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!
What You’ll Need
This Hawaiian pork loin roast recipe uses simple ingredients that are shelf stable, with the exception of the pork and onion, so it is easy to throw together. A full list of ingredients with measurements for this recipe is available in the printable recipe card below.
- Pork Loin– Pork loin is a cut of meat from the back of a pig, located just below the shoulder and above the tenderloin. It’s a lean and tender cut that’s commonly used for roasts, chops, and other pork dishes.
- Low-sodium soy sauce
- Pineapple chunks in 10% juice
- Sweet onion
- Ground ginger
- Paprika
- Onion powder
- Coarse Kosher salt
- Dash of oil
- Cornstarch
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. It also has a nice layer of fat, which helps keep it juicy and adds flavor.
- 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. It is also a lean cut of meat.
5S Philosophy 👩🏻
- Salt – Make sure you are familiar with your soy sauce and the levels of salt it has. Different brands are saltier than others. If yours is particularly salty or you do not like salty foods, then omit the additional 1 1/2 teaspoon of salt.
- Seasonings – If you like a peppery sauce, add a few grinds of fresh black pepper. Alternatively, you can also add cayenne pepper or some fresh herbs for more flavor.
- Sauces – For a sweeter, sticky sauce, add 2-3 tablespoons of light brown sugar or dark brown sugar.
- Swaps – Changing the type of onion used will change the flavor profile of the sauce. A sweet onion gives sweeter results while a yellow or red onion will be more oniony.
- Senses – Slow cooker Hawaiian pork loin is tender and juicy, filling the air with a sweet, tropical aroma of pineapple and garlic. Each bite melts in your mouth, bursting with savory-sweet flavor and a hint of tangy glaze.
Perfect Pairings
This slow cooker pork loin is easiest served over a bed of white rice, but you can also use toasted couscous or ranch rice. It is also great over mashed potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes.
It also make an amazing pulled pork sandwich.
As a side, consider serving with vegetables like marinated green beans, roasted rainbow carrots, or whole roasted cauliflower.
Shredded meat can be used in tacos or even quesadillas and nachos! Leftovers can be served on top of a fun leafy green salad too.
Hawaiian Slow Cook 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!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Storage and Freezing
Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Use in another recipe that calls for pulled pork or reheat the meat only in the microwave.
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.
Pork Loin Roast Slow Cooker FAQs
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.
Absolutely! This recipe will work with either pork butt (pork shoulder) or boneless pork country ribs.
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.
You can put raw pork in a slow cooker and even though this roast will be browned on the exterior, the interior will still be raw.
More Easy Pork Recipes
Pork is one of our favorite things to cook for dinner. Here are some of our favorite pork recipes.
Can this recipe be frozen after putting it together?
Yep!
I made this today. It was delicious and easy. Will be making it again.
I made this tonight for my dinner and was really looking forward to it as I love every dish I’ve made so far that has pineapple so far, however this one didn’t live up to my expectations, I found it rather bland and tasteless, the sauce didn’t even have any pineapple flavour to it which considering the amount of pineapple I was very surprised about, it had all cooked beautifully and the meat was very tender, I have enough left over for another meal which I will have but only because I hate waste, but I don’t think I’d bother making this again.
This is delicious! I only had regular Soy, it is a tad salty, but still awesome. I’ll be buying low sodium for the next time I make this, which will be soon. Thanks so much.
Thanks for the feedback!
Sauce tasted good, but the timing is off on this, as other reviews have said. So next time I would and let it cook for about 3 hours on low instead of 4 hours and keep and eye on temp. It was a 3.22lb lion so i felt like 4hrs would work but it was too long for my name brand crockpot. If I wrote this recipe I would probably change the estimated time. but I may try again with a fattier cut of meat.
I hurt my back and can’t stand for long periods of time. Popped this in my instant pot and rice in my rice cooker and 30 minutes later had a full meal with a side of jicama. Delicious, refreshing, filling. I used a ponzu sauce cause apparently I’m out of soy sauce so it didn’t thicken properly but I didn’t expect it to.
My husband LOVED this and so did I! The meat was perfectly tender and juicy, and what’s better, it was very easy to make and definitely left a lot for leftovers! Hawaiian rolls paired with it was perfect as well! Will be saving this for a dinner rotation for sure!
Thanks for coming back to let us know!
I’ve made this several times now and my family just loves it! Especially my son in law🥰
What is the suggested servings?
8
Great flavor but my family wanted it a little sweeter so I added a wee bit of brown sugar to it. DEFINITELY will be making this again… SOON!
Thanks for the feedback!