EASY Pork Tenderloin with Cranberry Sauce

Today I wanted to share this crock pot pork recipe with you. It's the perfect meal for a blustery winter night, plus, it's nice enough for company. (Bonus - it only takes about 15 minutes of your time to prepare!)

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At the end of the cooking time, the chunks of pork were fork tender, but they stayed together (the meat didn't shred in the crock pot like pulled pork). The sauce is sweet from the cranberry, but savory from the pork juices.


If you have kids, I was worried that my kids wouldn't like this, and even had "back-up" leftover spaghetti at the ready, but they devoured this - and they are picky with a capital P.

PORK TENDERLOIN with CRANBERRY SAUCE

Ingredients

• 4 lbs boneless pork tenderloin, cut into chunks
• 1 (16 ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1/3 cup red wine
• 1/2 small lemon, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 tsp powdered ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• Cooked rice (or mashed potatoes). We used Zataran's Rice and Black Beans.

Directions

1. Put the pork in crock pot.
2. Mix cranberry sauce, and wine in a bowl.
3. Stir in lemon, garlic, ginger, mustard, salt, and pepper.
4. Pour the sauce over the pork in the crock pot, and cover. Cook on low for 4-6 hours. (I stirred every hour or so).
5. Remove pork and keep warm. You can put it on a platter in a warm oven.
6. Measure 3 cups of cooking juices and pour into saucepan, and bring to a boil.
7. In a cup dissolve cornstarch in cold water, and stir into the juices in the saucepan. Cook the sauce, stirring, until thickened.
8. Serve the pork over rice (or potatoes), with sauce.

NOTE: I did not have to thicken the sauce (steps 7 & 8), because it was thick enough the way it was. (And because I was being lazy).