Barbecue Pulled Pork Biscuits

I’m not saying regular pulled pork sandwiches are bad, but once you pile that saucy meat onto a buttery biscuit that’s been baking in melted butter you sort of forget bread exists. Pulled Pork Biscuits do that. They’re messy and rich and the biscuit soaks up the sauce without falling apart, which is more than I can say for most burger buns.

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

• The pork cooks in Dr. Pepper TEN with garlic and onion for 7 to 8 hours until it shreds itself
• You get to keep some of that cooking liquid and it’s basically concentrated pork flavor you’d normally throw out
• The biscuits use 7UP TEN and sour cream so the dough gets sticky but somehow that makes them fluffier
• Baking them in a quarter cup of melted butter means the bottoms get this crispy edge that regular biscuits don’t have
• Everything happens in two dishes—your slow cooker and one baking pan
• The whole thing takes 10 minutes of actual work if you don’t count waiting around

The Story Behind This Recipe

I tested this last Tuesday after work because I had a pork roast sitting in my fridge and I was tired of the same old Slow Cooker Recipes. I’d seen people use soda in pulled pork before but I wanted to try the TEN versions to cut some sugar without losing the carbonation thing that happens. The biscuit part came later when I realized I had Bisquick and some 7UP TEN left over from another recipe. I wasn’t planning to write about it but when I pulled those Barbecue Biscuits out of the oven and they were actually golden and the butter was bubbling around the edges I thought okay, this works. So here we are.

What You Need

You’ll need a pork roast—I didn’t weigh mine but it was around 3 pounds and fit nicely in my 6-quart slow cooker. Two cloves of garlic get minced up and one whole onion gets cut into 4 big pieces, not diced, because they’re just there to flavor the liquid and you’ll strain them out later anyway. The 12 ounces of Dr. Pepper TEN is specific because it’s one can and that’s exactly what you pour over everything.

For the spice rub you can use whatever you like but I went with paprika, garlic powder, a little cayenne and some brown sugar because that’s what was in my cabinet. Don’t skip the rub even if you’re tired because it creates this crust situation that holds up during the long cook. You’ll need 1 cup of barbecue sauce—I used Sweet Baby Ray’s but honestly any thick sauce works as long as it’s not too vinegary.

The biscuits need 2 cups of Bisquick, which is just the red box stuff, and ½ cup of light sour cream. The 7UP TEN amount isn’t exact in the recipe but I used about ⅔ cup and stopped when the dough looked sticky enough to barely hold together. You need ¼ cup of butter for the baking dish and then some extra butter for drizzling on top—I melted probably 2 more tablespoons but I didn’t measure it.

How to Make Barbecue Pulled Pork Biscuits

Turn your slow cooker to low and throw in the 4 onion pieces and the minced garlic. They’ll start smelling good almost immediately even though nothing’s really cooking yet. Pat your pork roast dry with paper towels because wet meat doesn’t take a spice rub well—it just slides off. Press whatever spices you’re using all over that roast like you’re giving it a massage and make sure every part is covered.

Drop the rubbed pork into the slow cooker right on top of those onions and garlic. Pour the entire 12-ounce can of Dr. Pepper TEN over everything, put the lid on and walk away for 7 to 8 hours. I started mine at 6 pm and checked it around 1:30 am because I couldn’t sleep, and it was already falling apart.

When it’s done the pork should shred if you just look at it wrong. Pull it out onto a plate and use two forks to tear it into chunks—if it fights back at all just let it cook longer. While the meat sits there, drain the liquid from the slow cooker into a bowl or measuring cup and save between half a cup and a full cup. That liquid tastes like concentrated Pulled Pork and throwing it all out feels like a crime.

Put the shredded meat back in the slow cooker. Add ½ cup of that saved liquid and the full cup of barbecue sauce, then stir it all together until the meat’s coated. Cover it back up and let it sit for 20 minutes while you make the biscuits, which is honestly the perfect timing because you need the oven anyway.

Set your oven to 450 degrees. Mix the 2 cups of Bisquick with the ½ cup of light sour cream in a bowl, then start adding the 7UP TEN a little at a time and stirring—the dough gets sticky and weird but that’s what you want. When I say sticky I mean it’ll cling to the spoon and your hands and it won’t look right compared to normal biscuit dough.

Melt that ¼ cup of butter and spread it all over the bottom of an 8x8 inch glass baking dish. This is where the magic happens because when those biscuits hit that butter they basically fry on the bottom while they bake. Dust a cookie sheet or your counter with some extra Bisquick so the dough doesn’t stick everywhere, then press the dough out until it’s about the size of your pan and roughly one inch thick. You can cut it into individual biscuits now or just leave it as one big slab and cut it after—I did the slab method because I was lazy.

Lay the dough in that buttery pan and bake it for 8 minutes. The edges will start firming up but the middle stays soft and puffy. Melt some more butter while that’s happening—I think I used 2 tablespoons but I wasn’t paying attention. Pull the pan out after 8 minutes, drizzle that melted butter all over the tops, then stick it back in for another 4 to 6 minutes until the whole thing turns golden and the butter’s bubbling around the sides.

Take the Barbecue Biscuits out and serve them warm with the saucy pork piled on top. The biscuits will soak up the sauce but they won’t turn to mush, which I still don’t understand but I’m not questioning it.

What I Did Wrong the First Time

I didn’t save enough of the cooking liquid and just dumped it all down the sink because I thought the barbecue sauce would be enough. It wasn’t. The pork was dry and I had to add some chicken broth to fix it, which worked but it didn’t taste the same as that Dr. Pepper-pork drippings combo.

When I made it again on Tuesday I saved a full cup and used half, and the difference was obvious—the meat stayed moist and had this depth that regular barbecue sauce just doesn’t give you. Don’t make my mistake.

Barbecue Pulled Pork Biscuits

By Emma

Prep:

10 min

Cook:

8h 10min

Total:

8h 20min

Servings:

6 servings

Ingredients

• 1 pork roast
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, cut into 4 large pieces
• 12 ounces Dr. Pepper TEN
• 1 cup barbecue sauce
• Spices for rub (amount and type as per taste)
• 2 cups Bisquick
• ½ cup light sour cream
• 7UP TEN (quantity not specified in original, adjust to achieve sticky dough)
• ¼ cup butter for baking dish
• Remaining butter for drizzling biscuits

Method

1. 1 Set your slow cooker to low heat and toss in the quartered onion along with the minced garlic. The smell will start releasing as it warms.
2. 2 Dry the pork roast well by patting it with paper towels. Generously rub the chosen spices all over every side of the meat, pressing them in so they stick firmly.
3. 3 Place the rubbed pork roast inside the slow cooker atop the onions and garlic. Pour all 12 ounces of Dr. Pepper TEN over the pork. Cover and let it cook low and slow for 7 to 8 hours, until the pork yields easily to the touch of two forks.
4. 4 When the cooking time is up, take the meat out onto a plate. Using two forks, shred the pork apart—if it resists, give it more time. Set the shredded pork aside.
5. 5 Drain the liquid left in the slow cooker, saving about half a cup to one full cup. This concentrated broth is flavor-packed.
6. 6 Return the shredded pork to the slow cooker. Add ½ cup of the reserved liquid and 1 cup of barbecue sauce. Stir everything well to combine. Cover and leave it to heat through for 20 additional minutes while you get started on the biscuits.
7. 7 Preheat your oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. Get ready for those biscuits.
8. 8 In a large mixing bowl, stir together 2 cups of Bisquick and ½ cup of light sour cream until combined. Then pour in the 7UP TEN gradually, mixing well—the dough will turn sticky.
9. 9 Melt ¼ cup of butter and slather it across the bottom of an 8x8 inch glass baking dish. This butter makes the biscuit bottoms rich and helps them brown.
10. 10 Sprinkle a little Bisquick on a flat surface—like a cookie sheet—to keep the sticky dough from clinging. Press the biscuit dough out until it’s roughly the size of the baking dish and about one inch thick. You can cut this dough now into round or square biscuits and place them in the dish, or leave it whole and slice after baking.
11. 11 Bake the dough in the hot oven for around 8 minutes. You’ll notice the edges starting to firm and the dough softening in the middle.
12. 12 While the biscuits bake, melt the remaining butter. When the 8 minutes are up, pull the dish from the oven and quickly drizzle the melted butter over the tops. Return the biscuits to the oven and bake for 4 to 6 more minutes until golden and buttery on top.
13. 13 Remove the biscuits from the oven and serve them warm with the saucy barbecue pulled pork. Enjoy the rich aroma and satisfying textures.

Nutritional information

Calories

873

Protein

86g

Carbs

57g

Fat

31g

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Tips for the Best Barbecue Pulled Pork Biscuits

Don’t lift the slow cooker lid during those first 6 hours. Every time you peek you add 20 minutes to the cook time and the pork needs that steady heat to break down right.

The pork liquid you save should look dark and smell like Dr. Pepper mixed with meat drippings—if it’s watery or pale you didn’t cook it long enough. I noticed that if you tilt the slow cooker slightly when draining, the garlic and onion pieces stay at one end and you don’t have to fish them out with a spoon.

Your biscuit dough will look wrong compared to normal dough. It’ll stick to everything and you’ll think you messed up but that sticky texture is exactly what makes them fluffy instead of dense. Press the dough out with your knuckles instead of a rolling pin because it’s too soft to roll.

The butter in the bottom of the baking dish should cover every inch—if you see bare spots the biscuits will stick there and tear when you try to serve them. I brush more melted butter on top right when they come out of the oven, not just before the second bake, because it soaks in better when they’re hot.

Serving Ideas

Pile the Pulled Pork on split biscuits and add coleslaw on top for crunch. The slaw’s vinegar cuts through all that butter and sauce.

I’ve served these with mac and cheese on the side and it’s a lot but people don’t complain. Collard greens work too if you want something that’s not drowning in dairy.

You can make sliders by cutting the biscuits smaller—I did 12 mini ones instead of 6 big ones for a party and they disappeared in 20 minutes. Pickled jalapeños on the side help if it gets too rich halfway through.

Variations

Swap the Dr. Pepper TEN for root beer and add a tablespoon of liquid smoke to the pork—it’ll taste like you smoked it for hours even though you didn’t. The sweetness from root beer is more intense so use less barbecue sauce.

I tried making this with chicken thighs once because pork was expensive that week and it worked but the meat shredded differently, more stringy and less chunky. You’ll need to cut the cook time down to 5 hours or the chicken gets mushy.

Cheddar cheese mixed into the biscuit dough sounds good but it makes them heavy and they don’t puff up right. I tested it. If you want cheese just sprinkle it on top of the pork instead and let it melt there.

Spicy version works if you add chipotle powder to the rub and use a hot barbecue sauce, but don’t put hot sauce directly in the Slow Cooker Recipes or it gets bitter after 8 hours of cooking.

FAQ

Can I use regular Dr. Pepper instead of Dr. Pepper TEN?

Yeah it’ll work fine but the pork will end up sweeter and the sauce will be stickier. You might want to cut back on the brown sugar in your spice rub if you go that route.

How do I know when the pork is done?

It should fall apart when you poke it with a fork and the internal temp should hit at least 190 degrees, though I’ve never actually checked the temp because by hour 7 it’s always falling apart on its own.

Can I make the biscuits ahead of time?

Not really—they get hard and weird if they sit more than an hour. You can mix the dry Bisquick and sour cream ahead and just add the 7UP TEN right before baking though.

What if my biscuit dough is too sticky to work with?

That’s normal but if it’s literally liquid you added too much 7UP TEN. Stir in more Bisquick a tablespoon at a time until it’s sticky but holds a shape when you drop it.

Do I have to use Bisquick or can I use regular flour?

Bisquick already has leavening and fat mixed in so regular flour won’t work the same way. You’d need to add baking powder and salt and it becomes a different recipe at that point.

How much of the cooking liquid should I actually save?

I save a full cup and use half, then keep the rest in case the pork dries out when it sits. If you only save half a cup you might not have enough.

Can I cook this on high instead of low?

You can do 4 hours on high but the pork won’t shred as easily and the texture is chewier. Low and slow breaks down the fat better.

What size slow cooker do I need?

A 6-quart works but you can fit this in a 4-quart if your roast is on the smaller side. Just make sure the lid closes all the way.

Why are my biscuits burning on the bottom?

Your oven runs hot or you used a metal pan instead of glass. Metal conducts heat faster and that butter burns before the tops are done.

Can I freeze the leftover pulled pork?

Yeah it freezes great for up to 3 months. I portion it into freezer bags with some of the sauce so it doesn’t dry out when you reheat it.

What barbecue sauce works best?

Thick tomato-based sauces like Sweet Baby Ray’s or Famous Dave’s hold up better than vinegar-based Carolina sauces. The vinegar ones make the pork too wet.

How do I reheat the biscuits without making them hard?

Wrap them in foil and heat at 300 degrees for about 10 minutes. Microwave makes them rubbery so don’t do that.

Can I use diet 7UP instead of 7UP TEN?

They’re basically the same thing—diet 7UP just has a different sweetener but the carbonation and liquid content are identical so it works fine.

Do I have to cut the onion into exactly 4 pieces?

No, I just do 4 because it’s easy and they’re big enough that I can pull them out later without hunting for tiny bits. Three big pieces works too.

What if I don’t have light sour cream?

Regular full-fat sour cream works the same, the biscuits just have a few more calories. Greek yogurt also works if that’s what you’ve got but they taste slightly tangy.

How long can the pork sit in the slow cooker after it’s done?

On the warm setting it’ll stay good for 2 hours, maybe 3 before it starts drying out. I’ve left mine in there for 4 hours once and just added more saved liquid to bring it back.

Can I make this without a slow cooker?

You can braise it in the oven at 300 degrees in a covered Dutch oven for about 4 hours but you’ll need to check it more often. The texture won’t be exactly the same.

Why is my pork tough after 8 hours?

Either your slow cooker runs cold or your roast was bigger than 3 pounds. Give it another hour and check if it shreds easier then.

Can I use pork shoulder instead of a generic pork roast?

Pork shoulder is actually better because it has more fat and connective tissue that breaks down into that soft texture. That’s what I use when I can find it.

Do the biscuits need to be exactly 1 inch thick?

Close enough is fine—if they’re thinner than half an inch they’ll get crispy all the way through instead of fluffy, and if they’re thicker than 1.5 inches the middles stay doughy.

What happens if I skip the spice rub?

The pork will still cook but it’ll be bland and you’ll have to rely completely on the barbecue sauce for flavor. The rub creates a crust that adds texture too.

Can I double this recipe?

The pork part doubles fine if you have a big enough slow cooker, but for the biscuits you’ll need to make two separate batches because doubling the dough makes it hard to handle and it won’t fit in one 8x8 pan anyway.