🇺🇸🔥 Chili Champions & Backyard Cooks 🔥🇺🇸🤠 Labor Day Chuckwagon Recipe — Monday, September 7, 2026
🇺🇸🔥 Chili Champions & Backyard Cooks 🔥🇺🇸
🤠 Labor Day Chuckwagon Recipe — Monday, September 7, 2026
🏆🍖 Labor Day Championship BBQ Pulled Pork Loaded Potato Bar 🥔🌽
Good morning, folks! 🤠🇺🇸
Happy Labor Day! Today we're firing up the backyard cooker for a meal made for gathering family and friends around the table. Our Championship BBQ Pulled Pork is smoky, tender, and coated in a homemade sweet-and-tangy sauce, then piled high onto crispy baked potatoes with all the fixings.
Best of all, turn it into a Loaded Potato Bar and let everybody build their own! ❤️🔥
🍖 Championship BBQ Pulled Pork
Ingredients
4–5 lb boneless pork shoulder
2 tablespoons yellow mustard
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon smoked paprika
2 teaspoons garlic powder
2 teaspoons onion powder
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
1 cup apple juice
½ cup chicken broth
🔥 Homemade BBQ Finishing Sauce
1½ cups ketchup
½ cup apple cider vinegar
⅓ cup brown sugar
¼ cup honey
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon yellow mustard
1 teaspoon smoked paprika
½ teaspoon garlic powder
Pinch of cayenne, optional
🔥 Let's Get Cooking!
1️⃣ Season that pork. Rub the pork with mustard. Combine the dry seasonings and coat the pork generously on every side.
For even better flavor, season it the night before and refrigerate it covered.
2️⃣ Low and slow! Place the pork in a roasting pan or Dutch oven with the apple juice and chicken broth.
Cover and cook at 300°F for about 5–6 hours, or until the pork is fork-tender and easily pulls apart. For shreddable pork, the internal temperature will typically be around 195–205°F.
3️⃣ Make the sauce. Combine all the BBQ sauce ingredients in a saucepan. Simmer gently for about 15 minutes, stirring occasionally.
4️⃣ Rest that pork! Remove the pork and allow it to rest for about 20 minutes before shredding.
5️⃣ Pull it apart. Shred the pork with two forks, discarding large pieces of fat. Toss it with some of the cooking juices and enough BBQ sauce to make it wonderfully saucy.
🌳 Using the Smoker?
Smoke the pork at about 250°F until tender enough to shred, generally around 195–205°F internally. Cooking time varies by roast, so go by tenderness and temperature rather than the clock.
Apple, pecan, or hickory wood would be delicious here!
🥔 Build a Labor Day Loaded Potato Bar!
Bake large russet potatoes at 425°F for 50–60 minutes, until tender.
Then set out bowls of:
🍖 BBQ pulled pork🧀 Sharp cheddar cheese🥓 Crispy bacon🥄 Sour cream🧅 Green onions🌶️ Jalapeños🥒 Dill pickles🌽 Fire-roasted corn🫘 Baked beans🥗 Creamy coleslaw🔥 Extra BBQ sauce
Split those hot potatoes and LOAD 'EM UP! 😋
🏆 MawMaw's BBQ Cook-Off Secret
Don't drown good pulled pork in sauce!
Season the meat well, cook it until tender, and mix a little of those flavorful cooking juices back into the shredded pork first. Then add just enough BBQ sauce to complement the meat.
You want to taste that pork—not just the sauce! 🔥
🇺🇸 Complete the Labor Day Cookout
Serve it with:
🌽 Grilled corn on the cob🫘 Smoky baked beans🥗 Homemade coleslaw🍉 Cold watermelon🥒 Refrigerator pickles🍋 Fresh lemonade & sweet tea
🍑 And for dessert?
Cast-Iron Peach Cobbler 🍑
Warm peaches under a golden buttery topping with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream melting over the top.
Now THAT'S a Labor Day cookout! 🤠🔥
❤️ Labor Day Encouragement
Labor Day is a good time to recognize the people whose everyday work helps keep our families, communities, churches, farms, businesses, schools, hospitals, and neighborhoods going.
Some work is seen and celebrated.
Some is done quietly when nobody is watching.
But God sees faithful hands.
Whatever work God has placed before you—at a job, in your home, caring for someone you love, serving your community, or helping a neighbor—do it with a grateful heart and remember that your work can be a way of serving Him.
And today, make a little time to rest, gather around the table, and thank God for the ability to work and the blessings He's provided. ❤️🇺🇸
📖 Labor Day Scripture
"And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men;"
— Colossians 3:23 (KJV)
🇺🇸 Labor Day Table Question
What's the ONE food your Labor Day cookout has to have?
🍔 Burgers🌭 Hot dogs🍖 BBQ🌽 Corn on the cob🫘 Baked beans🍉 Watermelon🍑 Cobbler
👇 Tell us in the comments! And share those backyard BBQ pictures, family recipes, and cook-off favorites with us too!
🇺🇸🤠 Happy Labor Day, Friends!
May your grill be hot, your tea be cold, your table have room for one more, and your day be filled with Faith ⭐ Family ⭐ Friends ⭐ Food ⭐ Memories. ❤️🇺🇸🔥
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