A few days ago I made The 6-Ingredient, Family-Approved, Pork Loin Dinner purposefully with 2 pork loins so I would have leftovers. Having extra cooked protein makes a second meal that much easier. You can just serve it as is with different sides or transform it into sandwiches, tacos, quesadillas, even to top a salad. The options really are endless!
I decided to take my extra ¾ of a loin and make pulled pork and, again, almost the whole family was on board, especially The Husband!
THANKFULLY he’s a pulled-pork fan because his disdain for chili drives me crazy. I, of course, try to “healthify” mine but he doesn’t seem to mind, at least not anymore. I've successfully worn him down.
Anyway, I thought it would be fun to show you how I turned my leftovers into something entirely new using what I had on hand in my pantry and fridge.
Ingredients
- About ⅔ of a cooked pork loin ~325g
- 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce (like Hunts)
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- Small sweet bell pepper, diced (I used an orange one)
- 2 cups baby spinach, chopped
Instructions
Cut the loin into large chunks.
Mix the tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar in a medium pot over medium heat.
Add the pork.
Cover and let it cook for about 30 minutes. By this time the pork should be soft enough to pull. Using two forks, shred the meat.
Don’t worry if some pieces won’t separate easily. The longer it cooks the easier it will give. Just shred as much as possible.
Lower the head to medium-low and continue to let the meat simmer.
Meanwhile, dice the pepper and add it to the meat.
Chop the spinach.
The smaller you chop it the more it will melt into the dish. My family is so used to seeing green stuff I didn’t bother going as small as I could.
Add the spinach and continue to simmer until you’re ready to eat, at least 10 more minutes. Separate any larger chunks of pork as well.
I read "Naughty Little Monkeys" to my little sous chef on the kitchen floor while the pork simmered. 🙂
When we were ready to eat, I piled ½ cup on a whole wheat potato roll and served it with a side of roasted broccoli.
The 7-year-old was not ecstatic but ate it.
I love how he’s either a ham or wants nothing to do with the camera.
I attempted to get the 2-year-old to eat it deconstructed but he really only focused on the bun and broccoli.
Today, The Husband and I finished the leftovers of the leftovers for part of our lunch. 🙂
📖 Recipe
Using Leftovers: Easy Pulled Pork
Ingredients
- About ⅔ of a cooked pork loin ~325g
- 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce like Hunts
- ¼ cup BBQ sauce
- 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- Small sweet bell pepper diced (I used an orange one)
- 2 cups baby spinach chopped
Instructions
- Cut the loin into large chunks.About ⅔ of a cooked pork loin ~325g
- Mix the tomato sauce, BBQ sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and vinegar in a medium pot over medium heat.¼ cup BBQ sauce, 2 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce, 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar, 1 8 oz can of tomato sauce
- Add the pork.
- Cover and let it cook for about 30 minutes. By this time the pork should be soft enough to pull. Using two forks, shred the meat.
- Don’t worry if some pieces won’t separate easily. The longer it cooks the easier it will give. Just shred as much as possible.
- Lower the head to medium-low and continue to let the meat simmer.
- Meanwhile, dice the pepper and add it to the meat.Small sweet bell pepper
- Chop the spinach. The smaller you chop it the more it will melt into the dish. My family is so used to seeing green stuff I didn’t bother going as small as I could.2 cups baby spinach
- Add the spinach and continue to simmer until you’re ready to eat, at least 10 more minutes. Separate any larger chunks of pork as well.
- When we were ready to eat, I piled ½ cup on a whole wheat potato roll and served it with a side of roasted broccoli.
Kinga Szabo
Thank You for this recipe. I am trying to use up leftover which can be tricky with 2 fussy girls (2 and 4 years olds). I would like to give this recipe a go Tonight, using up leftover pulled pork and maybe serve it with couscous or orzo pasta with cheese on top. Unfortunately my heroic attempts to create a nice, healthy meal out of leftovers resulting in tantrums and ugly faces for my lovelies, but I am resilient and in the long therm - with my older one it seems to work. Nothing will change my two years old mind if she decides not to taste it, but never mind.......Patience.
Kinga Szabo
I made , finally served it with orzo pasta and the kids eat it very well! I think it's very tasty. I started with a little shallot and a piece of garlic. Added the meat (pulled pork) and the sauce (passata, BBQ sauce, Worchestershire sauce), spiced with smoked paprika and ground cumin, salt and pepper and let is strimmer for 5-10 minutes with a splash of water.
Served with Parmesan cheese on top.
Thank you!
Sondra
Thanks so much for this!,
I was at a loss and almost threw away the last of our tenderloin. Did your recipe and everyone loved it. We added some cumin and paprika, salt and pineapple juice (as it was a little dry I think I cooked it for too long).
Carolann
I put all the ingredients in the slow cooker...can"t wait to try it. Thanks for posting.
Jenni
Giving this a go for dinner tonight! I'm in the UK so had to do some conversions and substitute the tin of tomato sauce with pasatta... But it's smelling good! 🙂 x
Theresa
Thanks for the idea! I had some already cooked leftover pork loin and was trying to figure out how to make pulled pork sandwiches with it. I did a variation of this using up some veggies on hand that weren't going to last much longer - a tiny eggplant, 1 small yellow squash, 1 small zucchini and half a green pepper. It never would have occurred to me to chop them up and add them to pork BBQ before, but the meal was delicious and huge hit with my family.
roni
Bad photos but I have an old post about it..
https://greenlitebites.com/2009/09/21/roasted-broccoli/
I just roast them plain with some kosher salt. LOVE IT!
Michelle
Tell me more about roasting broccoli - I love roasted veggies, but never roasted broccoli....The pork dinner and the sanwiches both look divine!
Marla
I love the idea of putting spinach in this.
By the way, your "Little Guy" is looking not so little. Have I really been following GLB that long? Time flies too fast.