4th of july sliders + chipotle mac

My friend (and awesome recipe developer) Nicole makes an amazingly delicious chipotle mac salad, which officially became one of my favorite side dishes ever since I had a taste of it during a trip to Santa Barbara. The salad is in fact so yummy, that Fresh & Easy stores packaged it and it’s now available for purchase. I immediately grabbed one for us to have but needed to make something to go with it (although I could easily sit and eat the container ala carte if no one was looking). I was going to default into making a burger but was really in the mood for a BBQ flavored sandwich – but with no grill – I used my slow cooker to make BBQ pork sliders. With 4th of July around the corner, I think this is a great idea if you’re having friends over.

Ingredients:
Pork butt (I bought one that was 2.58 lbs, which makes about 10-12 servings)
1 large yellow onion (chopped)
1 bottle of Fresh and Easy whiskey BBQ sauce
1 cup of water
1 tspn of bay leaf
1 tspn thyme leaves
1 tbspn minced garlic
1 tspn black pepper

If you’re going to use pork butt or shoulder, I highly suggest removing the layer of fat on top.

Cooking directions:
Before placing the meat into slower cooker with water, I seasoned it with the ingredients listed (as if I were making it in the oven, poking holes and inserting the ingredients into the meat). I let it cook for about 4 hours on high before shredding the meat in the slow cooker. I added the BBQ sauce and let it cook for another 2-3 hours on low, occasionally breaking up the meat. Once it was perfectly shredded, I toasted the buns in the oven for about 10 minutes, added pickles and dinner was served.

And because you cannot possibly have sliders without macaroni salad, I recommend you try the chipotle version I raved about. You can get all of those details on Presley’s Pantry. Hope you have a wonderfully, delicious 4th of July celebration!