Sponsored post written by me on behalf of Smithfield®️ Marinated Fresh Pork. The opinions and text are all mine.
As we're now halfway through the month of September and my boys have a few weeks of school under their belts, we have definitely settled into our new fall routine.
I spend much of my days transporting the three boys to and from their various schools, negotiating homework, shuffling everyone out the door to sports practices, and hosting play dates. In other words: it doesn't leave much room in the schedule for complicated weeknight dinners!
How To Get Real Flavor Real Fast
My family needs real flavor, real fast, which is why I often rely on Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork to get simple and delicious dinners on the table quickly.
I recently purchased this Smithfield Marinated Fresh Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Sirloin in the fresh meat section at Safeway, and my Garlic and Herb Slow Cooker Pork and Vegetables dinner was on the table just a few hours later!
The Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork is available in a variety of fresh cuts, and can be utilized in a number of different cooking styles and dishes. You can even slice or cube the pork for faster dinners that are ready in 30 minutes or less, making it perfect for any night of the week!
Since I frequently rely on my slow cooker, I decided to create this new slow cooker pork dish for a satisfying and comforting dinner that we can enjoy on our busiest weeknights. This thick, juicy, flavorful meat can be sautéed, grilled, or roasted, but it also lends itself beautifully to the low-and-slow method!
It's a great option for those evenings when we have multiple soccer practices on the agenda, since I'm typically rushed to feed the kids an early supper before we head off to the fields.
They can enjoy a plate of Garlic and Herb Slow Cooker Pork and Vegetables with buttered biscuits on the side, while I keep the rest of the meal warm in the slow cooker until Keith gets home from work. Whether I like it or not, we often have to eat in shifts, and this dinner accommodates a variety of schedules.
The Marinade
The Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork is made from 100% fresh pork with no artificial ingredients. The prep work is done because it is slow-marinated and perfectly seasoned, so my only job is to toss the ingredients into a pot early in the day and set the timer!
There's no fussing at the last minute, no racing around the kitchen while I'm trying to deal with the children, and no stress about burned meat or undercooked veggies. The slow cooker pork comes out perfectly tender and juicy every time!
Whether you're preparing a special, relaxing Sunday supper for your family, or rushing to throw together something fast during the week, my best tip is to grab your favorite cut of Smithfield Marinated Fresh Pork and skip the prep work!
You can roast it in the oven, grill it outside, or toss it in the slow cooker for a one-dish meal. No matter how you prepare it, the marinated pork will give you a delicious home cooked dinner -- without much effort!
More Pork Recipes You Might Like:
- One-Pot Southern Pork Chop Dinner
- Country Pride Pork Chop Marinade
- Mustard and Brown Sugar Baked Pork Tenderloin
- Dump and Bake Boneless Pork Chops
Garlic and Herb Slow Cooker Pork and Vegetables
Ingredients
- 1 lb. carrots peeled and sliced into 1-inch pieces
- 8 mini golden potatoes quartered
- 1 sweet onion chopped
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- ½ teaspoon minced fresh garlic
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 Smithfield Marinated Fresh Roasted Garlic & Herb Pork Sirloin about 23 ounces
- 1 lemon halved
- ½ cup chicken broth
- 2 cups fresh or frozen broccoli florets
Instructions
- Place carrots, potatoes, and onions in the bottom of a large slow cooker. Sprinkle Italian seasoning, garlic and salt over the vegetables and toss to coat.
- Place pork on top of the vegetables.
- Add lemon to the slow cooker and pour chicken broth over everything.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6-8 hours or on HIGH for 3-4 hours.
- I don’t think that broccoli cooks well in the slow cooker because it gets mushy. Instead, I prefer to steam my broccoli separately so that it’s just crisp-tender, and then stir it into the pot at the end of the cooking time.
- As an alternative, you can stir the raw broccoli into the slow cooker during the final 1 hour of cooking time so that it has an opportunity to cook with the rest of the dish, but it doesn’t become overcooked.
- Slice pork loin just before serving.
Gayle @ Pumpkin 'N Spice
This looks like such a delicious fall meal, Blair! I love your photos! I can only imagine how busy you are with your boys, so I'm sure slow cooker meals are a blessing. I've got to try this!
Blair
Thank you, Gayle! Busy or not, I love my slow cooker!!!
Madison
I think I'll make this this weekend. Do you foresee any problems with doubling the recipe? Also will red potatoes be ok? I have so many already!!
Blair
Hi, Madison! Doubling the recipe should work very well! And yes -- red potatoes will be fine. 🙂 Enjoy!
sonia
I am in Canada and we do not have the same products here as you have but still love your meals and try to improvise what we have available here in Canada and the meals come out great and tasty
Blair
Hi, Sonia! Thank you so much for your kind words. I'm glad that you enjoy the recipes!
If you can't find the marinated fresh pork in Canada, I would definitely suggest using pork that you marinate in advance before putting it in the slow cooker. The marinade is KEY to adding so much flavor to the dish, so don't skip that step. Even if you just use a prepared Italian salad dressing as a marinade, it will be much more flavorful than a plain piece of meat. Enjoy!
Jonathan
Thanks for the receipe. I am trying it this weekend. Why is it important to put the vegetables in first? Could you substitute water for chicken broth?
Blair
Hi, Jonathan! I put the veggies on the bottom because I want to make sure that they’re fully cooked and tender by the end, and keeping them closest to the heat of the pot helps with that.
You can definitely use water instead of the broth — it just won’t have quite as much flavor. Adjust your seasonings at the end, according to your taste preferences.????
Enjoy!
NanOBird
Do you know if the garlic and herb pork loin has rosemary on it?
Blair
Hi! I honestly don't know. I even looked online to see if I could read the ingredients label, but it doesn't specify. The ingredients listed are: spice, salt, dextrose, tapioca starch, garlic, onion powder, maltodextrin, red bell peppers, natural smoke and citric acid. So it doesn't list rosemary, unless rosemary is included in the first ingredients -- "spice." 🙂
Emily
Wow, I love that this can be made in the slow cooker so there's hardly any work involved, perfect!
Blair
So easy, right?! Thanks, Emily!
Em
I was wondering what to marinate a Smithfield pork loin with? I have an unmarinated loin with almost everything...I didn't buy the loin marinated. No one taught me to cook lol.
Blair
Hey, Em! That's no problem! You can marinate the pork in your favorite bottle of Italian salad dressing, or make one of these homemade marinades instead:
- Garlic and Herb Marinade (just use your pork instead of the salmon called for in the recipe): https://www.theseasonedmom.com/garlic-herb-salmon-marinade/
- Honey Garlic Dijon Marinade: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/honey-garlic-dijon-pork-tenderloin-marinade/
- Country Pride Pork Marinade: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/pork-chop-marinade/
Again, just use your pork loin with any of those options. Be sure to discard the marinade when you transfer the pork to the slow cooker. You don't need to put the marinade in the slow cooker with the pork. Enjoy!
Melissa
I have a preseasoned pork cushion roast, I have never gooked one. It’s 3.31 lbs. do you think 6-8 hours would be a decent time for mine? Also, since it’s preseasoned, what kind of liquid do you think? Chicken broth? And how much should I put in for that size of pork roast?
Thanks for any advice you can give me.
Melissa
Oops! Never *cooked* one.
Blair
Hi, Melissa! That's a bigger roast than the one I used, so I would say about 8 hours on low (but slow cookers vary drastically in their cooking temperatures, so you may just need to keep an eye on it). This recipe was written for a seasoned roast as well, so you shouldn't need to adjust the amount of liquid at all. Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Bethany
Hello! Do you peel your potatoes?
Blair
Hi, Bethany! Nope, I don't peel the potatoes. 🙂
Linda
Thank you for sharing this!
Making it today!
Blair
Awesome! Enjoy, Linda!
Theresa Satterfield
Can I put the pork tenderloin in the Crock-Pot Frozen?
Blair
Hi, Theresa! Technically, yes -- you can put it into the slow cooker when it's still frozen. However, food safety experts say that it's not a good idea to cook frozen meat in a slow cooker because it often takes the slow cooker too long to bring the meat up to a safe temperature of 140 degrees F. To be safe, I always thaw the meat in the refrigerator overnight, and then put it in the Crock Pot the next day. Hope that helps! 🙂
Tabitha
Hello,
I've had my meal in my slow cooker for 5 hours and my veggies are not done. I cut the carrots smaller then what you did, and potatoes into cubes. But everything is still hard. Any suggestions? Cooked on high.
Blair
Hey, Tabitha! Every Crock Pot runs at a slightly different temperature, which is why you get a range of cooking times. It sounds like your pot's "HIGH" setting just isn't as hot as others. My only suggestion is to just give it a bit more time, or if you're really in a hurry and the pork seems done, remove the veggies that are still firm, place them in a covered microwave-safe dish, and finish cooking them in the microwave so that you can eat right away. Hope that helps, and enjoy the meal!
Tabitha
Thank you!!????
matt
just wanted the recipe, got so frustrated skimming through all the writing that i just came to the bottom to find where to leave the comment. Shame i wont get to try ot as it is burried amongst bs story time and adds. Just thought id give ya a tip, start with the recipe and the stories under, some of us honestly dont care where you got it from and turns us off from even scrolling down to find the recipe.
Blair
Hi, Matt! Thanks for your feedback. I totally understand, and I realize that not everyone wants to read the content of the post before skipping to the recipe. As a result, I have a big green button at the top of every post that says, "JUMP TO RECIPE." If you click that, it takes you immediately to the recipe box -- no need to see any ads, photos, or text. Hope that helps!
Debbie
Hi, this recipe looks delicious but can you use sweet potatoes in the slow cooker with the marinated pork loin?
Blair
Hi, Debbie! Yes, I think the sweet potatoes would work fine. I find that sweet potatoes cook a bit faster than other potatoes, so they have a tendency to get mushy in a slow cooker over a long period of time. Maybe you don't mind, which is great. If you don't care for mushy potatoes, you might want to wait and add them to the pot after the first couple of hours. I'm not sure exactly how long they will need (some of that depends on how big you cut them, too). Hope that helps, and enjoy!
Jax
You got so frustrated scrolling thru the short story? Dang, you should try meditation if silly stuff like that bothers you so much that you feel the need to give your negative feedback. Especially since you missed the big green button. Sheesh.
Shauna
I was wondering if I could substitute the carrots with asparagus, hubby loves it, and I don't know how to properly cook it.
Blair
Hey, Shauna! I've never actually cooked asparagus in a slow cooker. I think you could probably make that substitution without any problem. The asparagus will be very tender (almost mushy) by the time it's done. If your husband prefers a more crisp-tender asparagus, you may want to add it to the slow cooker during the final 4 hours or so.
Another option would be to serve asparagus as a separate side dish. This is my favorite way to prepare roasted asparagus in the oven: https://www.theseasonedmom.com/oven-roasted-asparagus/
Hope that helps!
Trisha
Do you just chunk the halved lemon in peel and all? I’m planning to make this tomorrow and just wanted to make sure. Thanks!!!
Blair
Hi, Trisha! Yes; however, sometimes it can give the dish a slightly bitter taste. If you like, you can just squeeze some lemon juice on at the end, or grate a little bit of lemon zest into the sauce if you want more lemon flavor. Sometimes I just skip it altogether. 🙂
Trisha
Thanks so much!!!
Marie
Love, loved this recipe! I followed the recipe exactly, and threw this in the crock pot between conference calls (took maybe 8 minutes tops!). I was so happy dinner was done after putting our toddler down I almost cried (I’m tired, OK ).
Blair
Hi, Marie! I'm so happy to hear that! There's nothing better than a slow cooker meal on a busy day. Thanks for taking the time to come back here and leave a note -- especially given how tired you are! 🙂