Transform a simple pork loin into a shredded pork masterpiece with a simple homemade rub, pineapple, onion, and soy sauce. Easy ingredients and your slow cooker make this Hawaiian Pork Loin a new dinner favorite, any night of the week!
Slow Cooker Hawaiian Pork loin
Pork loin is a staple standby in our house. Often sold in 2 to 5 pound roasts, it’s an easy way to feed a group or to cook once and have leftovers to reimagine for days. This Hawaiian pork loin version ticks all of those boxes and is packed with big flavor.
With very simple ingredients I can rub the loin down with a homemade spice mix, give it a quick sear, then toss it in my slow cooker for a few hours while I go about my day.
A pot of rice later, some Hawaiian rolls, and a few minutes to whip up a sauce from the slow cooker juices, and dinner is on the table. Everyone is happy, myself included!
Hawaiian Pork Loin Ingredients:
- 3-4 pound pork loin
- Soy sauce
- A can of pineapple chunks in 100% juice
- A sweet onion
- Ginger
- Paprika
- Onion powder
- Saltr
- A dash of oil
- Cornstarch
Best of all, this makes leftovers for days! Pork tacos, pork sliders (with those hawaiian rolls, yum!), or just a plate of rice and pork with sauce can feed us happily all week. What’s not to love?
PRO TIP: Maui or Vidalia onions are my go to sweet onion varieties for this recipe, but any sweet onion you can find will do. In a pinch, substitute red onion with ½ a tablespoon of honey.
Pork Loin vs Pork Tenderloin
If there’s one thing to remember it’s to make sure you’re picking up the right cut. Pork loin is not to be confused with pork tenderloin!
- Pork Loin – A lean, large, wide cut of meat that is broken down into many different cuts, like chops and roasts. You want a boneless pork loin roast for this recipe. It may be sold as a top loin or center loin roast and it benefits from low, long cooks.
- Pork Tenderloin – Similarly named but NOT a similar cut in any other way. Tenderloin is a thin, narrow cut that averages about 1 pound and is considered one of the most tender cuts of pork available. It’s best cooked quickly at high heat, and cannot be substituted in this recipe.
PRO TIP: Choose a pork loin with a nice white fat cap on it. A lean cut like pork loin benefits from the extra fat to stay moist and tender.
How to slow cook Hawaiian Pork Loin
- Heat a tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. While your pan is heating, combine your onion powder, paprika, salt, and pepper in a small bowl.
- Pat your pork loin dry and rub down with the spice mixture. When your pan is hot, sear the loin on all sides, beginning with the fat side down, until the outside is caramelized and browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side.
- While the pork is searing, dice your onion. Open your pineapple and pour off the juice into a separate bowl with the soy sauce.
- Place half the chunks of pineapple in the bottom of your slow cooker then place the seared pork loin on top, fat side up. Add in the remaining pineapple, the diced onion, and pour over the pineapple juice and soy sauce mixture. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours.
- When your pork is done, remove from the slow cooker and set aside. Ladle the liquid through a sieve into a saucepan set over medium high heat and bring it to a simmer. Reserve some of the pineapple chunks for serving.
- Whisk the cornstarch with 1 ½ tablespoons of cold water to make a slurry. When sauce is simmering, slowly whisk the slurry in and continue stirring gently until thickened.
- Shred the pork and serve with the reserved pineapple chunks and a generous drizzle of sauce.
PRO TIP: Use a food processor to chop the onion uniformly and quickly!
Are you drooling yet? While it’s not quite ‘dump and go’, this easy slow cooker pork loin is a family favorite. Keep a couple cans of pineapple chunks in the cupboard and you can whip it up anytime!
Taking that 5 minutes to make the sauce really makes all the difference, it drives home that sweet Hawaiian flavor!
Questions about how to make Hawaiian Pork Loin:
Can I skip searing the pork loin?
Technically yes. Your pork loin will cook fine without searing it first. However searing the spice rubbed pork first wakes up the aromatic nature of the spices (big flavor), and creates a crust.
That crust creates a beautiful texture when you shred the pork, a lovely combination of crunchy browned edges and tender shredded meat.
Do I need to strain the sauce?
No, it’s certainly not necessary if you’re comfortable with your sauce having chunks of onions in it. However, straining it leaves you with a silky drizzly sauce I highly recommend.
Can I use another cut of pork?
Absolutely! This recipe will work with either pork butt (pork shoulder) or boneless pork country ribs.
Can I make this in the oven instead?
Yes! Simply start your recipe by searing the pork in a large dutch oven or oven safe pot. Then add in the pineapple, onion, and the pineapple juice/soy sauce mixture.
Cover and place in a 325°F oven for 2 to 3 hours, or until you can shred it easily with a fork.
Can this be frozen?
Absolutely. Prepare the Hawaiian pork loin as directed, then shred and freeze in desired portions. I recommend making the sauce and freezing it in an ice cube tray, then adding cubes to the bags or containers of shredded pork.
If you liked this Hawaiian Pork Loin, you might also like these easy dinner recipes:
- Orange and Chicken Braise
- Dr. Pepper Short Ribs
- Indian Butter Chicken
- Eggplant Rollatini
- Popcorn Chicken
- Shrimp Kabobs
- Beanie Weenies
- What to Make for Dinner
These are some of our other favorite pork recipes:
- French Onion Pork Loin
- Pork Chop Brine
- Shake and Bake Pork Chops
- Pulled Pork Hash
- Grilled Stuffed Pork Chops
- BBQ Pulled Pork Tacos
- Crock Pot Pork Chops
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These delicious sweet and savory flavors of a Hawaiian Pork Loin are sure to be a hit with your whole family!
Hawaiian Pork Loin
Ingredients
- 3-4 pound boneless pork loin
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon paprika
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger
- 20 ounces canned pineapple chunks in 100% juice
- 1/2 cup light soy sauce*
- 1/2 large sweet onion , diced (about ⅔ cup)
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 1/2 tablespoons cold water
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Combine the salt, paprika, onion powder, and ginger in a bowl.
- Pat your pork loin dry with paper towels then rub in the spice mixture.
- Sear the pork in the hot pan until browned on each side, beginning the the fat side down. 3 to 4 minutes on each side.
- Meanwhile, dice your onion. Then combine the soy sauce with the juice from the can of pineapple chunks, you should get about ¾ cups of juice from the can.
- Place half the pineapple chunks on the bottom of your slow cooker then place your seared pork loin on top of them with the fat side up.
- Add in the remaining pineapple, diced onion, and pour the soy sauce/pineapple juice mixture over the top.
- Cover and cook on low for 5 hours. The pork should shred easily with a fork.
- Strain the liquid from the slow cooker through a sieve into a medium saucepan over medium high heat and bring to a simmer. Reserve some pineapple chunks from the slow cooker for serving.
- Whisk the cornstarch with 1 ½ tbs cold water to make a slurry then slowly whisk it into the simmering sauce. Continue to stir gently until thickened.
- Serve the pork with the sauce and reserved pineapple chunks.
- If you've tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
Tried this yesterday. Unfortunately, my “slow cooker” cooked this 4 pound loin way too fast and when I checked on it at 4 hours, it was already at 160!!😭. I had it set to the low setting, not sure why it cooked it so far. We still are this dried, though meat and the only saving grace was the sauce which we drowned each bite in… I’ll definitely give this another try tho…
Wow! Id say that is fast, low setting is usually only about 200 degrees. I’m glad the sauce saved the day!
Delicious pork! Easy as well!
Thank you, Debbie!
Flavor is really good but I think next time, I’ll use pork shoulder. The loin just gets so dried out in the slow cooker. Sauce is delicious though!
Thanks for the feedback- this would be amazing with a pork shoulder too.
Not a big pork fan but husband loves it, so always looking for pork recipes that I can tolerate. This was really good. I really enjoyed it and husband said we can “add it to the rotation” – so he liked it too!
Yay! Well, that is a WIN in my book!
We made this for dinner tonight and it was AMAZING! I love the flavors of pineapple and pork together 😊 I ended up using twice the amount of cornstarch/water and our sauce never thickened, but we did spoon it on top of the wild rice we made to eat with this meal and it was delicious. Thanks for the recipe!
Yay! That is what we love to hear!
Can you make this in an instant pot?
You could. Still brown it, then manual high pressure for 25 minutes. Allow natural release for 10 minutes, then quick release. You might need to cut the roast into two pieces to get it to fit into a standard 6 quart IP.
Can I add a little brown sugar instead of onion or honey?
Hi Nancy, brown sugar can replace the honey, but not much will replace the onion. You can leave it out if you are opposed to onion.
loved it. but im guessing i used the wrong soy sauce as mine was too salty. so i added brown sugar as was suggested in one of your reviews and it helped alot. will make again. thanks.
Hi Karrie- the soy can make all the difference. Knowing your particular brand is key. I like using dark mushroom flavored- even though it isn’t “light”, it is actually less salty.
Made this according to the oven directions. After 2.5hrs the liquid had almost all comes out. There wasn’t enough liquid to start. I will make this recipe again using the slow cooker to compare. I did end up making a separate Hawaiian sauce to put on top.
Thanks for the feedback, Rebecca, we will look into this!
Made this for dinner tonight, so yummy! Everyone loved it. My son said it was good without the sauce and even better with it
Woohoo! Thank you for coming back to let us know~
Really enjoyed this… added red and green pepper, a jalepeno, and some fresh ginger to the slow cooker, and it was amazing.
Love the additions! Thanks for coming back to let us know!
This was so good, and obviously, so EASY.. hello Crock-pot. i tweaked this recipe at the end. When everything was all done, i went ahead and added about 1/4 cup of brown sugar. For me, and my hubs, this was a little too salty (even with the low sodium soy). Adding the brown sugar heighten this dish.
Thank you for taking the time to come back and leave us this note and also the feedback for others readers!
This was very easy to make, but the flavor was just ok. I followed the instructions exactly and I feel that it was way too salty. Even the pineapples lost its sweetness and tanginess from cooking in the sauce.
Hi Lily, I am really sorry to hear that! Did you use regular soy sauce or lite? Different brands can vary greatly in salt content and so can people’s taste for salt. I’ll add that in the notes so others have a heads up!
Oh, girl, I like your style! Pork and Pineapple is such a glorious combo! Can’t wait to dig into this sweet and savory deliciousness.
I loved your tip about chopping the onions in a food processor, quick and easy! This recipe was wonderful and made great leftovers!!
This pork loin looks so amazing! I love the hawaiian twist on this, it sounds so delicious and I know my family will LOVE this recipe!
I’ve always loved pork loins for their lean, healthy qualities, but also for how tender and delicious they are. This recipe sounds like a winner and I love that you make it in the slow cooker — plus pineapple has always been a weakness for me.