Pulled Pork Biscuit Sandwiches

Today I’m going Southern on you guys and sharing one of my favorite sandwiches, Pulled Pork Biscuit Sandwiches.

My love for pulled pork first started back in Arizona when I was young and I took my first trip to a great local BBQ restaurant called Joe’s Real BBQ. I remember ordering the pulled pork sandwich with a side of macaroni, AMAZING! This pork was so tender, moist, and all on a toasted bun. At Joe’s they don’t put a whole lot of BBQ sauce on the meat, rather they have their sauce out on the condiment bar along with pickles, jalapeños, and pickled onions so you can put on however much your heart desires, which in my case is usually rather heavy on the sauce. So that was the start of my pulled pork love, but it was further deepened when I visited my sister in Texas…Oh my goodness do Texans know their BBQ! I remember stepping off the plane in Austin and the first thing I smelled was BBQ, it was fantastic! My favorite pulled pork though has to be my Mom’s recipe. Since she isn’t here in Colorado to make it for me I decided to recreate it myself.

She makes her pulled pork in the crockpot and not only does it turn out delicious, but it’s also a super easy, hands off meal to make. Pork shoulder is the typical cut of meat used for pulled pork and while I love it, let’s just say it isn’t the leanest cut of meat (probably why it’s so delicious). To make mine a little more healthy I used pork tenderloin. I kept the dry rub mixture she uses mostly the same. The rub uses spices such as smoked paprika, garlic, onion, thyme, black pepper, and a little cayenne. The spice combination gives it a smokey flavor with a slight kick thanks to the cayenne and black pepper. Once the pork was cooked I shredded it and mixed in about 1/3 cup of BBQ sauce.

So, as if the pork isn’t good enough on it’s own, I decided lets take this to a whole new level and put it on a flakey warm biscuit. The biscuit recipe was adapted from Christina over at Desserts For Two. You have to check out her recipes and watch her video, cutest girl ever! I like to reference her recipes because she has spent hours tweaking and testing them so that they are just enough for two people, which is perfect for my husband and I. Because I was trying to make these Pulled Pork Biscuit Sandwiches a little lighter I knew I had to make a change to the biscuits as well. I replaced the shortening with Greek yogurt. The biscuits were slightly more dense, but they still had a buttery flakey texture, which is exactly what I was going for. These Pulled Pork Biscuit Sandwiches make a great weeknight meal or are perfect for serving a crowd (just be sure to double the biscuit recipe). If you are a pulled pork lover like me but don’t want all the guilt that comes with eating it, give this lighter version a try!

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Yield: 6 sandwiches + lots of extra pulled pork

Pulled Pork Biscuit Sandwiches

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Perfect pulled pork made lighter with pork tenderloin and served on a delicious buttermilk biscuit!

Prep Time 22 minutes

Cook Time 5 hours 8 minutes

Total Time 5 hours 30 minutes

Ingredients

For the Pulled Pork

• 2 pounds pork tenderloin, fat trimmed and silver skin removed
• 1 1/2 t. smoked paprika
• 1/2 t. black pepper
• 1/4 t. cayenne pepper
• 1/2 t. thyme
• 1/2 t. garlic powder
• 1/2 t. onion powder
• 1/2 t. kosher salt
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/3-1/2 cup BBQ sauce, plus more for topping the sandwiches

For the Biscuits

• 1 1/3 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 t. baking soda
• 1/2 t. baking powder
• 1/2 t. kosher salt
• 1 1/2 T. cold butter, cubed
• 2 T. plain non fat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup low fat buttermilk

Instructions

To Make the Pulled Pork

1. In a small bowl mix together all of the spices.
2. Trim the fat and silver skin from the pork tenderloins (I used two 1 pound tenderloins and cut them in half) and place them in the crock pot.
3. Rub the spice mixture onto the pork.
4. Pour in 1/2 a cup of water and cover the crock pot.
5. Set the crock pot on low and cook for 5-6 hours or until the meat is cooked through and shreds easily.
6. Shred the pork with two forks then add in the BBQ sauce and mix until the pork is coated.
7. Let the pork warm through for another 10 minutes before serving.

To Make the Biscuits

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Line a baking sheet with parchment or a silpat mat.
3. In a large bowl whisk together the dry ingredients.
4. Cut the butter into small cubes and incorporate it into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse sand.
5. Whisk together the buttermilk and greek yogurt and pour it into the flour and butter mixture.
6. Fold together until the dough comes together.
7. Turn the dough out on to a lightly floured surface and knead it a couple times until it comes together.
8. Pat the dough out into a 1 inch thick circles and use a 3 inch round cookie cutter to cut out the biscuits.
9. Brush the tops of the biscuits with a little milk then place in the oven on the middle rack.
10. Bake for 8-9 minutes until the biscuits are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
11. Cool the biscuits on a wire rack slightly before serving.

Assembling the Sandwich

1. Cut the biscuits in half and place a few spoonfuls of the pork on one half.
2. Top the pork with more BBQ sauce, pickles, onion, etc. if desired.

Notes

The pulled pork keeps for several days in the fridge or you can freeze the extra meat for another meal.