Your Crock-Pot Turns Pork Loin Into a Weekday Dinner Option
With an hour plus cooking time, you might only prepare pork loin on special occasions. But with your Crock-Pot doing all the cooking while you're at work, you can serve this savory meat to your family any day of the week. However, to get that sear, you're going to have to do a little pre-cooking before you put the loin in the Crock-Pot.
With the added liquid needed for cooking, plus the steam created by slow-cooking, you'll never have to worry about a dry roast when cooking in the Crock-Pot.
Total Time: 5 hours, 15 minutes | Prep Time: 15 minutes | Serves: 4 to 6
Ingredients:
- 4 garlic cloves, pressed
- 2 teaspoons dried rosemary
- 1 1/2 teaspoons Kosher salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons oil
- 1 1/2 pound pork loin
- 1/4 cup beef broth
Directions:
- In a small bowl, mix together garlic, rosemary, salt and pepper and rub on pork loin.
- In a skillet pan, heat oil over medium to medium-high heat. Add pork loin and sear for 1 to 2 minutes on each side.
- Place your pork loin in the slow cooker.
- Before you turn off your skillet, add the beef broth to deglaze. Pour broth over pork in Crock-Pot.
- Cook the pork on low heat for 5 hours.
Serve your pork with roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts or rice and steamed broccoli—and, of course, applesauce.
Tip
If you need your pork cooked faster, turn the heat up to high and cook for 3 hours.
To add even more flavor, before you sear your pork, cook up chopped onions and carrots with oil in the skillet and add to the Crock-Pot. Then, cook your pork in the seasoned pan and place on top of the veggies in your Crock-Pot.
This recipe uses a simple pork rub to add flavor, but any flavors you like will work, too. For a sweet and spicy flavored pork, mix together brown sugar, salt, pepper, ginger, paprika and cayenne, and rub on your pork before searing.
Add quartered red potatoes to the Crock-Pot when you add your pork, so you have a side to serve with your meat. Be sure not to overcrowd the pot, however, so your meat cooks evenly.
Warning
Before turning off your Crock-Pot, check the temperature of your pork with your meat thermometer. A well-cooked pork should read 145F. If it falls below the recommended temperature, place the pork back in the Crock-Pot and cook for another 30 minutes. Eating under-cooked pork increases risk of food-borne illness.
References
Writer Bio
Jill Corleone is a registered dietitian and health coach who has been writing and lecturing on diet and health for more than 15 years. Her work has been featured on the Huffington Post, Diabetes Self-Management and in the book "Noninvasive Mechanical Ventilation," edited by John R. Bach, M.D. Corleone holds a Bachelor of Science in nutrition.