Slow Cooker Apple Bacon BBQ Pulled Pork
My mom is a really great cook, so I’m always excited to share one of her recipes. This Slow Cooker Apple Bacon BBQ Pulled Pork is based on her amazing pulled pork recipe, I just added apples and bacon, because YUM, right? The new additions combine perfectly with the onion in the barbecue sauce for a tasty extra twist on a classic. This sauce is awesome, y’all, it’s super flavorful and doesn’t taste like anything you can get from a bottle. It’s better. Plus, the smell when it’s cooking is downright heavenly. Trust me, you’re going to love this one. To view your WW PersonalPoints for this recipe and track it in the WW app or site, click here!
I love slow cooker meat recipes like this because they’re so easy (yay for minimal prep time and hands-off cooking) and also super versatile. This Slow Cooker Apple Bacon BBQ Pulled Pork makes an awesome sandwich, but it’s also great on its own, on a baked potato or sweet potato, in a wrap or quesadilla, on a pizza or flatbread, the possibilities are endless (and delicious)! To watch me make the recipe, check out the video below!
Looking for more tasty lightened up slow cooker recipes? Check out my Slow Cooker Beef and Barley Soup, Slow Cooker Mustard Rubbed Pulled Pork, Slow Cooker Meatballs and Marinara, Slow Cooker Beef Stew, Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken, Slow Cooker Applesauce, Slow Cooker White Bean Soup, Slow Cooker Beef & Broccoli, Slow Cooker Beef Braciole, Slow Cooker Chicken Parmesan, Slow Cooker Barbecue Beef, Slow Cooker Taco Chili and many more in the Slow Cooker category of my recipe index!
Slow Cooker Apple Bacon BBQ Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- 4 slices center cut bacon, chopped
- 1 medium apple, peeled and chopped
- 1 ½ cups chopped onion
- 1 ½ cups ketchup
- 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
- 3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 lbs uncooked lean trimmed pork tenderloin, (I cut mine into 3-4 pieces to fit it into my slow cooker better)
Instructions
- In a medium skillet, place the chopped bacon and bring to medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until bacon is crisp and use a slotted spoon to transfer the bacon pieces to a paper towel.
- Place the chopped apple, onion, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, cider vinegar, salt and bacon pieces into the slow cooker and stir to combine. Add the pork and stir to cover in sauce. Place the lid on your slow cooker and cook on low for 8 hours or on high for 4 hours.
- Remove the pork from the slow cooker and shred with two forks (it should basically fall apart). Use the back of a spoon to mush the cooked apples into the sauce. Return the pork to the slow cooker and stir to coat in the sauce. Cover and continue to cook on high for another 30-60 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
5 per (1/2 cup) serving (P+ calculated using the recipe builder on weightwatchers.com)
This looks very tasty. We love bbq.
🙂
Would it be ok to omit the bacon?
Sure!
I’m trying the three cheese mushroom flatbread tonight!
I hope you love it!
Have a favorite apple for this? I’m going to make it tonight! 🙂
This was delicious! The apples and the bacon were such a nice addition! Our family has loved all of your recipes. I also made the apple strudel French toast muffins today! Wow! They taste so decadent. The Ruben cupcakes, spinach artichoke lasagna roll ups and pear gingerbread oatmeal muffins were all 10’s! Easy to make, delicious and so simple to track for WW! Thanks a million.
Will the tenderloin shred as shown in the picture? Last time I tried a tenderloin in the crock part it wouldn’t shred 🙁
Yup, it’s incredibly easy to shred, it basically falls apart
Could you substitute bbq sauce for ketchup? Ketchup is not liked by some around here, lol. Or would it be to much?
The ketchup is what makes the BBQ sauce for this recipe, it doesn’t taste anything like ketchup at the end.
How do you find this recipe within the weightwatchers app in order to “track it”
YUM…this looks amazing!
If you substituted chicken for pork what kind of chicken would you use (thigh, breast, etc) and would the points stay the same?
OMG I made this last night! Sooo good! My boyfriend was crazy for it. I served with cole slaw, slider rolls, and I cooked the extra bacon and put it on top of my boyfriend’s sandwich!
Hi Emily! I am a brand new WW member and just found your website last week. I made this recipe last night and it was WONDERFUL! My husband gave it two thumbs up too! Thank you – I look forward to trying some of the other recipes on your site.
Making this for the second time in just a few weeks. So good! Thank you for all your wonderful recipes.
Just joined today and this is a great weekend dish especially cuz it’s getting cold again!
My question is the same as Courtney’s – see below and Thanks!!
COURTNEY — FEBRUARY 29, 2016 @ 1:42 AM
If you substituted chicken for pork what kind of chicken would you use (thigh, breast, etc) and would the points stay the same?
I’d probably use boneless skinless chicken breasts, it should definitely work great with chicken! As for the SPs, subbing the same amount of uncooked chicken breast should keep the points the same 🙂
This is such a delicious recipe. The apples and the bacon really add such a delicious flavor. Last time I used a red delicious apple, I’m considering throwing in another apple just for added sweetness. Is there a particular apple you think tastes best with this recipe?
I usually use Empire or Honeycrisp apples just because those are mine and my husband’s favorite varieties so we usually have them on hand. 🙂
This was amazing!
This was incredible!!! I did change it up a bit, but the flavors remained true to the recipe. I used a trimmed pork shoulder because that was what was on sale. I followed the rest of the ingredients as written, but after taking the pork out, I used an immersion hand blender to create a smooth BBQ sauce. My kids are weird about “chunky” sauces, so this was perfect. All 3 girls gobbled it up (not normal), and my husband said it could win awards! Very easy to make, and quite delicious!
Made the recipe this weekend and it was delicious!
Thank you for making this weight watchers friendly too! 🙂
Could this be made in the oven instead of the crockpot? What temp, and how long?
Hi Mary, I’ve only ever made this in the slow cooker, so I really can’t instruct on oven times and temps. Hope it works out for you!
I made this before in the slow cooker & it was amazing. I made this in my instant pot on high for 60 mins & natural pressure release. It was amazing! There was too much sauce (not true of the slow cooker version) so I think I will double the pork next time since I can freeze it. I cooked the bacon right in the Instant pot. Amazing!
We have a favorite local BBQ sauce my hubby wants to use, if we were to omit the homemade sauce to replace it with our pre-made kind would we swap that for the ketchup, worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, and apple cider vinegar? Or are any of those necessary components outside of making bbq sauce?
You can eliminate all of that if you’re using bottled BBQ sauce 🙂
When you put the nutritional values listed into the weight watchers calculator it comes to 6. Smart points not 5. So I’m not sure which to count it as
Hi Diane, I think this question from my FAQs can help you!
I ran the nutrition information you posted through my points calculator and it doesn’t match the SmartPoints value you listed for the recipe – which one is right?
One of the changes Weight Watchers made in the switch to SmartPoints is that the recipe builder no longer counts the values of 0 SP fruits and vegetables when determining the final SP value for a recipe. Therefore, the SPs you get from the recipe builder may not match the SPs you get from running the nutrition information through the Weight Watchers SP calculator, because the nutrition information will contain the calories, etc from the fruits and vegetables.
This was absolutely fantastic. I prepped it all the night before (sauce), cut up the pork into 4 pieces each loin and put in the crock pot before I left for work. It has to be one of the best (If not THE best) BBQ pork recipes I have every made. I did use almost 2.5 lbs of pork loin as that is the basic size that my local store had on special. There was still plenty of sauce.
Thank you for such a great recipe!
Thanks Nancy, I’m so happy that you loved it so much! 🙂
This was a TOP recipe pick for 2016. The sauce is absolutely amazing. I may try it with chicken in the future because the sauce is that good. Just adjust your cook time. Add this to your Must Try list next time pork loin is on special. We often have a BOGO (which means you can get one at 1/2 off and do not have to get 2) See my review above.
Made this yesterday and man is this good! It totally hit the spot on a cold New England night. Thanks Emily!
🙂
WOW, this is the best pulled pork I’ve ever made. Wonderful sauce sweet & tart it’s a great combination. My husband had it over bread and I had it over rice. Delish!
Made this today and it’s delicious! However, when I put it in the recipe builder, I get 8 sp. Curious why such a difference.
Never mind! I entered the wrong serving size.
What size crock pot do you use, I have a small one that doesn’t fit everything in it, just curious?
Mine is a 5.5 qt
Have you made this in an IP? How long should it cook?
This was so good! I made it on the stovetop since I didn’t plan ahead at all. Lol. Start to finish it took me 15 min to prep and I cooked it over med low heat for 2 hours before shredding the meat. Super tasty and filling! Thanks for giving me a new way to appreciate pork tenderloin! This will be a repeat at my house for sure.
The sauce is absolutely amazing. I may try it with chicken in the future because the sauce is that good. Just adjust your cook time. Thank you for such a great recipe!
I made this last night. It is delicious. I will be making it again.
Thank you for this wonderful recipe.
Oh my god!! Made this for dinner tonight and it was delish!! Served with beans and homemade coleslaw. My husband said it was a home run!! A must add to our dinner rotation!
I picked up boneless sirloin chops.. would they be okay for this recipe. Thanks for all your recipes.
Emilybites does it again! Thank you for another great recipe that my hubby and I both enjoyed, with plenty of leftovers for another meal or two. As soon as I clean out my crockpot I’m going to start your apple cinnamon oatmeal for breakfast and your chicken alfredo bubble up is happening for tomorrow nights dinner. Thanks so much for all your delicious recipes
Yum, sounds like a tasty meal plan! I’m so glad this was a hit! Thanks for letting me know 🙂
Is this pork tenderloin or pork loin? Different types of cut that would produce different results. Thanks. I want to make sure.
Hi Cheryl, tenderloin is specified in the ingredients
I just want to say that you are genius. This is the third meal I’ve tried of yours and it was absolutely incredible. Well done again!
Do you or can you use sugar-free ketchup for this recipe? Not sure how sugar-free would work in crock pot but it would save some points…
Could you do the instant pot for this? Best time or different prep? The
Can you use this with boneless thin pork chops if you only have those on hand?
This will definitely be a go-to in my house! Soooo good!
I want to make this for a crowd – slow cooked in the oven instead of a slow cooker. Any advice? After reading all the positive comments I am sure it’ll be a winner!
Hi Donna,
I’ve never prepared it that way, so I don’t have any specific tips. Let me know how it turns out!
I was wondering if the points count included the roll, or should I add that to the total? OMG this looks so amazing, I can’t wait to make it tonight!!!!
The points are for the ingredients listed in the recipe! You can serve it on a bun, on its own, on a pizza, stuffed in a baked potato…however you like!
Turned out great. 2 and 3/4 pounds of pork tenderloin still worked for this recipe.
Just found this recipe. It is fantastic. My family loved it, especially my husband, who is usually not a fan of pulled pork. The flavor from the sauce is so different and so great. Thanks Emily!