When you think of flavors that are commonly paired with pork, what comes to mind? For us, it's usually orange and cranberry. These two fruit flavors seem to have a way of elevating pork to levels that other flavors cannot. That's why we've made this special pork loin with cranberries and oranges recipe.
Cranberry sauce and dried cranberries provide half of the fruit flavor in this recipe, while orange juice and orange zest provide the other half. You'll need to brown the pork loin in the skillet before transferring it over to the slow cooker, but this shouldn't take much time at all. After the pork loin has been browned in a skillet, cook it on low for about four hours.
Once this recipe is done, you'll have a fantastic dinner to serve to your family. Pork loin is full of protein, while the cranberries and orange juice add extra vitamins and minerals. Serve this recipe with mashed potatoes, veggies, or rice. The choice is yours!
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Pork Loin with Cranberries and Orange
Ingredients:
1 (4½– to 5-pound) boneless pork loin roast, trimmed and tied at 1 inch intervals
Salt and pepper
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 (14-ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
½ cup dried cranberries
½ cup orange juice
3 (3-inch-long) strips orange zest, trimmed of white pith
⅛ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Directions:
1. Dry pork with paper towels and season with salt and pepper.
2. Heat oil in 12-inch skillet over medium-high heat until just smoking. Brown pork well on all sides, 7 to 10 minutes.
3. Stir cranberry sauce, cranberries, orange juice, orange zest, and cinnamon into slow cooker.
4. Nestle browned pork into slow cooker. Cover and cook until pork is tender and registers 140 to 145 degrees, about 4 hours on low.
5. Transfer pork to cutting board, tent loosely with aluminum foil, and let rest for 10 minutes. Let braising liquid settle for 5 minutes, then remove fat from surface using large spoon. Discard orange zest. Transfer braising liquid to saucepan and simmer until reduced to 2 cups, about 12 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Remove twine from pork, slice into ½-inch-thick slices, and arrange on serving platter. Spoon 1 cup sauce over meat and serve with remaining sauce.
The image featured at the top of this post is ©iStock.com/MarynaVoronova.