An easy and healthy slow cooker pork tenderloin recipe with Asian vibes and a ginger glaze that gets caramelized under the broiler. Bring on the crusty topping. Originally published January 9, 2015.
Table of Contents
- You will love this Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
- Pork Tenderloin Slow Cooker ingredients
- Asian Pork Tenderloin substitutions and additions
- How to make Asian Pork Tenderloin Marinade
- How to cook Marinated Pork Tenderloin in Slow Cooker
- How to serve this Pork Tenderloin Asian Recipe
- How to store Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
- Asian Style Pork Tenderloin FAQs
- More satisfying and easy pork recipes!
- Asian Style Pork Tenderloin (Slow Cooker) Recipe
Today Charlotte was dropped off at home from a playdate at a friend’s, and as we’re eating lunch she says, “Mom, you never got dressed!”
“What! Yes I did!”
“No, you didn’t.”
“I took a shower! I put on makeup!”
“Well you look the same.”
THANKS A LOT CHARLOTTE. Sometimes living with a 3-year-old is all you need to keep your ego in check. Although to be fair, I probably needed an ego check after The Autograph Incident.
Also, to be even more fair, I’m sick right now, so when I say “I got dressed” I mean that I got out of the shower and put on a whole different pair of yoga pants. Here I come, world.
One time my sister-in-law Sandi didn’t have her usual glasses on, and one of her kids asked why she had to wear them all the time. She explained that she has an astigmatism that makes it impossible to wear contacts. Her son replied, “Well that’s too bad. You look better without them.” ZING. For the record, Sandi, I like your glasses.
Have you guys tried out my Brown Sugar Balsamic Pork Tenderloin? It’s a reader favorite here on the blog. It’s a slow cooker, no-fail kind of recipe. I make it all the time, especially when we are having company for dinner. It’s so easy yet seems impressive.
I wanted to change it up, so I made this version to go with the Asian Cauliflower “Rice” I posted on Wednesday. I’m really loving the addition of ginger to the glaze. It’s just as easy as the original recipe, only a few more spices called for in the rub. A healthy entree for all us healthy people in healthy January!
You will love this Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
I love slow cooker meals. I have a huge section of slow cooker recipes because I am not, shall we say, the best at remembering that dinner is a thing until everyone is already starving, ravenously crawling the kitchen like velociraptors who’ve just learned how to open doors.
This Asian-inspired pork tenderloin is perfect for my forgetful, preoccupied ways because I don’t have to do anything until the last 10 minutes before dinner. I just pull the pork tenderloin out of the crockpot, slap on the glaze, and throw it under the broiler. I can put rice in the cooker, do some frozen cauliflower rice, or steam some veggies, and dinner is done!
Pork Tenderloin Slow Cooker ingredients
Here’s a quick shopping list to help you gather your ingredients. See the recipe card below for the full ingredients and instructions!
- Brown sugar
- Ground ginger
- Ground cloves
- Cinnamon
- Garlic powder
- Crushed red pepper
- Pork tenderloin (2 lbs.)
- Cornstarch
- Rice vinegar
- Soy sauce
- Fresh ginger
- Fresh cilantro (to garnish)
- Limes (to garnish)
Asian Pork Tenderloin substitutions and additions
If you’re missing a spice for the rub, say, cloves, don’t worry about it–just leave it out. The flavors will still be great. If you prefer less salt in the glaze, you can substitute low sodium soy sauce. And if you’re missing rice vinegar, you can substitute apple cider vinegar. It’s the best swap with its similar sweet and salty flavor.
Looking for something a little different? The original version of this recipe is my Brown Sugar Balsamic Pork Tenderloin. It uses the same technique of cooking the pork in the crockpot before finishing it off in the oven. It has an even shorter list of ingredients in the rub and switches up the Asian inspired glaze with a balsamic glaze.
How to make Asian Pork Tenderloin Marinade
When you’re making pork tenderloin in the slow cooker, you don’t really need a marinade–or rather, the rub we’re putting on the pork before cooking it acts as a marinade. This is because the pork, with the rub on it, is in the slow cooker essentially “marinating” for several hours.
I take a simple combo of brown sugar, ground ginger, ground cloves, cinnamon, garlic powder, and crushed red pepper, mix it together, and rub it on the pork. The Asian inspired flavor profile gets completed with the glaze we’re putting on after it’s cooked, so don’t worry that you’re not seeing the soy sauce and rice vinegar in this step!
Before broiling, after broiling. Gingery crust. It’s a happy thing.
How to cook Marinated Pork Tenderloin in Slow Cooker
Here’s a quick overview of how to make this recipe in the slow cooker. Full instructions can be found in the recipe card below!
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, salt, powdered ginger, cinnamon, garlic, cloves, black pepper, and crushed red pepper.
- Place the tenderloins in the slow cooker. Rub the seasonings over the pork, including the bottom. Pour ½ cup water in the slow cooker.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours, then preheat your broiler.
- Combine brown sugar, cornstarch, rice vinegar, water, and soy sauce in a saucepan.
- Set over medium heat and stir until mixture thickens. Remove from heat and stir in minced ginger.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick spray.
- Remove the pork from the crock pot (discard the liquid) and place on the lined baking sheet. Brush a generous amount of the glaze on the pork.
- Put your oven rack as high as it will go, and broil the pork for 1 or 2 minutes, until bubbly and caramelized. Serve with remaining glaze on the side, and garnish with lime and cilantro.
How to serve this Pork Tenderloin Asian Recipe
I love making this pork tenderloin with some Asian Cauliflower “Rice.” No, of course it doesn’t taste like actual rice! But it is super delicious and pairs great with the pork.
If you’re thinking “No way!! I want real rice!!” ok, I got you, make this Coconut Jasmine Rice. It is the realest. And fills your house with an amazing aroma.
This pork would also be awesome with some Marinated Asian Cucumber Salad. Super easy to throw together.
An amazing option for a complete meal would be to make Easy Sesame Noodles with Spring Veggies! Or, you can also stir fry some veggies, fresh or from a frozen bag of mixed stir fry veggies. Always gotta get those veggies in there!
How to store Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
This pork tenderloin can be stored in the fridge for 3-5 days. The crust won’t stay crispy but it’s still got tons of flavor. It is a good one for meal prepping with some rice and stir fry veggies (like in the big bag in the freezer section at Costco).
I don’t recommend freezing this pork, though you technically can and it will be safe to eat. It’s just that you won’t get to experience that amazing crispy crust and the pork won’t maintain the ideal texture.
Asian Style Pork Tenderloin FAQs
Pork loin and pork tenderloin are actually quite different. Pork tenderloin is a very, very lean boneless cut of meat that is cut from the backbone area. It’s usually around 10-12 inches long and about 3-4 inches wide. Sometimes it’s sold in a 2-pack, but you might not realize that until you open it unless you read the packaging carefully. Pork loin is wide, flat, and can be boneless or bone-in. You can’t just substitute one for the other because they require different cooking methods to turn out tender and juicy.
When you’re cooking pork tenderloin in the crockpot, you want to avoid overcooking it. Pork tenderloin is a very lean cut of meat. After you’ve cooked it for 6 hours, you may want to temp it to make sure you’re not going way overboard. Once the pork hits 145 degrees, you’re done! Cooking it for a longer time is not going to benefit it.
No, meat never needs to be covered in liquid in the slow cooker. The heat is low enough that the juices from the meat you’re cooking will keep it from burning. We’re adding a small amount of liquid here because the pork tenderloin is very, very lean and doesn’t release as much fat or liquid as other meats.
More satisfying and easy pork recipes!
Brown Sugar Balsamic Pork Tenderloin << this is the recipe that inspired today’s Asian version.
Cuban Mojo-Marinated Pork << have you seen the movie Chef? This is the recipe for the meat in the Cubano sandwiches. It’s one of my most popular recipes ever!
Grilled Pork Tenderloin with Peanut Lime Sauce << more Asian flavors on pork tenderloin!
BBQ Pork Tenderloin Wraps << this is a fabulous 45 minute meal.
Garlic Balsamic Crusted Pork Tenderloin from Lauren Kelly Nutrition
Roasted Chili Maple Pork Tenderloin from Aggie’s Kitchen
Dominican Pan Seared Pork Tenderloin Medallions from Belqui’s Twist
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Asian Style Pork Tenderloin (Slow Cooker)
Ingredients
For the rub:
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon powdered cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 2 pounds pork tenderloin
For the glaze:
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ¼ cup rice vinegar, or white
- ½ cup cold water
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons fresh ginger, minced
- fresh cilantro, to garnish
- lime wedges, to garnish
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, salt, powdered ginger, cinnamon, garlic, cloves, black pepper, and crushed red pepper.
- Place the tenderloins in the slow cooker. Rub the seasonings over the pork, including the bottom.
- Pour ½ cup water in the slow cooker, on the edge or in the middle so that you don’t wash off all the spices you just rubbed on.
- Cook on low for 6-8 hours, then preheat your broiler.
- While the pork is finishing up in the slow cooker and your broiler heats up, combine 1/2 cup brown sugar, cornstarch, rice vinegar, COLD water, and soy sauce in a small saucepan.
- Set over medium heat and stir until mixture thickens, about 4 minutes.
- Remove from heat and stir in minced ginger.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with nonstick spray.
- Remove the pork from the crock pot (discard the liquid) and place on the lined baking sheet. Brush a generous amount of the glaze on the pork.
- Put your oven rack as high as it will go, and broil the pork for 1 or 2 minutes, until bubbly and caramelized. Don’t walk away! Repeat 2 to 3 more times until it is as crusty as you want it. I wouldn’t go many more times than this though, or your pork will dry out.
- Serve with remaining glaze on the side, and garnish with lime and cilantro. I love to serve this pork with Asian Cauliflower “Rice.”
Love this recipe, have made it more times than I will admit:) I really like pork! I use the left overs for fried rice, swoon. Looking forward to trying more of your food ideas.
Oh my gosh, that is genius!! I need to add this to fried rice!!!! YUM! That’s so funny that you mention that, I literally just made fried rice yesterday (with chicken) and will be posting it next week. Thanks for the comment!
This was AMAZING, as suggested I served with the Asian Cauliflower “Rice”, YUM. I used the leftover meat to make Asian Fusion Street Tacos, including toppings such as pineapple tidbits, avocado, shredded Monterrey Jack cheese, Cabbage, tomatoes , Siracha and sour cream.
Ummmmm Asian Fusion tacos sound AMAZING!!!!! I need to make it happen! Thanks for the awesome idea!!
I made this tonight in my instant pot instead of slow cooker. Cooked the tenderloin for 40 mins on high pressure and it turned out AH-MAY-ZING!!!!! I changed nothing else in the recipe or instructions. Seriously. So heckin good!!
yyaaaaayy instant pot for the win!! I need to try this! Also, talk to me about heckin. Is this a thing? Is that a typo? Where are you from and why can’t I say heckin too? because it sounds really satisfying. So heckin excited to try out this new slang term. Where I grew up in CA, hecka was a thing. Sounds about the same?
Okay. I urban disctionary’d it. It’s a thing and you are cool and now I’m heckin all day long. lol!!
I’m in Alberta, Canada! And heckin is the best if you combine it with heck like “what in the heck is heck happened here?!” Lol
yes,,,I am in Alberta, Canada as well and know the term..amazing recipe..
Last night I made this incredible recipe! Have to say.. I’ve cooked with pork tenderloin before but none came close to this delicious recipe. Here’s a few things..I put it in the crock pot on high for one hour and then turned it down to low for 5 hours and it was perfect. I love this recipe and it will be in my top recipe folder. Served it with cheesy potatoes and sautéed green beans with onions and garlic. Ours guests loved it as wel. Thank you for,sharing Karen!! I love your recipes!
I’m so glad you finally had a pork tenderloin success Cyndi! That is the best. This would be SO good with cheesy potatoes and green beans! Yum! Thanks for the review, you are awesome.
This looks like something I will be def. trying! I love slow cooker meals. Its just tough to get flavor into the meat. A lot of the time it doesn’t sink-in as much as I’d like. Looks beautiful too!
I hope you like it as much as we do Jim! This is an old favorite.
This recipe is a keeper. One I will make again and again.
I’m so happy to hear that Eva! Thanks for sharing your review, you are the best!
Great recipe. I’ve been making it with boneless pork chops instead of a tenderloin and it always comes out delicious. I lay the chops out flat on a baking sheet or shallow pan, brush on the glaze and watch the broiling carefully.
Oh good idea Matthew! I’ll have to try this with the chops! Thanks for the comment :)
Made this tonight. Baked it in the oven. 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Doubled the sauce. This was delicious. Thanks for sharing
Oh great Elken! Thanks for sharing the oven info! I’m glad you liked it.
Question – Is there a way to adapt the recipe for frozen tenderloin? 😬 I have a hard time planning meals ahead due to my husbands work schedule, so I’m usually pulling meat out of the freezer around lunch time and trying to figure out how to make it something edible by dinner. I am loving the instant pot for that very reason. So I guess I have two questions – can you do this in the slow cooker with frozen tenderloin? And how would you adapt the recipe to an instant pot (with frozen meat)? Thank you!! We LOVE this recipe!!
Hey Carey! I’m so glad you love the recipe! I’ve never tried it with frozen tenderloins. Let me know how it goes! And I’m JUST starting to cook with a pressure cooker so I can’t help you there either. I’d love to know how everything turns out so others can benefit!
I made this for dinner tonight-with one slight modification. As I was measuring out the spices for the rub the chili powder bottle fell out of the cupboard without the top. Oops! I don’t really know how much fell into the rub ingredients-maybe a tablespoon, maybe 3. Hmmmm . . . So it had a little bite to it but it was good! I think I had one small pork loin-about a pound, instead f 2 labs, but I didn’t halve the glaze or the rub. More is almost always better in my book. We loved it. Thanks Karen! Great recipe!
hahahaha this cracks me up Kris! I wonder how many great recipes have been developed by somebody dropping their spice container. haha!
I am cooking this right now – after 2 hours I put the meat thermometer in and the temp reads 160! Yikes! I am cooking it on low. It is a 3 pound pork loin from whole foods that was tied together. I took the strings off – so now it is like 2 roasts that are 1 and a half pounds each. HELP! Company coming for dinner!!
Hey Maureen! How did it turn out? The slow cooker cooks it low and slow so that it gets nice and tender, so I wouldn’t worry about it being up to temperature after 2 hours. I hope it was good!
The flavor was GREAT and it just fell apart! For me it was a little dry however, so the next time I make it ~ and I for sure will try it again ~ I would only leave it in the crock pot for about 5 hours on low. The other thing I think I would do is maybe scoop the drippings over it occasionally during the cooking process. Thanks for the recipe and the quick response. I am anxious to try some of your other recipes.
Wowza!! Like others, my husband loved it! It’s a dish he is constantly asking me to cook for him. I actually need to double the recipe in order to insure there are leftovers for him to take to work. Thank you soooo much for posting the recipe. It’s our favorite!
I’m so happy to hear that Anna! This is a favorite around here too. Doubling the recipe for lunches is a great idea!! Thanks for the comment!
Looking forward to trying this recipe tomorrow. Do you know what changes I would need to make if I have a 4.5lb tenderloin. Thank you!
Hey Angela! I would just double the recipe since the amount of meat you’re talking about is doubled. Enjoy!
Love your sense of humour, and this recipe looks delicious. I intend to cook it next week-end. Thank you, Betty.
Thanks Betty! I hope you love the pork, it’s so good!
I LOVE this recipe- made it twice already and will again this weekend. Do you think adding vegetables to the crockpot while the pork cooks would effect the pork at all? I’m thinking of adding carrots and potatos just to have some veggies cooking at the same time.
Hey Diane! I’m sure it would work fine to add veggies! I’ve never tried it but I can’t see how it would hurt. Let me know how it works out! I’d love to hear what you end up using!