Tag: Slow Cooker

Sweet Pork

This sweet pork comes from Mel’s Kitchen Cafe, and is a lot like Cafe Rio’s. It’s amazing, and we’ve made it for several large group events and birthday parties. Plus, pork shoulder is often on sale for 99 cents, so the meat is surprisingly cheap (although the sauces make it more costly).

It makes a lot, and we usually freeze the leftovers in quart bags to use in the future. You can use the sweet pork to make into sweet pork burritos or salad.

Make it a meal with:

And luckily this one is naturally gluten free.

Sweet Pork

  • Servings: A LOT
  • Difficulty: medium
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Great for big gatherings, and it freezes well.

Ingredients

Seasoning

  •  1 Tbsp. cumin
  •  1 Tbsp. Paprika
  •  1 Tbsp. Onion Powder
  •  1 Tbsp. Chili Powder
  •  1 Tbsp. Garlic Powder
  •  2 tsp. Salt
  •  1/2 tsp. Black Pepper

Pork

  •  3-5 lbs. Pork Shoulder (or boneless sirloin pork roast, but it’s not as good)
  •  1 c. Root Beer or Cola
  •  1 c. Green Salsa (aka salsa verde. Herdez is great, but use Mild–medium is surprisingly hot)

Sauce

    •  2 c. Red Enchilada Sauce (Rosarita is good)
    •  1/2 c. Brown Sugar
    •  8 oz. Chopped Green Chiles
    •  1 c. Green Salsa

Directions

For seasoning: Combine all the seasoning ingredients together in a small bowl. Measure out 2 Tbsp. of the mixture and save for later. Cut the pork roast into large chunks (4-6 inches) and rub the remaining seasoning mixture (not the reserved 2 Tbsp.) evenly over all sides of the pork.

For pork: Add the soda and green salsa to the slow cooker. Stir to combine. Add the seasoned pork. Cover and cook on low for 8-9 hours or high for 5-6 hours until tender. Transfer the pork to a cutting board or pan and shred. Discard all but 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid in the slow cooker, then add the shredded pork back.

For sauce: To the pork in the slow cooker, add the 2 tablespoons of reserved spices and the rest of the sauce ingredients, then stir to combine. Cover and cook on high for 15-20 minutes until heated through.


Kalua Pork

Michael got this recipe on his mission from a Hawaiian family, and we’ve made it a lot since then. It’s great and very easy for large gatherings, and your house smells delicious all day. Plus, pork shoulder is often on sale, even as low as 99 cents a pound. Kalua pork is a little greasy, though, so take note. We often serve it on rice, but it’s also great on hamburger buns or Hawaiian sweet rolls.

And good news, this one is naturally gluten free.

Make it a meal with:

Kalua Pork

  • Servings: 12?
  • Difficulty: easy
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Very easy and great for large gatherings.

Ingredients

  • 5-6 lb. Pork Shoulder/Butt (boneless if possible, but bone-in is fine)
  • 1 Tbsp.+ Sea Salt
  • 1 Tbsp. Liquid Smoke
  • 1 bottle Hawaiian BBQ Sauce (optional)

Directions

Combine ingredients and cook on low in oven at 200° or in crock pot on low for 14-20 hours. May season with more salt afterwards, if needed. After cooked, pull apart with fork and serve on rice with BBQ sauce (if desired). You can place the pork back in the crock pot to keep it warm, but remove most of the liquid or it will be very fatty.


Pot Roast

Since pot roast and beef soup have basically the same ingredients, you can make a soup out of this if you just cut up the beef and vegetables beforehand. Also, for pot roast, I love to make gravy with the tons of leftover juice. It’s wonderful to freeze the gravy and use later for Hamburger Gravy, Beef Pot Pies, or Beef and Gravy served over noodles.

If you’re making it gluten free, make sure to use Members Mark Beef Base or Better Than Bouillon (or gluten free bouillon cubes if you can find any), and make the gravy with cornstarch.

Make it a meal with:

Pot Roast or Beef Soup

  • Servings: 8?
  • Difficulty: easy
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It’s basically the same ingredients for beef soup or pot roast.

Ingredients

  • 3-4 lbs. Beef (chuck roast or brisket for pot roast)
  • 4-6 Potatoes, chopped large
  • 3-4 Carrots, chopped large or 4 c. Baby Carrots
  • 1 Onion, chopped large
  • About 4-6 c. Water (to cover)
  • 4-6 Beef Bouillon Cubes (or 4-6 tsp. Members Mark Beef Base)
  • 1 Bay Leaf
  • 1+ tsp. Salt to taste
  • Pepper to taste
  • Optional: Flour (or cornstarch) for gravy (such as 1 c. cornstarch, 1 c. water, depending on how much broth you have)

Directions

For pot roast, place beef in slow cooker and cover with water. Chop all the vegetables large so they don’t get mushy after the long cook time. Add the remaining ingredients except the flour. For the soup, you can use any of several kinds of beef, including rump roast or sirloin–it just needs to cook a long time to get tender. Cook for 4-5 hours on high or 8-10 hours on low until the meat is tender enough. If using a big pot rather than a slow cooker, cook soup for 1 hour (beef may be tougher with this method). Remove bay leaf before serving.

For pot roast gravy: Remove everything from the juice, then pour the juice through a strainer into a pot. Bring to a boil. In a bowl, whisk together flour or cornstarch and water until no lumps remain, then add to the juice, whisking constantly. If the gravy is too runny after it comes to a boil, add more whisked flour and water. Salt and pepper to taste.