Ultra tender and flavorful crock pot cranberry pork loin is slowly cooked in a citrus cranberry sauce, making it an easy dinner for any cold weather holiday.
This recipe recommends cooking on Low for four to five hours, and even though it’s easy to adjust the cook time for High (typically this would be half as long as Low), I highly recommend sticking to the Low cook time.
The beauty of this recipe is how the meat marinates while cooking, and you lose some of that when the cooking time is sped up. The pork loin will be cooked the same on HIGH as it is on LOW, but it will be far more tender and flavorful when given the extra time on LOW.
INGREDIENTS :
- 1 tsp salt
- 3 lb pork loin
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 16 oz whole berry cranberry sauce
- 1/2 cup orange juice
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1/4 cup light brown sugar packed
- 1/2 tsp orange zest
- 1 pinch ground cloves
- orange slices for garnish (optional)
- fresh thyme for garnish (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS :
- In a medium bowl, add cranberry sauce, orange juice, brown sugar, orange zest, and cloves. Whisk until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed, then set bowl aside.
- Heat olive oil in a wide skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork loin to skillet and season with salt and pepper. Sear all sides of pork loin until golden brown (or darker if you prefer) typically 2-5 minutes per side.
- Place browned pork loin in the bottom of a 6-quart crock pot. Pour cranberry mixture on top, spooning sauce as needed so that it fills all the sides and between the pieces of meat.
- Cover crock pot and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours (or until a meat thermometer reads 145 degrees F). For best results, cook on LOW; however, if time is an issue, can be cooked on HIGH for 2 to 3 hours.
- Transfer pork loin to a serving platter. Garnish with orange slices and fresh thyme (optional). Cover plate with foil and let sit 20 minutes, then serve.