There’s nothing easier than a slow cooker meal, and this slow cooker Hawaiian Pork is sweet, savory and mouth-watering delicious. Pork tenderloin is slow cooked with the flavors of pineapple, barbeque sauce, soy sauce and brown sugar to give this dish a totally balanced flavor. This dish is great on its own, served with rice and a veggie, or my favorite way: on a sandwich. Scoop the slow-cooked pork, peppers and onions onto delicious slider buns with melty cheese and some crisp lettuce; this dinner is family-approved, and hassle-free.
All about this Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pork
The flavors in this dish are a combination of sweet and savory (which honestly, is my favorite flavor combination). This dish features lean pork tenderloin coated in a delicious savory rub. The pork is then combined with fresh bell peppers, onion, and sweet chunks of pineapple. A homemade sweet and savory sauce featuring barbeque sauce, ketchup, brown sugar, unsweetened applesauce and lime juice finishes the dish.
When combined together, each bite of this dish is packed with flavor and texture; crunch, melt-in-your-mouth tenderness, natural sweetness, and salty bites.
This dish is perfect to pair with a fluffy bed of white rice and side vegetables, but also makes a delicious topping for mini sliders. The perfect mini sliders for this dish are the King’s Hawaiian sliders, which are sweet and delicious. I top the Hawaiian pork and vegetables with delicious melty cheese and crisp mixed greens, piled high on the slider buns.
What’s the best way to serve slow cooker Hawaiian pork
I’ll give you two great serving methods for this recipe, both of which I have tested and vouched for:
- as a slider sandwich topped with melty cheese and all the toppings
- bowl-style with rice (or rice substitute) and other veggies
The stats for this recipe do not include the additional items required for serving, so you can really make this your own.
What you’ll need to make this recipe
For the pork and the vegetables, you’ll need:
- lean pork tenderloin
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- paprika
- kosher salt
- ground ginger
- canned pineapple chunks
- bell peppers
- onion
- garlic cloves
To make the sauce, you’ll need:
- unsweetened applesauce
- ketchup
- brown sugar
- reduced sodium soy sauce
- low-sugar barbeque sauce (I use this one)
- The barbeque sauce I use is naturally low in sugar (it is not very sweet tasting) but there are other brands that use sugar alternatives to offer a sweet taste without a ton of calories.
- lime juice
- corn starch
- water
Additional ingredients include toppings or other components to serve this dish with, like:
- rice or cauliflower rice (to serve this bowl style)
- slider buns, cheese, lettuce and toppings (to make sliders)
How to make slow cooker Hawaiian Pork
How to season and prep the meat
I suggest trimming any excess fat off the pork before working with it. To create the spice rub, combine the spices together in a small bowl. Rub the spice mixture all over the meat. This spice mixture is packed with smoky flavor from the paprika, and has a little zing from the ginger. It’s such a great combination.
Once the meat is coated with the spice rub, preheat a frying pan over medium high heat. Spray the pan with cooking spray, and then add the meat to the pan. Sear the meat for a couple of minutes on each side.
At this point, the meat will not be cooked. Searing a roast prior to slow cooking it allows you to lock in really good flavor, and it gets some nice color on the outside of the meat. Although this step is not required, per se, I really do not recommend skipping this step.
Once the meat is seared, add it to the bottom of the slow cooker.
Building the sauce and slow cooking the Hawaiian pork
To put everything together, add your sliced peppers and onion, and your minced garlic to the slow cooker with the pork. Next, drain the pineapple and add the pineapple chunks to the slow cooker as well.
To build the sauce, combine all of the sauce ingredients (except for the corn starch and water, we will use those later). Pour the sauce over the ingredients in the slow cooker.
Cook on high for three hours, or low for six hours, and then remove the pork from the slow cooker and cut it up or shred it (however you prefer to eat it). Return the meat to the slow cooker. Combine the corn starch and the water together to form a slurry, and add that to the pot with the other ingredients. Cook on high for another hour.
The final result is this delicious tender pork, cooked down veggies and a nice thick sauce.
Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pork
Equipment
- frying pan
- slow cooker
Ingredients
Pork Loin and Vegetables
- 1.25 lbs pork tenderloin filet, I used Hatfield brand
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1/4 tsp ground ginger
- 20 oz canned pineapple chunks, drained (one 20 oz can)
- 2 bell peppers
- 1 onion
- 3 cloves garlic
Sauce
- 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 cup barbeque sauce, I used Stubbs Original
- 1 tbsp lime juice
- 1.5 tbsp corn starch
- 1.5 tbsp water
For Serving
- chives for garnish
- slider buns, I used Kings Hawaiian
- Swiss or cheddar cheese
- lettuce, pickles for topping
- rice or cauliflower rice
Instructions
- Trim the excess fat off the pork loin (if any).
- Preheat a frying pan over medium high heat.
- Combine the garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, salt, and ginger together in a small bowl and rub it all over the pork loin.
- Add olive oil spray to the frying pan, and sear the seasoned pork for a few minutes on all sides (the pork will not be cooked, this is just for flavor and color).
- Add the seared pork loin to the bottom of the slow cooker.
- In the meantime, thinly slice the peppers and onion, and mince the garlic.
- Drain the juice from the pineapple chunks.
- Add the peppers, onion, garlic, and pineapple to the slow cooker on top of the pork.
- In a separate bowl, combine the sauce ingredients (except for the corn starch and water, that's for later) and pour it over the pork. Mix everything so that the sauce coats the other ingredients.
- Slow cook on high for 3 hours, or low for 6 hours.
- Remove the pork from the slow cooker and cut it into small pieces (or shred it).
- Mix the cornstarch with the water and add it to the slow cooker. Stir to combine.
- Return the cut/shredded pork to the slow cooker and cook for another hour on high.
Notes
- 6 WW points per heaping cup, all plans
Nutrition
Check out these other slow cooker recipes:
Slow Cooker French Dip Sandwiches
chelsea says
Does this recipe include points for the King’s Hawaiin buns?
Steph says
No, just the filling
Brooklynn says
Would the recipe be the same if I use chicken?
Steph says
yes the method would be the same, use full chicken breasts as the protein
Amanda says
Would the points be the same if chicken is used? (Blue) Thanks!
PS- I LOVE your recipes and tell everyone about them!
Jennifer Parsley says
Looks delicious! Could you share a recipe for cauliflower rice to go along with this?
Cheri says
Do you think this recipe would work in the instant pot and how long to cook it for using the instant pot?
Joanne Walsh says
Excellent
Emily says
I pulled a pork loin out to thaw yesterday when I saw you sharing about this in your stories just in case it was a hit! We had it for dinner tonight (sans peppers because I didn’t get to the store), but it was delicious! Another bigtime winner!
Caroline says
would we be able to put items in freezer bag uncooked and put in freezer to cook another day or would it be best to pre cook and freeze reheated , thanks
Chris says
I made this the other day and the family loved it. Thank you.
Patty says
Another great meal on a hot Sunday night! Thanks Steph!
Amanda says
Wow – all of Steph’s recipes are good, but this is top tier. I knew pork tenderloin had similar macros/calories to chicken breast but I guess I always thought of it as dry and flavorless. However – after making this I have been telling everyone that pork tenderloin is the new chicken hahaha. These flavors are unmatched and I have honestly eaten a serving of this as a standalone meal – no rice, no buns – and been completely satisfied since there’s already a bunch of veggies in there. I have also served it as the meat on top of a salad with pickled red onion. Its all good! I have already placed a grocery order to make this again since I gave my father in law half of my first batch!
Linda Southall says
I made this meal this past weekend and my family loved it – even my family member who are not on Weighwatchers! Plus, I always love using my slow cooker. I forgot to buy brown sugar so i substituted with white sugar and honey. This recipe will definitely be on repeat. I was also shocked to learn that the Hawaiian rolls were only 2 points for 1 roll. I just served them as an open face sandwich with the pork on top. Thanks for sharing.
Linda Southall says
I made this meal this past weekend and my family loved it – even my family member who are not on Weighwatchers! Plus, I always love using my slow cooker. I forgot to buy brown sugar so i substituted with white sugar and honey. This recipe will definitely be on repeat. I was also shocked to learn that the Hawaiian rolls were only 2 points for 1 roll. I just served them as an open face sandwich with the pork on top. Thanks for sharing.
Andi says
Another amazing recipe from Steph. This pork is so delicious and tender. I served it over Natural Heaven brown rice and wow I’m impressed.
Dena says
DELICIOUS!!!
Whitney says
Made this tonight for dinner and it was delicious. I tried it with rice and a slider and they both were great. Definitely will make this again
Kate says
Made this for dinner tonight and served it over rice. It was delicious and a big hit with the family!
Vicki says
Oh my goodness!! This was so good! I ate mine like a stew. Wow!!
Katie says
This recipe was so easy especially on a work day, full of great flavor, and such a crowd pleaser. I doubled the recipe to serve more people and have left overs and it reheated great!
Alison says
I have made this recipe twice now. On the 4th had a bunch of people at the shore. Threw it in the crockpot in morning and dinner was done when we got off the beach. Everyone loved it.
Janka says
Reminds me of a sweet and sour chicken that my mom used to make. Either way my two year old loved it and it was a pretty substantial portion. Thanks for the recipe!
Regina says
This is so insanely good and easy!!!
Christina says
Made this for dinner tonight, but without the pineapple and peppers and onions, and it was soooo good! Made delish pulled pork sandwiches with it on brioche buns from Wildgrain… everyone loved it!
Colleen says
Can you freeze the leftovers ?
Christy H says
This was so good, a nice twist on bbq pork! I used pork loin instead of tenderloin, turbinado sugar because I was out of brown, and fresh pineapple (0 points). I did 6 hours on low, and the peppers and most of the most of the pineapple did not remain intact, rather they really disintegrated into the sauce. That’s not a bad thing, taste-wise. I am going to see if cooking for a shorter time on high leaves the peppers more intact. For some reason I’m wanting to put this on a pizza or in a quesadilla!
Kristin Mango says
Easy & delicious! Perfect meal for a busy weeknight.
Carly says
Made this for the first time tonight! I’ve definitely been missing out! Fantastic as always!
Sandy says
Awesome easy meal! Huge portions,so filling!
Cheryl says
Followed the recipe precisely. It was fantastic.
Has anyone tried this with chicken breast?
Heather says
Delicious! Made exactly as the recipe stated.