A little background about pulled pork is that it is an American barbecue dish specifically from the Southern US based on shredded barbecued pork shoulder. It is slow-smoked over wood outdoors or using a slow cooker when indoors.
The meat is then shredded manually and mixed with a sauce. It may be served on bread or eaten on its own. Nowadays, For whatever reason, pulled pork has been somewhat neglected as a main. It’s like we’re brought up believing we can slather this tender meat onto a hamburger bun and be done.
Here are ten side dishes you’d be proud to serve with pulled pork, whether on a bun or straight out of the slow cooker.
Best Baked French Fries
The healthiest way to make fries is to bake them. It saves money, and you can’t beat the taste and now double up with the pulled pork! Fries never disappoint, and that is why they make the top of the list.
Buttermilk Hush Puppies
In North Carolina, restaurants pair barbeque with balls of fried Batter called hush puppies. To make them, you need to follow this simple recipe:
Ingredients
- 1-quart vegetable oil for frying, or as needed
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1/4 cup vegetable oil
-
Buttermilk Hushpuppies 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- Two eggs, room temperature
- 1 cup cornmeal
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup white sugar (optional)
- 1/2 cup minced onion
- Four green onions, minced
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Method
- Heat 1-quart vegetable oil in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 365 degrees F (185 degrees C).
- Preheat oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
- Whisk buttermilk, 1/4 cup vegetable oil, and eggs in a bowl.
- Combine cornmeal, flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt in a separate bowl. Fold buttermilk mixture, onion, and green onions into cornmeal mixture until just mixed.
- Drop 6 to 8 tablespoon-sized balls of Batter into the hot oil; fry until each hush puppy is golden brown, turning the hush puppies to cook evenly, 6 to 10 minutes. Remove hush puppies with a slotted spoon and place on brown paper bags to drain. Repeat with any remaining batter.
- Transfer hush puppies to a baking sheet and keep warm in the preheated oven until ready to serve.
Serve them with the pulled pork and try them together! You will be impressed instantly!
Sweet Corn Fritters
Corn is a popular side in southern cooking. You can efficiently serve corn on the cob and make everyone happy with butter dripping from their chins. There’s no shame in that.
But you could also make Batter filled with sweet corn that’s then fried up into golden crispy balls is hard to go with your pulled pork.
Loaded Potato Salad
Potatoes, in general, go with anything as sides. You have to know how to make it to your liking. When it comes to pulled pork sides, we recommend loaded potato salad. It’s like a loaded baked potato in a cool potato salad format.
It’s still a bit warm out, soothing cool from the chill of the potato salad helps when pairing it with the pork. I can almost taste the coolness from the salad emerging with the reasonably hot pork!
Stewed Okra And Tomatoes
Have you ever seen okra before? Well it looks strange, that’s for sure! But it’s delicious. One of the best ways to eat it is by slicing it up and stewing it in tomatoes. You can add bacon into that as most southerners do or you can keep it meatless.
It’s a very versatile side that simmers to perfect before your eyes.
Ingredients
- Four slices of bacon
- One medium onion, chopped
- 1/3 cup chopped celery
Pan-Frying Okra And Tomatoes - 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes
- 1 (14.5-ounce) can stewed tomatoes
- 1/2 cup water or chicken broth
- 4 cups sliced okra
- 3/4 teaspoon seasoned salt
- One teaspoon Tabasco sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Method
- Cook bacon in a cast-iron Dutch oven. Remove bacon and set aside.
- Add onion and celery to the bacon grease and cook until soft, about 7-8 minutes.
- Add tomatoes, water, okra, and seasonings. Cook 20-25 minutes, maintaining a simmer and stirring occasionally.
- Crumble bacon and stir in just before serving.
Serve in a bowl where people can serve reasonable amounts with the pulled pork. This side dish would be a great favorite, especially if you like your vegetables a tad too much!
Tangy Cucumber-Dill Salad
This simple no-cook salad with tangy red wine vinegar and red onions make a great partner for rich, smoked, pulled pork. Imagine the cucumber’s tanginess because of the vinegar and the sweet smokey taste of the pulled pork!
Bonus point: This side dish always seems to go well with all the BBQ dishes, so don’t shy away from trying it.
These are our top choices for the best dishes that would go with pulled pork, but feel free to try others and get to compare the taste and experience. Sometimes you may choose a side dish because of how easy it is to prepare, especially if you have guests coming for dinner or an afternoon party.
Also, many are the times you will find yourself having leftover pulled pork from dinner, and you do not know how to spruce it up for a meal the next day. The following are meal ideas you can do with leftover pulled pork:
Pulled Pork Sweet Pepper Taco
Cut the top off the Bell Pepper and removed the seeds. Then, make a little slit in the taco so it would look like a bit of bag. Fill the small pepper taco shells with the leftover pulled pork, which is already heated.
Then add the taco shells then the toppings where you can use sweet corn, lettuce or cheese, and a small bop of sour cream!
Pulled Pork Tacos
You will use the same method you use when making regular tacos but now using the pulled pork. Just make sure to add veggie toppings like a little bit of lettuce and onions to create that crispy bite.
