This Slow Cooker Asian Pork with Peppers is flavor-packed, super lean, and so easy to prepare. Serve it over rice for a satisfying and delicious meal.
My brother’s Crock Pot Chile Verde is another delicious way to prepare pork in the slow cooker.
If you knew me, I mean really knew me, you’d know that I’m crazy about my slow cooker and when I come across a good slow cooker recipe, I get pretty excited. This one is fabulous!
This Slow Cooker Asian Pork with Peppers includes lean pork (very nice), vibrant veggies (double nice), and an Asian-inspired sauce that packs a great flavor profile. Spoon it over some cooked rice and dinner is done!
Table of contents
Ingredient Notes
- Pork: You can use either pork tenderloin or the pork sirloin tip roast that is available at Costco for this recipe. They are both lean cuts that will cook to a perfectly tender state in your slow cooker. You’ll also need a olive oil for searing the pork and salt and freshly ground black pepper.
- Asian sauce: The sauce consists of hoisin sauce, less sodium soy sauce, fresh lime juice, creamy peanut butter, cumin, salt, garlic, and just enough red pepper flakes to give it a little bit of a kick. It won’t be exceptionally spicy if you make this as written so if you want more heat, feel free to add more.
- Broth: Low sodium chicken broth.
- Veggies: Red bell pepper, cut into 1 ½-inch pieces and green onions, cut into ½-inch pieces.
- Cornstarch slurry: The sauce is thickened at the end of the cooking time with a mixture of water and
cornstarch - Cooked rice: Cooked basmati or Jasmine rice, for serving.
How to Make Slow Cooker Asian Pork with Peppers
- Cut the pork into 1 ½-inch pieces and sear it in oil in a large skillet. Season the pork with salt and pepper and sauté it just until nicely browned. You don’t want to cook the pork through at this point. Cook it in batches, as needed.
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl.
- Transfer the browned pork to the slow cooker. Pour the sauce and the chicken broth over the pork and stir well to combine.
- Cover and cook on low for 4 to 5 hours until the pork is fork tender.
- About 45 minutes to an hour before the end of the cooking time, stir the bell peppers into the pork and sauce in the slow cooker and sprinkle the green onions over the top. Continue to cook until the peppers are fork tender.
- Combine the water and cornstarch and pour the mixture into the slow cooker and stir to combine. Continue to cook, uncovered, for an additional 5 to 10 minutes to thicken the sauce. Serve immediately over cooked rice.
If you aren’t able to add ingredients later in the process, you can add the peppers and onions at the begining. Instead of stirring them in, just layer them over the top of the pork mixture, cover, and cook as directed. The bell peppers will be softer, but still delicious.
Storage Tips
Refrigerate: Transfer leftovers to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to four days.
Freeze: For longer storage, transfer leftovers to a freezer-safe container and freeze for up to three months. Thaw the frozen Asian Pork with Peppers safely in the refrigerator overnight before reheating.
Reheating: Leftovers can be reheated gently in a saucepan on the stove or in the microwave, just until warmed through. I recommend cooking up a fresh batch of rice to serve with leftovers, for th best result.
More Slow Cooker Recipes You’ll Love
- Slow Cooker Sweet and Sour Pork
- Slow Cooker Green Chile Beef
- Slow Cooker Shredded Mexican Pork with Beans
- Slow Cooker Beef Tips with Gravy
- Check out my entire collection of easy Slow Cooker recipes!
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Slow Cooker Asian Pork with Peppers
Ingredients
- 2 pounds pork tenderloin or sirloin tip roast, (a little over is okay)
- olive oil, enough to coat your skillet
- ½ teaspoon salt, divided
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper, divided
For the Sauce
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce
- 1 lime, juiced
- 2 tablespoons creamy peanut butter
- 1 heaping teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper, or to taste
For the Rest
- ½ cup low sodium chicken broth
- 2 cups chopped red bell pepper, (2 small or 1 large cut into 1 ½-inch pieces)
- 6 green onions, cut into ½-inch pieces, plus additional for garnish
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 2 cups basmati or jasmine rice, cooked according to package directions
Instructions
Brown the Pork
- Coat a 4-to 6-quart slow cooker with nonstick cooking spray. Cut the pork into 1 ½-inch pieces.
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place over MEDIUM-HIGH heat. When hot, add half the pork. Season with the ¼ teaspoon salt and ¼ teaspoon pepper and sauté 3 to 4 minutes or until browned (do not cook the pork through at this point). Transfer the browned pork to the slow cooker and repeat with the remaining pork, salt, and pepper.
Add the Sauce
- Combine the sauce ingredients in a small bowl. Pour the sauce and the chicken broth over the pork and stir well to combine.
Cook and Serve
- Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 5 hours until the pork is fork tender.
- About 45 minutes before the end of the cooking time, stir the bell peppers into the pork and sauce in the slow cooker and sprinkle the green onions over the top. Cover and continue to cook on LOW for the remaining 45 minutes, or until the pork is very tender the vegetables are cooked to your liking.
- Combine the water and cornstarch and pour the mixture into the slow cooker and stir to combine. Continue to cook, uncovered, for an additional 5 to 10 minutes to thicken the sauce.
- Serve over rice with additional green onions for garnish.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated using generic ingredients, and is an estimate not a guarantee. For more accurate results, please refer to the labels on your ingredients at home.
More Pork Recipes
This recipe was originally published on August 5, 2014. It has been updated with new text and images.
Valerie, is there any substitute to the peanut butter? My husband is allergic to nuts.
Hi Linda. I think the sesame flavor of tahini could be very good in this sauce. Or, I’d just try leaving it out altogether. Hope this helps!