Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my privacy policy.
Paleo Tomato Maple Pulled Pork recipe. A healthy slow cooker pulled pork with hints of sweetness from the tomatoes and maple syrup and spice from the red pepper flakes, paprika, and chili powder.
This Paleo Tomato Maple Pulled Pork recipe is one of my favorite slow cooker pork recipes because it comes together so easily and the flavors are so good.
There’s a bit of sweetness from the tomatoes and maple syrup and spice from the red pepper flakes, paprika, and chili powder. Throw it all into the slow cooker for 6-8 hours and you’ve got lunch or dinner for the week!
I’ve made this Paleo Tomato Maple Pulled Pork recipe many times over the years, and tweaked a bit here and there until I finally came up with my favorite way to make it.
Ingredients needed for this Paleo Tomato Maple Pulled Pork:
- pork roast
- onion
- salt
- pepper
- garlic powder
- thyme
- red pepper flakes
- paprika
- chili powder
- turmeric powder
- strained tomatoes
- maple syrup
- blackstrap molasses
- tomato paste
I’ve always loved using maple syrup and tomato sauce to season slower cooker meat recipes. It’s easy to add seasoning to and it just adds such a nice rich flavor to the meat.
Seasoning really is key, though, to kick it up a notch and I love using onion, salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme, red pepper flakes, paprika, chili powder, and turmeric powder here.
I know that sounds like a lot of spices, but it just works.
And I’ve always been all about the seasoning. Especially to enhance healthy recipes. It’s such an easy, low calorie way to satisfy your taste buds.
The biggest change to this recipe that I made, that I didn’t do in the past, was the last step.
Basically after I take the pork out to shred it, I add blackstrap molasses and tomato paste to the remaining liquid in the slow cooker before adding the meat back to the sauce.
This gives the sauce that extra oomph…. it’s so good!
Black strap molasses is one of those “paleo friendly” ingredients that many have adopted into their diets because of the strong nutritional value of it. It’s a strong source of calcium, iron, magnesium, copper, zinc, and potassium. It actually has 5 times the iron of steak. How crazy is that?
If you are curious about adding this to your diet, check out this article by The Paleo Mom.
I have loved adding blackstrap molasses to gingerbread baked goods, and now I really love adding it to meats. It adds a strong bitter yet sweet yet smokey flavor. It’s hard to describe.
I wanted to mention one more thing about this recipe, feel free to use pork loin or pork shoulder based on your personal preference.
I tend to use whatever I can find… but pork roast, specifically pork shoulder or butt is best for making pulled pork.
However, whenever I plan on making pulled pork it seems like the grocery store that I am at only has one choice. Loin does tend to be less fatty, which I actually do like, but more on the dry side. 🙂
Other Paleo pork recipes you may enjoy:
Dutch Oven Baked Pork Loin with Jam and Spices
Diced Apple Slow Cooker Pulled Pork (Paleo, GF)
Dutch Oven Pork with Apples and Figs
Paleo Tomato Maple Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- 4-4.5 pounds pork roast
- 1 onion, diced
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp thyme
- 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1 Tbs paprika
- 1 tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp turmeric powder
- 1 cup strained tomatoes , from a can or carton ,Pomi is my favorite
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 Tbs tomato paste
- 2 Tbs blackstrap molasses
Instructions
- Put the diced onions into the slow cooker. Then add the pork loin or shoulder on top.
- Add the salt, pepper, garlic powder, thyme, crushed red pepper flakes, paprika, chili powder, turmeric powder, strained tomatoes and maple syrup, on top of the pork. Mix the seasoning into the slow cooker.
- Cook on low heat for 8 hours or on high heat for 6 hours.
- Remove pork loin/shoulder and shred on a separate surface. Shred with two forks.
- Add the tomato paste and molasses to the liquid in the slow cooker and mix until blended in. Add the shredded pork back into the slow cooker and mix into the sauce.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Fantastic post and very filling tasty recipe. And the secret ingredient , blackstrap molasses . Thanks for providing some nutritional background on it. Where can I buy it?
Your thread says loin or shoulder (of which, pork butt–part of the shoulder, picnic being the other– is the best for shredding).
However, the recipe says tenderloin. Other than being a typo, loin is not great for shredding. Plus tenderloins are not that big.
Butt is king for shredding.
Recipe looks great in any case!
Yes!! I just updated my post after reading this. Thank you! I agree pork butt is the best for shredding. 🙂 I do use loin when I can’t find anything else and, I have to admit, I do like that it is less fatty, despite it not being the best for shredding haha
Agreed with PerchancetoCook on the choice of meat. Of course fattier may be tastier but I’d rather less fatty and just addng in some clean paleo spices and dressings to get it close in taste. I like this site because it has creative alternatives to the food that is being served at restaurants which tends to be old, layered with sauces full of preservatives/chemicals used in covering up a slimy old piece of meat. Keep it up PerchancetoCook. Thanks for the free and quality content!