I LOVE cooking dinner in my crock pot. I prepare the food while the day is still young (and while the kids are at school and not underfoot) and I get to enjoy the delicious smells all day long.
I’ve had a pork tenderloin in my freezer for a while…I realized that it needed to be eaten soon or else it would fall victim to freezer burn. I enjoy pork loin, but in the past I’ve had a little bit of a problem with the pork drying out (even in the slow cooker). I had never tried shredding a pork tenderloin, so I wasn’t sure if it would even work….but I am here to tell you that it not only worked, but it was one of the best meals we’ve had in a long time. My husband has requested that I make it often.
No one could get enough of this full-of-flavor, spiced Cuban-style pork.
Crock Pot Cuban Shredded Pork
- 3 lbs pork tenderloin
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 Tbsp minced garlic
- 1 cup orange juice
- 3 Tbsp white wine vinegar
- 1 Tbsp lemon juice
- 1 Tbsp ground cumin
- 1 Tbsp Montreal Steak Seasoning
- 1 tsp seasoned salt
- 2 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
- 3 bay leaves
- Place onions at the bottom of the slow cooker. Add pork tenderloin (I had to cut mine in half to fit in the crock pot).
- Spread garlic over pork. Pour orange juice, white wine vinegar, and lemon juice over pork.
- Sprinkle all spices onto the pork (the pork will literally be covered in spice). Add bay leaves to the juices next to the pork.
- Cover crock pot and cook on low for approximately 8 hours, or until pork shreds easily with a fork. (Note: I flipped my pork about halfway through so that both sides were equally soaked in the spiced juices).
- Shred pork with a fork - it may be easier to remove pieces of meat to a plate or cutting board to shred, but I left all of the meat in the juices after shredding. Note: I had to remove several pieces of fat at this point.
- Serve warm with Coconut and Black Eyed Peas Rice (the combination works beautifully as a burrito).
As I mentioned in the recipe above, I served the shredded pork with a sweet coconut-black eyed peas rice in a burrito. The flavors meshed perfectly. Honestly, it was divine….like they were made to go together. I added green peas and a little bit of cheese to my burrito. Yum!
© 2012, Food Fun Family. All rights reserved.
Personally, if I didn’t have white wine vinegar, I would probably opt to substitute another light vinegar (like white cooking vinegar or maybe apple cider vinegar). You’ll probably get a slightly different flavor, but it should be fine!
I don’t have white wine vinegar. But I do have white wine and apple cider vinegar. Would that work?
That looks delicious! I loved shredded pork but usually add BBQ sauce.
This looks delish. I make another version of this but am definitely going to try yours to change things up a bit.
Yep! The plugin is called Easy Recipe. I love it! my only complaint is that they took away the ability to add photos within the recipe in the free version.
I can’t wait to hear how your family likes it!
THis looks amazing. I’m going to make it tomorrow night for dinner. Also, how do you get the recipe in your post? Is it a plug in?