like
2 (12 oz.) cans of Root Beer
8 oz. of your favorite BBQ sauce (or to taste – it’s not a science, I just dumped some on there)
Hamburger buns
1. Place your pork tenderloin in the Slow Cooker, and pour the Root Beer on top of it. Press the pork down so that it’s surrounded by the soda. Cook on low for 6 hours.
2. Remove the pork from the Slow Cooker and, using two forks, shred it. Add a few additional spoonfuls of the Root Beer if you’d like.
3. Add the BBQ sauce and mix well, adding more or less to taste. Serve on toasted hamburger buns.
Have you ever cooked with soda?
AND
Are you in the “soda” crowd or the “pop” crowd?
Themocracy
I have seen this recipe before and thought it was such a clever idea! I’m sure rootbeer in the slow cooker really adds so much flavor to the meat.
My mom makes baby carrots with root beer and they come out tasting like they are spiced. They’re pretty good actually even though I’m not a huge fan of carrots as a side dish.
I’m also not a fan of carbonation, it used to hurt my tongue, especially when I was younger. What a good idea though, I love the flavor of root beer even though I don’t ever drink it. It’s definitely slow cooker season!
I’ve never cooked with soda before, but I bet my husband would love this. I’ve heard of using soda in baking before too, but I haven’t tried that either.
I don’t like pop either because when you burp it fizzes in your nose!
i’m always down for super simple slow cooker recipes! this one sounds amazing!
Yum this looks good! I’ve had brisket and different cuts of meat with beer before. I wonder what this would taste like with pumpkin beer?
Delicious, I bet! Awesome idea!
Oh gosh, I say soda but my husband says pop (and I really can’t stand it lol). I’ve never cooked with soda but this recipe looks fantastic! I too cannot stand carbonation so this is so neat to me! Does the pork taste like root beer at all though? I’m not sure if I would like that flavor — but I guess once you add the BBQ sauce the flavor changes again.
The Root Beer flavor is very subtle. I also added a few spoonfuls to make it stronger, so you could always skip that step. And if you like the BBQ flavor more, you could just add more of that, too!
This looks so good — I love slow cooker pulled pork! I have made chicken wings with a coca cola glaze — they were totally sticky but tasted really good!
Your first few sentences made me laugh. When I was younger my mom had a daycare in our home and one of the kids (he was 6? 7?) said something about not liking pop because “it fizzies in my mouth”. 20 years later my family still quotes him!
Haha he and I would probably get along quite well!
I’ve never been a fan of soda either, but I do love the taste of root beer. And have you tried “soda cakes?” The orange soda/funfetti cake version is surprisingly good.
I haven’t tried the soda cakes yet, but that combination actually sounds pretty good!
This sounds perfect for football parties! My hubby will love it =)
this looks amazing.
it’s soda, not pop. the one i think is the funniest is when people call every soda a coke. “want a coke?” “yes.” “what kind?” “fanta please.” that is the part that i think is the funniest.
I’ve never cooked with soda but my boyfriend said his relatives in Venezuela use Coke a lot (I thought it was strange!). However root beer is my favorite so this sounds amazing! I don’t eat pork though so do you think I could replace it with chicken?
I don’t see why not. Let me know if you give it a shot!
Ok I am SO doing this the next time I want to make BBQ. How easy!!!
I love slow cooker season!!
I’m the complete opposite – I hate drinking non-carbonated drinks because I like the scratchy feeling on my throat
That pork sounds amazing – I really need a slow cooker!
I’ve cooked with soda once before – Nigella Lawson has a recipe for delicious ham cooked in Coke. So yummy!
Sounds interesting! I’ll have to look that one up.
I don’t like carbonation either. It feels like thousands of little needles in my mouth. Ick.
This looks great! I make pulled pork but I slather it up in bbq sauce.
I’ve never made it w/ Root beer before- This is perfect timing, my husband just requested I make some pulled pork very soon. As you said, it’s “crock pot season!”
I call everything “coke” ..
heck yeah this sounds interesting! I’ll do it next time!
Even though I don’t eat meat anymore, pulled pork still looks so tasty. I love bbq.
We love eating pulled pork in our house!! Andrew loves root beer, I will have to tell him about this recipe!!
I’ve never cooked with soda, but I imagine it is a lot like cooking with beer!
Yes, I think so! Another commenter suggested making this with pumpkin beer, which I think sounds interesting!
Easy, delicious-looking and for the crock-pot…what more can we ask for??
I agree completely that we’ve officially entered slow cooker season – it’s time to best out those crock pot recipes. And, there is truly no better feeling than knowing dinner is ready when you’re at work putting in a long, hard day. It’s quite heavenly in fact.
Yay glad you liked it! It’s funny you posted this because we are actually having this again TONIGHT. Hubbs loves it and requests it once a week at least. Mmmm can’t wait!
I love the carbonation from soda, for some reason it makes me smile
I’ve made a cake before with diet coke (in my Weight Watchers days). It’s actually fun to mix different cake mixes with different soda flavors though not the cleanest dessert.
It’s so strange – every time I try a new recipe or read/think about something new the subject always seems to pop up on your blog!! I just recently started using my crockpot once I figured out that you’re actually supposed to let the meat cook for a reallllly long period of time (the other day when I cooked a pot roast I thought the meat was finished at 4 hours and that I’d overcooked it!)
Anyway, it’s really ironic because I made my friend’s pot roast in the slow cooker and it called for a can of coke – something I never thought I’d find in a pot roast recipe. It was SO GOOD!!! You can bet your little booty I’ll be trying your/Ashley’s pulled pork root beer dish now, too. Thank you for sharing this!!
PS – thank you so much for your response to my comment the other day – I’m so relieved I didn’t upset you or anyone else too much (that I know of!) I mean it when I say your blog is one of my, if not my, favorite one out there…
In regards to your first comment, I’ll say this: Great minds think alike.
Also, thank you so much for your kind words about my blog! They honestly brought tears to my eyes, because I so badly want people to get something out of the words that I write here.
Have a wonderful weekend, Hayley!
I forgot to add that I say “soda” but I LOVE hearing people say “pop.” My parents are from England and my mom always refers to it as pop. I think it’s also a New England/East Coast thing, right?
Are you parents from the North of England? It’s quite rare to hear “pop” here in the South, but I do have a friend who refers to water as “council pop” because it’s pop that’s free from the council!
My dad is from Manchester but my mom is from the south of England. I’ve never heard anyone say council pop…that’s so cute! I just realized after I made that last comment that my friends from Michigan also refer to soda as pop so I’m not sure where people mostly say it.
I love small cooker meals for cold busy days. This sounds delicious (and easy!).
My boyfriend and I both have been wanting to make pulled pork in the crock pot so I bought a pork loin today. Im going to try this recipe tomorrow and not tell him how I did it hopefully we have a pulled pork slow cooker cook off and I win with this one! Thank you for sharing!
FUN! I hope you enjoy the recipe!
Thank you so much for this easy recipe! I made this just recently and my husband & I both LOVED it! It was so easy and the meat literaly just fell apart when I started to shred it. The root beer added a wonderful flavor without being too “root beer-y”. I’m definately adding this one to my list a favorites.