Pulled Pork BBQ Parfaits are a fun and tasty way to use up leftover pulled pork! Layer baked beans, mashed potatoes, coleslaw, pickles, and BBQ sauce in old-fashioned mason jars for a delicious twist. Also known as BBQ Pulled Pork Jars, they’re perfect for your next backyard cookout! Be sure to also check out these Backyard BBQ Ideas.
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This year we are participating in the 2020 Juneteenth Cookout Takeover! This initiative was established to encourage the celebration of Juneteenth and amplify the food traditions of black culinary creatives.
For this virtual Juneteenth cookout, we made smoked pulled pork, BBQ baked beans, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw, and layered them in old-fashioned mason jars with pickles and BBQ sauce. Also known as a pulled pork parfait, or simply a BBQ parfait, this mason jar pulled pork recipe is a fun, creative way to serve your favorite foods at your next cookout!
The convenience of having all of the sides piled in a jar with pulled pork not only makes it easier to hold than a paper plate, but it is also the best way to eat with a fork without making a huge mess! You can walk around with all of the food contained, which means no spills. Maybe even have your favorite drink in one hand, and your mason jar BBQ in the other hand?!
I’ll admit, when Marrekus first approached me about doing a pulled pork parfait, I was a skeptic. Glad he decided to go for it, because it turned out AMAZING!
What is Juneteenth?
Juneteenth is a jubilee of freedom to commemorate the end of slavery. A merge of the words/date June and Nineteenth, Juneteenth marks the date in 1865 that the last enslaved people learned of their freedom. For over 150 years since, Black American families, home cooks, chefs, and culinarians have commemorated the summer holiday with a wide range of food traditions that tell a story of the perseverance of a people. It’s often celebrated with a cookout among friends and family.
Ingredients
- Smoked Pulled Pork: Use leftover pulled pork from your smoker or slow cooker. It’s the heart of this dish, so go for tender, flavorful meat. Don’t forget to shred it up nicely!
- Baked Beans: Any style works, but these BBQ baked beans with ground beef pair especially well with the pulled pork.
- Mashed Potatoes: Creamy mashed potatoes give your BBQ parfait a comforting, hearty layer. You can make them fresh or use leftovers!
- Coleslaw: Adds crunch and a cool contrast to the warm layers.
- Pickles: Dill pickle slices or chopped pickles bring that perfect taste.
- BBQ Sauce: Use this homemade sauce or your favorite store-bought brand—whether it’s sweet, spicy, smoky, or tangy. This ties all the layers together.
How to Make a BBQ Parfait Using Mason Jars
There’s no wrong way to layer your BBQ parfait—stack the ingredients in any order you like! Here’s a simple suggestion to get you started:
- Start with mashed potatoes at the bottom of each jar.
- Add baked beans for a sweet and savory touch.
- Scoop in pulled pork, pressing it down gently.
- Drizzle with BBQ sauce—use as much or as little as you like.
- Layer on the coleslaw and top with pickles.
Recipe Tips
- Use wide-mouth mason jars for easier layering and eating. Pint-sized jars work great for individual servings.
- Don’t overfill the jars. Leave a little room at the top so everything doesn’t spill out when folks dig in.
- Make it a meal or a side! These parfaits are filling enough for lunch or dinner, but you can also serve them in smaller jars or cups as a fun BBQ side dish.
- Set up a DIY parfait bar with different toppings and sauces—great for cookouts, game day, or family gatherings.
How to Serve
When we’re hosting a backyard get-together or game day cookout, BBQ parfaits are always a hit. They’re fun, customizable, and surprisingly easy to pull off—especially when you set things up buffet-style.
- To keep the pulled pork warm, transfer it to a slow cooker on the “keep warm” setting. That way, it stays hot until everyone’s ready to dig in. Same for the mashed potatoes and baked beans—just pop them into separate warmers or insulated containers. This helps keep all the hot layers without drying out.
- Set up a DIY parfait bar and let folks build their own! Put out wide-mouth mason jars or clear plastic cups and arrange all the ingredients in order: warm stuff like the pork, beans, and potatoes go first, then the cold layers like coleslaw and pickles, followed by the BBQ sauce and any other toppings.
It’s a laid-back, no-fuss way to serve a crowd, and everyone loves getting to stack their parfait just the way they like it.
More Juneteenth Recipes
A Girl Called Adri | Blackened Catfish
Beautiful Eats & Things | Spiced Grilled Peaches
Black Girls Who Brunch | Brown Butter Sweet Potato Cake
Brazilian Kitchen Abroad | Brazilian Collard Greens with Bacon
Britney Breaks Bread | Buttermilk Fried Chicken with Sour Cream and Honey Sauce
Brownbelle | Watermelon Hibiscus Whiskey Smash
Butter Be Ready | Chicken and Waffles
Chef and Steward | Watermelon and Feta Salad
Chef Curl Ardee | Honey and Butter Cornbread
Chenée Today | Lemon Icebox Pie
Confessions of a clean foodie | Mint Peach Spritzer
Cooking to a T Jamaican | Beef Patties
Dash of Jazz | Golden Pineapple Pound Cake
DMR Fine Foods | Blackberry Ginger Soda
Domestic Dee | Easy Berry Fruit Salad
Dude That Cookz | Cajun White Beans
Food Fidelity | Nigerian Beef Suya Skewers
Food Is Love Made Edible | Smothered Okra with Chicken & Sausage
FoodLoveTog | Braised Cabbage & Johnny cakes
Forks and Straws | Cassava Corn Waffles with Shrimp Creole
Heal Me Delicious | Trinidadian Callaloo
Jamieson Diaries | Crockpot Smoked Red Beans
Kenneth Temple | Red Velvet Biscuit with BBQ Brisket
Pulled Pork BBQ Parfait
Equipment
- 4 wide-mouth mason jars (16 ounces each)
Ingredients
- 4 cups pulled pork cooked, shredded
- 4 cups mashed potatoes cooked
- 4 cups baked beans cooked
- 4 cups coleslaw
- BBQ sauce for topping
- pickles for topping
Instructions
- Layer ingredients into mason jars, as desired, and serve immediately!
Notes
- Use wide-mouth mason jars for easier layering and eating. Pint-sized jars work great for individual servings.
- Don’t overfill the jars. Leave a little room at the top so everything doesn’t spill out when folks dig in.
- Make it a meal or a side! These parfaits are filling enough for lunch or dinner, but you can also serve them in smaller jars or cups as a fun BBQ side dish.
- Set up a DIY parfait bar with different toppings and sauces—great for cookouts, game day, or family gatherings.
i want o try this recipe for my church function, they love to eat!!!
what size jars do you recommend?
12-ounce jars are perfect! Hope you and your church members enjoy!
How do you keep this item (PULLED PORK PARFAITS) warm? My concern is for a picnic buffet-style event. Thank you.
Hi! That’s a great question. I recommend keeping them warm in a chafing buffet dish. I would put the top on the jars and add the cole slaw last (when serving) so that the slaw is cold and fresh and the rest of the ingredients are warm. We have not tried this, but that’s what I would try!