Slow-Cooker Sweet-and-Sour Pork

Slow cooker meals don’t have to be stews or soups. Our slow-cooker sweet-and-sour pork recipe tastes incredible as the flavors blend together over the course of the day. This slow-cooker meal is wonderful when you know the day will be busy; just add all the ingredients in the morning and let the cooker do the work. It’s also a great for meal plans, as you can prep and freeze it days or weeks ahead of time.

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Slow Cooker Sweet-and-Sour Pork Ingredients

•  Sugar and brown sugar: These sugars contribute to the “sweet” portion of sweet-and-sour pork; the brown sugar adds depth with just a hint of molasses flavor.
• Chicken broth: Chicken broth helps keep the pork moist while adding loads of flavor to the dish. Use a low-sodium broth if you wish to reduce your salt intake.
• White vinegar: Vinegar contributes some of the sour flavor in the sweet-and-sour pork.
• Lemon juice: Lemon juice adds a hint of citrus flavor and aroma while making the sour part of the flavor quite enjoyable.
• Reduced-sodium soy sauce: Soy sauce adds umami and a hint of color. Standard soy sauce is high in sodium, so a reduced-sodium version helps keep the sodium level manageable.
• Tomato paste: Tomato paste adds a little color and flavor to the dish.
• Garlic powder, ground ginger and pepper: These seasonings contribute flavor to the sweet-and-sour pork.
• Boneless pork loin chops: Cut the pork loin into 1-inch cubes for this recipe. Uniform size isn’t a requirement; the goal is to keep the pieces bite-sized.
• Onion and green pepper: Cut the onion and pepper into 1-inch pieces to keep them bite-sized. Both veggies add a little crunch and flavor to the dish and are classic to Chinese takeout sweet-and-sour dishes. Sweet red pepper may be used in place of the green pepper, too.
• Pineapple chunks: Drain the canned pineapple; if the pineapple is packed in juice rather than in corn syrup, save the juice for another recipe or drink it, if you’d like. Another option is to add a splash of the pineapple juice to the dish towards the end of the cooking time for a hint of pineapple flavor in the sweet-and-sour sauce.
• Chicken broth and cornstarch: More chicken broth is added towards the end of the cooking time. Mixing it with cornstarch first creates a flavorful sauce when it’s added to the cooked sweet-and-sour pork. The cornstarch helps thicken the liquid.
• Cooked rice: Warm the rice before serving it with the pork. Rice absorbs the juices in this dish for a flavorful and filling meal.

Directions 

Step 1: Add the ingredients to slow cooker

In a 3- or 4-quart slow cooker, mix the sugar, brown sugar, 1/2 cup of chicken broth, the white vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, tomato paste, garlic powder, ground ginger and pepper.  Stir in the pork, onion, green pepper and pineapple. Cover and cook on low for six to eight hours or until the pork is tender.

Step 2: Finish the dish and serve

In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and 1/3 cup of chicken broth until the mixture is smooth; gradually stir the broth mixture into the juices in the slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 15 to 20 minutes longer or until the sauce is thickened. Serve the sweet-and-sour pork over rice.

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Slow Cooker Sweet-and-Sour Pork Variations

• Use cider vinegar: Apple cider vinegar (aka ACV) makes a tastier replacement for white vinegar, as it adds a slightly fruity essence to the dish. The apple notes pair nicely with the sweet-and-sour flavor of the sauce.
• Replace with fresh pineapple: Fresh pineapple may be used in place of the canned pineapple.
• Add carrots: Slice a wide carrot or two into thin discs or cut them on a long angle like some restaurants serve them in their stir fry dishes. Add the carrots to the slow cooker at the same time you add the onions and peppers.

How to Store Slow Cooker Sweet-and-Sour Pork

Once the pork dish cools, transfer it to airtight food storage containers and place them in the refrigerator. Sweet-and-sour pork keeps in the fridge for up to four days.

Can you make sweet-and-sour pork in the slow cooker ahead of time? 

Sure. Prepping the items in advance is a good way to make freezer meals for weeknight dinners. In a large zippered freezer bag, combine the sugar, brown sugar, 1/2 cup of chicken broth, the white vinegar, lemon juice, soy sauce, tomato paste, garlic powder, ground ginger and pepper. Add the pork, onion, green pepper and pineapple, seal the bag and turn it over to coat everything. Place the bag in the freezer.

Before cooking frozen sweet-and-sour pork, first place the frozen bag in the refrigerator for 48 hours or until its contents are completely thawed. Empty the bag’s contents into the slow cooker and cook as directed.

Slow Cooker Sweet-and-Sour Pork Tips

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Why doesn’t the sauce look like restaurant sweet-and-sour sauce?

Each restaurant’s sweet-and-sour sauce—and even each sauce found on store shelves—contains slightly different ingredients; the color is largely dictated by the ingredients. For instance, a sauce made with ketchup or apricot puree may turn out orange, while deep-red sweet-and-sour sauces usually contain food coloring. Some sweet-and-sour sauces use an extract version of paprika formulated specifically to color foods. It doesn’t add flavor like the powdered paprika that’s a staple in many home kitchens.

Could I make this with chicken instead?

Chicken makes an excellent substitute for pork in this sweet-and-sour dish. Cut the chicken breast into cubes as you would with pork and follow the recipe as directed.

Can I make this without a slow cooker?

Absolutely! Make the marinade and then use half of it or so to marinate the pork for 30 minutes in a zippered bag. Discard the used marinade and cook the pork in 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil for several minutes. Add the veggies and saute everything until the pork is tender. Add the rest of the marinade, bring it to a boil for one minute and then add the pineapple. Here’s another version of the recipe.