Slow Cooker Honey Apple Pork Loin
128 Comments Jun 11, 2022
Updated May 03, 2025
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Slow Cooker Honey Apple Pork Loin is a beautiful and tender pork dinner. Apples are tucked into the pork loin and cooked with onions, butter, honey, and a touch of cinnamon.
Have you seen pork done with the apples stuffed in the top? I’ve wanted to try this for a while now. I’m glad I finally got around to trying it, and I want to share my results with you. I love the way the pork turned out. It came out tender and juicy, and by cooking it for only 6 hours, I could slice the pork instead of shredded meat.
Pork and apples have always been a favorite, usually in the form of pork chops. This is a unique meal where the apples are stuffed into the pork loin, so you get a bite of the perfectly cooked apple with each bite of pork.
Recipe Ingredients
- Pork Loin – This is on the thicker side, not to be confused with pork tenderloin.
- Apples – Tart granny smith are sliced and tucked into the pork loin
- Butter – Pork loin has very little fat. The butter will add flavor and moisture to the dish.
- Honey – A touch of honey adds just enough sweetness to the dish. Alternately you can use brown sugar.
- Onion – The onion cooks down along with the apple, making an excellent topping for the plated dish.
- Seasonings – Cinnamon, thyme, salt, and pepper flavor the pork perfectly.
How to Make Honey Apple Pork Loin
Step One – Start by cutting slits into the pork loin roast and stuffing sliced Granny Smith apples into those slits. I do this on a cutting board; it would be challenging to do this in the slow cooker; you will see in my photos and video how tight of a fit the pork is.
Step Two – Lay the onion and the remaining apple slices down in the crock pot. I also add a few pats of butter.
Step Three – Place the pork that is now stuffed with the apple slices on top of the onions, apples, and butter.
Step Four – After adding the pork to the slow cooker, I season with salt, pepper, and cinnamon. Then I drizzle over the honey and lay over thyme sprigs. I cook this honey apple pork loin for 6 hours on low. See how moist and tender the pork is? AND it was sliceable. If you let this go any longer, it would be shredded pork.
What to serve with this:
- Rice Pilaf – A little bite of pork and apple along with the rice is a match made in heaven. I often make a box of Rice-a-Roni!
- Slow Cooker Mashed Potatoes – In restaurants, they will often serve mashed potatoes along with pork loin, which is always a wise choice.
- Green Salad – Add a healthy green salad alongside the slow cooker pork roast to round out the meal.
- Slow Cooker Baked Sweet Potatoes – Sweet potatoes and slow cooker pork loin go very well together. It is also the easiest side dish ever!
- Slow Cooker Baked Beans – These are often forgotten as an easy weeknight side dish!
Recipe FAQs
Yes! The slow cooker was made not to have to mess with browning your meat first! Though if you feel the need to brown your meat, that’s perfectly fine too.
For this recipe, we add the butter to add moisture to the pot. Also, only cooking on low for six hours will not overcook the roast.
Place the cooled pork into the fridge in a ziplock bag or airtight container. It freezes well; you can freeze it for up to three months.
You can toss the leftover pork in barbecue sauce and make sandwiches or use the pork to make burritos or green sauce enchiladas.
If you use a smaller pork cut, such as pork tenderloin (about 2 pounds), you will only need to cook on low for five hours.
Featured Comment
“We just had this for dinner, it was delicious and so easy to make, this will definitely be added to our monthly rotation. It was a fun and easy recipe to make.”
– Stevie
Slow Cooker Honey Apple Pork Loin
How to Video
Ingredients
- 4 lb. pork loin, I use a center cut
- 2 granny smith apples, sliced and divided
- 1 white onion, sliced
- 1/2 cup butter, sliced
- 3/4 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1/2 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/4 cup honey
- 1 tsp. dried thyme or a few sprigs of fresh
Instructions
- Cut slits on the top of the pork loin, I cut about an inch down. Plug in apple slices into the slits. Set aside.
- Add the onions and remaining apple slices down in the slow cooker. Lay over the slices of butter.
- Add the pork loin.
- Sprinkle the pork with the salt, pepper and cinnamon. Add the thyme.
- Drizzle over the honey.
- Cover and cook on LOW for 6 hours without opening the lid during the cooking time.
- When the cooking time is done. Remove the pork onto a platter and let rest for at least 5 minutes. Slice and serve.
Sarah’s Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition info is auto-generated. This information is an estimate; if you are on a special diet, please use your own calculations.
More Pork Loin Recipe:
Polynesian Pork brings sweet and tangy flavor with pineapple and peppers simmered in a savory sauce.
For a bold and balanced dinner, Honey Garlic Pork Loin mixes sweet honey with rich garlic and soy sauce.
Perfect for the holidays, Cranberry Pork Loin slow cooks in a tart, fruity glaze that pairs perfectly with tender pork.
Smoky and sweet, Apple Barbecue Pork Loin blends barbecue sauce and apples for a comforting crockpot meal.
I did only cook the 4lbs for 4 hours on high. Will add it needs to be cut deeper and add more everything, the flavor is good, just needs more of it. Over all we will try again with a few modifications and see how it goes!