This slow cooker 4-ingredient honey garlic pork is one of those set-it-and-forget-it Sunday recipes that makes the whole house smell unbelievable. My sister-in-law actually does make this every single Sunday, and the second we walk in the door, you can smell that sweet, garlicky glaze coming from the kitchen. It’s just four pantry-friendly ingredients, a whole pork tenderloin, and a slow cooker doing all the work. The end result is a juicy, sliceable tenderloin swimming in a sticky honey-garlic sauce that tastes like you spent all day fussing over it, when in reality you tossed everything in the pot before running errands or shuttling kids around.
Serve thick slices of the honey garlic pork spooned with plenty of the sticky glaze over fluffy white rice, mashed potatoes, or buttered egg noodles so they can soak up all that sweet and savory sauce. Add something green on the side—steamed broccoli, roasted green beans, or a simple side salad—to balance the richness. Leftovers are great tucked into slider buns with a little coleslaw, or sliced cold for meal-prep lunches with rice and frozen veggies you can reheat at work.
Slow Cooker Honey Garlic Pork (4 Ingredients)Servings: 6
Ingredients
2 to 2.5 lb whole pork tenderloin (not sliced)
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup low-sodium soy sauce
4 cloves garlic, minced (about 1 1/2 tablespoons)
Directions
Pat the pork tenderloin dry with paper towels and place it whole into the bottom of a 4- to 6-quart slow cooker. The tenderloin should sit in one piece so it cooks up juicy and sliceable.
In a small bowl, whisk together the honey, low-sodium soy sauce, and minced garlic until the honey is mostly dissolved and the mixture looks like a smooth, dark amber sauce.
Pour the honey garlic mixture evenly over the pork tenderloin, turning the tenderloin once or twice with tongs to coat all sides. Position the pork back in the center of the slow cooker and spoon some of the sauce over the top so it’s well covered.
Cover the slow cooker with the lid and cook on LOW for 3 to 4 hours, or until the pork is just cooked through and reaches an internal temperature of 145°F in the thickest part. Avoid lifting the lid during the first couple of hours so the slow cooker can maintain its heat and build that incredible smell.
Once cooked, carefully transfer the whole pork tenderloin to a cutting board and let it rest for about 5 to 10 minutes. This helps keep the meat juicy when you slice it.
While the pork rests, give the sauce in the slow cooker a quick stir. It should be a rich, glossy, dark amber glaze with bits of minced garlic. If you’d like it a little thicker, you can turn the slow cooker to HIGH, leave the lid off, and let it bubble for 10 to 15 minutes while the pork rests, stirring occasionally.
Slice the pork tenderloin into 1/2-inch thick medallions and return the slices to the slow cooker, nestling them back into the warm honey garlic sauce so they soak it up. Spoon some of the glaze over the top.
Serve the pork straight from the slow cooker, making sure each portion gets plenty of the sticky honey garlic glaze spooned over the top.
Variations & Tips
For a little heat, add 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper flakes to the honey garlic mixture before pouring it over the pork. If you prefer a less sweet, more savory flavor, reduce the honey to 1/3 cup and add an extra tablespoon of soy sauce. You can also stir in 1 to 2 teaspoons of rice vinegar or apple cider vinegar at the end of cooking to brighten the sauce. For a thicker, almost takeout-style glaze, whisk 1 teaspoon of cornstarch with 1 tablespoon of water and stir it into the sauce during the last 15 minutes on HIGH. If pork tenderloin is on the smaller side, check for doneness closer to the 3-hour mark so it doesn’t overcook. This recipe also works with a similar weight of pork loin; just plan on a slightly longer cook time (4 to 5 hours on LOW) and slice it thinly. Leftovers keep well for up to 3 days in the fridge and reheat nicely in the microwave with a spoonful of the sauce to keep everything moist.
