Crockpot brown sugar garlic pork loin
A whole pork loin slow cooks under a sweet brown sugar, garlic and balsamic glaze, then gets sliced and drizzled with the sticky sauce.
- 360 min total
- 20 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 8
- About $1.43 a serving
- 320 calories
- Good the next day
- Gluten-free
- Dairy-free
Dolly says: Make the full amount. It’s just as good for lunch the next day.
Ingredients
For 8 servings.
- 1 pork loin roast, about 2½ lb
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp Dijon mustard
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 1 lb 8 oz frozen green beans
From your pantry
- 1½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- ⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
- 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp water
Each serving has about 320 calories, 32 g protein, 18 g carbs and 14 g fat, and costs about $1.43 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No chicken broth? Vegetable broth or bone broth works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the pork loin dry, it all over with the salt, pepper and garlic powder, and set it in the slow cooker fat side up.
Pat dry. Patting dry means pressing paper towels onto food to soak up the moisture on its surface. Wet food steams instead of browning, so this is how you get a good sear and crisp skin.
How you’ll know: The surface feels tacky, not wet, and the last paper towel comes away barely damp.
Season. Seasoning means adding salt, pepper or spices to bring out a food’s flavor. A little at a few stages tastes better than a lot all at the end.
How you’ll know: When you taste it, it tastes bright and like itself, not flat and not salty.
Stir the brown sugar, garlic, balsamic and mustard into a paste and spread it over the top of the pork.
Pour the broth around the pork, cover, and cook on low 4 to 5 hours, until the middle reads 145°F.
Timer: 240 min
Dolly’s tip: Loin is lean, so check it at 3½ hours. Cooked much past 160°F, it turns dry.Food safety: Steak, pork chops and other whole cuts are safe at 145°F in the middle, then let them rest for 3 minutes before cutting.
Move the pork to a board, cover it loosely with foil, and let it 10 minutes.
Rest. Resting means letting cooked meat sit for a few minutes before you cut it. It keeps cooking gently, and more of the juice stays in the meat instead of running onto the board.
How you’ll know: Loosely covered with foil, it stays hot, and very little juice runs out when you slice it.
Timer: 10 min
Pour the juices into a small . the cornstarch and water until smooth, stir it in, and 2 minutes over medium, until thick and glossy.
Saucepan. A saucepan is a pot with tall, straight sides and one long handle. It’s for things that need depth, like rice, sauces or a few boiled eggs.
How you’ll know: The food fills it about halfway, leaving room to bubble without spilling over.
Whisk. Whisking means beating quickly with a whisk or a fork to blend things together. It smooths out lumps and mixes eggs, oil or sauces evenly.
How you’ll know: It all looks one even color and texture, with no streaks or lumps.
Simmer. Simmering means keeping a liquid just below a boil, with small bubbles rising gently. It cooks food evenly and lets a sauce thicken without scorching on the bottom.
How you’ll know: Small, lazy bubbles break the surface every second or so, and nothing is churning.
Medium heatTimer: 2 min
Cook the green beans in the microwave as the package says.
Timer: 6 min
the pork, the glaze over it, and serve with the green beans.
Slice. Slicing means cutting food into flat pieces of about the same thickness. Even slices cook evenly, so none are raw while others burn.
How you’ll know: Lay a few side by side: they’re close to the same thickness from one end to the other.
Drizzle. Drizzling means pouring a thin, slow stream over the top of something. A thin stream spreads a little flavor a long way.
How you’ll know: You see thin lines across the food, not a puddle collecting underneath.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
