Cranberry pork tenderloin in crockpot

 This is an easy festive crockpot dish. So good! One pound served about 4. I used a little tenderloin which was a bit over a pound and it cooked up a hair less than 3 hours on low in my small crockpot. Probably 2 hours and 45 minutes. This would also make great sandwiches!

INGREDIENTS 

For cranberry sauce: OR JUST USE WHOLE BERRY CANNED CRANBERRY SAUCE—then it is really easy!!

12 ounce bag of fresh or frozen cranberries 

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup ginger ale (or water)

Juice of one orange (about a fourth of a cup)

1 tablespoon orange zest (you can use less)

Maple syrup (to add if not sweet enough)

Balsamic vinegar (up to 1/4 cup)

Optional: teaspoon of fresh rosemary chopped

Note: I prefer doing half of the cranberry sauce recipe and mixing it with a can of whole berry cranberry sauce.

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1 pork tenderloin (mine was a bit over a pound)— you can make a larger one up to 3 pounds- will just take more time. This is pork tenderloin not pork loin.

2-3 teaspoons chopped rosemary or more if you like

Olive oil

Salt and pepper 

DIRECTIONS

For the sauce: place rinsed cranberries in pot with sugar and ginger ale ( or water if you don’t have any). You can add a teaspoon of chopped fresh rosemary if desired. Bring to a boil and reduce to medium , cooking ten minutes, stirring occasionally. Break or smash the cranberries as they soften . Add the orange juice and zest. Taste. If too tart add some maple syrup until sweetness desired. Add some balsamic vinegar to your liking. One recipe adds as much as 1/4 cup— but just add teaspoons at a time to your preference.

Meanwhile place your roast in the crockpot (I sprayed a bit of oil beforehand in the pot but probably wasn’t needed). Season the meat with salt and pepper if desired. Sprinkle the rosemary over the meat. Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the top. 

Reserve a cup of your cranberry sauce and place in refrigerator. Place the remaining sauce over the meat.

Cover and cook on low 2 hours and 45 minutes for the 1 pounder and up to 4 or even 6 hours on low for the larger portions. Note: test as it cooks when nearing done with a meat thermometer. When it reaches 145 F / 160 depending on how done you like it….remove from pan and let rest 5 to 10 minutes before cutting. Add your reserve sauce when serving. Note: In my big crockpot cooking 2 one pounders they were done 2 hours on low.

The variation in cooking times is due to the size of your meat and due to your individual crockpot. Mine was done at 2 hours 45 minutes on low in my crockpot . My meat was 1.19 pounds.

Ps. You can actually add some of the rosemary  to your cranberry sauce when cooking if desired. if desired.