“For is there any practice less selfish, any labor less alienated, any time less wasted, than preparing something delicious and nourishing for people you love?”
~ Michael Pollan
Crockpot Love
I absolutely love good crockpot recipes. They’re easy, make the house smell amazing, and cook while you’re away. It’s the closest thing to having your own personal chef. This is one such recipe, and it even comes with a delicious grain-free gravy. If you’re looking for another, check out my Beef Pot Roast with Holy Grail Gravy.
Recipe
adapted from Simply Recipes
Slow Cooker Roast Pork with Onion Apple Gravy (Paleo, AIP, GAPS, Wahls, Whole30)
- Total Time: 8-10 hours
- Yield: 8-10 servings
Ingredients
- 4 medium apples
- 1 large onion
- 1/4 cup water
- 4–5 lb. pork roast (boston butt or pork shoulder)
- 2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
- 2 cloves garlic (pressed)
- 2 tsp. black pepper (optional – omit for AIP)
- 2 tsp. sea salt
- 2 tsp. dried thyme
- 2 tsp. dried rosemary
Instructions
- Peel and core the apples and slice into wedges. Scatter them in the bottom of the crockpot.
- Peel and halve the onion and slice it thinly. Scatter on top of the apples.
- Pour 1/4 cup water over the apples & onions. (This small amount is intentional. The pork will release its own juices.)
- Combine the olive oil, garlic and spices together in a small bowl. Rub this mixture over all sides of the roast. Place roast on top of the apple/onion mixture, positioned so the fattiest side is on top (this way, the pork will self-baste as it cooks).
- Place the cover on the crockpot and cook on low 8-10 hours, until meat can be shredded with fork.
- When done, lift meat onto a plate and make the gravy: Either use an immersion blender to blend everything in the crockpot. Or pour the onions/apples/cooking juices from crockpot into a stand-up blender and puree. Taste and add salt, if needed.
- Serve the pork shredded, with gravy on top.
Notes
- The roast cooks down quite a bit. Count on 8 servings for a 4 pound roast.
- If you want to try this recipe in an Instant Pot, you can pressure cook it on high for 100 minutes, but know that roasts tend to be more tender when slow cooked. The Instant Pot also has a slow cook function, but unfortunately it varies model-to-model regarding how well it works. I recommend using a standard crockpot/slow cooker for best results.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 8-10 hours
- Category: Main Courses
- Method: Slow Cooker
You May Also Be Interested In
Do You Have My Books?
I am going to try this today with a pork loin. Any idea how much extra water I should add so it will stay moist enough to have a gravy?
Donna, I don’t recommend this recipe for pork loin. That’s a lean meat that cooks very quickly. It’s not a good substitute for this recipe. If you’ve already made it and I’m wrong, let me know. If you haven’t made it yet, I recommend looking for an oven pork loin recipe instead, like this one. Save my slow cooker recipe until you have the right kind of roast (pork shoulder or boston butt). It’s very delicious! I don’t want you to be disappointed.
It turned out great! I added one more apple and more onion along with more liquid. The end product was delicious! Thanks for sharing this great recipe!!
Hi Donna. I’m happy to be wrong! I’m so glad your substitution worked out. That gravy is so delicious, isn’t it?
Definitely!!
This sounds delicious! I’d love to try it however we don’t have a crock pot. Do you have any recommendations on how to make this without one? : ) Thank you!
Sorry, I don’t! You can search online to see if anyone has any conversion tips for slow cooker recipes, but it would be an experiment and I couldn’t guarantee the results. Crockpots are very inexpensive, so if you have any opportunity to get one, I recommend it. Here’s a link to one on Amazon, and it’s only $22 – http://amzn.to/1HnU0Xs. They also sell them at Wal-Mart, and you can sometimes find them in thrift stores as well. They’re wonderful, because you can turn them on and literally leave the house while your meal cooks.
This slow cooker Roast Pork recipe sounds delicious and I plan on making it really soon. Thank you for sharing with us.
You’re so welcome, Elva. Let me know how you like it!
Oops. Meant to say “left most of the liquid out when blending.”
Also it paired wonderfully with mashed cauliflower and a huge bed of greens! 🙂 So tasty.
Thanks so much for sharing, Holly! I’m so glad you loved it.
Made this last night for dinner and my husband and I absolutely LOVED it. I cannot believe the flavor this had given how few ingredients are used. And that GRAVY! Oh my. Left a little most of the liquid out when blending so that it was thicker. Not ashamed to say we both were tempted to eat it straight;). This will be going on a regular rotation around here. Thanks for sharing!
Made this yesterday and it was SUPER easy and good! The most challenging part was shredding the meat and discarding the fat from the roast. This was a bit tedious & messy. I’m wondering if my Whole Foods’ [loved the article you shared on WF! 😉 ] roast was extremely fatty? It was good with the “gravy” & I think it would be good with the AIP BQ Sauce, you’ve featured, too. I have some in the fridge & it’s been delicious with all meat varieties so far. One recommendation I have, for those that don’t have a lot of experience with roasts [as myself], is to use an oven-friendly thermometer in the roast and to not cook pork higher than 190 degrees. Somehow, I didn’t hear my therm. alarm go off so my roast got up to over 205 & was a tad dry b/c of this. It reached doneness almost 2 hours before the designated cook time in the recipe too [6 hours verses 8-10]. I had 2 pork shoulder/butt roasts equaling 5 lbs. verses 1 2-5 lb. roast is probably why. Otherwise, I think it would have been moist.
Thanks for sharing your experience and cooking tips, Jayne!
My roommate and I are doing Whole30 and we just made this today with 2 small pork tenderloins. It was absolutely delicious! We were lazy and decided not to make the gravy but I really enjoyed eating the sliced onions and apples mixed in with the shredded pork! And I had a sweet potato with roasted garlic on the side that the juices mixed well with. Thanks for a great recipe 🙂
What a great variation. Thanks for sharing! And how cool that you’re doing a Whole30 together. 🙂
Eileen, this looks awesome! I’ve so missed gravy, can’t wait to add that back into my meal plan! Out of curiosity, what veggie/fruit combo do you think could be good for gravy on crockpot poultry? This is so simple I’d love to have variety ready for winter. Your kindness shines out like sunbeams when I read your blog, thanks for sharing your joy.
Hmmmmm. Maybe cranberries and onion? But chicken cooks faster than pork, so try cooking it 4-6 hours, breast side down.
Thank you for this wonderful site full of so much free information. I made this today but used pork chops because that was what I had. I put some bacon slices for added fat because I think pork chops can be dry in the slowcooker. Wonderful! I am so grateful for so much support in this diet! 🙂
What a great adaptation. Thanks for sharing, Carmen!
This recipe was simple but delicious. The family was excited to have gravy on their meat. Thank you.
3 cheers for healthy gravy!
A friend tried this recipe and raved!!!! I can’t wait to try it. Just printed it out. Thanks Eilleen!
XO
Jen
Thanks for passing along the compliments. You made my day!
Awesome looking recipe!
Do you think this would be tasty with beef?? I have a chuck roast.
Thanks!
For beef, I recommend this recipe instead: Simple Tender Pot Roast with Holy Grail Gravy.
Oh yum. I pinned this for later when I get some pork roasts again.
Thanks for sharing at Healing With Food Friday.
This looks so good. I’ve started cooking my pork in apple ale, apple cider and apple brandy. It tastes so good. I’m going to make your gravy recipe.
Yum! That sounds delicious, too.
I made this on Sunday – so tasty!!! I could drink the gravy :). Thank you!!
Yay! Thanks for telling me.
This looks fabulous! I will be giving this a try soon. I too love crockpot recipes. Thanks for linking up with Simple Meals Friday.
This looks so delicious! I love the combo of apples and meat in the crockpot.
Love this – am fairly new to cooking roasting joints in the slow cooker – can’t wait to try it!
Your roast pork with apple onion gravy sounds absolutely delicious. I rarely use my crockpot, but I’m willing to dust it off for this tempting recipe. Thanks for sharing. Have a great week.