Slow Cooker Italian Pork with Rosemary and Garlic is tender, flavorful, juicy pork that only takes 10 min to prep and is perfect for meal planning. Prep it in the morning and come home to a great meal. This slow cooker pork is deliciously seasoned with EVOO, sage, fresh rosemary and garlic. Once it’s paired with Provolone cheese, you’ll have a tasty Italian pork sandwich which is perfect for parties. Set it and forget it.
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Slow Cooker Italian Pork with Rosemary and Garlic
This boneless pork loin is seasoned with fresh rosemary and garlic. It marinates in extra virgin olive oil, ground sage, freshly cracked black pepper and salt while cooking in a slow cooker for 9 hours. It shreds upon moving with a fork. If you prefer, you can cook it for about five or six hours before it begins to shred and cut it into pieces as you would a roast.
Also, the aroma of this pork roast will smell amazing creeping through your house, up the stairs and down the hallways. Your kids and spouse will know they are getting something good to eat soon.
Slow Cooker Italian Pork with Rosemary and Garlic
How to Make Slow Cooker Italian Pork
*The full recipe is at the bottom of this post.
Note: This recipe makes an 8 lb boneless pork roast. You may want to cut the recipe in half.
First, cut 6- 1/2″ slits about 1″ deep and 2-3″ apart into each pork loin (for a total of about 12 slits, 6 in each piece)
Next, insert 3-4 leaves of rosemary and one half of a garlic clove into each slit. Throw whatever rosemary and garlic is left into the slow cooker.
Then, sprinkle the top of pork loin with sage, salt and pepper.
Next, pour extra virgin olive oil into the slow cooker and turn on low setting.
Next, put seasoned pork loin fat side up, into the slow cooker and cook on low for 9 hours. If you want to remove the fat, it is easier to remove at the 5-6 hour mark before it starts to shred.
If you choose to eat pork in a sandwich, assemble in sandwich rolls and enjoy. Serve with Provolone cheese or hot or sweet peppers if desired.
With only a few ingredients, just 10 minutes of prep time and a slow cooker, you can make a flavorful, juicy and tender pork dinner to your hungry family. Serve it shredded in sandwiches or cook it about 3 hours fewer if you rather cut it and serve it in full slices next to potatoes.
What’s more, it is fuss free to serve at your next holiday gathering or game day. Set it and forget it. Serve it sandwich rolls at parties.
Slow Cooker Italian Pork
This pork recipe is not only easy and delicious, it tastes even better on day two and three as it sits in its own juices. Also, it freezes well! Make extra and put it in freezer containers for weeknight meals.
This is my “go to” recipe for when I’m hosting large parties because I can make it weeks in advance, freeze it, and then serve it in the Crock Pot while only giving it a stir once in a while. Or, you can make it two days before your party and then freeze the leftovers.
I cook the pork with the fat attached for the flavor and then remove it after it is cooked. I remove the fat between the 5-6 hour cooking time, before the meat begins to shred. Personally, I don’t like to bite into a piece of fat.
Alternatively, removing the fat is completely optional of course! I know that it may be a food crime in some parts of the US and abroad but, I do not like biting into a chewy piece of cooked fat.
Serving Suggestions
-This pork recipe is perfect for New Year’s Day. It’s an easy and delicious pork dinner for a big gathering.
-Serve this Slow Cooker Italian pork along side of mashed potatoes, scalloped potatoes or macaroni and cheese.
-Make shredded pork sandwiches with Provolone cheese, sauteed Italian Broccoli Rabe and/or Easy Roasted Red Peppers.
-Add sauerkraut to leftovers.
Slow Cooker Rosemary Pork
Slow Cooker Italian Pork with Rosemary and Garlic is an affordable, flavorful pork recipe that only takes 10 min to prep. It’s a great party recipe to set and forget. Feeding a large family doesn’t have to cost a lot with this pork recipe. Freezing leftovers makes it the perfect recipe to make ahead for parties and meal planning. Don’t you have enough to do? Don’t fuss.
I took this recipe to Meal Plan Monday #94.
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- 8 lb pork loin boneless cut in half
- 16 sandwich rolls optional
- 1/2 cup of extra virgin olive oil
- 3 tbs of fresh rosemary
- 6 cloves of garlic cut in half
- 1 tsp of ground sage
- 1/2 tsp of salt or to taste
- 1/4 tsp of fresh cracked pepper
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Cut 6- 1/2" slits about 1" deep and 2-3" apart into each pork loin (for a total of about 12 slits, 6 in each piece)
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Inject with your finger 3-4 leaves of rosemary and one half of a garlic clove into each slit. Throw whatever rosemary and garlic is left into the slow cooker.
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Sprinkle top of pork loin with sage, salt and pepper.
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Pour extra virgin olive oil into the slow cooker and turn on low setting.
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Put seasoned pork loin fat side up, into the slow cooker and cook on low for 9 hours. If you want to remove the fat, it is easier to remove at the 5-6 hour mark before it starts to shred.
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If you choose to eat pork in a sandwich, assemble in sandwich rolls and enjoy. Serve with cheese or peppers if desired.
This pork freezes well.
Sounds good Jo. I do not use a slow cooker but I am going to givr this a try. I prefer to have the bone in my pork, will this make a difference in cook time?
Hi Tish! I’m so happy to see you stopped by my blog and commented. To answer your question, it may not take longer with the bone because I suspect there will be fewer pounds of meat in your bone-in roast than this recipe states. If you are using a slow cooker with a bone-in roast that fits in the crock pot, I think 9 hours on low setting would be enough time. You can always make it the sy before you serve it to make sure you have enough time.
Hope you’ll come back and visit the blog soon! Happy New Year!
This looks ah-mazing! After my first trip out of the country last year (to Italy!) I have been basically wanting to make everything Italian, so absolutely going to try this!!
Thank Annie. I have lots of Italian recipes on my blog. My mother was an excellent cook and I learned some of her fabulous Italian recipes.
The recipe looks delicious. I am a little confused about the cut of meat: Is this a boneless pork loin or several tenderloins to total 8 pounds? Many thanks!
Hello Rusty. It is a whole boneless pork tenderloin. That recipe used a whole 8 lb piece of meat that I cut into two pieces to fit in my Crock Pot. If the recipe is too big, you can certainly half the recipe. I’d make the whole 8 lbs and freeze what you don’t use but, do what you want. Happy New Year Rusty and I hope you’ll come back to visit soon!
Thanks so much, Joanne! I believe you’re talking about a loin roast; tenderloins are about 2 inches in diameter and are always boneless. (This article explains it SO much better than I can: http://www.finecooking.com/article/pork-loin-vs-tenderloin) Now that I know what to pick up at the market, I can try your lucious-looking recipe later this week. We’re looking forward very much to having it for dinner in our household. I’m a newcomer, but excited about your site and have signed up for updates. Happy New Year to you and yours!
Rusty, you are absolutely right! I meant a boneless pork loin. I removed “tender” from every mention of “tenderloin” in this article.
Btw, this recipe makes a lot so, you may want to either cut it down in half or freeze the leftovers. I’ve found that adding sauerkraut to it is a nice
variation for leftovers.
Thanks for correcting me and don’t hesitate to do it in the future. I see subscribed to my newsletter too. Welcome! Happy New Year to you and your family!