I love a good BBQ pulled pork. I know it’s not a very lean or healthy dish, but I’m a realistic dietitian and I know that having it every once in a while isn’t a problem, especially if you make sure to pair your BBQ with some type of vegetable (I like mine with greens and beans!). Since getting a slow-cooker I’ve been dreaming of making pulled pork sandwiches for dinner. The other day I found a great recipe for Ginger-Infused Pork in my Clean Eating Magazine, and “pinned it” (on my fridge, that is) so I could gather the ingredients at the store, ASAP.
This recipe was so easy, and cheap, it’s a wonder why anyone would ever go to a BBQ restaurant ever again! haha, jk. But seriously, the price was just right, and the slow-cooker did all the work.
Ginger-Infused Pork
Slightly modified from a Clean Eating Magazine recipe
Serves: 10
Total Price: ~$.80/serving (not including the bun and toppings)
Ingredients
1 tsp sesame oil (or safflower oil)
1 1/2 lb. trimmed lean pork shoulder
2 jalapeno chile peppers, thinly sliced into rounds (keep the seeds in if you like spice!)
1 green bell pepper, seeded and diced
2 cups chopped tomatoes
1 cup diced yellow onion
1/4th cup tomato paste (made with just tomatoes, nothing else added)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/3 cup maple syrup (or evaporated can juice)
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. Worchestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
Optional: Fresh buns
Directions
1. Add the pork to your slow cooker, followed by all the ingredients, minus the maple syrup, vinegar, Worchestershire and ginger.
- Cook on high for 4-5 hours or low for 6-8 hours (depending on your slow cooker, you may need more or less time. The pork should fall apart easily with a fork when it’s cooked appropriately).
- Once cooked, turn off the slow-cooker and add the maple syrup, apple cider vinegar, Worchestershire and grated ginger. Allow to sit for about 30 minutes to let flavors infuse.
- Pull apart the pork and enjoy the pork however you wish (ie: on buns, on a bed of brown rice, on a salad, wrapped in a taco shell, etc.)
NOTE: If you are following a Low FODMAPs diet, make sure to cut your onion into LARGE chunks so they can easily be avoided when you are scooping out your pork, but you still get the flavor of the onion immersed into your pork as it’s cooking (although if you are really sensitive to galactans and fructans, beware you will still get some if you use the onion, as FOS and GOS are water soluble). If you are very sensitive keep in mind the Worchestershire sauce also contains FODMAPs.This recipe only calls for a small amount, so it could be eliminated if you wish. It didn’t seem to bother me, just an FYI. Also, the high amount of tomatoes might cause you problems, so be sure to avoid the excess juices and stick to just the pork if you are really sensitive to a lot of tomatoes (some are more than others)
Instagram!
When I first added all the ingredients to the slow-cooker, I thought there wasn’t enough liquid. Don’t be fooled. Those tomatoes are filled with liquid!
About 7 hours later…..
I pulled the pork apart outside of the slow cooker, so I could get minimal amounts of the juices on my pork. The juices were delicious, yes, but see my note above about FODMAPs and you will see why I tried to minimize them. Nick, however, added extra ginger-and syrupy juices to his sandwich!
All that hard labor……. really paid off 
No, we didn’t use whole wheat buns (and to be honest, because of FODMAPs and because of all the refined carbs, I only ate half of my bun, but I reallllly enjoyed that half!).
