Caramel Pulled Pork Recipe Review

recipe and photo from Carlsbad Cravings

There is no better feeling than wrapping up a long workday... and realizing dinner is already happening. It is top-tier relief. One less thing to scramble together after a day full of emails, quotes, and trying to keep up with the mental load of parenting teens.

A good slow cooker meal gives me actual time back in my day, and because of that, I am always on the hunt for one that hits.

But we are picky about slow cooker meals.
Like... very.
More times than not, they turn out “eh” and get voted out of the family rotation before the leftovers even hit the fridge.

So, when one makes it into the family recipe book, that’s a big deal.

This one made it.

This one caught my eye because of the convenience, flavor promises, and the fact that it felt like something new we hadn’t tried yet. This was my first time making it, and if a recipe says it will give me more time between shutting my laptop and getting dinner on the table... I’m listening.

Plus, Carlsbad Cravings never steers us wrong. A lot of our family favorites live on her blog, so when I saw this one, I was fully prepared to trust the process.

I followed the recipe as written and cooked it low for 8 hours. The result was the pork literally falling off the bone. In the best, most glorious, melt-in-your-mouth way.

Slow cooking is one of my love languages because it’s almost always easy - but this one had an extra layer of satisfaction. The wet rub she calls for adds so much flavor before the slow cooker even gets involved.

My only complaint was that the house smelled amazing all day, and I was hungry before lunchtime. A true hazard of slow cooking.

All four of us gave this one a thumbs up - which is basically the culinary equivalent of winning the lottery in a house with two teenage boys.

We served it over basmati rice with roasted broccoli, and both boys requested it as leftovers for their school lunches the next day. That is the stamp of approval from these two. It reheated beautifully and would be perfect for feeding a crowd or living on leftovers for a couple of days.

I love it when a slow cooker recipe actually delivers because it makes my life so much easier. And when one tastes this good? It goes into my recipe book and stays there.

Caramel Pulled Pork is officially in rotation.

What is your view on slow cooker meals? Are you picky like us, or is every slow-cooked meal a winner in your house?