Slow Cooker Pork Ragu
Flavorful, tender pork easily made in the crockpot for a crowd pleasing dinner with such minimal effort!
This week had completely dragged on for me. The highlight of this week was catching up on Grey’s Anatomy last night. The show has gotten progressively worse over the years but I still watch each and every new episode, even though some of the main characters don’t even show up half the time. Like where was Patrick Dempsey the entire episode? I’m also not too thrilled about the outcome of Mr. Feeny.
Anyway, before I get all teary-eyed about the Mr. Feeny that I adore so much, let’s talk about this slow cooker dish.
The weather is cooling down here in LA (I can barely manage the 50-60 degree weather here!) which means I can finally bring out the slow cooker and make some pork ragu. It’s a simple recipe of searing a huge pork loin that gets thrown in a crockpot for 8 hours to get absolutely tenderized in a stew of so many flavors. Plus, this dish can serve an army so be sure to bring the leftovers to work or freeze the rest so you can have this comforting dish any time during the week!
Slow Cooker Pork Ragu
Ingredients
- 2 ½ pound boneless pork loin
- ¼ teaspoon dried rosemary
- â…› teaspoon dried thyme
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes
- ¾ cup chicken stock
- 1 small onion, diced
- â…“ cup grated carrots
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 bay leaf
- ¼ cup red wine
- 16 ounces wide egg noodles
Instructions
- Season pork loin with rosemary, thyme, salt and pepper, to taste, rubbing in thoroughly on all sides.
- Heat canola oil in a Dutch oven or large pot over medium high heat. Add pork loin and sear both sides until browned, about 3-4 minutes per side.
- Place pork loin into a slow cooker and top with crushed tomatoes, chicken stock, onion, carrots, tomato paste, garlic, bay leaf, wine, salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and cook on low heat for 8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.
- Remove pork loin and bay leaf from the slow cooker and shred the meat before returning to the pot with the juices; season with salt and pepper, to taste. Cover and keep warm for an additional 30 minutes.
- In a large pot of boiling salted water, cook pasta according to package instructions; drain well.
- Serve pasta immediately topped with pork mixture.
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Can this recipe be made in the instant pot under pressure rather than the slow cooker?
Love this recipe! I have not came across one of your recipes that I didn’t like. Thank you for your time and effort to put these tasty recipes together for us.Â
I accidentally found your website while searching for new, easy, healthy recipes for my family. Â I’ve never printed out so many recipes at one time that I couldn’t wait to try. Â Like right now!! Â You and your husband (and doggies) are really cute, too!
Hi
First of all, I wan to THANK YOU for creating this blog, your recipes makes me feel like a real chef..I used to be a horrible cook and did not like to cook. But ever since I found your blog, I start to enjoy cooking!! Anyway, I have a one question, what other meat would you substitute for pork ?Â
Thank you
Boneless, skinless chicken breasts would be a great substitute.
wow, no! Breasts in the slow cooker can dry out quickly.. better to use chicken thighs for the longer cooking time.
because I was taught by an old Italian grandmother, and not even mine, I suggest pork with bones in your rage. baby back ribs or chops are UNBELIEVABLE with sausage in your pasta sauce.
What can u use in place of wine, or if not what type of red wine to use
You can certainly try substituting something else for the red wine but without further recipe testing, I cannot speak for how much this will change the overall taste/texture of the dish. Using a substitution may also result in a mediocre outcome. As for the type of red wine, because it’s only 1/4 cup, you can really use any kind you have on hand.
this looks really tasty. i might try this cooking at home. wow,great recipe as you always have.
I dont have crushed tomatoes with me right now so can i just use diced tomatoes for that?
Cloey, it is best to use the ingredients listed for optimal results. That being said, diced tomatoes would not be an appropriate substitute here. The liquid from the crushed tomatoes plays a crucial role in this dish.
Oh my God, this isn’t brain surgery. Of course diced tomatoes can be used instead of crushed. There’s liquid in diced tomatoes too!
Jodie, there is nearly not enough liquid in diced tomatoes as crushed as the latter is more of a puree so no – it is not an appropriate substitute!
Just put 28 ounces of diced tomatoes in a blender and you’ll have “crushed tomatoes” in a New York Minute. Â It will work fine.
Diced tomatoes are generally tomato chunks packed in tomato juice. They can be an excellent timesaver. Crushed tomatoes are a mixture of diced tomatoes and tomato puree or paste. Stewed tomatoes are cooked and then canned, usually with other seasonings and sugar added.
This was really tasty. I added additional broth/wine cause my pot was pretty big and wanted the liquid to come higher up on the meat. So in the end there was a good bit of  broth. I can see adding some tomato purée to this to thicken the sauce.Â
I had stewed tomatoes on hand. I didn’t even question if it would be an ample substitute. I simply used a potato masher and crushed up the chunks – and later when I removed the meat for shredding I used the mashed again. It came out delicious.Â
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