This Slow Cooker Pork Loin with Gravy is perfect for those busy work days. Put everything into your slow cooker and let the flavors happen. The gravy is incredible.
Tender, Flavorful Slow Cooker Pork Loin
We all have those busy work weeks. Whether it’s time on the road, tightly scheduled meetings, or kids’ activities…it’s common to find ourselves with the what’s-for-dinner conundrum.
When you need dinners that are manageable and able to be prepped ahead of time, slow cooker meals are hard to beat. Sometimes a delicious Beef Pot Roast with Gravy hits the spot. If chicken is what’s in the fridge, Slow Cooker Roast Chicken is here to save the day.
And when you find that pork loin on sale at the store (or in the back of your freezer) do yourself a huge favor and make this Slow Cooker Pork Loin with Gravy. It’s everything you’d want in a family meal: it’s easy, outstanding in flavor, and set-it-forget-it Crockpot style.
Your Strategy For Prepping ahead
This slow cooker pork loin is guaranteed to turn out tender, flavorful, and produces a gravy so good, you’ll want to pour it over everything on the plate.
If your pork loin is frozen, be sure to defrost it a few days ahead of time by placing it (airtight) in fridge. Because pork loin is generally a thicker roast, it takes time to defrost thoroughly.
Make the dry rub mixture ahead of time; garlic powder, ground ginger, onion powder, dried thyme, salt, and pepper are your basic pantry seasonings for this dish. Simply combine the seasonings ahead of time; keep in an airtight container or baggie until ready to use. This can be done days ahead.
It takes less than 30 minutes to throw everything into the Crock pot the night before, put it in the fridge overnight, and let it cook on low setting the next day while you’re at work or taking care of all the other things.
Because one roast can feed 8-10 hungry people, this works as a great meal prep recipe that can be prepared ahead of time and can feed the family two nights in a row. Busy moms (and dads) know leftovers are a very good thing.
Low for 7 hours
The flavors of garlic and thyme are fabulous in this slow cooker pork loin. The gravy is aromatic and richly flavorful. Your eaters will be slurping up the gravy on their plates.
Pork loin should be nice and tender with 7-8 hours on low setting. Anything longer than that will likely result in overcooking. Just to be safe, time it so that you can check the results in 7 hours, to see if the pork is fork tender…if so, remove pork from heat (keep in mind pork will continue to cook a bit as it rests on cutting board.) All that’s left is to thicken up that gravy a bit, slice the pork, and serve it generously drenched with sauce.
Favorite side dishes to serve with this pork loin are Instant Pot Mashed Potatoes, Instant Pot Baby Potatoes, or Wild Rice Pilaf. You cannot go wrong with any of these choices.
watch This Recipe in Action:
Slow Cooker Pork Loin
- Prep Time: 20 min
- Cook Time: 7 hours
- Total Time: 7 hours 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
This slow cooker pork loin is fork-tender, flavorful, and has the best gravy! You can also use the smaller tenderloin cut, but be sure to lessen cook time to about 4 hours instead of 7. Serve with mashed potatoes and veggies, drizzled with this gravy!
Ingredients
- 3 lb pork loin, trimmed and cut little slits all around the pork
- 1 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme
- 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 2 TB vegetable oil
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2 TB lemon juice
- 2 TB regular strength soy sauce
- 3 TB cornstarch, completely dissolved in 3 TB water*
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine garlic powder, ground ginger, onion powder, salt, thyme, and pepper, whisking to combine. Rub seasoning all over the entire surface of pork loin. Do not trim pork loin, as it needs a bit of fat for a tender result.
- Heat oil in a large skillet until very hot. Brown pork loin on all 4 sides, a few minutes per side.
- Transfer pork loin to slow cooker. Add chicken broth, lemon juice, and soy sauce. Pour over the pork. Cover and cook on low for 7-8 hours. (If using tenderloins, reduce cook time to about 4 hours.)
- When finished, baste pork loin and transfer the pork to a plate and keep warm.
- Pour all the liquid from the slow cooker into a sauce pan. Add dissolved corn starch. Stir well. Cook on medium heat, stirring constantly, until sauce turns thick and gravy-like. Season with additional salt and pepper, if desired.
- Serve warm roast with gravy.
Notes
It’s important that cornstarch is fully dissolved in water prior to using in recipe. There should be no white spots or streaks that remain. It should have somewhat of a “chocolate milk” appearance (even miniature cornstarch bits that aren’t fully dissolved will result in a lumpy gravy, which you don’t want.)
This recipe is written for pork loins. If you’re using the smaller cuts of pork tenderloins, be sure to reduce cook time as specified.
If you enjoyed this recipe, please come back and give it a rating ♡
- Category: dinner, main
- Method: slow cooker
- Cuisine: American
Keywords: Slow Cooker Pork Loin with Gravy, Crockpot Pork Loin
If you’ve got a hankering for BBQ on the buns, try this super delicious Smoky Pulled Pork in the Crock Pot. One batch goes a long way, so it’s perfect for meal prep.
This is my Slow Cooker Pot Roast – my #1 favorite meal to bring to others when they need a meal, because people really really like it. Another great meal prep recipe.
I love a good a good pork loin and cooking it in a crock pot makes this so tender it melts in your mouth. I love that is pork loin is seared before cooking it in the slow cooker. This is a new family favorite for sure and will be on a regular rotation.
★★★★★
I heard lot about slow cookers… I know these gadgets are best for busy days. I am planning to buy one soon. This gravy sounds interesting!
This is the perfect pork braise recipe for right now so thank you very much as I have saved to this next weekend.
We made this the other day and it was awesome. Could I use a turkey breast, for calorie savings?
★★★★★
Turkey breast can work with this as well, though you may want to use boneless so it cooks in roughly the same amount of time.
Oh my. It takes days to defrost in the fridge?! I had no idea. I’m a mess and put it in hot water, which I know is a terrible method for a number of reasons. ♀️ I love that this is made in a slow cooker!
We LOVE garlic and thyme! Such a magical combination. This looks like a great recipes for the holidays. So easy and feeds a crowd!
This looks so amazing. My sister in law is making this tonight for us. Will update you on how it went. Thanks for sharing.
★★★★★
I am drooling here. As you describe the pork being so tender my imagination is writing the script and I can smell and taste that gravy. The herbs and spices you used, spot on and just having those soft mashed potatoes beside it screams lovely family style meal. Yummy!
★★★★
Omg this looks so good! The gravy, the mashed potatoes, and now I’m hungry haha. I need to give this a try!
looks like a great recipe. can you explain where all those carbs come from when it’s a meat dish with protein. We are watching carbs a little closer
Carolyn, the nutrition calc is an estimate at best. There’s probably a bit of carb in the cornstarch. You can decrease that a bit, if you’re okay with gravy being thinner. It will still be very flavorful 🙂