This slow cooker teriyaki pork tenderloin + bok choy is really delicious served over white rice and makes for the simplest weeknight meal ever!
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This teriyaki pork tenderloin is seriously incredible! The flavors are so bold and on point, and the use of the slow cooker makes getting dinner on the table super-efficient (hello, even the bok choy cooks in the slow cooker!). It’s the best of all the worlds, and we are here for it!
While pork tenderloin often gets overlooked, we LOVE this lean pork cut. We love it so much, in fact, that we (Cassy) developed an entire dinner series around it — in THIS article, she shows you how to make 2 very different meals really efficiently using pork tenderloin. Meal 1 is this teriyaki pork tenderloin and meal 2 is a pork chili verde. The concept is BRILLIANT (not to mention time-saving) and is what Cassy’s 3rd book, Cook Once Dinner Fix, is modeled around.
If you’re looking for another delicious, easy pork recipe, be sure to give these pulled pork sliders a try!
Recipe Ingredients
The ingredients list is really pretty simple here, especially considering how absolutely delicious the final product is! Here’s everything you’ll need:
- Pork Tenderloin – to start, you’ll need 1 (1-1.25 pound) pork tenderloin.
- Ghee – you’ll also need 1 tablespoon of ghee.
- Sea Salt – to really bring all of the flavors out, you’ll need a total of 1½ teaspoons of fine sea salt!
- Coconut Aminos – 1 cup of coconut aminos makes up the bulk of the teriyaki-style sauce here.
- Sesame Oil – 1 tablespoon of sesame oil deepens the flavor of the sauce!
- Garlic Cloves – you’ll also want to throw in 2 grated garlic cloves (or 1 teaspoon of granulated garlic).
- Ginger – 1 teaspoon of grated ginger (granulated ginger will work, too!) makes for really delicious flavor too!
- Red Pepper Flakes – 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes adds just a hint of spice here.
- Baby Bok Choy – 1 pound of halved baby bok choy makes for the most delicious veggie to serve alongside the teriyaki pork tenderloin!
- White Rice – we served our pork + bok choy over white rice, but feel free to use any rice you love. We used 1 cup of uncooked white rice here (or about 3 cups of cooked rice).
Do note that if you’d prefer to buy store-bought teriyaki sauce rather than use the coconut aminos, sesame oil, garlic, and ginger, that’s totally fine. You’ll need about 1 cup of teriyaki sauce if you go that route.
How can you tell if the pork tenderloin is a good cut of meat?
Your best bet here is to talk with the butcher at your local grocery store! If you do have the chance to do that, be sure to ask your butcher to remove the silverskin (a silvery membrane around the outside of the pork tenderloin) for you so that it’s ready to go when you get home!
How To Make Teriyaki Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
- Melt the ghee and sear the tenderloin – to start, you’ll need to melt the ghee in a large skillet, cast iron pan, or a stovetop-friendly slow cooker insert if you have one over medium-high heat. Then, sprinkle the pork tenderloin with 1 teaspoon of the sea salt and sear over high heat on one side for about 4-5 minutes, until browned.
- Transfer the tenderloin to the slow cooker, add the coconut aminos, and cook – once seared on one side, transfer the pork tenderloin to the slow cooker, then add the coconut aminos and remaining salt and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours.
- Add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and bok choy – 1 hour before serving (after 2 hours on high or 5 hours on low), add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes to the slow cooker, then place the baby bok choy on top of the pork. Cover and let cook for the remainder of the time.
- Cook the rice – 20-30 minutes before dinnertime, go ahead and cook the rice according to package instructions.
- Thicken the sauce (optional) – once the timer is up, you can either use the sauce as-is, or you can transfer it to a small saucepan over medium-high heat and add one tablespoon of cornstarch, then let it boil for about 2 minutes until it thickens.
- Serve and enjoy – serve over the pork sliced over the white rice and bok choy with the sauce spooned over top and garnished with more red pepper flakes if you like.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you’re cooking in the slow cooker, your pork tenderloin should not be tough! If it is, let it slow cook a little bit longer, until tender!
Sure! Your best bet doing it this way would be to put everything into the slow cooker right before bed, and let it cook on low through the night. As soon as you wake up (assuming it’s been at least 5 hours), toss the sesame oil, garlic, ginger, red pepper flakes, and bok choy into the slow cooker, let everything cook for 1 more hour, let everything cool to handling temperature, and then transfer to the refrigerator until ready to enjoy for dinner!
Your finished pork tenderloin may be slightly pink in the middle, and as long as the pork is at an internal temperature of at least 145°F, that is totally normal, cooked, and safe.
If you’ve cooked your pork tenderloin in the slow cooker for either 3 hours on high or 6 hours on low, you can rest assured that your pork will be totally cooked and ready to enjoy!
You definitely can use pork loin instead of tenderloin, but know that pork loins tend to be considerably larger than tenderloins, so in order to have the amount of food that this recipe calls for, you may need to cut the pork loin in half!
More Favorite Pork Tenderloin Recipes
Teriyaki Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin
Ingredients
- 1 pork tenderloin about 1 pound
- 1 tablespoon ghee
- 1 1/2 teaspoons fine sea salt divided
- 1 cup coconut aminos
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 garlic cloves grated (or 1 teaspoon granulated garlic)
- 1 teaspoon grated ginger – an equal amount of granulated ginger will work, too!
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 pound baby bok choy halved lengthwise
- 1 cup white rice
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch or arrowroot starch optional
Instructions
- Melt the ghee in a large skillet, cast iron, or a stovetop-friendly slow cooker insert if you have one over medium-high heat. Sprinkle the pork tenderloin with 1 teaspoon of the sea salt and sear over high heat on one side for about 4-5 minutes, until browned.
- Transfer the pork tenderloin to the slow cooker, then add the coconut aminos and remaining salt and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 6 hours.
- 1 hour before serving (after 2 hours on high or 5 hours on low) add the sesame oil, garlic, ginger, and red pepper flakes in the slow cooker, then place the baby bok choy on top of the pork. Cover and let cook for the remainder of the time.
- 30 minutes before serving, cook the white rice according to package instructions.
- Once the pork has finished cooking, you can either use the sauce as-is, or you can whisk together the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water, then add it to the sauce and bring it to a boil it in your slow cooker insert or a skillet over medium-high heat for about 2 minutes until it has thickened. Serve over the pork sliced over white rice and bok choy with the sauce spooned over top and garnished with more red pepper flakes if you like.
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Cassy Joy Garcia
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Teriyaki Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin is sweet, savory, and incredibly tender, and pairing it with a refreshing https://lucofast.com/ drink helps balance the flavors while keeping you hydrated and energized.
Teriyaki Slow Cooker Pork Tenderloin is sweet, savory, and incredibly tender, and pairing it with a refreshing Lucofast drink helps balance the flavors while keeping you hydrated and energized.